nomakenolife is a monthly subscription box of Japanese cosmetics and beauty products. Japanese women take their skincare very seriously, and their beauty products are superb quality. They are also very big on products which contain natural ingredients, including collagen, and avoiding harsh chemicals.

Here are the basics:

They have one-, three-, six-, and 12-month subscriptions costing $29.99, $29.00, $28.33, and $27.50 per month respectively. At current exchange rates this is £22.72, £21.97, £21.46, and £20.83. Shipping is free.

 

nmnl is part of the TokyoTreat group, who also produce TokyoTreat, a lovely box of Japanese snacks, and YumeTwins, an equally lovely box of kawaii Japanese goodies.

Here is their shipping box. I love their branding; it’s simple but striking, and the box itself is nice and robust.

On top you can see their menu booklet. As well as listing each item, it also details things such as ingredients and usage instructions.

 First out is a beautifully styled item.

This is L’air de savon ice body milk.

The pump bottle is shaped like a bar of soap, which looks very attractive. It contains body milk, which contains peppermint and witch hazel extracts. 

The texture is very light and easily absorbed. It also have a very subtle scent: a limited edition variety ‘Eternal Moment’. According to the package is blends citrus and floral scents. I couldn’t really work out exactly what it smelled of, but it is certainly very pleasant!

Next we have a beauty accessory, a Rosy Rosa Retractable Lip Brush. 

I really like retractable brushes because they ensure the brushes themselves are always protected. This is a nice compact size, with soft nylon bristle and a light aluminum case. It clicks in and out exactly like a ballpoint pen.

If you’re into crazy eye-makeup, this Dolly Wink Vivid Pink Colour Eyeliner is for you! 

It really is remarkably bright, with a soft and blendable texture and jojoba oil for delicate skin.

Hurray for bubblebath! This Sweets Maison Matcha Bubble Bath is matcha-scented and contains moisturizing argan oil. Apparently this bottle contains enough for four baths.

Finally, something great to treat your hands now the weather is getting colder: Profael Smooth Hand Wrap.

This kit contains a rich moisturizing cream and a pair of cotton gloves.

The idea is that you apply the cream last thing at night, and then the gloves protect and lock in the moisture overnight. The cream contains such nourishing ingredients as silk powder, edelweiss extract, and hyaluronic acid.

Well, there are things in this box I really like.

My hands always get horribly dry in  winter, so I’m really going to enjoy the hand cream kit. I think the gloves are a fantastic touch, especially because it means you don’t have that feeling of not wanting to touch anything with greasy hands.

I always welcome bubble bath because I love taking baths!

The lip brush is nice. I often find that brushes get squashed in my makeup bag, no matter how careful I am, so brushes like this really work for me. Now all we need is the same type of eyeshadow and blusher brushes!

The body milk is nice, and is absorbed quickly, but I think it’s a little too light for winter use. I want something a little richer, especially as there was a nice light fresh body milk back in August. The design of the bottle is lovely, and it works well, but I think something a little more appropriate for the weather would have worked better.

As for the pink eyeliner, it’s a lot of fun and the quality is good, but it’s really not me! For people who like experimenting with crazy looks this would be wonderful, but this is going in my ‘dressing up’ makeup stash rather than my makeup bag.

Now to value. As these are all Japanese brands it’s often very difficult to find prices on these, so I’m not going to do an individual breakdown. I will say that I’ve never had a box that wasn’t good value for money.

For a change, I actually found a couple of items without too much fuss!

The lip brush was selling for £7.76, and the eyeliner I found in black on Amazon of all places for £9.95. I suspect the pink colour is more of a niche product, but it gives you an idea of the cost. The body milk I could only find on a Japanese website, but the price converted to £9.40.

I’m always confident that nomakenolife provide lovely quality skincare items, and I’ve always enjoyed using them all. My skin, which can be on the dry and sensitive side, has always responded well to their products. I’d like to see some more things for looking after skin in the cold weather, and I’d really like some more face wash!  But otherwise I’m pretty happy with this box.