Reviewed by
Mary
For some reason this month doesn’t seem to have a listed theme. However that’s OK, because it’s an interesting selection of products!
Here is their shipping box. I love their branding; it’s simple but striking, and the box itself is nice and robust.
Let’s open it up!
Inside is always their menu booklet. It gives lots of useful information about the products in the box. This is just as well, as I certainly don’t read Japanese!
OK, Let’s take a proper look at the products themselves.
First out:
Profael Massage Jelly Body Mask. As the name suggests, this is the body equivalent of the face mask. It contains a whole bunch of Japanese plant extracts, as is designed to nourish dry skin.
As my skin has a tendency to dryness, especially in the winter, I like the sound of this. The only thing that gives me pause is that it’s designed to be applied after washing, left for a few minutes, then washed off in the shower.
Call me lazy, but I’m not sure I’m totally on board with getting out of the shower to apply something, standing naked and shivering for several minutes before, getting back in the shower for another wash.
I think I might be more likely to do what I do with face masks in the bath. I’d probably apply to arms and lower legs, and prop them out of the bath water before rinsing off.
I love the idea of a body mask, but I’m not quite convinced of the practicality of it.
This is a great product. Sweets-Sweets Air Moisturizing CC Cream is perfect for someone like me who never seems to have enough time to do something nice with my face.
You’re probably aware of CC cream, but if not, here’s a brief overview. CC cream is a kind of all-in-one skin cream, with the properties of pore concealer, moisturizer, and colour corrector. This one has the bonus of high-factor sunscreen: 50 SPF.
Having a small child to run around after means that the idea of putting more than one thing on my face in the morning is time that could be better spent preparing breakfast. This cream ticks all the boxes in one application, and the SPF 50 is incredibly useful during the summer months.
I do have one reservation. This is a tinted product, and I think this is a risky thing to offer to a customer base that is likely to have a wide variety of skin tones.
I usually have pretty fair skin, with a few freckles. (I like my freckles.) Right now I have a little bit of a tan, so the tint of this is actually pretty much perfect. However, when I return to my winter pallor, this product will simply not work on my skin as it is far too orangey. It’s perfect timing for now, especially when I want to look slightly more put together, but it’s not a product to use year-round.
I must confess I find the idea of this slightly alarming. The sound of a skin peel has always scared me (not to mention all those trashy-magazine pictures of celebs with bright red post-peel faces.)
But, this Peelingood Peeling Gel Kit promises to be mild and gentle on your skin. It’s a bottle of gel which you apply with the included black cotton swabs. Apparently the black swabs mean you can see the dirt and dead skin cells removed. I don’t quite get it, but I don’t suppose it matters what you use to apply. As it’s not designed to remove the top five layers of your skin I’m happy!
I’ve also got some of the gorgeous toner from the March box, which is perfect for the recommended post-peel toning.
I love face masks! It’s a huge treat for me to have a soak in the tub after my daughter has gone to bed, and the addition of a face mask makes it even more special. I’m still working my way through the mud mask from the April box, so it’s great to change it up a little!
The Hollywood Orchid Enzyme Mask is different from anything I’ve tried before. It’s slightly more complicated than your average sachet. It comes in two sections, a cream and a powder, which you mix together just before you actually apply it. Apparently this is to preserve the effectiveness of the enzymes present.
Whatever, I’m more than happy to do a little mixing and stirring before giving my skin some extra nourishment!
As well as skincare and cosmetics, nomakenolife often includes a tool or accessory. This is one of the best yet. Browtician Tweezers are an Australian brand, but have become increasingly popular in Japan. The quality is remarkably good, and they are hand-sharpened and perfectly aligned.
Not only are the tweezers a handy size, but they come in an excellent protective case, which includes a compact mirror. These would be perfect to throw in your makeup or sponge bag, and you don’t have to worry about them getting damaged.
There were two possible options in this month’s box, with either a slanted or pointed tip. I’m very glad I got the point option, as I already have a great pair of small slanted tweezers. But my precious, and very expensive, pointed tweezers don’t work for traveling, mainly because they’re so sharp they puncture any sponge bag that hold them!
Well, there might not be a themed box this month, but it’s still a pretty nice collection of items.
I’m really looking forward to my next few opportunities for an evening bath, and I fully expect my skin to be fabulous and glowing with the peel and the masks!
The CC cream is both a hit an a miss: works great for me right at this time of year, but realistically I think it won’t work for everyone. I love the idea of it, but a tint is such a personal thing, and I think it’s impossible to match this to everyone. That being said, this is a great summer product for me.
Finally, you can never have too many pairs of tweezers. These are handy and compact, and an accessory I’m guaranteed to use.
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 superb value for money.
I couldn’t find any of these products on any UK site, and the Japanese sites flummoxed me. So I shall simply say that I consider that you get plenty of bang for your buck with these five products.
