New Box On The Block : Makeup Mixologist January 2018 – Cosmopolitan

For the past year I’ve basically only had one subscription box in my life – Look Incredible, and over the past six months I’ve felt like the box started to transition to something which I didn’t originally sign up for. Whilst I haven’t unsubscribed yet one more bad box from them will leave me tinkering on the edge of cancelling – so I decided to start seeking out replacements. When I spotted this one on Which Beauty Box’s instagram as a new option – it was the point of difference I was looking for.

This is an independently run company by three beauty addicts. Each month the box has a different cocktail based theme – each box comes with a cocktail recipe card, beauty items which match the scents and colours in the cocktail – as well as a free gift of a handmade bath bomb. The boxes aren’t cheap at £27.50 a month, but for an independent company with brands which feel different to the norm for other beauty boxes it’s something I’ve been willing to try for at least a month or two.

This month’s theme was cosmopolitan, the colour of which is made up predominately by cranberry juice, so I was expected lots of red pink item and maybe some splashes of green for lime. Whilst I love myself a cocktail, I don’t think I’ve ever had a cosmopolitan. An error that obviously needs to be amended in the not to distant future.


Homemade Bath Bomb
I’m finding it hard to pinpoint what exactly this smells of – it doesn’t smell distinctly cranberry to me, but it does have a fresh fruity scent. Whilst I knew it was going to be a handmade bath-bomb, I was kind of expecting a label with ingredients listed on it, I feel a bit unsure of using it without knowing what exactly is in it, due to sensitive skin and allergies. This does seem robust and well made.

NYX Powder Blush in Desert Rose
I think I might be the last person on earth not to have tried these blushes, this is a pretty deep dusky rose shade that verges towards red whilst still being very wearable. I’m not sure whether I will keep this or not – I have so many blushes and I find I’m going blushless at the moment, it’s not my general preferred peachy tone so I wonder whether it’s something I’ll try a couple of times then will never be used again… but on the other hand I have always been intrigued by these studded style pans. Amy pointed out that these blushes have been discontinued for a good couple of years.

Nicole by OPI in Love My Pups (Carrie Underwood Collection)
This is totally not my normal preferred colour, for how often I wear shades like this (maybe once a year!) I have enough for my needs! But how can I contemplate getting rid of this when I do ‘Love My Pups’ (although does Pups mean dogs or boobs, it could be either). The Carrie Underwood is one I have a couple from in the past but it’s a long discontinued line as far as I’m aware.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in Toast
So this was the product that was teased and made me order the box. This is a well loved formula that I’ve long wanted to try and at a price of £20.00 each it makes up a good chunk of the value of the box. This is such an odd shade and nothing about it makes me think cosmopolitan. It’s a terracotta toned nude that dries down much darker than it appears in the tube. I’ve already worn this once – review to come – but there’s no real complaints about this other than I’m not quite sure how it fits into the theme. I believe this was a LE colour that was available as part of a set as I can’t find it listed anywhere other than sets, if you know otherwise let me know!

New C-ID iShine in Cosmopolitan
Another lip product. This is a really pretty pink with really fine subtle glitter which runs through it, this is another thing that I want to swatch and touch but ultimately I know it will be lost on me as I’m just not a gloss girl, I wish this was in a different form rather than a pot as it’s something I would never use on the go for that reason – whilst it does come with a mirror. I’m just imagining the mess – even with a lip brush, where do you put the dirty brush?!

Sephora Collection Peony Body Wash & Coconut Bath Fizzing Cube
All of their boxes that I’ve seen so far have included some Sephora Collection products – in principle I like the idea of these being included, there’s a little Peony body wash pod which is great for a night away (although I definitely will probably use it before I get to that point) – I’m guessing this product matches up with the cosmopolitan theme pretty well. The bath fizzer kind of confuses me, there’s already one bath bomb type product in the box, arguably the main selling point, so why include another and the scent doesn’t scream cosmopolitan either in coconut either.


I think this box has been made with passion from a group of beauty fanatics. It’s clear from the range that there’s a good mix coming. In the scheme of beauty boxes, I don’t think this is the best value or is likely to have the most wow selection of products (I say this because predominately because of the inclusion of Sephora Collection), but it’s likely these girls are shopping from contents as normal shoppers.

For now this is a one off for me, but I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t come back in future, I think they have some growing room to make this feel more finished. They teased their ABH liquid lipstick in December which was the tempting aspect to make me try and another tease like that in future could convince me to get another month, depending on product value. I do feel like I spent £20 on a liquid lipstick and another £7.50 on everything else – and when I look at everything else I don’t feel as if I would have spent £7.50 on those items if that makes sense.

If you do happen to be wondering where my Look Incredible review is this month, they’ve changed their standard box to bi-monthly subscription so it will not be arriving until February. They did this without any prewarning which was rather annoying, I can only help that this means the quality of contents starts to go up again.

What do you think of this box?

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26 Comments

  1. esterpiubeni.com
    January 18, 2018 / 7:28 am

    Ahah I’ve just signed up for the look fantastic beauty box! (I got it as a Xmas present). I’m more interested in creams and skincare rather than makeup but I definetely want to try the Anastasia lipstick, I’ve heard so many good reviews about it. If I find my beauty box dull, I can always switch to this one!

    • January 18, 2018 / 7:35 am

      Look Fantastic is one beauty box I haven’t tried yet! I kinda always want more makeup so try to find boxes which stay predominantly on that side of things, but the look fantastic one does offer more variety!

      • esterpiubeni.com
        January 20, 2018 / 7:38 pm

        Exactly, I am mostly interested in skincare but still wanted to treat myself with some makeup, hehe!

  2. January 18, 2018 / 6:28 am

    Those NYX blushes are the old formula. They reformulated and repackaged their blushes a few years ago as their HD blush line. It’s really weird to see the old packaging pop up in these boxes.

    • January 18, 2018 / 7:05 am

      Oh thank you Amy! I must admit since NYX came to the UK about 18 months ago I haven’t seen them here – I didn’t think anything of it. I’ll update my post, I agree it’s a bit odd!

  3. January 18, 2018 / 7:19 am

    It’s definitely an interesting one. The bath bombs should definitely come with more professional packaging and include a list of ingredients. And I agree with the lipstick shade. It doesn’t go with the theme and I find it weird that it’s no longer available on its own.

    Have you seen those posts/videos where people look up batch numbers and can see when their products were made? It’s to avoid using expired makeup.

    • January 18, 2018 / 7:33 am

      From what I could see it was in 2017 holiday collections, I presume they maybe bought a few sets so they got better value and just distributed the colours out.

      Everything was sealed and boxed so that’s one thing I guess! I have looked up batch codes in the past mainly with MAC products – I don’t have any reason to think that anything may have expired!

      • January 18, 2018 / 8:05 am

        That’s good! I’m glad. It sounds like a cool concept so hopefully it works out for them.

  4. Sophie in Wonderland xo
    January 18, 2018 / 7:29 am

    This is a very random selection that doesnt really fit the Cosmo theme but its great value for money! Xxx

    • January 18, 2018 / 7:33 am

      Completely agree, I think this could have been a really easy theme to pull together, pinky red is such an easy colour in the beauty world!

  5. January 18, 2018 / 8:18 am

    Completely agree – I really the idea of this and like that it’s curated by normal beauty loving people but I don’t think it is the box for me as I really don’t know how much wear I’d get from the products. I’ve had a couple of those nyx blushes and the pigmentation was seriously lacking x x

    • January 18, 2018 / 9:56 am

      The blush might be good for me then – I’m so heavy handed with blush!
      I think it could be a good concept, maybe they just need to hit pause for a few months and get everything planned out a bit more in terms of theme.

      • January 20, 2018 / 7:37 am

        I might have a pinky peach one in my pile you can have! I’ll have a look ❤️

  6. Rebecca Allatt
    January 18, 2018 / 10:17 am

    This is such a cute little box, love things included! Great review x

  7. January 18, 2018 / 2:43 pm

    I loved the old school square NYX blushes. I have some of their new formula blushes (the High Def and the baked ones) but they just aren’t quite the same 🙁

  8. Inroseac
    January 18, 2018 / 2:58 pm

    Amazing review !! 💕

  9. January 18, 2018 / 4:18 pm

    It’s a fun concept!
    But yes, the NYX blush in that packaging is discontinued now – not to say it’s not good any more but they probably got them at a good deal.
    I remember the Carrie Underwood Collection – there were some really pretty shades. And “Pups” as in dogs! 😛
    Hmm I do feel like the box was on the pricey side for the products you received.

    • January 18, 2018 / 5:02 pm

      Yeah I agree, the more I look over the items the more I don’t feel like it was particularly great value for money. I’m giving the bath bomb away to Sophie as my Bath is currently filled with stuff to put in the loft (whoops!) – whilst it’s “free” because they can’t denote a value to it, it must be making up a % of the cost of the box, as a non bath lover I wish it was a bit cheaper and didn’t have one – or have the option to have one.

  10. January 18, 2018 / 5:40 pm

    Hi Rachael, are you in the UK? Do you mind reviewing and blogging about my products. I am on Facebook as valemiskincare. If you like, I will send my products for free.

  11. January 18, 2018 / 5:45 pm

    It seems super weird that they send you discontinued products?
    The idea of the box (cocktail-based theme) is super cute, but in general I don’t know if the products included are entirely worth the price.

  12. January 18, 2018 / 5:57 pm

    Interesting box, at least they put a few different things in like the bath bomb. Not all of it I’d say reminds me of a Cosmo drink though. Fun to try though and read about😊 x

  13. March 17, 2018 / 9:15 pm

    I’ve had three boxes now, all have included ex ranges and sample sizes. It’s a shame, because I was drawn in by the inclusion of premium brands. But, I worry, they’re expired, or at least, discontinued and therefore discounted ranges.

    • March 18, 2018 / 7:31 am

      Yeah I suspect that they’re not the best value personally! They have one “star” product from what I’ve seen and then the rest have been a bit doozy in comparison

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