The 3B Box: July 2015 Unboxing & Review #the3bbox

For those of you who are just joining my blog, The 3B Box is a monthly subscription service (started in December of 2014) providing the must-have Asian beauty products to those who may not have their readily available for purchase for just $12 a month! 3B is based in the United States, and currently only ships within the States, but they are working on branching outwards internationally, so keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates! I have more details about this subscription and how to sign up in my first review of 3B.

This month when the shipping email came out, they noted that all the products this month would be from SkinFood. While SkinFood will always hold a special place in my heart for being one of the first k-beauty brands I was ever introduced to, I've found over the past year that their products aren't as natural as they lead on to be, and my skin doesn't play well with a lot of the ingredients they use.
Let's take a look at the July 3B Box...

The info card.

Black Bean Eyeliner Pencil:

I appreciate 3B spacing out their inclusion of eyeliners (the last one was in their very first box) but eyeliners are 10 a penny in my book. If you're going to throw one in, it better be special. This appears to be a typical pencil liner,  and black is not a color I am short of. The average retail value for this item appears to be around $2.

Rice Wash-Off Mask:

I'm actually a big fan of the Black Sugar Wash-Off Mask from SkinFood, and this is another that I wanted to try, until I discovered that I was allergic to topical applications of alcohol as well. I've heard this mask offers a nice gentle exfoliation, but unfortunately I cannot use it. The retail value of this item ranges from $5 to $15 (the highest being at Memebox US) depending on where you are purchasing from, but the average seems to be around $6.

You can view the CosDNA analysis of ingredients here. 

Fresh Apple Sparkling Pore Toner:

I've grown accustomed to toners containing alcohol, so it was no suprise to me that I couldn't use this sample either. The retail value, if I had to guess, would be around $1 for this item. There's maybe two uses in here. 

You can view the CosDNA analysis of ingredients here. 

Fresh Apple Sparkling Pore Emulsion:

I couldn't find much info about this, but it seems to contain alcohol as well. Guesstimated retail value is also around $1. 

I've expressed the past couple months how I feel about only receiving 4 samples for $12. Yeah, two items this month are full size, but the value of this subscription just isn't there. This month barely hit the mark at $12, and there's only one item that I can actually use, but don't need. This is the 8th month that 3B has been in business, and unfortunately I feel like they've slowly been going downhill since they're third month. When I joined this subscription I was hoping to discover new brands and new products - but that hasn't really happened for me. There are a couple products I've really enjoyed, but they're nothing really new to me. Maybe I'm too overly seasoned with the past year I spent with Memebox, but even they aren't anything like what they used to be. 

For those new to Asian beauty and wanting to experiment with new products that you've never seen or heard of before - yes, I do recommend The 3B Box. But for those of you like me, who are pretty familiar with Asian beauty products and already use them on a regular basis, I would recommend a polite pass.

This is my last month of 3B, as I have now cancelled my subscription.