Play! LUXE by Sephora Vol. 2 | October 2018 | Boxy-Ladies.com

First of all, I just want to apologize for being a bit spotty with blog posts the past few weeks. The Guzman household went through a bunch of medical shenanigans, so the blog was just not top of mind. But we are both starting to feel better, so I’m back at it. 🙂

Sephora has been coming out with these special edition Play! boxes really regularly now. I’ve been buying most of these boxes and really enjoying it, so I took the gamble again. They had the brand names listed but not the actual product names, but all the brands looked really nice, so I was in! I was hoping to get a few products I didn’t end up getting, but that’s the mystery box game for you!

Just to be clear, this particular box is NOT a subscription. You can buy it right now by clicking here and not worry about any recurring charges.

I really like the little bag they included! It reminds me of those puffy winter jackets that we are going to start seeing soon, so I thought it was really cute. I will actually use this bag, so I’m happy with it.

Play! LUXE by Sephora Vol. 2

Price: $25/box but not a recurring subscription

Box Type: A one-time delivery of six trial-size luxury products—an $83 value—inside a special-edition metallic bag to carry your beauty products and tools.

Why you’ll love it: Ummmm, did you see it’s all high-end, luxury products that come from Sephora?

How to Subscribe: Click here to buy this box.  Click here to subscribe to the regular monthly box! And click here to view all of our Play! by Sephora box reviews.

The insert for the LUXE Vol. 2 box is a little set of cards which describe each product. The paper is really nice quality and just sort of a nice touch. You do get a code for 50 extra Beauty Insider points, but I typically never take advantage of that feature because there are always other rewards I would rather grab than just 50 points.

And here’s everything we got!

Tatcha The Water Cream ($68): Sephora must have a surplus of these Tatcha Water Cream samples floating around their warehouse because I feel like I’m getting one in every box recently. But since I love it, I’m not complaining! This is one of my all-time favorite moisturizers (as I wrote about here) and since this is an extremely expensive product, I’m happy to have more! These deluxe samples tend to last me weeks, so I’m really happy to have this. Again.

Tata Harper Rejuvenating Serum ($110): It’s not often that I receive products from brands I don’t have much experience with, as I make it my mission to know pretty much everything going on at Sephora. (I often get annoyed when I go to Sephora, as I know way more about everything in there than the employees do.) So while I’ve obviously heard OF Tata Harper, I really can’t remember if I’ve tried anything from the brand. However, it’s very pricy, which has me intrigued. (Yes, I occasionally tend to think more expensive = better, even though that’s not always the case. This serum is supposed to help smooth the look of fine lines and wrinkles while moisturizing with hyaluronic acid, and various antioxidants and vitamins. Notably, it has Vitamin C and Vitamin A which are both powerful anti-aging ingredients. I am really interested in this and will be putting it into rotation after I finish one of my current serums!

Hourglass Caution Mascara ($29): When I saw there was going to be an Hourglass sample in this box, I was REEEEEALLY hoping it was going to be a sample of their Veil Translucent Setting Powder. It’s been getting such rave reviews on YouTube, so I wanted to try it for myself. However, I am ok with the mascara also. I have tried it before and I like it OK. It doesn’t give me me as much volume as I prefer for my top lashes, but I really like it for my bottom lashes, as one of its major selling points is that it doesn’t smudge. However, the issue with this mascara is the wand itself. Because it’s so short, and the handle itself is so big and bulky, it’s sort of hard to apply. This obviously wouldn’t be a problem with the full-size version because the wand is much longer, but it is an annoying part of this sample.

Tom Ford Black Orchid ($49-$175): Y’all know I’m not the best at describing scents, so I’ll post what Sephora has about this:

A luxurious and sensual fragrance of rich, dark accords and an alluring potion of black orchids and spice, TOM FORD Black Orchid is both modern and timeless. Bottled in fluted, black glass, Black Orchid makes an unforgettable statement of iconic style and worldly glamour.

I have received this a few times over the years and I actually like this scent. For a long time, I couldn’t figure out if this was a men’s scent or for women because the bottle is very masculine-looking. The scent is pretty strong and probably a bit to much for me on the regular. Also, it basically gave Matt an allergy attack. I thought I was going to have to shower for him to be near me after I put this on. So, for my marriage, I won’t wear this anymore.

Givenchy Rouge Interdit Vinyle Color Enhancing Lipstick in 16 Noir Revelateur ($34): It’s always a bummer for me when I get a lip product in a box that contains castor oil. I know I am beating the most dead horse about this, but y’all- I get REALLY sad about it! Especially when I get fancy pants Givenchy lip products. I can’t really get mad, as castor oil is in SO MANY lip products, so I know I’ll receive them fairly frequently. However, I still wish I could use them without my lips peeling off in sheets. (Gross, I know.) But this is one of those cool products where it looks black in the tube but it comes out in a soft pink shade that is supposed to flatter everyone. Castor oil be damned, I tried this on, and it gave me just the lightest hint of color. But then I immediately wiped it off, because SAD. However, just based on my few minutes of wear, I’m not sure that slight color is worth the $34 price tag. But Givenchy is a luxury brand, and if you are feeling particularly fancy, this might be a fun way to invest in a designer label for a $34 price tag. And while this lipstick comes in a ton of different shades, if you got this particular black/light pink one, you might use it more than, say, a red.

Christophe Robin Regenerating Mask with Rare Prickly Pear Seed Oil ($71): Y’all, my hair is in bad shape. After continually dyeing it, I do have a lot of broken pieces around the crown. I am pretty sure I need, nay, DESERVE, a $71 hair mask. I used it tonight and my hair felt really, really soft, which is awesome. My hair has felt a bit… crispy, and I think this is a great product to whip my hair back into shape. Will I spend $71 to buy a full-size? Absolutely not. But my hair is definitely enjoying the sample, and I will probably be able to get at least 5 uses out of it. And considering I don’t even wash my hair very often, it will definitely last me a few weeks.

But I am going to take a moment to rant about something: the PACKAGING of hair masks. Riddle me this. Why is every hair mask you see on the market today in a tub? A stupid tub. Because when you are in the shower, you have to first unscrew the lid and figure out a place to set it. then you have to dig into the tub with your hands. Then, when you are wet and have hair mask all over your hands, you have to figure out how to get the lid back on so water doesn’t get in the mask. And at some point, you put the mask on your head. But WHY oh WHY can’t we have a hair mask in a bottle? Or a squeeze tube? Most masks I have used are only slightly thicker than conditioner, so they would be just fine in a bottle. WHY. Explain it to me. Someday I might write a blog about the packaging I hate the most, and you might see this rant again.

Final Grade: A

I really enjoyed the brands and products in the Play! LUXE by Sephora Vol.2 box! It’s a bummer I can’t use the Givenchy lipstick, but I’ll find someone who will love it. I do really enjoy Tom Ford Black Orchid, and when I was taking pictures, I noticed that I actually have 3 of those little rollerballs of it in my beauty room. I will need to find them a new home since Matt literally can’t breathe when I put them on. But I do think it’s cool to get a Tom Ford fragrance in a little rollerball, since that’s obviously a step up from those other fragrance samples we get all the time. But I love the Tatcha moisturizer and the Tata Harper serum seems really nice upon first impressions. The Hourglass mascara will be great for my bottom lashes – I really can’t get enough of these smaller mascaras for my gym bag.

So that’s it! Are you going to try out the Play! LUXE by Sephora Vol. 2 box for yourself? Click here if you want to check it out!

Purchased; All opinions are my own
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laurenelectro

A self-proclaimed beauty junkie/hoarder with a serious Sephora problem. This blog is a total rationalization of that problem. Everything is TOTALLY fine. Her free time is a mixed combination of making fun of reality TV with her husband, hanging out with cats and finally trying to figure out how to do her hair.