Got my BDJ Box last Friday! I can't believe how far BDJ has gone. I remember a serious case of buyer's remorse when I got my first box (LOL I took such horrible photos.) That box was pretty much here, there and everywhere. Sure there were tiny Shiseido samples and duplicate L'Occitane samples, but there were also Garnier sachets *gasp.* Nowaways, I'm just thankful I stuck with it a little longer. BDJ has definitely come miles and miles away from where it used to be.
Is it just me or does anyone else feel orgasmic whenever they open their BDJ box? I tried opening the box in the office but I could barely contain myself- I didn't want anyone to see my o-face! I had to STOP right now thankyouverymuch, so I closed the box up, stat! Really, it just felt indecent. As soon as I got home, I had an intimate little photoshoot with my lovely muse and here are the results. Go crazy.
This box is a wrist breaker, by the way. The moment I carried it (and I've had my fair share of picking up subscription boxes,) it just felt way too heavy. That could only mean one thing: full-size galore! Now while I normally like to be formulaic with my box shots, I just had to do this freshly-opened shot 'cause I wanted everyone to see how FULL this month's box is.
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| Freshly opened April BDJ Box + gift (for being a quarterly subscriber?) |
I had a gift too. I didn't even notice it at first because the box was just that heavy and I was focusing on that alone. I'm not sure why they gave me a gift but it could be because I recently renewed my quarterly subby. I'm not sure. Anyway, I was a little bummed to get the same thing as last time.
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| April BDJ Box gift: Celeteque Cleansing Oil |
Oh well. It's a pretty good makeup remover anyways. I'll give a full review when I finally use it as a cleanser :) So finally, the moment you've all been waiting for, my usual box shot:
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| BBT's April BDJ Box |
I had such a tough time arranging the items for this month's box shot. The "samples" (which are not sample-sized BUT WHO'S COMPLAINING?) were just too big and too plenty to fit in the box and the frame.
Here's this month's letter. The theme of the month is Oh, So Fresh! Blablabla summer blablabla. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean any disrespect. I love all the effort the BDJ team puts into their stuff. I just can't wait to get on with the goodies! Nerd confession: I try to be cool and pretend that I don't care about the letter but I actually read those things. Every month. I just can't deal with not knowing what's up with what especially after my loserly-est Misadventure.
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| March BDJ Box: Oh, So Fresh! |
Here are the contests up for this month. I love that they print these things out! At least I don't have to scavenge around their FB pages looking for the mechanics.
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| April BDJ Box Contests |
On with the contents! (Finally)
What I'm Most Excited About:
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| Bifesta Age Care Cleansing Lotion 30ml, Php 419 / 300ml |
I would normally not care much for this, aside from its cute packaging, but hearing praises from theee Liz Lanuzo of projectvanity.com makes me super excited to try it out.
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| Revlon Nail Art Expressionist, 7.68ml / Php 375 |
The colors are kinda boring, but very girly. It's definitely something I would wear but I am intrigued as to how this would mix up. Layer #2, the pearly white coat, goes over the pink and I'm curious because it's described as "holographic." I'm free to make any design 'cause layer #2 has a nail art brush. Given the colors, I'm excited to try a demure and girly lace design.
I saw a gold and purple combination on the curation card and I reaaaally wanna try that too.
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| Goody Slide-Proof Pins and Elastics, 2 pins and 2 elastics / Php 449.75 |
I've been reading so much about this over Twitter. Guys might not get it but pony tails that stay in place are head-bustingly tight. It feels like a 24/7 bitch-battle where the other has resorted to hair-pulling (oh what a familiar scenario.) Going with a tie that's more comfortable always results to, what I like to call, the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. JK I just think that comfy hair ties always eventually fall into that low, loose pony.
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| Garnier Light Intensive 3 in 1 Whitening Essence Mask, 19ml / Php 89 |
I still don't like Garnier. Don't get it twisted. Though, off topic, I used to think Celeteque was sortakinda like Garnier. Now I worship it. This is just in the stuff-I-like list because I'm into masks now.
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| Avon Anew 360 White Day Cream 15g, Php 799 / 30ml |
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| Avon Anew 360 Skincare Sachet Set: White Intensive Serum, 1g; White Day Cream SPF 20/PA++, 1g; White Night Cream, 1g |
I'm confused. The box says 15g but the curation card lists it as full-size but the price is quoted at 30ml. Maybe it comes in two sizes?
I'm a little distrusting of Avon's quality but this Anew line was recently raffled off by Eula of eulasleeps and I wanted to win that one so I guess I'm pretty open to this. Also, one of my recent adventures include a Shiseido workshop which has informed me of the great benefits of daytime skincare. That workshop also made me more thankful for complete line samples, but I'm missing the cleanser and toner. I'd prefer those over the day cream sachet since I already have it.
This day cream will see some action right after I finish my current review with the Neutrogena Hydro-Boost, also a great day cream.
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| Celeteque Hydrolized Moisturizing Mist, Php 349 / 120ml |
Hydration mists normally don't excite me. This country is as humid as hell. Howeverrrrr. I will make an exception because: 1.) this is Celeteque, and 2.) I'm on a mission for constant skincare.
Other Stuff in Here:
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| Avon Skin So Soft Glutatione Lotion with Marula, Php 350 / 250ml |
*sigh* Again we meet, old friend. It's the hugest and heaviest item in the box but I have four of it already. In the exact same variant! Granted this is BIG but I'm not much of a lotion fan to begin with.
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| Selena Gomez ~1.5ml, Php 2950 / 100ml |
Sickeningly, tooty fruity sweet. Definitely suits the market. Though I will forever associate Selena Gomez' perfume and the color purple to those God-awful creepy salesmen in the Beauty Social. They are just major creeps and *shiver* I don't even want to think about it anymore.
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| Candi Nail Polish Remover Wipes, Php 65 / 30 sheets / case |
I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone and this is supposed to be Yuka? It has the same case and even the font is very similar! It's just that this one is Php 65 for a 30-sheet case while Yuka is Php 68 for a 35-sheet case, which is slightly more economical. No label of what scent it is though. Anyway acetone wipes are all the same to me so I'm very blah about this sample.
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| Clockwise, starting from left: Cohen Diet discount, Bioessence facial or foot reflex freebie and Goody 20% off |
Vouchers! Well I'd have to check out Bioessence first, but I am so into that. Goody is meh. I'm not very picky with brushes and hair ties. And funny thing about the Cohen voucher, I recently read an article about that ubiquitous stock photos model. I didn't notice, but she's apparently everywhere.
RECAP:
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| Curation Card p.1 |
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| Curation Card p.2 |
I like that most of the samples are new and relevant. Giving away stuff from old releases is pretty useless because the public will already have made up their mind on it. If they like it, they might already have it, and if they don't, well they just got something pretty useless. It might only be the Garnier mask and Celeteque mist, two out of nine samples, that are a little old and tired, which makes this a good sampling batch. I'm happy that there's a good variety of hair, nails, body and skin care products. I could probably even consider the Bifesta as a cosmetics product, so this is once again a full set.
I'm enjoying the full-size revolution that's happening around here. The simple premise of just samples isn't enough for most people to spend Php 480 monthly, but if these boxes keep delivering full-size items, I think a lot of people would find subscription boxes interesting. If we at least get back our money's worth in full-size items then it's worth it, right? Full-size value of this box is at Php 1692 so you get more than three times what you pay for. Some people might prefer to put that Php 480 a month into a wish list fund, but I'm enjoying the journey so far and will keep subscribing. At this point, I'm just glad to get my money back and to get the latest releases.