Macy's Subscription Box: December 2020

I enjoyed this month's box but there were some oddities for it. I kinda felt that one of the items was left over summer stock, but since it was useful, I wasn't going to complain. 

The box also had some great things that I adored. I'm a big fan of quite a few of the products. So it was overall a great box. 

Macy's does not provide spoilers. The only time they did something like that was for the Jo Malone box. You sign up and then get the box. It's samples of skincare, makeup, fragrance, and usually another item. Sometimes there's a makeup bag and sometimes not. I prefer this box over other similar priced ones because I think the brands are higher quality. Plus, it's usually easier for me to get them at Macy's if I like it. 

There's always a booklet that is included. This booklet talks about each of the products and has a coupon for either five or ten dollars. This is for use in the beauty department at Macy's. You can use it on any item there, not just stuff from the box. 

The item included that isn't makeup/skincare/fragrance was a travel set. It has the palm leaf paper inside the bag (very summer?), but it otherwise clear plastic with a tinted pink cap. All see through and perfect for traveling. Technically great for an inclusion, a bit odd with a global pandemic. That being said, I do like these but don't always use them for traveling. I don't always decant for travel because I usually have a few samples that I can use up. But it's a nice set to have in case I change my ways or wish to decant. I kept it with the other travel bags I own. 

The first trio of items included two lip products. One of the lip products was a replacement. 
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• Bare Minerals Mineralist Hydra-smoothing Lipstick in the shade "Honesty." It's a beautiful mauve pink shade. It's a vegan lipstick. It's $20 for the lipstick. I don't have a lot of Bare Minerals products, so this is a welcome addition to try. 
• Peter Thomas Roth Cucumber Gel Mask is not a new product for me. I've used this brand and this "flavor" before. It's very soothing and gentle. I prefer his pumpkin enzyme mask over his others, but I've tried them all. This is a nice addition. A full size of this mask is $55. 
• The third option is from Grande, a new brand to me (although Macy's has sent it before). It was supposed to be a lipliner but instead I received a lip product. I do like lip products, so this is fine. It seems similar in color to the lipstick. I don't like the packaging because I'm not keen on gold, but that's personal isn't it. 

The next two items were skincare focused. 

• Kiehl's Calendula Petal Infused Calming Mask is welcome to me. I don't have a lot of Kiehl's products but I am intrigued. I guess I don't know where to start with this brand, so I am excited to get this mask. It's supposed to be gentle. The full size is $45. 
• Shiseido Moisturizing Essential Energy gel cream is not new to me. I like Shiseido products, although they do tend to have a little fragrance to them. I don't find them irritating. This is their Essential Energy titled moisturizer. I used it in the morning before my makeup. I finished it last week and I liked it. It's a gel cream which is my favorite texture for moisturizers. A full size of this is $48. 

For size reference on samples. Here are the two products next to a fragrance card. They're tiny, about a week's worth of product used only once a day. 

The two perfume samples were not for me. Well, one was a man's perfume and the other was too candy scented. 

​The first fragrance was from Juicy Couture, of my juicy sweatpants middle school days. Come through Juicy! The scent is their Le Bubbly. The jar is really cute and fits the theme. It's a bit extra, but whatever, go for it! I think the theme is also tied into pink champagne. The notes for this are Pink Berries Accord (I don't know what that smells like), Gardenia and Golden Amber. Other scents mentioned are jasmine, vanilla orchid, pralines, and creamy woods. 

It's a bright, sweet scent. I don't think it smelled bad in general but it did smell bad on me. I tried it out for the day. It does have nice reviews, so that's just me not mixing well. 

The last item was a fragrance from Dolce and Gabbana. It's their Light Blue scent. D&G have had some mishaps haven't they? Fashion is such an odd place for racism because like...don't you want to sell your stuff to everybody? Shouldn't your favorite color be money? I'm not a fashionista. 

This perfume might be farmed out. In the sense that they might just have the name but D&G do fuck all with it. So let's get to the scent. The notes mentioned are Sicilian Mandarin, Juniper, Grapefruit, Bergamot, Rosemary, Brazilian Rosewood, (Sichuan) Pepper, Musk, Oakmoss, and Incense. It seems like the most detailed scent notes I've ever read!

It's supposed to be reminiscent of "the sea and sensuality of the Mediterranean." They also referenced an "Italian summer." Well, Italy just won Eurovision, so lets go with that! Congrats Italy!

I have no idea what this smells like. I can't wear most men's smells because I'll sniff myself all day and then fall in love. With myself. Men smell good. Some men. Cologne men.