In the June 2018 Mapleblume box, you get treated to five beauty and skincare products to pamper your skin and add fresh color to your summer beauty routine. All five products are considered clean beauty products and are made with lovely and effective ingredients that are good for you and good for the earth. In the June box, Mapleblume brought back four brands that I love from previous boxes, which is wonderful, and introduced one new-to-me brand, which is always exciting.
Here are the contents of the June box, worth a total of $245 (a subscription is only $120):
Feature product: Linné Botanicals SCRUB Face Mask ($85)
Naturallogic UNMASK Detox Hydration Mask ($77)
Luxe Botanics Camu Brightening Mist ($41)
Trust Fund Beauty nail polish in Freudian Slip ($19)
Au Naturale Cosmetics High Lustre Lip Gloss in Ultra ($23)
Linné Botanicals SCRUB Face Mask / I was introduced to Linné in the first-ever Mapleblume box back in December 2016 (reviewed here). It was the Linné REPAIR face oil and I loved it. It was luxurious, effective, and everything a face oil should be. I was thrilled to see Linné featured again in the June 2018 box, and couldn’t wait to try the SCRUB Face Mask, a exfoliator/mask that promotes cellular turnover with a combination of mechanical and chemical exfoliants. This multitasking product contains bamboo silica, which gives it that satisfying scrubby feel, and a mixture of sugar cane, sugar maple, lemon and orange extracts to chemically unclog pores and reveal brighter skin.
I massaged SCRUB into dry and clean skin and let it sit for the recommended 2-5 minutes while I read my Kindle, which may have turned into 5-10 minutes because I got absorbed in my book. After I washed it off, I was happy to see that my skin wasn’t red at all. Instead, it was softer and smoother to the touch, and I felt like products absorbed better into my skin. This is a wonderful product for summer because I feel like our skin goes through so much. It gets covered in sunscreen, makeup on top of sunscreen, sweat, and more sweat (hello Vancouver heat wave). It’s very satisfying to rub an exfoliant over your face to take all of that off. Last weekend, after a long walk outside, I came home (where our thermometer read 31 deg C) and rubbed SCRUB all over my face, neck, legs and arms, and had the most satisfying shower ever. Afterwards I moisturized and my skin felt great. The Linné Botanicals SCRUB face mask is a great feature product, and I recommend it.
Naturallogic UNMASK Detox Hydration Mask / When Mapleblume posted previews of the June box on Instagram, I was immediately intrigued by the shiny, all-black mask. It was the coolest mask I’ve ever seen. Charcoal is all the rage right now and it’s in everything from smoothies to brioche to lemonade. The Naturallogic UNMASK Detox Hydration Mask uses the detoxifying properties of charcoal to deeply cleanse and draw out impurities. However, unlike traditional “mud” masks that dry on the skin, Naturallogic wanted to create a mask that was detoxifying without being drying. It doesn’t contain clays or powders. Rather, it contains aloe vera juice and essential oils to plump and moisturize the skin. It also contains AHA’s to gently exfoliate.
UNMASK is one of the most unique masks I’ve ever tried. It was interesting to apply because the texture is unique. It takes a little bit of practice to scoop it out out of the jar with your fingers. There was none of that pulling and tightness that you get from detoxifying mud masks. In fact, it felt really nice. The most noticeable result was how moisturized my skin felt after I washed it off, much more so than your typical sheet mask. A product that pulls out gunk out of my pores and moisturizes my skin? Yes please.
Luxe Botanics Camu Brightening Mist / I love facial sprays/toners, and for me it’s essential to apply/spray/pat a layer of toner after cleansing and before cream. This dewy floral mist from Luxe Botanics contains camu camu, a Brazilian superfruit with skin brightening properties and more vitamin C than the acai berry. The vitamin-C-loaded mist also contains rose water, sodium hyaluronate and essential oils to calm and soothe irritation. This is a lovely product that feels wonderful to spray this on my face after I apply makeup or when I’m taking a computer break. A few fancy spritz of this always gave me a nice dewy glow.
Trust Fund Beauty nail polish in Freudian Slip / The two beauty products in the June box – the nail polish and lip gloss – go perfectly together. Both can be described as violet or light purple, and both are beautiful colors. Trust Fund Beauty formulates products that are non-toxic, vegan and cruelty-free. Their nail colors are formulated without the toxins found in most nail polishes. For people who love to wear nail polish like myself, it’s something we apply and breathe in almost every week. It’s important to use a non-toxic formulation. Freudian Slip is a very pretty violet that looks great on hands. It would be perfect for bridesmaids (can you tell wedding planning is on my mind?) I’ve tried the classic red “I love my #selfie” color from the same line. Both apply well and have a nice consistency.
Au Naturale Cosmetics High Lustre Lip Gloss in Ultra / The Au Naturale lip gloss in Ultra is described as a “a sheer electric orchid”. It’s a color I wouldn’t have gravitated towards, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it looked! I don’t own any colors like it, so it’s certainly different than what I’m used to seeing (I usually wear colors pretty close to my natural lip color). That’s the beauty of makeup isn’t it? While I appreciate that the lip gloss contains 100% natural ingredients (very important for something you end up ingesting), it’s not the best lip gloss formula I’ve ever tried. I’m not a fan of the smell, and it highlighted the dry areas of my lips and made my lips drier. I’ve used Au Naturale’s Swipe-on Essential Eye Pencil (reviewed here), which knocked it out the park in terms of formula and color. I literally used and sharpened that eye pencil down to a nub, it was that good. Based on my experience with the eye pencil, I would still recommend Au Naturale products.
It was my pleasure to review another great Mapleblume box, and I hope I’ve introduced you to some new brands and products that you’d like to try in the future. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or recommendations. There are just a few more June boxes left. Get your June Mapleblume box and subscribe to receive the August box here.