Hi everyone! Spring is here, and so is the Mapleblume May 2019 box! Mapleblume is a quarterly subscription program that ships a curated selection of luxury clean beauty products in February, May, August and November. Each box typically contains about five full size skincare and beauty products, and the value of the contents is usually very high at around $250. You can read my reviews of past boxes here. The May 2019 box contains five products – three skincare and two beauty – and has a total value of $265.20.
The May 2019 box contains:
Nuori The Supreme Moisture Mask ($105)
Pai Skincare Echium & Argan Gentle Eye Cream ($60)
Modicum Skincare Essential Cleanser ($37.40)
Vapour Organic Beauty Elixir Lip Gloss in Trust ($33.40)
Vapour Organic Beauty Mini Aura Multi Use in Spark ($29.40)
The feature product is the Supreme Moisture Mask by Danish brand Nuori. I just want to say that I want to fill my bathroom countertop with more Nuori products because, seriously, their packaging is so beautiful. Mapleblume subscribers were introduced to Nuori in the December 2018 box, which was when I became a big fan, not only of Nuori’s packaging, but of their effectiveness and the company’s philosophy around prioritizing the freshness of their ingredients. In fact, I packed Nuori’s Vital Hand Cream and used it all over my arms and legs on my wedding day.
The Supreme Moisture Mask is a highly concentrated mask that contains grape water, rosa damascena flower water, shea butter, avocado butter, and natural hyaluronic acid (just to name a few) to deeply hydrate and soothe the skin. Chamomile extract provides anti-inflammatory effects and reduces irritation. I pumped out a generous portion and smoothed it on my face. The consistency is like a thick lotion that’s easy to spread. The instructions say to leave on for 10-15 minutes or use overnight, so I left it on my face while I worked for around 30-45 min. The product is highly concentrated so I could have used a lot less, and I wish I left it on longer because it’s quite nice! After I rinsed it off my skin was definitely hydrated. Since Vancouver has been warm enough for us require air conditioning at night, I used a thin layer of it as a sleep mask and loved the results the next morning. I think Nuori is a wonderful and effective brand and hope to try more of their products.
Next is the Echium & Argan Gentle Eye Cream from Pai Skincare. If you’re like me and you don’t have echium in your beauty vocabulary, it’s a flower, and the oil derived from it is rich in omegas 3 and 6, which help smooth the skin and improve the appearance of fine lines. It’s also suitable for eczema-prone skin. It’s a great product that hydrated my eye area and didn’t irritate my eyes. My only criticism is the pump. Each pump dispensed way too much product. I used the extra elsewhere on my face but I don’t want it to run out too soon. Other than that, it’s a great eye cream for day and night and works well with makeup.
The May box has a new-to-me brand called Modicum Skincare, a plant-based skincare company created by Monica Behan as a result of her passion for nutrition and wellness. The Essential Cleanser comes out clear and has a water-like consistency, sort of like a Korean facial essence. It foams slightly when applied to wet skin. The foaming action is created by using sea kelp as a natural surfactant, which means it won’t strip skin. It also contains argan oil, apricot kernal oil, rosehip fruit oil, camellia seed oil, and many more for a total of 11 oils plus some more natural extracts.
I love how even though it contains so many oils, it’s not an oily face wash at all. I’ve used a lot of oil cleansers and this one is different. It has a slip to it that makes it really nice to use. The only less-than-perfect characteristic of this cleanser is that as soon as I put it on my face, I knew that it contained black cumin oil. Sure enough, black cumin oil is listed in ingredients. If you’ve read my other beauty reviews, you might know that I’m not a fan of the smell and whenever it’s listed in a product, it overpowers all the other smells. I know that it has anti-inflammatory effects so I should just live with it! I do wish the cleanser had a different fragrance though, because it’s a great cleanser. I always use a cotton pad soaked in toner or essence after cleansing to do a final cleanse, and after the Essential Cleanser, the cotton pad had only a tiny trace of makeup, which means the cleanser did a great job at removing makeup.
The first beauty product in the box is the Elixir Lip Gloss from Vapour Beauty in the color Trust. It’s described as a “clear warm coral” (Pantone’s Color of the Year!) and I can verify that it’s super pretty on the lips. My first impression of it as soon as I took out the applicator is that it smells amazing! I kept on sniffing it. It’s super moisturizing and not sticky at all. You don’t have the feeling that you’re wearing lip gloss. I love the sheer coral tone and it looks great on its own or layered on top of a lip stick.
Since we end up eating most of the products we put on our lips, I love that this lip gloss is made of all natural and healthy ingredients. The full list of natural ingredients is pretty impressive and too long to list here, but they include goji berry, green team, acai berry, and jojoba seed oil. I did a swatch of the lip gloss below next to the Vapour Beauty Mini Aura Multi Use stick in Spark.
Vapour Beauty Mini Aura Multi Use stick goes perfectly with the Elixir Lip Gloss. It’s a blendable lip-cheek-lid multi-use stick that can be layered for more color and coverage. Spark is a “sheer pinky peach”, which I think will flatter most skin tones. I love that it’s in a small tube I can throw in my travel makeup bag and I love how soft and blendable it is. I applied it directly on my cheeks and applied with a dense brush. Vapour Beauty recommends applying with fingertips, which works well too.
I’m really happy with the two beauty products in the May box. They’re both great formulas in universally flattering colours. I also love that the box contained a cleanser, mask, and eye cream to complete the skincare routine. It’s an amazing list of contents and if the May box is still available when you’re reading this, I recommend you get one before they sell out.
Have you used any of the brands or products in the May box? What brands would you like to see next?