Althea Gold Sparkling Unboxing + Video
Hi everyone! So I'm starting to get into videos, hope you can all visit my YT channel, Beauty By Tellie. I have a new video there about the Althea Gold Sparkling Unboxing. Hope you can check it out, like and subscribe <3
So I got this box on a whim, when Rowena of animetric.net shared on Facebook that she'd be getting the Althea Gold Sparkling Box (PHP 1330, worth 5460 for 75% off in Althea.) Of course I couldn't be showed up. I am the Subscription Boxes Queen so I had to get mine as well.
The holiday edition boxes were released just in time for Christmas. You have Gold, Black and Red, which I'll be filming because as Subscription Boxes Queen, I got all of them. I'm going with the Gold first because it was the first one I purchased.
My "big hit" item with the Gold Box, i.e. the reason I'm buying it, is the TWO Chica-Y-Chico palettes. Normally, whenever there's two variations possible, the buyer receives a random selection among the options. This is the first time I've seen Althea offer TWO of anything. I know Marielle has tried some Chica-Y-Chico items and has liked them, so that was enough for me to put my trust, faith, hope and dreams into this box. On top of the TWO PALETTES, you get five more items for about PHP 300 and to me, it's such a steal. The whole box is worth PHP 5440, so that's a whopping 75% off because you pay just PHP 1330.
Note: Like I've always said, I'm pretty adventurous with makeup. I'll try anything. But boxes are not for everyone especially those who have specific wish lists they'd rather put their money towards. That's fine, and super logical even! But I have an illogical joy with the complete box experience so I will continue to buy into them, please don't try to rationalize it with me :)
On with the contents! Here's the items in order of favorites (I discussed them in order of usage in the video):
Chica-Y-Chico One Shot Eye Palette in Day Drink: The mattes (2nd, 4th, and 6th are patchy)
Chica-Y-Chico One Shot Eye Palette in Wine Burgundy is more consistent, with only the purple (6th) not being perfect. That's fine, because violet is the most difficult shade to get correctly, and is one of my benchmarks for quality makeup. At the consumer level, I don't have extremely high expectations on the accuracy of violets.
Chica-Y-Chico One Shot Eye Palette in Day Drink and Wine Burgundy (PHP 580 each). I love the inclusions in this palette, both color-wise and texture-wise. I love that it has mattes, shimmers, and glitters in each huge-ass pan. I think it can create so many different looks. The only downside is that the matte transition shade is patchy, but that's the expectation with drugstore shadows.
Leaguertox Gold Foil Seethrough Illumination Mask and Laniege Snow Gold Skincare Sample Set
Leaguertox Gold Foil Seethrough Illumination Mask (PHP 50 each) is a two-part mask which I think I failed to use step 1 properly. Step 1 consists of 4 strips you can put on your forehead, undereyes or laugh lines, but I didn't know how long to keep them on for and how exactly they worked.
The step 2 sheet mask had a thick, smooth sheet and thick essence. The motion capture feels of the metallic gold hexagon design is a fun plus. I loved it so much, I wish there was more! It's also not bad at PHP 50 each, when the last time I went shopping for sheet masks, I found the thin-essence, scratchy-sheet types at PHP 40-60 each.
Onsaemeein Lumiere Gold Daily Cream (PHP 480). This mask has 24k gold and propolis, a honey-derived compound. I trust honey more than gold when it comes to skincare benefits, so the visible gold flakes here weren't really a wow for me. I do like that it feels like a traditional Korean cream: where moisture sits on top and it's thick enough to seal the rest of my skincare.
And now we come to the meh items:
The Petitfree Gold & EGF Eye Spot Patch (PHP 460) isn't actually a 'meh' but more of a 'mixed feelings' item.
Each circle sheet is cut out with a spot patch in the middle, and the outer ring is split into two, meant for the under eyes. I appreciate a spot patch, but I don't like how the eye rings leave my undereyes bare. I like using hydrogel eye patches in lieu of sheet masks because they cover the most crucial areas (undereyes and cheeks) without the stress of keeping the mask on.
With the Petitfree patches, it's not much different than a regular sheet mask with eye cutouts... except the rest of your face isn't masked.
The Nakeup Face C-Cup Lip Tox-Tick in 03 Stealer (PHP 660) was a huge letdown! I thought the color would be so nice, but it didn't end up matching my Gold Box Look. I really wish I'd gotten a nuder color, this color just feels off to me. Otherwise, the lippie has a a soft matte finish that promises to last for 27 hours - which I doubt. It does drag and pull, as you can see in the photo, and I found it weird since it wasn't loaded with pigment anyway.
Lastly, the only dud here is the Missha Gold Snow Line Skincare Sample. I only really liked the moisture-gel format toner. While the emulsion and essence layer nicely together, the emulsion smelled like cigarettes and was a little too thick. The cream, on the other hand, was a little watery.
Althea's boxes offer huge savings, and I think as long as the value of your big hit item exceeds the selling price, it will be super worth it!
