Allure Beauty Box Review – September 2018

I love makeup! Whether it’s wearing it, purchasing it, or learning about it, makeup and beauty products fascinate me. All the different products, brands, formulas and colors – there is so much to beauty! I’m not sure about you, but I hate purchasing a full-size product, using it and then finding out I HATE it! What’s worse is when you can’t return it after you discover you don’t like it. That’s where the beauty box subscriptions come in handy. You get to try out products and decide for yourself if you like them or not and whether you want to purchase them in the future. If you go to the Sephora site (or even the store), you’ll notice the red “Allure” symbols on various products. These are “Best of Beauty Award Winners” chosen by Allure. Knowing this, I was really excited to start receiving the Allure Beauty Box Subscription Boxes.

When I signed up, I actually received two boxes during the same month – the August 2018 and September 2018 Allure Beauty Boxes. The September 2018 Allure Beauty Box included makeup, skin and hair products and they were mostly products I was excited to receive and try out! It included the following items in the box:

M.A.C. Lipstick in Lustering (or Ruby Woo)

I received the M.A.C. Lipstick in the color Lustering and it’s so pretty! While I was hoping for Ruby Woo, I still think that Lustering is a pretty color! Lustering is a glossy, watermelon pink – when it won its Best of Beauty Award, it was deemed as “not an all-or-nothing bright.” You can do one swipe for a sheer pink stain or keep layering to dial up to a bolder fuschia. If you received Ruby Woo in your box, you already know it’s the matte cherry to end all matte cherries. It racked up an Allure Best of Beauty Award, three Readers’ Choice Awards, and (give or take) 3,674,591 makeup-artist recommendations. The opaque color has blue undertones that flatter every skin tone and make your teeth sparkle, as if a drop of coffee has never passed your lips. It’s great when it’s paired with black liquid eyeliner, mascara, brow gel, and strategic concealer.

Price: $18.50

Where to buy it: Maccosmetics.com

Tarte Tarteist Pro Lash Adhesive in Clear

A lot of lash glues come in little squeezy tubes that can leave you dealing with too much of a good thing. This one comes with a slim brush – swipe it along the base of your fakes and you’ll always get the perfect amount of evenly distributed sticky stuff. “And the formula is thinner than other glues I’ve tried, which also helps prevent dripping or blobbing,” says Kathleen Suico, beauty assistant and resident lash editor at Allure. After you’ve painted it on the strip, give it a few seconds to turn tacky before you continue. Don’t delay after that, though: Once you press the glue on, you only have a few seconds to make adjustments before it dries and locks those lashes in a place. “It kept my strips on all day – and it was a day that included a spin class – and removal was easy: just a quick tug at the outer corners and they came right off.” Like all of Tarte’s products, the glue is cruelty-free and made without parabens, phthalates, and mineral oil.

Price: $9

Where to buy it: Tartecosmetics.com

Tarte Tarteist Pro Girl Boss Lashes

These lashes are gorgeous with a capital G! Long and full and lush, they’re perfect for anytime you want a really sexy, really dramatic effect. “And they make your eyes look huge in pictures,” says Suico, who considers them her go-to lashes for Instagram. The first time you take them out of the box, hold each end between your thumb and forefinger and give them a little wiggle; this will loosen them up so they can really hug your lash lines. You may also want to trim the inner corners so they only extend across about three-quarters of your lids and can’t poke your tear ducts (like we said: they’re long and full). Coat the strips with the Tarte lash glue, tilt your head back, and press them onto your lash lines, working from the outer corners in. After each use, clean them with makeup remover so you can get more mileage out of the set. (These haven’t won a Best of Beauty Award, but the Tarte lash adhesive that’s in the box has, and they weren’t gonna give us glue without lashes to go with it!)

Price: $12

Where to buy it: Tartecosmetics.com

Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial

Your Allure Beauty Box will include either Drunk Elephant’s T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial or Lala Retro Whipped Cream – when it won Best of Beauty in 2016, they said it “turns lackluster skin luminous with a creamy blend of oils.” It would be fair to assume that T.L.C. stands for tender loving care: This creamy, fragrance-free peel has earned its burgeoning cult status (and 2017 Best of Beauty Award) for being as gentle as it is effective. But the acronym actually refers to tartaric, lactic, and citric acids – three of its skin-brightening, pore-tightening ingredients. (Glycolic and salicylic acids round out the list.) Another fun fact: It won its Allure prize in their naturals category, which means it’s free of parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, and eight other not-so-green ingredients. There’s not an editor at Allure who doesn’t use this stuff, but digital editor Sarah Kinonen is perhaps its biggest fan: “I have very sensitive skin, so normally I can’t use peels. This one only leaves me a little red for the first few hours, and it’s helped fade my acne scars.”

Price: $80

Where to buy it: Drunkelephant.com

IGK Rich Kid Coconut Oil Gel

Want your hair to feel entitled? Spoil it with a dollop (or two) of this silky cream-gel hybrid. It infuses straight hair with piecey texture, enhances God-given waves and curls, and smells fancy (like bermot and lemon zest). “I love how it makes my fine curls tousled, not stiff or tacky,” says Devon Abelman, digital beauty reporter at Allure. “I rake it through my damp hair, do a little scrunching for extra oomph, and air-dry. My curls stay defined and frizz-free for three full days.”

Price: $29

Where to buy it: Igkhair.com

The Allure monthly beauty box is a lot of fun and a great price! I really loved the Allure September Beauty Box and can’t wait to share with you what comes in the October box!!!

Do you receive the Allure beauty box? What do you like about it?
What was your favorite item in the September 2018 box?