|| Vain Pursuits Subscription Box Review ||

*** Note: I was sent this box to review, but this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are 100% honest and my own. ***

Handwritten Packaging:

Before I get into my review of the products I received, I want to describe the service:

Vain Pursuits offers personalized skincare formulated from natural, paraben-free, cruelty-free ingredients. When you sign up, you fill out a fairly in-depth skincare quiz asking for skin-type, concerns, goals, scent preferences, etc. The service is a monthly subscription box; for $49/month (or $44/month if you pay for 3 months at a time) you receive 3 products which could be made up of toners, cleansers, night creams, day creams, etc.

My three products, individually wrapped:

Shipping is free, and Vain Pursuits ships to Canada (where all the products are made) and the USA. After you receive your box and try out your products, you can go back to the site and give feedback on your products, which their consultants will then use to better customize future boxes. Personalization is very important to Vain Pursuits, from your personal skincare formulations to the handwritten note cards that they provide to explain your products to you.

My Product Ingredients:

Personalized product notes:

I think that’s all the important information for now about the actual service, though feel free to comment with any questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them for you!

On to my review!

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One thing that's really cool about this service is the little cards for the products providing info on the product's ingredients and a handwritten note about why this product was chosen for you along with the scent notes. Unfortunately, however, for some reason, I did not receive a card with information about my toner, which may have been a simple oversight, but I do like to know what I'm rubbing on my face! I emailed them about it, and recieved the following blurb:

Hi Kristy! Since you've got oily skin and wanted hydration and anti-aging, try this botanical toner. It's got Tamarind Seed Extract, a powerful hydrator and Japanese Green Tea reputed in rejuvenation. It's unscented for extra gentleness, but let me know if you want to add some essential oils to combat oilyness in your next box.

One critique I would add about these cards is that I would love usage info or tips. Vain Pursuits' site seems to want to make skincare easier and painfree for its customers, so usage info would be helpful. Yes, washing one's face seems simple enough, but some cleansers work best on dry skin vs. moistened skin, or some toners should be applied with a cotton pad, while others prefer you to apply them directly to the skin. It's not strictly necessary, but it might be a nice addition. For simplicity's sake, I assumed that theses were pretty basic, and used the cleanser on damp skin and wiped it off either with a wet washcloth or rinsed it off in the shower, and used the toner on a cotton pad.

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Product Reviews:

Cleanser:

The cleanser I received is a thin, milky consistancy, contains no artificial foaming agents (so it doesn't really foam up on the skin), and has a nice, light, fresh citrus scent (I added citrus as one of my prefered scents). At first I wasn't sure that the product was cleaning my skin effectively, because it is very gentle and doesn't leave my skin tight or dry feeling at all, but after using it for a while now, I find that I really do like it! As I said, it is very gentle, but still seems to effectively remove dirt from my face, as there doesn't seem to be much for my toner to clean up after I've washed my face. I love that is cleans without stripping oils, because my skin reacts to harsh cleansers by creating more oils.

Toner:

My toner has an odd scentlessness that I did not expect when I was first trying it out, as I am used to toners like witch hazel and Clinique's toners. I guess this is more like a cleansing water than an astringent like my usual toners. Honestly, I'm not sure that it does much for my skin. No strong feelings about this one. I think if I were to continue with the service, I would take them up on their offer of some sort of oil-controlling essential oils next time!

Moisturizer:

This is by far my favourite product of the ones I was sent!

Although it comes in a tub like a cream, this moisturizer is lovely and light, and smells fantastic! The card says it smells like vanilla and bergamot, but to me it smells like FrootLoops . . . in the best possible way! It's light, and doesn't linger or get annoying, though, it's just so fun! Aside from that, the cream soaks in really easily and quickly, and doesn't feel at all greasy or heavy on the skin, which I love!

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Thoughts on the Service:

1. My first thought is connected to how much I love this moisturizer: from what I can find on their site, you can't just repurchase products that you receive in boxes each month, so what happens wen you fall in love with something? I guess this is to keep you subscribing, as they would probably continue to send you a formulation if it is really working perfectly? Still, it's a little annoying that you can't just buy single products from them.

2. I'm sure many of you will agree -- and lots will also disagree -- but $49 a month for skincare is a lot of money! For me, I just don't have the income to support this service, so while I think the idea of personalized skincare is really cool, I don't plan to subscribe anytime soon. That said of course, I don't want you to think that I don't love the whole idea of Vain Pursuits. I really do think that a service that takes lifestyle, skin-type, personal preferences, and other factors and then personalizes a skincare routine to suit you is really great! If you have the funds for it, and also think that the idea of this service is great, I'd completely recommend giving it a go!

This has been a really long review, so to summarize, or for the lazy:

TL;DR: Awesome idea, well executed, great products, quite expensive. Can't afford it, but may be worth it for others!

If you're interested in signing up for this subscription, you can head over to VainPursuits.com and use one of the codes they so generously gave me to give to you guys! You can use "KRISTYVAIN1MTH" to get one month for $25 or "KRISTYVAIN" for 1 month free with a 3-month plan. Just enter the code at checkout! =)

Aside from VainPursuits.com, you can find them @vain_pursuits on twitter and instagram, or at facebook.com/vainpursuits.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to let me know if you have tried this service or if you are interested in trying it out! And feel free to ask me any questions; if I don't know the answers, I can contact the company and find out for you!