A Beauty Box With A Difference

Barely a year ago, we didn’t even have one beauty box subscription service and now we have plenty to choose from to the point where the market is almost saturated. I think that first impressions are very important. If you don’t have someone at hello, i.e. at the first box they subscribe to, then in all likelihood you won’t have clamouring for your other boxes. It’s the same thing as when we meet someone for the first time, either you are impressed or not impressed. It could be down to so many factors but when it comes to beauty boxes, the selling point for me is the value. Am I getting more than what I paid for or less. I know that some of my readers prefer skincare to make-up products and if it comes down to it, so do I but even so, I am sure those of you who are more into skincare don’t mind the odd make-up item in your box.

Beauty boxes can be beneficial in many ways because they introduce us to brands we have never heard of or brands we have heard of but have never tried their products. I like to be surprised as much as the next person and I would be very glad to try something from a new brand (to me) whether it’s a local or foreign brand. I don’t have any prejudices towards local beauty brands and hope that more will emerge in time. Although most of you don’t blog, I am sure some of you are even more experienced than me when it comes to beauty products so you would also have high expectations of the contents of a beauty box. So far I have seen more or less the same kind of products in the beauty boxes I have received.

Now I would like to introduce Malaysia’s latest beauty box subscription service called Bag Of Love to you but this is no run-of-the-mill beauty box service. Firstly, it doesn’t even come in a box. It comes in a cosmetic bag which I think is more practical than a beauty box as you can bring the bag anywhere whereas you would be very unlikely to bring along one of your beauty boxes when you travel. Beauty boxes look great and some have very nice designs indeed but they take up a lot of space no matter how spacious your room is. My table is piled high with 10 beauty boxes in 2 rows and I don’t have the heart to throw any of them away. I use them for storage but they get dusty and really take up way too much space. With a pretty and well designed customised bag like Bag Of Love’s (design changes every month so you have something to look forward to other than the contents), you have something to look forward to every month other than the contents.

Secondly, the founder and creator of Bag Of Love is someone whose work I have read regularly over the past few years. She is a true-blue beauty addict and has a deep-rooted understanding and appreciation for beauty products so she will understand what beauty box consumers want or don’t want. Mi Mi Teh has spent more than half a decade as a beauty writer for some of Malaysia’s top beauty and fashion magazines. If anyone is suited for running a beauty box subscription service, it would be her. She buys and stores beauty products by the bulk. Before she goes to bed, she takes all her products out, lines them up, looks and tests them out one by one. 

Her beauty bags will carry a different array of brands (luxury to mass, local to international) because she believes every brand has something to offer (that is so in sync with Juniper’s Journal’s philosophy). Do check her website out at www.bag-of-love.com. It has a girly, vintage feel and has a character, in illustration form, who acts as the voice of the webpage. The character is there to befriend her subscribers and her style of writing is casual and friendly with a hint of humour so people would be interested to read it.

Do like her Facebook fanpage and follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Also, if you subscribe, don’t forget to share your excitement (feedbacks on products, videos of your ‘unzipping’ etc) as 3 subscribers will be chosen each month to win that month’s bag, with all full-sized items in it!

The first 50 annual subscribers will get an Anna Sui Ring Rouge! She just launched. So give her a chance, her website and social media platforms will be complete and updated soon.

I have had a sneak peek at the contents of Bag Of Love’s debut bag and although I am not at liberty to reveal its contents yet, I can tell you that it is absolutely and positively worth more than than subscription fee of RM39,90. In fact, my jaw dropped when I saw one item in the bag. Can’t tell you what it is but you will love it too. However, I can tell you that the brands you will find in the debut bag are Definite Cosmetics, Murad, Revlon Professional and Kanebo because these brands are already listed in Bag Of Love’s website. Oh yes, there is also a movie ticket in the bag. How’s that for a beauty box with a difference?