**REVIEW** Walmart Beauty Box (Classic Spring 2018)

Wow! Walmart really surprised me with this box. It's my first one and I was not expecting to be this happy with it.

I happened to have received my Birchbox for May today at the same time the Walmart box arrived. I thought for sure that, next to Birchbox, the Walmart box wouldn't hold up. I was so wrong. Not only did the Walmart box hold some real goodies, but it was right up there with Birchbox. Consider this: the Walmart box is $5 and comes on a quarterly basis. Birchbox was good this time, but Walmart definitely held its own.

These are the photos, because you know I always take some. And first off, the box was presented as nicely as, say, Birchbox.

Simple and kind of elegant

 Then, it got nicer as I opened the simple and elegant outer box to see more care in presentation.

 When I undid the tissue, I was really kind of wowed. This was a really packed box.

I was thinking, "Look at you, Walmart..." Like I said, there wasn't a disappointing item in the box. Let's see them one by one:


The Dove Exfoliating Body Polish is priced at $5.93 for a 10.5oz jar on Walmart.com and comes in 3 formulations: the Crushed Macadamia & Rice Milk that was in my box; Kiwi Seeds & Cool Aloe; and Pomegranate Seeds & Shea Butter. The box sample was a 1oz (30g) size. I'm not a huge fan of using anything exfoliating on my skin, but I might try this on my awful feet.

Dove Exfoliating Body Polish

 Next up, from a brand I hadn't heard of or noticed before is this Hello toothpaste. I got the Sensitivity Relief formula of Soothing Mint & Coconut Oil. Sounds interesting, right? Well, so does the Mojito Mint flavor I saw online... Looks like the full-sized tubes come in a few different sizes, including a toddler version. My sample was a .85oz (24.1g) tube and the 4oz tube online is currently priced at $4.82.

One of the most interesting items was this Advanced Therapy Ointment Body Spray by Aquaphor. I am always on the lookout for good moisturizers and I gave this a try right away. Love it. I got a .86oz (24.5g) sample and it doesn't take a lot to cover a large area of skin. The 3.7oz is priced at $9.97 and there are options for purchasing multi-packs of the 3.72oz size.

Some of you all know that I love me some Aussie Moist products, but I have never tried the hairsprays. When I saw this 24-hour Hold Mega Hairspray, I was leery and mentioned it to my niece. She mentioned that she will set her Bantu styling knots with a light spray so that her curls hold through the day. I gave it a try tonight when I did my twists for tomorrow. I will have to wait to see how this spray worked, but I can tell you that it smells good. I mean, it is an aerosol spray but it has a nicer scent than most. My sample was a 1.5oz (42g) Level 1 Flexible Hold. The 14oz size is priced at $3.43. I can work with that.

Another beauty product that I'm not fond of in general is facial masks - of almost any kind. I tend to use oils and serums on my face for cleansing and toning. This is an Acai Berry Revitalizing Sleeping Mask. I really will be leery of leaving something on my face overnight, but I will give this a patch-test try and get back to you. I can't even correctly pronounce the word "Acai" to tell the truth. The sample is a .35oz (10g size) and that's the same size sold online for $2.50.

I've tried shower lotions before so I was kind of familiar with the idea of this Jergens Natural Glow Wet Skin Moisturizer. It's the "natural glow" part that makes this interesting. I got the 2oz (59mL) size for "fair to medium" skin tones. I have to say that this will be fun to try. The 7.5oz (221mL) size is $8.64 and there seem to be different sizes (and prices) that you can look at when you check for your shade.

 Another product I can't wait to try is the  Foam Conditioner by Pantene. I got a 1.4oz (4.g) sample of the "Sheer Volume" formula. There are formulas for several hair types and desired results with a price of  $5.97 each for 6oz containers.

I thought it was pretty cool that there was a 3-day Rembrandt (teeth) Whitening Boost Kit included since 3 days is what's suggested to see some results. In addition to the 3-day sample, Walmart included a $2 coupon towards the purchase of a 1-week kit. Seeing as how those kits run just over $22, that coupon is going to be great for someone who was thinking of trying the full week. I have a crown that is sensitive so the 3 days is a good enough trial for me.

Last up is another coupon and one that I will most definitely be using. It's for a free (FREE) box of Nice 'n Easy Hair Color. And they aren't playing about the "free" part. The coupon will cover a purchase up to $8.99 and the online price (always higher than in-store prices) is running at $7.99. Oh yeah! That one coupon paid me back and some for the subscription box cost.

Here's the thing: when I first heard of the Walmart box, a lot of the reviews gave the impression that it was just full of cheap items from the Travel-sized item section of the store. In reality, the sample sizes are generous and I had not even heard of two of the products (the Aquaphor and the Hello brand toothpaste), so there.

Maybe this was just a really good box, but the items more than paid for the subscription and I can use every single item in it (okay, except for the overnight mask). And even with the mask that I will only patch test, there was not one moment of disappointment like there was with the Sephora box.

Another good thing is that this box is $20 for the year and I can afford it. I sure hope Walmart doesn't start trying to compete with the pricier boxes if it means raising the subscription. Oh, and I don't want to forget that subscribers get to enter to win a $500 Walmart gift card by filling out a questionnaire type survey of the box. Done and done.

Peace
--Free




Note 1: I was not compensated for this review, nor was I requested to do the review.
Note 2: The prices shown are current for the date this post was written and taken from the online store.