We cannot put into words how excited we were when this hot-pink package landed on our doorstep! We’d loved every review of MeMeBoxes that we’d seen and only heard brilliant things about them!
For the uninitiated, Memeboxes are Korean non-subscription boxes. They sell out very fast and you have to buy them blind, without knowing the contents. Often the description is very vague, but sometimes the boxes are themed. This was one of their more general Global collections. Or so we thought.
As we have a focus on products that work well for people of Oriental ethnicity, we were particularly excited to try out products from Korea as they might suit us better. For our first box, we thought we’d play it safe and get a Global box as it should be suitable for everyone…right?!
However, to be brutally honest, we were disappointed and surprised by this box, because:
a) the general low quality of the products
b) some very specific products that were USELESS to us (and we felt shouldn’t be in a Global box)
c) nothing particularly ‘Korean’
d) poor selection
They often don’t ship until sometime later, so you end up in a situation where you may be waiting for several boxes. We has already ordered more boxes because of this and it made us really nervous about what they would contain.
This is an unboxing, we’ll list the items and come back and review them later 🙂 This one will always be remembered as the bad MeMeBox with the anti-hairloss treatment!
Ryo: Anti-hair Loss Treatment 50ml
Value: $3
“Infused with biota seed, coix seed, green tea and gold extracts, this hair treatment will not only prevent hair loss but also re-energize and strengthen thin, damaged hair. Its excellent cooling formula will gently soothe and noursh your scalp at the same time.”
BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: What is this doing in a global collection? This is a very niche product that is also very hard to gift to a friend. Great if you do have problems with thinning hair (if it works), but we will have no use for this product so is a waste of space and money. This type of product should only be included in a specific hair-related box, or should be hinted at in the description. Bad MeMeBox!
Banila Co: Claypatra Mineral Salt Clay Pack 12g
Value: $2.52
“100% pure mud extracted from the Dead Sea (consisting of 32% salt and minerals) effectively removes any excess sebum, dead skin and external pollutants clogging up your pores. The mineral-rich formula also delivers deep hydration and nourishment to the skin.”
BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: This is the only product we were particularly excited about receiving. We’ve heard good things about this mask and look forward to trying it out. At least the box is not a total write-off!
Plagentra: White Mark Cream 15g
Value: $5.70
“Ever been stressed over stretch marks on yhour melly or on your thighs? Plagentra’s White Mark Cream will be your life-saver. With its scientifically approved formula to treat overly stretched skin and balance out any uneven skin tone on your body.”
BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: Erm, pretty indifferent to this. Will try it but again it’s pretty specific. Might be useful if it works on age spots though.
Plagentra: White Mark Lotion, Cream, Massage Gel (3 x 3ml sachets)
Value: $3.42
“Ever been stressed over stretch marks on your belly or on your thighs? Plagentra’s White Mark products will be your life-saver, with its scientifically approved formula to treat overly stretched skin and balance out any uneven skin tone on your body.”
BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: Meh. These samples are not big enough to be worth including. Especially as this type of product only shows benefit over long term use.
L.vida: Nail Polish 10ml
Value $7 (full size product)
“L.vida’s popular nail polish line comes in vibrant, trendy colours, each packaged with a lovely flower bouquet around its neck. These nail colours are highly acknowledged for their high-end, long-lasting fnish as well”
BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: If it is long lasting, then this would have been OK if we hadn’t received Neon Orange…but still hardly exciting
Inter-cos: Smooth Sensitive Removal Cream 250ml
Value: $43 (full size product)
“This unique spray-type removal cream allows you to remove any unwanted hair from even the most sensitive areas of the body.”
BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: Another item that is useless to us (is not our chosen method of hair removal), cannot be gifted easily and we feel should only be in themed boxes. And worth $43? Really MeMeBox?
Palan: Crysence Organic Essence 120ml
Value: $72 (full size product)
“Highly praised by beauty experts and hair designers, Palan’s famous hair essence is a non-greasy lotion type treatment for dry, damaged hair that you don’t have to wash off. Made from natural herbal ingredients, it’s extremely gentle and deeply moisturizing.”
BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: The second (of two) products that we are looking forward to trying…if it works at all. The design looks cheap, but we will keep an open mind and report back 🙂
OVERALL VERDICT:
What a terrible box! With MeMeBox Global boxes, we think most people hope to get a combination of Korean beauty trends that can be used by most of their customers. This box had too many specific products that meant it was mainly a waste of money. Luckily we had already ordered other boxes as otherwise, we would not still be a customer of MeMeBox. MeMeBox – you really let yourself down with this box!
Our main conclusions were a) you you should be including some higher end products or having a better overall average of quality as most of these are the types you would find in the ‘junk beauty shops’ in Asia b) if you are including very niche products in a ‘general’ collection, you should hint at it in the description or keep these items for themed boxes c) you cannot just chuck any items into a box – you need to curate them so they are an exciting collection. We know this is not normal for MeMeBox and hope this is not a sign of things to come.
On top of it all, there is a type – the introduction sentence on the card describes Global 10 not 12! Only way it could be worse is if tamp;ons were included (see Global 13!!) Bad MeMeBox! Go away and write 100 x “Must do better…”
Box price: $23 + $6.99 shipping
Total value: $136.64 (however, we find it hard to believe the $43 quoted value for the hair removal cream)
Note: We paid for this MeMeBox with our own hard-earnt pennies
Interested in trying out MeMeBox? Use the link below to get $5 off all orders over $100 or check the referrals & deals page for other offers on specific boxes.