Hi everyone! Do you remember a little while back when I reviewed the new nailbox in April? Well they’ve been super kind, and sent me the new June box to review! If you read my previous review you’d know that I’m quite a fan of this box, and the June instalment does not disappoint 🙂
So if you haven’t heard of it yet, nailbox is a monthly nail polish subscription that includes three or four nail colours, and one or two nail tools or treatments. It’s currently the only mainstream monthly nail polish subscription box in the UK, and so far they’ve been doing great with the selections included (in my books anyway!)
This box will be dispatched on 21st June, so you still have a little time to order but stocks are limited, apparently!
Products included in June 2015 nailbox:
- Nails Inc Colville Mews Gel Effect
- Tanya Burr by Eye Candy Mischief Managed
- Essie Roarrrrange
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
- Elegant Touch Professional Cuticle Nipper
All the nail polishes are full size.
Nails Inc Colville Mews Gel Effect
This is a loooooovely bone colour creme nail polish. It’s a long while since I’ve tried Nails Inc as they always strike me as expensive, so I haven’t tried the Gel Effect nail polishes before either. I’ve been wearing this since I received the box a few days ago, and it lasts really well! It does look like a soak-off gel polish too, as it’s ‘plump’ and very glossy. My only complaint is that I found it hard to angle my hand for this photo, lol :P. Oh and FYI, the rectangle lid pops off to leave a grippy cap underneath, so application with that is fine.
Application: Perfect perfect perfect! This is totally opaque in 2 coats and applies smoothly and evenly. Can you tell I’m really quite in love? It also dries quickly, and to a lovely high shine.
Tanya Burr by Eye Candy Mischief Managed
This is a pink-toned bright red… jelly? It’s not a true jelly because it’s not sheer enough, but it’s not a creme either, so I’m going for crelly (half way between the two!). This is the kind of red I love to wear with an all-black outfit for a bright pop of colour.
Application: The polish is opaque in 2 coats, and dries to a lovely glossy finish. It dries fairly quickly, and applies evenly. The square cap made neat application a tiny bit finicky, and the formula is a touch on the thin side so it’s easy to flood your cuticles. What I’m trying to say is, don’t apply it after a glass of wine!
Essie Roarrrrange
This is a dark (but bright) orange creme – it leans slightly red which makes it a little unusual, I actually quite like it, which is unusual for me as I don’t often wear orange nail polish. It definitely makes me feel summery!
Application: This applied really well – totally even and opaque in 2 coats. This one also dries fairly quickly and to a nice glossy finish.
Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat
This is a bit of a cult favourite topcoat, which I’ve actually been dying to try out for a loooong time! It really does dry your nails rock solid very quickly – I’d say inside 15 minutes you can go about your normal activities without worrying about dents even. Needless to say I’m impressed. It’s very glossy too, like VERY glossy.
On the downside – Seche Vite Topcoat is well known for shrinking your nail polish (where you start to see tipwear very quickly), so always wrap the tips of your nails with nail polish – this will aid longevity. It does also smell very strongly, and contains Toluene so if you have allergies or concerns I wouldn’t advise you use it. For the smell issue just apply near an open window or in a ventilated room and it shouldn’t be a problem. For me personally, I’m not concerned and will probably be re-purchasing it when I’ve run out of this bottle 🙂 – I’m pretty impressed with it!
The nail art is using all 4 polishes from this nailbox 🙂 I also used MoYou Doodles Plate 03.
Elegant Touch Professional Cuticle Nipper
I feel like Cuticle Nippers are either a love or throwaway item, depending on whether you are a fan of cuticle nipping yourself or if you don’t like doing it at all. I must admit, it’s not something I’ve ever really used before, and I’ve only had my cuticles did once during a professional manicure. Luckily my cuticles don’t tend to misbehave much so I’ve never really felt the need – so this is new to me.
The product itself feels really good quality – the little swivel thing in the right hand image spins around to create a sort of spring mechanism which makes the nippers feel firm and easy-to-use (although I couldn’t for the life of me find out what it was for until I finally swivelled it round enough to actually use it lol – I feel Elegant Touch could benefit from putting this in their instructions!). The nipper part is sharp and tends to nip fully in one go. Remember, never pull at your cuticles!
I reckon it’s a good product to have, even if you don’t use it often. I may have to report back on my usage though, as I am terrible at keeping a nail care routine!
Price value
Is £15 worth it? Do you get that value and more from the box?
I’ve shopped around a bit and the lowest prices I can find for each item (in actual e-shops excluding eBay) are as follows – linked:
- Nails Inc Colville Mews Gel Effect – £14 (! Am I looking in all the wrong places?!)
- Tanya Burr by Eye Candy Mischief Managed – £4.49
- Essie Roarrrrange – £5.95 (although Essies often pop up for around £2.50 so we’ll count it at £2.50)
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat – £3.25 ex. VAT
- Elegant Touch Professional Cuticle Nipper – £4.50
So the total value in this box is £28.74. I reckon that’s pretty good going, given that the most you can ever pay for a single box is £15, and even if you bought all of the above items at their cheapest price you would need to factor in delivery costs.
How it all works
Dispatch day is 21st of each month.
How much?
For a one-off subscription, nailbox charges £15. If you choose a 3 month plan, it’s £14.50 per box, 6 months = £14 per box, and 12 months = £13.50 per box. The plans are prepaid options. You can see the pricing here.
Delivery
Delivery is included in the cost of the box, and it’s sent by Royal Mail 48 Tracked Delivery (so in theory should take 2 days to get to you, from dispatch day on 21st of each month).
Additional info
All nailbox subscribers will be entitled to a 15% discount from nailpolish.co.uk by using a code at the checkout. Any other info is available through their FAQ page here.
Overall
Okay you may be able to tell already but I’m pretty chuffed with this box. I’ve been wanting Seche Vite for a loooong time, and the Nails Inc has sold me on it too. And even if I bought those two individually, I would almost certainly pay more than the cost of a one-off box. So for me, it’s definitely worth it. Even if you don’t like a colour, you could always use them as gifts 🙂
I think someone commented last time I reviewed the box that the products are all ‘old releases’ – i.e. there’s nothing from new and recent collections, but personally that’s not something that bothers me. I think if it worries you, it’s better to go for the one-off boxes for just a little extra each month – that way you will see what you’re getting before you buy.
I think the value for money is great, and if I wasn’t already swimming in more nail polish than a single human will need in a lifetime I would definitely sign up (but I’ve made a moral promise to myself to downsize before I buy even more, lol).
So, will you be signing up? Let me know in the comments! For an easy link – you can sign up here. If you want to keep up to date with nailbox, you can follow their Facebook here, their Instagram here or their Twitter here.