My Ebony Box…Yay or Nay?

Hello, lovely people! The month of May was quite an interesting one for me in many ways. I’ve been working on a number of projects and decluttering a number of areas in my life, which explains my lack of presence in the bloggersphere. I was also mulling over some personal matters that were grating at my heart and I reached a point where I had to tell myself, either I make some drastic changes or just accept the way things are, the good, the bad and the ugly!

One of the changes that I made was to start investing more time into ‘Self-care’. Sometimes, when you’re focusing on the needs of others you can easily fall into the trap of abandonment. I knew that I was becoming a shadow of my former self when I was becoming complacent with my skin care, dental hygiene and hair! Yes, there were many days that I literally threw on a decrepit looking wig on top of my overly matted, higgy haggardy canerows like it was a hat!

Apart from my need to activate the ‘self-love’ button in my life, I really wanted to start focusing on supporting more new independent businesses. I have always been interested in subscribing to a beauty box of some sort, but I’ve never felt fully convinced that the items in the box would be of any use to me. So, when I discovered My Ebony Box, the UK’s first lifestyle black beauty box, I had to join the bandwagon and get myself one!

As a woman of colour born and bred in the United Kingdom, I’m always on the lookout for good and affordable hair and beauty products.

Please note, this review is 100 percent my own and I have not been endorsed, sponsored coerced or brainwashed into sharing my opinions. Also, for my ‘Anti-Affiliate Link Crusaders’, there are no affiliate links attached to my blog…well not yet, so, click a link, get some more info and have fun! 🙂

The packaging

I loved the fact that they addressed the box to me as Queen [insert my full name], which was lovely and aroused my interest even more for the contents inside. The black box was quite sturdy and easy to open from the sides, and I was brimming with excitement once I clocked my eyes on some full-size products!

1.Luxury Shea by Aiko Naturals 

This mini jar of wonders has resuscitated the overly dry and unkempt areas of my body. My skin has been praising God for its renewed lustre and suppleness after being saturated in Shea goodness! What I love about this cream is that it is a mixture of great natural ingredients such as pomegranate seed, shea butter, frankincense, lavender, juniper berry, lemon and coconut oil. I also loved the fact that it didn’t have the strong nutty and sometimes pungent scent that unrefined shea butter has.

2. The Bea Skincare Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser 

The Bea Skincare Exfoliating Cleanser has been quite helpful in evicting two stubborn spots that refused to vacate my T-zone area. It has a light gel-like consistency that was easy to apply to my face and didn’t leave me with a chalky or rubbery texture I often get with other beauty cleansers. I’m usually mistaken for an oily frying pan during the summer (thanks to overly sebaceous glands) so the cleanser has helped to remove the impurities without stripping away all of my natural oils. According to their website, it costs £29.00 which I personally think is a bit on the pricey side and at the moment would flog my bank account! However, if you’re skin is in need of instant gratification, then, by all means, bring out those coins as you won’t be disappointed with the results.

3.Nicholle Kobi Art Print

My Nicholle Kobi Art Print has found its way into an old Desenio frame and has just taken my mantelpiece from 50 to 100! I love the chic looking melanin sisters in the art print with the iconic London skyline landmarks in the background. I’m a new fan of her work and couldn’t stop ‘oohing’ at her collection of prints on her website.

4.Tropical Paradise Preserves – Scotch Bonnet Sauce

How has my appetite survived all these years without this concoction of wonders?! The spicy sauce is a concoction of deliciously sweet onions, sugar and white vinegar and quite hot and spicy scotch bonnet peppers. It would have been nice if the bottle was a lot bigger than the travel size but I guess it’s ideal for stashing in your bag without occupying too much space. There have been many times that I’ve been to questionable food joints and this little bad boy would have been pulled out in a second to revive some dry food! Despite the way that it tantalised my taste buds, I was expecting it to be a lickle more hot and fiery, but the flavour that the sauce has given to my eggs, chicken and rice dishes is awesome! I can assure you that after splashing some of this amber loveliness on your food you will be shouting ‘IRIE Man!’ at the top of your lungs and doing the Bogle! Check out their website here.

5.Shea and Coconut Oil

When I first saw the bottle I was quite excited and jiggling around like a Duracell bunny. I’m not going to lie, I wanted and expected to have some full-size health and beauty product in the box and I wanted it to be something that was going to put a smile on my face. I love the bubble gum sweet scent and the fact that it has no petrolatum, mineral oil, sulfates, phthalates, colourants or parabens. It gave my hair some shine and made my hair quite manageable especially when I was detangling it, however my love for this product slowly dissipated. I didn’t understand why the ‘oil’ still sat on the top of my hair with mini bubbles. I was expecting it to melt into my cuticles like all of the other oils I’ve used in the past, but it took quite a bit for it to penetrate my hair.It also left a hard to rub off residue on my hands. Maybe I need to reread the instructions again but I personally felt like it was more of a pre-poo/ conditioner than an everyday hair moisturiser. A plus has to be the highly informative mini booklet which tells you more about the product and how to care for your hair type.

6.Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil – Gold

I was quite surprised to see the Rimmel eye pencil in the box as it’s a well known high street brand. I knew from the get-go that it was going to be a good product as I’ve purchased a number of their items in the past. The gold kajal pencil was easy to apply and the colour brought out my dark brown eyes. Unlike a number of high street makeup brands, it was quite long lasting and was able to win the battle against my oily eyelids!

7.Queen Pencil Case/Cosmetic Case

I love the bold gold print, the curvy stripes and the constant reminder that I am an African Queen from a long line of Queens!

Conclusion

So, would I fork out twenty-five quid and buy another My Ebony Box?

Of course! Please watch this space for another unboxing.

The total value of the products are well over forty pounds and I sincerely felt that I got more than what I paid for. Above all, opening up the box put a smile on my face and got me excited. I needed this box of treats especially after such a challenging month and it’s nice to treat yourself once in a while. From the get-go the customer service was great and I appreciated the email notifications that kept me informed about my delivery and dispatch status. I also love the fact that I’m supporting a new business that caters to a niche group of people.

I hope you found this post helpful and maybe inspire you to subscribe to My Ebony Box.

Thanks for stopping by and please don’t forget to like, follow or share and as always leave a comment! I would love to read your thoughts about the products. Have you tried any of the products from the box? Do you think the My Ebony Box is worth subscribing to? 🙂