Sunday, February 15, 2015

Memebox From Jeju Value Set Review

**FYI - Memebox no longer ships to Canada.  I'll leave these reviews for posterity but any links or recommendations are sadly no longer for us :( Many of the products can be found elsewhere - check out my post on where else to shop for k-beauty products!


Memebox is a Korean Beauty Box company which used to ship worldwide.  In the last few weeks, however, they have ceased shipping anywhere outside of Korea, China and the United States.  Apparently there were issues with shipping and customs (although since customers were paying for shipping, and often paying the customs fees as well, I don't get that excuse) so they decided only to ship to those countries in which they have a physical presence.  While this is certainly their prerogative as a business, the way in which this was handled ruffled more than a few feathers in the international community.  Many long-time customers who had spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars with Memebox received an email on a Friday evening indicating the change and offering a limited time to continue to purchase items.  Those who were affiliates or who had points to use up were offered a chance to spend them before the cut-off date or a payout through PayPal.  Needless to say, there were a lot of hurt feelings (mine included, see my post on this topic) and many of us will not be returning to Memebox if/when they resume shipping to our countries.

This Value Set was ordered prior to the Canada-shut out and was almost a restock of a box I had missed out on.  I say "almost" because the "From Jeju" box included one item that was not included in this value set. . . although Memebox sent out the same product card as if it were included (and I forgot to take a picture of it).  Weird.  Anyway, this value set ended up costing a bit less than the box because of the missing item, at $19.  I'll take it :)

For those unfamiliar with the "Jeju" in "From Jeju", it is an island province of South Korea which is famous for the World Heritage Site Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes.  The climate makes for interesting plant life (some of which should be highlighted in this box!) and absolutely breathtaking pictures.  Seriously, Google it. . . I'll wait.  Finished? All right, let's get down to business.


This Value Set contains 6 items (one more than recent Memebox offerings), all of which are full size.  The missing item, for those interested, was the Jeju Hallabong Ade Energy Peeling Toner, from The Yeon, made from hallabong (a citrus fruit cultivated on Jeju Island).  While I do like a good toner, I have enough peeling products and am not too sad not to get this. . . especially considering all the great things I did receive in this set.


Skindeco Volcanic Pore Clay Heating Mask ($33 value)

This clay mask does many of the same things as other clay masks:  controls oil, removes dirt and tightens up pores.  In short, it deep cleans and soothes skin like mine. . . which is why I have another clay mask currently in use and am waiting on using this one.  The unique feature of this particular mask is that it is a heating mask which means it will heat up to draw even more gunk out of pores.  I'm looking forward to trying that out.

The Yeon Jeju Canola Honey Silky Hand Cream ($5 value)

Who doesn't need a good hand cream? While I haven't opened this yet because I have a few hand creams on the go, this will totally get used.  

Skincure SanDaWha Natural Mild Cleansing Oil ($10 value)

This little container is full size and make no mistake, a little bit of this product goes a long way.  For those unfamiliar with the idea of an oil cleanser, they are used as part of a two-step cleansing process.  An oil cleanser like this one is used on dry skin to melt away make-up and impurities, water is added to emulsify the product and then it is rinsed off.  It is then followed with another cleanser (often a foaming product).  This has a pleasant scent and does remove even waterproof make-up with ease.  I find rinsing sufficiently to be really important (especially around the eye area) even though it will be followed by another cleanser.  This is a nice product and I am excited to compare it to the oil balm cleanser I have currently making its way through customs!


Etude House Soothing & Clean Green Tea Mask Pack ($1 value)

I love sheet masks and Green Tea is one my absolute fave skin care ingredients for my skin.  Not only does it smell lovely and soothing, it is also gentle, soothing and moisturizing for my skin.  This is my favourite kind of product - I just wish there was more than one!

Secret Nature From Jeju Serum ($33 value)

A serum is generally used after an essence, before a lotion / cream (basically, skincare products sould be layered from lightest to heaviest).  This one claims to provide moisture and nutrition through its "Jeju complex" (organic broccoli, carrot, aloe and asparagus extracts).  I have a serum on the go so haven't opened this one yet but I'm excited to try it out.  The packaging on this feels luxe and I'm a sucker for a nice package (lol).

Etude House Clear & Moist Green Tea Blending Sleeping Cream ($2)

This is a sleeping pack and they are used as the last step in your nighttime routine.  For me, this means:  oil cleanse, foaming/gel/milky cleanse, essence, serum, lotion, eye cream, night cream and then this goes over top in a thin layer.  It helps to seal in the other products and many offer bonuses like intense moisture, wrinkle repair, etc.  This product comes in a little spoon package and when the handle is broken off, it becomes a spatula which can be used to mix the cream together.  While Memebox says the cream can be applied with this spatula, the packaging says not to do that so I just used my fingers.  This actually holds a lot of product - enough for 2-3 uses I would say (I did 2 but found that I also had enough to moisturize my hands and neck each time as well!).  I loved this and have already ordered more from Tester Korea (in a variety of flavours) :)

Overall Verdict:

This value set has an $84 value according to Memebox, which may well be inflated (as many of their valuations are).  For me, it is definitely worth the $19 cost.  I have loved everything I used in this box so far and have even ordered one of the products again! The items I haven't used yet sound exciting and are appropriate for my skin type - which means I will use them and won't end up giving them away.  While the toner would have been a nice addition, I don't really miss it.

As stated at the beginning of this post, this is the end of Memebox for me.  I have one more value set to review for you (the Benton Value Set) that I ordered at the same time as this one.  Beyond that, I have orders making their way here from both Rose Rose Shop and Tester Korea.  I am happy that I discovered Memebox and also kind of appreciate that I am being pushed to make my own choices about products now that I know a little more about k-beauty.  I am, however, shocked and disappointed that a company that I really liked would make such a poor decision, imho.  We'll see how it works for them.

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