- Ricky’s Cult Crushes
- What I got in my October Ricky’s Cult Crushes:
- First product: CNF Hydrating Lip Mask
- Second product: NYX Liquid Lingerie in Ruffle Trim
- Third product: Grande Stay Put Lip Liner
- Fifth product: LA Splash Lumos Highlighting Palette
- Allure Beauty Box
- What I got in my October Allure Beauty Box:
- First product: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream
- Second product: CaudalieVinopure Skin Perfecting Serum
- Third product: Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Cleanser
- Fourth product: Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment
- Fifth product: Hourglass Caution Extreme Lash Mascara in Ultra Black
- Sixth product: BKR Paris Water Balm
- Seventh product: Yves Saint Laurent Tatouage Couture Matte Liquid Lip Stain in Route Tatouage
- Final thoughts on the October Allure Beauty box vs October Ricky’s Cult Crushes
Ricky’s Cult Crushes is a lesser-known subscription box in comparison to Allure Beauty Box. Both boxes are $15 a month a feature of variety makeup and beauty boxes. The big difference between the two subscription boxes is that Ricky’s Cult Crushes sends out indie makeup that comes from a variety of price ranges, whereas Allure Beauty Box sends out high-end, luxury makeup in their boxes. Both subscription boxes send out the same products in their subscription boxes, as there isn’t any sort of beauty profile that you fill out for either company.
Let’s see which company sent out the better subscription box this month! Who do you think is going to win this month?
Ricky’s Cult Crushes
How much is it: $14.99 a month (plus shipping)
A total value of my October Ricky’s Cult Crushes: $59.99
What I got in my October Ricky’s Cult Crushes:
- CNF Hydrating Lip Mask – $9.99
- Grande Stay Put Lip Liner- $15.00
- NYX Liquid Lingerie in Ruffle Trim- $7.00
- LA Splash Lumos Highlighting Palette- $28.00
Before I get too deep into this review, I want to have a little conversation about my experience with Ricky’s Cult Crushes and the confusion that I’m feeling with this box. I’ve been a part of Ricky’s Cult Crushes subscription for a few months now and I’ve always been charged in the middle of the month and usually get my box the last day of the month.
I didn’t receive any box during the month of September, I reached out to Ricky’s Cult Crushes customer service to see why my card hadn’t been charged for September and why I never got a box for that month. I never heard anything back from their customer service and it wasn’t a big enough issue for me to chase after their customer service.
October rolls about and I check back up on my Ricky’s Cult Crushes account to see if my card had been charged for a box because I hadn’t gotten any notification in my email in regard to a box shipping. I looked on and saw that my card had been charged, but that I never got any sort of notification that my box had shipped or any tracking number.
I reached out to Ricky’s Cult Crushes customer service again and asked them about when October box was expected to ship and if it had already shipped if they could send me over a tracking number. I never heard back from Ricky’s Cult Crushes customer service, but I did get a box from their company in the mail a few days later.
I mean that doesn’t sound like a big deal, right?
Well as I was scrolling through Instagram, I came across this message:
So, it turns out that Ricky’s Cult Crushes stopped sending out boxes after September, but how is that possible when they charged my card and sent out my box for October?
I think what happened is that Ricky’s Cult Crushes was so focused on ending all subscriptions that they skipped over my account when sending out the last boxes; maybe they got super overwhelmed with all of the emails from customers that they had problems managing everything. I believe that they had some sort of billing error and my account was charged for October since it was never charged for September.
While the box that I received was for the month of October, it was the box that everybody else received for September. Technically, this is the September Ricky’s Cult Crushes box and this is the last box that the company is putting out for curation. But since I received this box in October, I’m going to be comparing it to my October Allure Beauty Box.
So, since is the last box Ricky’s Cult Crushes is putting out for a while (maybe even forever), let’s hope that this box is going to crush it!
Just like the majority of other subscription boxes, Ricky’s Cult Crushes sends out a little card with brand names, product names, pricing, and tips on how to properly use the products in each box!
First product: CNF Hydrating Lip Mask
Product value: $9.99
The first thing that I pulled out of my October Ricky’s Cult Crushes was a Hydrating Lip Mask from a brand called CNF; I’ve never heard of this brand before and I also have never tried a hydrating lip mask before! This hydro-gel lip mask has both nourishing and hydrating ingredients in it, helping to give you with softer, more voluminous lips after you wear this mask for fifteen minutes.
I’ve never tried any sort of lip mask out before, so I was very excited to see what the hype was all about, especially since I’ve seen these things all over Instagram. Personally, I found this lip mask to be much more slimy feeling rather than being hydrating and nourishing. I struggled to even keep this on my lips for the minimum minutes because it kept sliding off of my face and the slimy feeling was really grossing me out.
When I took the mask off, I did feel like my lips were more hydrated feeling and a little be softer, but there wasn’t any difference in the volume in my lips. A few hours later, my lips were extremely dry feeling and almost felt as if they were sunburned. Maybe I had an allergic reaction to something in the mask, but I don’t know what it would be of, since all of the ingredients are listed in a foreign language. I wasn’t very impressed with this lip mask, especially for it being $10 for a product that you only use one time. So, our first product is a total flop, but hopefully, there’s something better in my box!
Second product: NYX Liquid Lingerie in Ruffle Trim
Product value: $7
Yes, I got a full-sized liquid lipstick from NYX, which is one of the best drugstore brands in the world. Not to mention their Liquid Lingerie line is extremely popular, mainly because of the gorgeous nudes that this collection features and the formula for their lipsticks are just so incredible.
I’m so excited that everybody who had Ricky’s Cult Crushes subscription got the opportunity to try out the Liquid Lingerie line from NYX, because it’s absolutely one of my favorite drugstore lipsticks to reach for. Ruffle Trim isn’t a color that I’ve ever tried before, but it delivered that incredibly creamy formula with a matte finish that all of the other Lingerie lipsticks deliver.
This lipstick isn’t transferring-proof, which is really the only downside that I’ve found to this line. We still have a few more items in our Ricky’s Cult Crushes box, but I just want to share a little bit of a spoiler alert.
The NYX Liquid Lingerie lipstick is literally the best product in the entire box. Not only is the shade that they chose absolutely gorgeous, but it’s honestly the only product in this box that is of nice quality. Everything else in this box just seems to be overpriced makeup that isn’t really of any quality or worth the price tag that’s attached to it. The Ruffle Trim lipstick is the only thing that I was happy about with this box.
Third product: Grande Stay Put Lip Liner
Product value: $15
Grande is another brand that I wasn’t familiar with until Ricky’s Cult Crushes introduced me to them. I also didn’t know that invisible lip liners were ever a thing, so I was really happy to see that Ricky’s introduced me to a new type of product with their subscription box.
This is an ‘invisible’ lip liner that is actually light white, so the swatches that I put on my hand are a little hard to see. Ricky’s describes this invisible lip liner to be used for contouring lips, prevent bleeding of colors, and to help fill in the appearance of lip lines.
Now, I really love the idea of this lip liner, I just don’t think that this formula really works really well. It pulled and tugged on my lips so much that it was hard to create an even line on my lip lines. I have one lipstick that I only ever use with a lip liner because it bleeds so much, so I decided to test out this Stay Put Lip Liner with that lipstick to see if I was able to contour my lips and if it really did stop my lipstick from bleeding.
I tried contouring my lips with my invisible lip liner and it wasn’t really successful; there literally was no difference in the physical appearance of my lips after I contoured them with this lip liner, so that part of the lip liner didn’t work for me.
I then tried to use this lip liner to outline my lips to prevent my lipstick from bleeding. The pencil itself was very difficult to use because it just kept tugging on my lips. Not only that, but the actual pencil itself was very delicate and I ended up breaking it twice (I normally use gel lip liners).
It did stop most of my lipstick from bleeding, but if you looked really close to my lips, you could still see where the lipstick bled through the fine lines around my lips. It wasn’t enough to completely ruin my makeup, but it was definitely still noticeable to me. Overall, this product wasn’t a win for me because the formula wasn’t all that impressive, but I really love the idea behind this invisible lip liner!
Fifth product: LA Splash Lumos Highlighting Palette
Product value: $28.00
Yay, a full-sized highlighting palette in my Ricky’s Cult Crushes box! The last time I received a full-sized highlighting palette in any of my subscription boxes was a Boxycharm that I got a few months ago, but LA Splash is a brand that I’ve never heard of!
The carton for the highlighting palette is gold holographic, which I don’t think that I’ve ever seen before on any other highlighting palette. I was really hoping that the exterior of the actual palette itself would be the same, but it instead it was a semi-matte black packaging with ‘Lumos’ in gold writing.
I love the quote on the bottom part of the mirror, I think that’s such a cute packaging idea! The first picture of swatches that I have is in photography lighting, while the second swatch is without the photography lighting and is just with my flash.
The was a decent amount of fallout from these highlight shades, especially the gold highlighter. These are very pretty highlighters, but I will end up using them on my eyes as eyeshadow since they aren’t super reflective. I love my cheekbones to have that blinding glow and I just didn’t get that from this palette.
For $28, the packaging felt cheap and the highlighters weren’t very impressive; there was a lot of fall out, the smell of the packaging wasn’t super pleasant (heavy chemical smell), and the highlighters themselves weren’t very reflective. I would expect to see a palette like this on sale for $9 at Ross or T.J Maxx, not in a subscription box.
Overall, I’m kind of glad that Ricky’s NYC is taking a break from making the Cult Crushes box. With this being the last box that they’re sending out for a while, I don’t really think many people are going to want to sign back up for their subscription (if they ever do come back).
Besides the NYX Lingerie lipstick, I feel that everything else in this box was extremely overpriced. I wouldn’t pay more than $2 for the lip mask, $5 for the lip liner, and $9 for the highlighter palette; all of these items were of drugstore quality and not even good drugstore product quality at all.
I don’t really feel like this box ‘ripped’ me off in the sense of sending me products that weren’t valued very high because I totally believe that brands are selling these products that Ricky’s NYC has listed (I know for sure, I checked). I just know that Ricky’s could’ve done so much better of a job picking out products of better quality because they were at least able to do it with the NYX liquid lipstick.
Let’s see if Allure has anything better to offer us.
Allure Beauty Box
How much is it: $15 a month
A total value of the October Allure Beauty Box: $86.20
What I got in my October Allure Beauty Box:
- Hourglass Caution Extreme Lash Mascara in Ultra Black- $8.84
- Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment0 $17.50
- Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Cleanser – $10.80
- Yves Saint Laurent Tatouage Couture Matte Liquid Lip Stain- $18
- Caudalie Vinopure Skin Perfecting Serum- $16.60
- First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream- $6
- BKR Paris Water Balm – $8.46
First product: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream
Sample value: $6
The first thing that I got in my Allure Beauty Box was a moisturizer from First Aid Beauty. I’ve heard so much about this moisturizer in the beauty community, but I never got the chance to try out this moisturizer! I’m always afraid of investing in moisturizers because 95% of the time, I end up having problems with the moisturizer being too greasy for my face.
With the colder weather and my acne treatment, I’ve been having a lot of problems with my skin being dry, but none of the lightweight moisturizers that I use for my (typically) extremely oily skin have been working to add any hydration to my skin.
This moisturizer has done wonders to fix the dryness of my skin. I put this on both morning and night and it literally absorbs into my skin in just a few minutes. There isn’t any oily residue left over, no greasy feeling to my skin, and it doesn’t feel like I have anything sitting on top of my skin after I apply this moisturizer.
It’s so thick and luxurious feeling, I’m absolutely in love with it! Best of all, it doesn’t have any overpowering scent. After I finish up this sample, this is going to become a staple in my skin are routine.
Second product: CaudalieVinopure Skin Perfecting Serum
Sample value: $16.60
$16.60 for this sample isn’t terrible, because Allure has definitely sent me skincare samples of a much smaller portion that cost a lot more money. When I opened up this serum, I was greeted with the scent of basil, which caught me off guard but it’s a scent that I personally really enjoy.
The purpose of this serum is to balance out combination skin, while also clearing up flakiness, and helps to shrink the appearance of pore size. Allure recommended using this sample underneath of a makeup application since it’s so light and hydrating, but I’ve been trying it out at night and the gel-like texture is very hydrating feeling. I’ve been using this in my T-Zone and I haven’t noticed any difference in the appearance of my pores, but maybe it just needs more time to work!
Third product: Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Cleanser
Sample value: $10.80
I was really disappointed to see that Allure had fallen into the gimmick of sending out face washes in their boxes. While I don’t think that trying out new face washes is a bad thing, I had already seen several other skincare items in my October box, so I was a bit nervous that the quality of the box was going to start going downhill after this face wash.
Sunday Riley isn’t a brand that I’ve ever tried out before, but the faint floral scent of this face wash was pleasant and was a wonderful scent to wake up to in the morning. I chose to use this face wash in the morning because it’s infused with clay, which helps to draw the oil and dirt out of my pores. It gives me a nice, clean canvas to apply my makeup on, but it really made my face feel super soft!
I love the scent and how clean it made my skin feel, as well as controlling the oil production along my jawline, so this was a surprising win for me!
Fourth product: Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment
Sample value: $17.50
Now, this is a tiny sample with a huge price tag next to it. The full-sized product retails for $105 but is again from a brand that I had never tried before my October Allure Beauty Box. This is an exfoliating lactic acid peel, which is something that I’ve never tried before. From all of the Allure Beauty Boxes I’ve received before, the peels that Allure sends out (TLC SukariBabyfacial) have done wonders for my skin and easily become some of the best staples in my skin care routine.
This made my face tingle and burn, just in the same way the TLC SukariBabyfacial does, but it wasn’t as painful. After I peeled off the acid, the appearance of redness in my skin was so much lighter, but my skin was so much more radiant looking. I looked like a glowing angel after I used this lactic acid peel and I’m sad that the full-sized product is so pricey because this made my skin look so amazing.
Fifth product: Hourglass Caution Extreme Lash Mascara in Ultra Black
Sample value: $8.84
Allure has done a wonderful job of creating another box that introduces me to luxury brands that I’ve never tried before. Everything in this box was from brands and products that I’ve never tried before, introducing me to a whole new world of beauty!
Hourglass is a brand that the Sephora’s in my area never stock, but I honestly haven’t heard that much about the brand from other beauty bloggers. I know most people have a problem with thin, straight lashes, but my lashes are naturally thick, dark, and curly so I never have a need to curl my lashes. The main thing that I’m looking for my mascara to add to my lashes is volume and extra length. I really love the triangular shape of the tubing, as it made it very easy for me to grip and wiggle around my lashes, without having to worry about losing my grip on the wand and having a mascara disaster!
This mascara would work amazingly if you have thin, straight lashes; I have the opposite, so I didn’t really see any difference in my lashes after applying this mascara. I didn’t get the volume and length that I normally look for in mascaras that I love. This wasn’t a total flop because it’s a mascara that I’ll use underneath of false lashes, but it didn’t make lashes enough va-voom for me to feel okay with not wearing falsies.
Sixth product: BKR Paris Water Balm
Sample value: $8.46
This was the biggest flop of the October Allure Beauty Box for me, because I just got a product very similar to this in my very first Allure Beauty Box, two months ago. While both the product and the brand are different, the type of product is on the same lines.
This is essentially a lip balm, but Allure does say that you can layer this lip balm underneath of a lipstick or a lip stain to keep your lips hydrated feeling. Allure also says that this is a popular product among a lot of makeup artists, but I really didn’t enjoy the thick, waxy feeling that this li balm gave me.
For the name being ‘Water Balm’, I was expecting a lighter, thinner, more watery feeling balm. But this was very thick, waxy, heavy feeling, so much so that it felt like it should be an overnight lip mask. I really didn’t like the feeling of this lip balm, but I did think that the packaging is really chic!
Seventh product: Yves Saint Laurent Tatouage Couture Matte Liquid Lip Stain in Route Tatouage
Sample value: $18
I literally started screaming when I pulled this Yves Saint Laurent Tatouage Couture Matte Liquid Lip Stain in Route Tatouage out of my box! I’ve never received anything from YSL in any of my other subscription boxes (besides a tiny perfume sample in my Sephora Play), but I think this is the most expensive lipstick I’ve ever even touched in my life.
I got shade ‘Tatouage Couture’ and it’s honestly so gorgeous. The only complaint that I have about this lip stain is that it does take a little while to dry, like a lot longer than any other lip stain that I’ve ever used before. I love how velvet soft this lip stain is and I love the applicator! It gives me the ability to get up right to the tip of my cupid’s bow and give myself that fine, crisp edge that I look for with my liquid lipsticks.
I was able to wear this for five hours without any touch-ups, even with drinking and light snacking. The formula wasn’t drying at all, which was surprising because all of the lip stains that I have are incredibly drying! I’m so excited that Allure gave me the chance to try out such a high-end, boujee brand in my October box!
The first couple of items in my October Allure Beauty Box weren’t all that impressive, but I do think that the entirety of this box is really incredible. I got seven items for $15, with a total value of this box being over $80. While this box was heavily focused on skincare, I’m so happy that I got an entire skin care routine in my box and not just a few face washes and moisturizers. I got a peel, face wash, moisturizer, and serum, which is literally ¾ of my regular skin care routine anyway.
I got a decent variety of products (three makeup, four skin care) in my box, but I got it all from brands that I’ve never tried before! This box was a breath of fresh air from all of my other subscription boxes and honestly really got me excited by the time I was finished unboxing it!
Final thoughts on the October Allure Beauty box vs October Ricky’s Cult Crushes
This was the last box that Ricky’s Cult Crushes is going to be sending out for a while, so I definitely had higher hopes for the quality of this box than what was actually delivered. Allure Beauty Box killed it this month, sending out seven products in their October box with over an $80 value.
I don’t know if this is the most expensive box that I’ve ever received from Allure, but this is the box that I received the most products in. While I wasn’t super thrilled that this box was mainly filled with skincare, I’m really glad that I got a few serums in my box instead of just face washes and moisturizers!
Which subscription box do you think won?
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