Beauty Product Discovery – Cohorted Beauty Box November 2018 – Unboxing and Product Reviews

This month’s beauty boxes were all quite nice which almost convinced me that the Cohorted box would be the bad one. But I was wrong! It seems that this is the month of beautiful beauty boxes!

This month’s Cohorted was a one-brand box which I personally really liked! I loved the last one-brand box, full of Doucce makeup, and so it was about time we get a one-brand skincare box! I know some will not be as happy because there is not makeup in this box but  I didn’t mind at all this time.

The actual Cohorted box was as always the standard black, square box that closes magnetically and ties with a ribbon. The box also came with its monthly, small beauty magazine (about 30 pages) that tells you a little bit more about each product and some featured products or artists.

Cohorted November 2018 contained 4 full size Anne Semonin products, from left to right as seen in the picture: an eye cream, a face cream, a serum and a dark circle treatment.

Let’s have a look at the products in more detail. These are short reviews that cover first impressions and experiences from using the products. For full reviews, including ingredient analysis and if I would recommend a product or not, check out: Bonds of Beauty (all articles here). Bear in mind that these are my personal opinions and that beauty is a very personal thing, we all have different skin, requirements and biological build which can influence things. What worked for me might not work for you and vice versa, please leave your comments below!

To subscribe to Cohorted and get £5 off your first box click here and use the code: 6z8sdk

 

Anne Semolin Miracle Eye Contour Anti-Wrinkle Cream

You don’t really need an eye cream if your day/night cream is good enough and this is a good example of how beauty brands try to make money out of some, mainly female, concerns. This 15mL eye cream retails for a whopping £110 which is ridiculous.

The ingredients are very good, so it’s not a complete rip off, and the cream feels nice on the skin. It has a thin lightweight texture and looks like a typical white cream. It spreads easily and gets absorbed quickly without leaving any residues behind. This cream has a light lemon-like scent.

I can’t say whether it works or not from the few days I’ve been trying it (skincare has to be tested consistently for a month minimum) but it’s overall a nice positive product.

Even the packaging is beautiful, elegant and the pump is easy to use.

There’s nothing negative about this product, in fact I’m looking forward to using it longer to establish whether it works or not, but the price is ridiculous. It’s bigger mother, the day cream retails for £54, so half the price, but for 50mL of product, and the ingredients are equally good. This almost makes me think that the higher price tag comes simply from the “specialised product” category, aka eye cream.

This product has been a beauty shortlist awards winner in 2017. SCORE = 8/10

 

Anne Semolin Marine Emulsion Moisturiser

This is described as a day cream in the Cohorted beauty magazine but it doesn’t contain SPF, meaning that you can use it whenever you like.

It comes in the same packaging as the eye cream, but bigger, and it looks elegant and expensive. It’s also very easy to use, gets absorbed quickly and doesn’t leave any residues behind. It has a slightly thicker, than the eye cream, but still thin texture and looks like a white cream. It has a typical moisturiser cream smell which is pleasant.

This cream is good for combination to oily skin and it helps balance oil production. It feels really nice and it also contains good ingredients but at least it’s more reasonably priced.

I’m looking forwards to using this further and figuring out whether it works for me or not! Nice product all around that even contains amino acids. SCORE = 9/10

 

 

Anne Semolin Super Active Serum

I really like that this box contained an almost full skincare routine! This serum is meant to be used, like any serum, before a moisturiser, to add some extra nourishment to the skin.

It comes in a glass, see-through, bottle and a dropper applicator which is great (although light can “damage” some reagents and it’s always best for packaging to be light proof). It looks different from the other products but still elegant and expensive. The product has an orange colour and feels like a typical serum (thicker liquid but still runny). It has an almost perfume meets soap type of smell but is very faint and also has hints of orange in it. It’s not unpleasant but not my favourite either.

It spreads really easily and is absorbed quickly without leaving any residues behind. Sadly, the ingredients are not as impressive as in the eye and day cream and doesn’t really seem to be adding much to them.

This product has won the beauty shortlist awards 2017 and is meant to brighten, tone, hydrate, nourish the skin as well as fight acne and have anti-ageing properties. One 30mL bottle retails for £119 which is too high of a price for the ingredients contained.

There are cheaper and more nourishing serums that definitely work, like for example, the  Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II Serum – In Depth Review and Ingredient Analysis SCORE = 6/10

 

Anne Semolin Eye Express Radiance Ice Cube

This is quite an interesting product that you don’t get to try very often.

The product is a green liquid sealed in a small plastic container. You have to put it in the freezer for 3 hours minimum prior to using, to ensure it becomes an ice cube. Then you are supposed to carefully remove the ice cube from its packaging and place it in a little cloth bag that is provided, and then apply it on the eyes.

It felt extremely cold at first and not very pleasant to hold on skin for more than a couple of seconds but eventually the ice cube quickly warmed up and melted away (within 5-10 minutes).

My always puffy and dark eyes were much brighter and the skin was flat and even, without any bags, however, I don’t know whether the effect was from the product or just simply the coldness of it. If you just use an ice cube you will get similar results.

Nevertheless, the experience and result were nice and I can imagine having a couple of these living permanently in my freezer for those emergency situations.

The ingredients in this product are a lot less impressive, compared to the eye and face creams and so it’s highly likely that the effect is mostly due to the cold. The product has a tea smell and one ice cube retails for £7.50 which is a fair bit for a one-use product. SCORE = 7/10

 

 

Overall, I really liked that this month’s box was a one-brand box and I really enjoyed that it was skincare based too. I’ve never heard of the Anne Semolin brand, which is not a very good sign considering it’s been around since before I was born. Additionally, it was also a little dissapoinintg that there were only 4 products in this box (5 is the beauty box “standard”) but admitetly it didn’t feel as bad as other times. Nevertheless, I thought that some of the products were good but most were overpriced. I’d give the eye cream and the face cream a go, and perhaps consider the ice cube if I had money to throw away, but the serum is the weakest product of the bunch.  

Initial box score, in terms of products and first feelings = 8/10

Overall box score after product testing (average of product scores) = 7.5/10

Star product = Anne Semolin Marine Emulsion Moisturiser

To subscribe to Cohorted and get £5 off your first box click here and use the code: 6z8sdk

 

 

Did you get this month’s Cohorted? What did your box contain? What did you think of the products? Have you tried any of the products listed? Let me know your experiences!

For all the details on how Cohorted, Glossybox, Look Fantastic and Birchbox performed in 2017 and which one is worth your money, check out “Battle of the Beauty Boxes – Conclusions from the 2017 unboxing and reviews on Cohorted, Glossybox, Look Fantastic and Birchbox!”

For general subscription box reviews see the: Birchbox, Glossybox, Look Fantastic, Cohorted and My Little Beauty Box general review posts. For help on how to choose the right subscription box for you check out “Which Subscription Beauty Box is right for you?”.

I am not affiliated with any company or brand. These are my views and experiences.

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