What's In My February 2018 Sephora Play Box?

My husband got me a subscription to the Sephora Play beauty box around a year and a half ago and I've been enjoying the monthly boxes ever since. The products can be quite generously sized and I don't think I've had very many boxes that were complete duds. At $10 a month for 5 items and a bonus perfume sample, I'd say the value for money is excellent! Usually I'm more interested in the skincare that they send rather than the makeup items, but generally I've been pleased with everything that's been sent to me. My February box just came in so let's take a peek at what was inside!  

This box had 3 makeup items and 2 skincare items (as well as the usual bonus perfume sample, in this box a vial of Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb). For the makeup, I got a Sephora Collection lipstick and lip gloss, and a black Lancome eyeliner pencil. Honestly, I'm not thrilled by the colors of these items- I have collected a ton of reds from the Sephora playbox since starting my subscription and I really didnt need more. I understand new subscribers may very well enjoy the reds, but to put two reds in one box seems a little redundant to me. The black eyeliner is also a bit boring, as I have a lot of black eyeliner pencils and I really prefer gel liner. However, I've never tried Lancome eyeliner pencils and with eyeliner the formula can make or break the product. So I'll give it a go and see if it's better than what I already have in my makeup bag. The Flowerbomb perfume I enjoyed trying out as I've never smelled it before, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Usually I enjoy floral scents but this one was a bit too heavy for me. 

What I'm really excited about are the two skincare items- a First Aid Beauty Ginger and Turmeric Vitamin C "jelly" face mask and a Belief Moisturizing Eye Bomb eye cream. The face mask sounds kind of amazing; ginger, turmeric, and vitamin C are all supposedly really good for your skin and I'm intrigued by what a "jelly" face mask will be like. This tube is a pretty good size and it's full all the way to the top so I'm sure I'll get quite a few masking sessions out of it. The Belief eye cream is also a good addition to the box, as I'm about to run out of my current eye cream and I was in need of a new pot. The jar is actually not quite as generous as the packaging makes it appear because the bottom is hollowed out nearly halfway, but even so it think it'll last me at least a week, maybe two, of morning and evening applications. 

Now for the surprising bit- in all my time as a Play box subscriber, I've never had an issue with a damaged or missing item. However, today it happened! When I opened up the lipstick, I was a bit annoyed to see that the tip of it had gotten crushed again the top and ruined the shape of it. Oh well, no big deal and still usable right? Nope! When I twisted it up to try applying it, the entire lipstick bullet fell out! 

I confess I wasn't quite sure how to proceed at first. Pick it up and try to smush it back into the tube? Put it in some sort of empty container and try to use it with a lip brush? Throw it away? In the end I decided to scoop it back into the tube (turning my fingers very red in the process) and go onto the Sephora Beauty Insider Community forum to see if I could find more information there. The Sephora forum is a great place to ask questions and make contact with customer service, as well as to chat with fellow beauty aficionados. It didn't take me long to find a thread about this month's box; apparently I wasn't the only person who received a damaged lippy. I messaged a customer service representative with my photo and she got back to me right away. Sephora wouldn't be able to replace it for me but they were putting a $5 credit on my account that I could use online. Considering that the cost of the entire box is only $10, I feel entirely satisfied with the way Sephora handled it!