Cocotique December 2015 Subscription Box Review & Coupon

The COCOTIQUE theme for December 2015 is “Have A Cocolicious Holiday!”COCOTIQUE is a deluxe beauty box subscription service for women of color and diverse ethnicities.  Each month Cocotique will ship to your door a specially curated deluxe box filled with 5-8 sample size and full size beauty and lifestyle products for just $20 including free shipping.  After trying out your samples, you can then purchase the full size products in the Cocotique Shop.  Cocotique offers an exciting and fun experience for women of color who love beauty and are in search of an affordable way to try new beauty and lifestyle brands.

I love a well wrapped gift!  The inside of the lid states, “We are obsessed with bringing you the best in beauty and helping you discover your ultimate beauty arsenal.”

The information card provides a brief description of each item, as well as coupon codes that can be used when purchasing on the product’s home site.

Everything in my box!

Beautiful Nutrition – Cocoa Curl Rejuvenating Curl Oil ($3.00?)  This is a lightweight oil that is designed to provide your curls with moisture (it’s repeated 3 times on the info card).  If winter ever arrives in Florida, this will definitely be something to add into my hair routine.  Since it can be used on wet or dry hair, I’ll try it out after a blowdry for now.

Beautiful Nutrition – Cocoa Curl Moisture Serum ($3.00?)  This serum is designed to condition, minimize split ends and breakage, and leave hair feeling soft.  I decided to try this on a rainy day, figuring that if my hair held up under the worst humidity conditions, then I could count on this everyday.  I was pleasantly surprised.  My curls were really defined and bouncy, plus the frizz factor was minimal.  A win in my book!

Both products are free of synthetic dyes, colors and fragrance.  They are also paraben, DEA, BPA, and cruelty free.  Another bonus, the great cocoa smell (if you like that).

Black Radiance Eye Appeal Shadow Collection shown in Urban Jungle ($6.99)  I’ve never tried Black Radiance products before, so I’m not sure what to expect.  The palette is great for fall with lots of neutrals and darker shades.  Sorry, my picture does not do it justice.  What I really like is that colors are identified for specific areas of the eye – browbone, eyelid, crease, and accent.  If you’re a novice with makeup, this gives you some place to start when creating a dramatic eye.  Other palettes available were Downtown Browns, Island Blues, and Deeper the Berry.  

Milani Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss shown in Luminous ($4.99)  I have mixed feelings on Milani products.  This lip gloss did not help to sway me to one side or the other.  The color is fantastic – a peachy pink with hints of gold.  I have several glosses in similar shades because this is my go to color.  And the vanilla scent was nice.  However, the claim that it is “silky, not sticky” was not true.

Chrislie – Measurable Difference Baked Face Blush shown in Coral ($7.99)  So glad that I got the coral shade in my box!  I normally wear Coralista by Benefit and this will be a good sub since my compact is nearly empty.  The formulation was nice, and the color is very easy to build on.

Hawknad – Clear-n-Smooth Maxi-Britener Cream  ($3.00)  This cream contains four natural skin lighteners to even out tone and reduce dark spots.  It also has retinol to provide a smoother complexion.  It is lightweight, not greasy, with a pleasant scent.  I don’t use brightening creams, but I know whose stocking I can add this to for Christmas.

Elaine Hair & Body Mango Papaya Butter ($3.00)  This butter can be used on either the skin or the hair, promising 24-hr moisture.  Two things I noticed were (1) the scent – very potent and (2) a little goes a long way.

Everyday Botanicals Grapefruit Mango Shower Gel ($2.00)  I absolutely love citrus scented cleansers and could not wait to try this!  It is a plant-based gel infused with pink grapefruit seed, mango oil, aloe, and African black soap.  It did not disappoint – the lather was mild and the scent was energizing.

Hype Hair Magazine (Digital Copy of the Monthly Magazine)  According to the information card, I was supposed to receive an email with a digital copy of the magazine.  I’m a little disappointed because it hasn’t arrived yet.  Taraji P. Henson is the cover girl and I wanted to see if her interview had any Empire spoilers – Team Cookie all the way!!! [Note from Brandy: This is probably my fault in some way! I will make sure Summer gets the mag!]

Okay Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave-In Conditioner ($2.50)  This leave in conditioner will be great to use during drier winter months and should help repair my hair from heat styling.  Other boxes contained Deity America Deep Penetrating Conditioner.

The box was worth about $40, factoring in newsstand pricing for the magazine.  I enjoyed discovering some new brands and am excited to see what else Cocotique will bring me.

Visit COCOTIQUE to subscribe or find out more! Get 10% off your entire subscription with coupon code BOX10.