Play! by Sephora is a monthly subscription box that brings only the best and exclusive Sephora beauty and makeup samples. The subscription costs $10 per month, and you’ll get 5 deluxe beauty products, playlists, a fragrance bonus item, plus coupons you can use when you visit in-store.
That little card is a PLAY! Pass that will get you 50 extra Beauty Insider points with a purchase from the box – in-store only.
Your subscription also entitles you to PLAY! Date meetups if your store participates. I don’t even have a Sephora (not even a JCP one) but this box totally excites me even without those experiences – I love the high end brands every month for just $10.
This month has an exclusive gift at your PLAY! Date. A bit of a bummer if you don’t have a chance to go.
The theme is “The Rising Stars.” The booklet had a fun infographic on all the benefits of the subscription and how to get the most of it.
This fold out poster shows a list of all the items included in this box plus beauty trivia and tips. You can access all of the information and also watch the videos right on the Sephora site or use the app to scan the sheet for more info!
I love the super useful pouch. I really hope they stick with this design, although it could be special for their 1 year anniversary!
Everything in my box! My variation was box 264. See the spoilers for other variations here.
Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Clay Cleanser ($10.71) I’ve got to be honest, I’m at a total loss how Sephora is assigning box variations to profiles, because Sephora has my correct profile info – I have dry skin! Since this product is designed for Normal to Oily skin, I can’t say that any profile is getting items designed for them.
This cleanser wasn’t at all what I expected. It was quite liquidy, and felt cushiony when I applied it to my skin. It foamed nicely too and it’s perfect for using with a Clarisonic or Luna brush. The cleanser itself is made with French green clay and Morrocan rhassoul clay to draw out impurities. I didn’t feel like it was really worth the price tag but I’ll certainly use all of it.
Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt ($10.13) A gentle scrub for soothing sensitive or oily scalps! Sea salt is a natural exfoliant that works wonders. It can also relieve irritating sensations caused by hair coloring treatments.
Of course, no parabens and phthalates involved in making the scrub. I love this product and was excited to get more of it. I have an itchy, flaky scalp, so it worked well for me, but it might be drying for someone else. I love the huge chunky sea salt in this scrub – it feels sooo good, plus this product has a nice beachy scent.
Maison Margiela Replica Beach Walk ($3.36) This fragrance was standard “beach fragrance” with Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Lemon, Ylang Ylang, Coconut Milk, Heliotrope, Musk, Cedarwood, and Benzoin.
I wanted more of a beachy scent and less of a perfumy one, so after trying this out, it went into the pile of scents to pawn off on someone else. Just wasn’t for me.
GrandeLips GrandeLIPS Hydrating Lip Plumper ($5?)
Unfortunately there’s no size information anywhere on the package. I tried it out and it tingled and plumped, but it smelled absolutely toxic. It’s supposed to have a yummy vanilla scent, and mine didn’t (there are other reports of this at Sephora). It was so terrible I emailed Sephora about it. After I wiped it off, my lips were totally parched. Complete fail.
The wand on the sample is a lot different than the full size, and I’ve seen many reports of it breaking off.
Trestique Highlight & Perfect Multipurpose Stick in Maldives Luminescent ($34 fullsize, $6?) Oh you tricky Trestique container!
This pretty highlighter provides a subtle and sheer shimmer without being overboard! The cream was easy to apply (way easier than a powder) and it looked great. I really liked this one. The full size comes with a sponge on the end.
Nudestix Magnetic Matte Lip Pencil ($24 fullsize, $15?) How refreshing to see a non-liquid matte! There’s a lot of control with this liner and lip color in one, and it’s sort of like a liquid lip in a pencil form! I did some hunting – I can’t find anything that shows the full size weight of this product, based on other Nudestix products of 2.8 grams, this is what I came up with.
It’s definitely matte, and felt a little dry, but it also felt really soft on my lips (I kept on touching them, it was an odd silky sort of soft!). Unfortunately this color is straight outta the 90s. Brown lipstick doesn’t work for everyone, but you can try this one as a shadow if you’re looking to repurpose it. I looked ridiculous. After a while all the color pilled off my lips (but I had tried out the GrandeLips!).
Well, this first anniversary Sephora Play box had a value of about $50. If you liked the products, that’s great, but the GrandeLips was terrible, the lipstick color was atrocious, and the cleanser wasn’t appropriate for my skin type (I will still use it all though). Loved the Christophe Robin & the highlighter. For me personally, this box was mostly a dud!
Update: Sephora agreed that the GrandeLips was defective and refunded me my box + gave me 100 points. It’s supposed to smell like cupcakes.
Are you a Sephora Play subscriber? What did you think of the box this month??
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