Ginkgo & Grace is a bimonthly subscription box that delivers beauty and skin care products curated especially for modern, mature women. Boxes feature upscale products for you to try in your home and brands are selected for their commitment to utilizing natural ingredients and their concern for the environment. Ginkgo & Grace is $85 a shipment plus $8 for shipping and currently ships to the lower 48 states. This box is scheduled to ship in January, March, May, July, September, and November. Here’s a little info about how this box got its name:
Have you ever seen a Ginkgo tree in the fall? They are golden and radiant, breathtakingly beautiful. Ginkgo & Grace celebrates this beautiful season of a woman’s life; women confident in the elegant grace that only comes with maturity.
I received a card with info on the products in the box!
The box itself was matte white and had a removable lid, and it can be reused for storing items, as a gift box, or any number of uses. The tissue paper had ginkgo leaves all over it and the box was wrapped in a satin ribbon held closed by a sticker.
Everything in my box! My items were tucked into shredded paper squiggles and everything looked great. It’s not often that I open a box and it looks this good!
There was an informational booklet about one of the featured brands. It had a list of ingredients to avoid if you are looking for cleaner beauty.
BKind Bamboo Pumice Stone Brush ($8.50 CAD, about $6.44 USD) I only wear sandals in the summer and although I get a pedicure once a month I need help for the weeks in between.
The brush is made of polypropylene bristles on one side, volcanic pumice on the other.
The handle is bamboo, which is a sustainable material. There is a rope attached so you can easily hang it in the shower and grab it when needed.
Pantry Grapefruit + Mint Shave Gel ($8) is made of only a few ingredients and smells minty fresh. Be careful when using because it may cause the floor of a tub or shower to become slippery.
Pantry Bugs Be Gone Spray ($12) It is prime bug time and an all-natural repellent may help keep the critters away so you can enjoy a relaxing evening on the porch or strolling the park near dusk. You can certainly smell the amazing essential oils, which include lemongrass, cedarwood, lavender, lemon, and peppermint.
Pantry Peppermint Foot Salve ($8) I think a bit of balm on my feet before bed is a nice way to end the day. I little foot massage is relaxing and maybe my skin will be softer in the morning!
We received a roll on but the product in the online shop is in a different container and has slightly different ingredients. It is one of the best smelling products ever, so minty and refreshing! I must say I am impressed with Pantry’s products, they are very natural and work well. They feel so luxurious.
Solo Giovane Super Hydrating Moisture Lotion ($36) I’ve never heard of this brand before and there isn’t much on the company but it is a very moisturizing face cream. My skin absorbed it quickly with no greasy after feel. It did feel a bit like a primer and since it has dimethicone then it makes sense.
Hyaluronic acid draws water to the skin and although this has green tea extract it is near the bottom of the list. It also has a paraben, which to me doesn’t signify natural beauty.
Solo Giovane Revitalizing Eye Gel ($32.99) An eye gel is something that I can use vats of in the hopes of keeping further signs of aging from showing up.
Ingredients are listed on the box and include aloe, cucumber extract, and green tea. It also has not one but 5 different parabens plus “fragrance”, propylene glycol, and dye. All of these items were listed in the “eliminate the bad” pamphlet from the other vendor in this box. Whether these items are truly dangerous or not hasn’t been confirmed but I know a lot of companies are moving away from some of these ingredients, most notably parabens. As for being a “natural” product, this one and the one above would not really make the cut.
I used the eye cream a couple of times and didn’t experience any irritation. It does have a cucumber scent but I believe that is from fragrance and I prefer not to use fragrance around my eyes.
NOTE: I have never encountered the Solo Giovane brand before but according to their Instragram page they offer “natural products”. I have to tell you that the term “natural” isn’t federally regulated when it comes to cosmetics so it’s up to consumers to define the meaning for themselves. Natural isn’t always better or safer.
Natural Inspirations Grapefruit Ultra-Hydrating Lip Butter ($4) When I saw this was a natural lip balm I was expecting to find it had zinc as the SPF but no, it has traditional sunscreen ingredients.
The other ingredients are all natural and include beeswax, essential oils, and coconut oil.
Grapefruit may make the lips even more sensitive to the sun but perhaps the sunscreen will counter those effects. I wore it inside my house and it made my lips feel smooth and moist and I didn’t taste sunscreen, just grapefruit.
BKind Nail Polish in Beige Life ($15.95 CAD, about $12.12 USD) I rarely polish my nails but this color will be on my hands before long. It is just my style, while bolder colors are reserved for my toes.
This brand is 10-free, which means they don’t have formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, camphor, DPB, xylene, paraben, perfume, and animal products.
It’s a pinky beige color and should look good with the “tan” I got on my recent vacation.
What an amazing assortment of products! I liked the curation, there was certainly a focus on summer skin care! I was most impressed with the Pantry products, that line is basically stuff you can find in your kitchen. I know not everyone wants crunchy granola beauty so I appreciate that other product lines we included too, and although I’m not sure the Solo Giovane hit the natural beauty mark, it was luxurious. The value for the July/August box was around $119.55!
Are you getting the Ginkgo & Grace box too?
Comments
I’ve been a Charmer forever and thought I’d like to put it on hold, and try G&G but comparing the contents and the cost – I don’t think BoxyCharm can be beat.
Hi Lorrie, I’ve never tried BoxyCharm but it always looks like a lot of fun!