The Natural Beauty Box

[EmGee]

I was told to keep mascara only 3 months and usually do 4 at most....if they even last that long as I mostly use mini sizes and have not bought any mascara in years (I get too many samples).

 

[chrisyeh2111]

I received my box yesterday with some drama with this TNBB company again.  Long story..

I am worried about that Dr. Emerald's golden berries stick.  I opened it and it is the most horrible cosmetic item I even smelled.

I throw up after smelling that, no kidding!  I got that not every natural item smells great, but it is unbearable for me.  Not sure if that works well, but I just cannot use it at all.  I use a lot of natural beauty products, their products don't smell very natural for me, but it maybe just me.

The only item I tried so far and I like it is "I love coffee" hand cream.  Again, that packaging really concerns me as well.

Despite their horrible customer service, I won't order again for sure. But now I really doubt the ingredients of the items too.  

 

[Lulubelle107]

Originally Posted by sweetshellee /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I was just cleaning out some of my samples and realized most of the stuff I have gotten from NBB has hardened, seperated or gone bad. Unfortunately, some of it, like the Golden Berries cream (not stick..the stick is so greasy, I wouldn't dream of putting it on my face) I received in my previous box has gone rock hard. What concerns me is, they have been iffy about ingredients, they have been misleading about shipments, customer relations and the fact that they are supplying pretty much everything in the box, so what insurance do we have that any of these products contain what they say they do and how sanitary is the packaging? The mascara is really disturbing. Even mascara full of preservatives has a safety seal so we know we are the first ones opening it and we have about 6 months to use it before it gets risky. This mascara was supposed to be a full sized product. OK, I get that they are getting away with not listing ingredients on the sample containers as they are samples. This is a full sized product, in a cheap generic mascara tube with no more than a sticker reading Delizioso. There was no plastic seal to let us know we are the first to break it open and no ingredients listed on the packaging. Again, another product put out by their own company that like so many of the others screams cheap and is not something that could be sold in a store. There are so many good, legitimate natural brands that are properly labelled and safety sealed. When it comes to mascara, natural is nice..Unlabelled, unsealed natural mascara screams eye infection. Mine went in the garbage. Uponing reviewing the items from the last 4 boxes I've gotten I've realized almost everything contains a varying combination of 5 ingredients, shea butter, coconut oil, cocoa butter, olive oil and fragrance/essential oil. PS..the Lotion candle KILLED me..soy wax, coconut oil and soot, does not a lotion make.. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> 

I just checked the items I've gotten from TNBB and everything seems to be holding up fine.  I realize I'm in the minority, but I'm not overly concerned about the ingredients and have had good experiences with the products I've used thus far.  I use the eye serum every night and will continue to do so. 

Having said that, the only products I've ever had go bad on me were lip gloss/balm.  I just threw one out that was a natural/organic product I got via Eco Emi.  I'd been using it with no problems for over a month and then over Christmas my lips became inflamed and started peeling.  When I sniffed the lip balm it smelled off, so I can only assume it was some sort of bacterial contamination.  I've never had a problem with mascara, knock on wood.

 

[angiepang1e]

Hey ladies, I requested a refund of my remaining months of my subscription. I presume it'll take a long time for them to get back to me?  Does anyone know from their experience?  I couldn't stay subbed knowing that they were SO unprofessional on their facebook page (disabling comment section, trying to get all the negative comments out by posting stupid articles, deleting comments, etc), almost ALL their products are their affliated brands and they raised their monthly prices when they were already expensive (granted I already pre-paid so it would've stayed the $18).  This is WAY too much headache for one sub.  I never have any issues with the other subs that I have.  Anyway, if anyone has any info on how long it'll take them to respond/refund me, please let me know! Thank you in advance for any info!

 

[mellee]

My sub was supposed to start in January, and as soon as all the FB stuff started I emailed and requested to be cancelled and refunded.  Dr. Emerald herself emailed me back within about 15-minutes (and it was a Sunday night), saying she'd pass the request on to Cust Svc in the morning, and would I tell them why?  I replied that I was uncomfortable having a prepaid sub with the ongoing shipping issues, especially after January was cancelled.  The next morning I got an email that my refund was through, and it showed up in Paypal a few days later.  Heck, if their service had always been as good as it was that one time, they probably would have had a customer for life. 

I say as I still wait for my December bag...

 

[angiepang1e]

Originally Posted by mellee /img/forum/go_quote.gif

My sub was supposed to start in January, and as soon as all the FB stuff started I emailed and requested to be cancelled and refunded.  Dr. Emerald herself emailed me back within about 15-minutes (and it was a Sunday night), saying she'd pass the request on to Cust Svc in the morning, and would I tell them why?  I replied that I was uncomfortable having a prepaid sub with the ongoing shipping issues, especially after January was cancelled.  The next morning I got an email that my refund was through, and it showed up in Paypal a few days later.  Heck, if their service had always been as good as it was that one time, they probably would have had a customer for life. 

I say as I still wait for my December bag...

Aw man, you're still waiting for the Dec box? I received mine last week (I'm in NY).  I emailed them on a Sunday night and have not heard a peep.  I, included in the email the reasons why I wanted to cancel and have received no word yet.  It's only Tuesday so I will be patient considering Ipsy and Birchbox usually take 2-3 business days to respond.  Good to know that they responded to you right away.  I'm still a little skeptical of this company though.  They don't seem to be introducing natural brands-- just promoting their own.  I think if they had been honest about it to begin with, I would have been more comfortable with it,

 

[islandgirl88]

If you are able to, post it on their facebook page. I hadn't heard back from them and posted on their page. I was refunded in less than an hour. I know that they have disabled people from posting on their wall but i think you can comment on their posts.

 

[mellee]

Originally Posted by angiepang1e /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Aw man, you're still waiting for the Dec box? I received mine last week (I'm in NY).  I emailed them on a Sunday night and have not heard a peep.  I, included in the email the reasons why I wanted to cancel and have received no word yet.  It's only Tuesday so I will be patient considering Ipsy and Birchbox usually take 2-3 business days to respond.  Good to know that they responded to you right away.  I'm still a little skeptical of this company though.  They don't seem to be introducing natural brands-- just promoting their own.  I think if they had been honest about it to begin with, I would have been more comfortable with it,

I'm in no way presenting this experience as meaning you should not be skeptical of them!  Every other time I had questions or problems, I had to send multiple emails over weeks and in the cases of non-shipment threaten to fight the charge through Paypal before they'd respond.

 

[sweetshellee]

When I requested my refund, It was for a combination of reasons, but mainly b/c when I finally received my Dec box 2 products had leaked and the box was a mess. I emailed them and they told me to call them...I gave them my number and told them to call me. The call was awful...Mila Emerald took the phone from the original caller (sounded like one of the daughters) and pretty much told me to be quiet and let her talk. She did agree to the refund and promptly hung up on me. The next day I got an email that included the following : "[SIZE=11pt]Thank you very much for the pleasant phone conversation and sharing your professional experience. I appreciate your time and addressing your complaints. It is very unfortunate that according to you, the body scrub in TNBB leaked." [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The conversation wasn't pleasant by any stretch and there was never an apology of any sort. The wording implies they don't even believe my box leaked..It ended up with me cancelling on the next box also. I've never dealt with that kind of customer treatment. I have 6 other beauty subs (Glossy, Ipsy, Lip Factory, BB5, Topbox and Glymm), and do a HUGE amount of online shopping..not to mention I work as a beauty advisor for a big online company where cx service is priority number 1...The customer service killed my faith more than anything else.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Long story short, I did get a prompt refund, sadly it was after more fuss than what should have ever occured. I love my beauty subs and hate having to end things on bad terms. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />[/SIZE]

 

[SubJunkie]

I think their phone number is 5194341657 hopefully this helps. 

 

[mellee]

December box came today.  Coffee cream smells good.

 

[SubJunkie]

Originally Posted by mellee /img/forum/go_quote.gif

December box came today.  Coffee cream smells good.

I love the Coffee cream I just wished that the shipping didn't suck so much.

 

[mellee]

Is there an easy way to get this darned tin open without breaking nails and dropping it 15 times?

 

[EmGee]

As I read this I thought WTF???

The mother told you to be quiet on the phone??

What the Fack is that? it's not like you are 5 years old or something.

Sounds like a weird and creepy phone conversation.

I've had a few issues w buying stuff in the past and if I had to speak to anyone they were never like that.

I don't work in customer service at the moment, but have and do spend a lot of time evaluating customer service and am always super polite to CSA's I deal with....

Originally Posted by sweetshellee /img/forum/go_quote.gif

When I requested my refund, It was for a combination of reasons, but mainly b/c when I finally received my Dec box 2 products had leaked and the box was a mess. I emailed them and they told me to call them...I gave them my number and told them to call me. The call was awful...Mila Emerald took the phone from the original caller (sounded like one of the daughters) and pretty much told me to be quiet and let her talk. She did agree to the refund and promptly hung up on me. The next day I got an email that included the following : "[SIZE=11pt]Thank you very much for the pleasant phone conversation and sharing your professional experience. I appreciate your time and addressing your complaints. It is very unfortunate that according to you, the body scrub in TNBB leaked." [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The conversation wasn't pleasant by any stretch and there was never an apology of any sort. The wording implies they don't even believe my box leaked..It ended up with me cancelling on the next box also. I've never dealt with that kind of customer treatment. I have 6 other beauty subs (Glossy, Ipsy, Lip Factory, BB5, Topbox and Glymm), and do a HUGE amount of online shopping..not to mention I work as a beauty advisor for a big online company where cx service is priority number 1...The customer service killed my faith more than anything else.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Long story short, I did get a prompt refund, sadly it was after more fuss than what should have ever occured. I love my beauty subs and hate having to end things on bad terms. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />[/SIZE]

 

[EmGee]

I don't know what the tin for this exactly looks like, but for other metal tins I use a screwdriver or whatever I find in my toolbox.

I had hurt my fingertips, so it was the only way I could open stuff for a while.....

A screwdrive, use the blade of scissors or some flat metal object...kitchen knife maybe??

Originally Posted by mellee /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Is there an easy way to get this darned tin open without breaking nails and dropping it 15 times?

 

[mellee]

It's not sealed - I just meant on a use-by-use basis.  It doesn't screw, just pulls, but it's really flat and small, so hard to get hold on.  (Not to mention when you close it after using the product it gets slippery.)

 

[EmGee]

I would use a screwdriver to pry the tin open, or else the nail file part of my swiss army knife, or the small scissors.

I open a lot of tins that way as my nails are not long right now.

Originally Posted by mellee /img/forum/go_quote.gif

It's not sealed - I just meant on a use-by-use basis.  It doesn't screw, just pulls, but it's really flat and small, so hard to get hold on.  (Not to mention when you close it after using the product it gets slippery.)

 

[page5]

I didn't have any trouble opening my tin of the coffee hand cream but the fit was loose enough that I was concerned it would dry out. My solution was to transfer the hand lotion to another container and toss the tin. 

What did everyone think of the Goldenberries anti aging stick? I tried it a couple of times . . . It didn't absorb into my skin as well as I thought it should. And, the price - 0.25 of product for $39.99 seems way too high for a product that is packaged in a plastic chapstick tube. 

 

[ChibiTotoro]

Did your anti-aging stick smell bad? Mine was so foul that I gagged...

I really really want to give them the benefit of the doubt as they do have products from other brands (and funny enough those are the items that I like the most!) however, another "suspicious" thing that came up today was that they just posted on FB that their lipstick is finally out and up for grabs but if you go to the page, there are already reviews on there dating back to June of last year.  How is that even possible?

 

[SiriusDreamer]

Got my December box today - January 23rd.  Here's my review:

The outside packaging was cute.  There were 10 little samples and what appears to be a full-size mascara, so 11 items in all (the brochure that comes with it states "Woah!  I got 11 products worth $123.10!".  That's annoying; regardless of what the value of the items are, let ME decide what the value is.  It's far more professional to allow the customer to speculate on value rather than force it down our throats.  Anyway, the "I love coffee" hand cream is partly separated and looks "off" to me and many of the other items have a strange smell to them.  I LOVE natural products - after all, I'm a huge fan of Eco Emi, but something strikes me as odd about this box.  First of all, the samples are tiny.  Secondly, the fact that these are all "brands" owned by the company that produces the box bothers me.  The labels look like something I could produce with my own little printer at home; it looks very amateur and questionable.  I had no idea that these were "house brands", otherwise I would have rethought this purchase.  I'm especially reluctant to use the mascara; has anyone used it without any reactions?  I'm super sensitive to makeup around my eye area, so I want to be especially sure that it's safe before I use it.  The only item with a safety seal on it was the I Love Coffee hand cream.  If this company is as careful about their safety standards as they are about consumer relations, then I'm extremely hesitant to use anything.  I don't know how I feel about this or if I'm going to use any of the items in the box.  I've heard so many people raving about these boxes on youtube, so I'm reluctant to just toss everything, yet I'm careful about what I put on/in my body and I'm not inclined to use any of these home brands.  
Does anyone else have thoughts on their boxes?  Am I being silly to be worried about safety?  Right now I'm a little peeved at myself, but glad that I only purchased one month.  I kind of feel like I wasted my money, unless one of these products is absolutely amazing.. yet I'm worried about trying it in the first place.