UNBOXING: nmnl 'nomakenolife' Japanese Beauty Box (February 2017)

It's time to make way for a brand new Asian beauty subscription box, and this one is for all the Japanese beauty lovers! nmnl is a recently launched beauty box, from the makers of TokyoTreat, that focuses exclusively on Japanese beauty products - everything from makeup, skincare, bodycare, tools and so much more!

nmnl, which stands for "nomakenolife" aka a popular phrase in Japan basically meaning makeup = life, aims to bring unique, fun, and high-quality cosmetics to you monthly. What really drew me to them is that they promise to include a wide variety of full-size products in each box, including cosmetics that are non-discriminatory, so these products are meant to work for all skin tones (don't worry, there's no pale ghostly bb creams here)!

nmnl kindly sent me their debut February 2017 box, which I'll be unboxing and reviewing today! :D

NMNL 'NOMAKENOLIFE' FEBRUARY 2017 BOX

nmnl is a monthly subscription beauty box that focuses exclusively on Japanese beauty products including makeup, skincare, body & hair products, beauty tools, and etc. Each item is chosen by an in-house beauty consultant, which aims to provide subscribers with fun, high quality items that are on trend!

WHAT'S IN IT: Japanese cosmetics (including categories such as makeup, skincare, body, hair, bath, and beauty tools)

HOW MANY ITEMS: 5 - 7 FULL-SIZED items

COST: $29.99 /month

SAILOR MOON FALSE EYELASHES (FULL SIZE - 2 PAIRS)

DETAILS: Channel your inner guardian with these pretty false lashes. The lashes come with a cute storing case as well!

VARIETIES: Red (Mars), Blue (Mercury), Green (Jupiter), Yellow (Venus)

RETAIL VALUE: ~$10, but cheapest ones I found online are around $12 (not including shipping)

I am a Sailor Moon OBSESSED girl; it was my absolute favorite tv show to watch as a kid, so I was SO EXCITED to receive these in the box! 

I got the Red (Mars) variety and this one had red lashes on the outer 1/3 of the band with thin purple accent lashes mixed in between! It's definitely a statement piece, but it's so fun to wear and probably my favorite item out of this box. It might seem a little crazy at first, but once you try them on, it's surprisingly much more wearable than I thought - they're fun lashes to wear on a night out or to pair with a neutral look for a unique pop of color! 

Plus, the storage case is super cute and the lashes fit inside perfectly!

DOLLY WINK EYELASH GLUE (FULL SIZE)

DETAILS: Made in Japan, Dolly Wink Eyelash Glue will help keep your lashes in place all day. The sweatproof, waterproof, and tearproof glue is made extra durable, but gentle on your skin.

RETAIL VALUE: ~$10

It's a relatively big bottle of eyelash glue that appears white, but dries completely clear. It's the perfect item to pair with the Sailor Moon lashes! I appreciate how attentive the box curators were with including items that actually work with and compliment each other! The eyelash glue is very powerful and strong with holding up my lashes all day - I'm definitely a fan!

ZAWACHIN X NOYL EYESHADOW PALETTE (FULL SIZE)

DETAILS: Zawachin, a popular Japanese TV personality, collaborated with NOYL to create a line of eyeshadows that can be used to make a variety of looks - from everyday to glamorous. Each palette comes with 12 beautiful colors than can be used individually or layered together.

VARIETIES: 4 different shade variations

RETAIL VALUE: ~$5 (on Rakuten w/o shipping)

Remember how we were all taught to never judge a book by its cover? Well the NOYL eyeshadow palette is the perfect example of this! My first impressions of this palette was that it looks and feels incredibly cheap. It just gives off kiddie makeup vibes! However, I decided to give it a try and I was SO surprised!

The palette comes with an included (but very useless) brush with a sponge tip on one end and a very stiff and scratchy flat top brush on the other end. The quality isn't in the brush or the flimsy plastic packaging, but in the eyeshadow themselves! My palette contained a fun mixture of blues, purples, and bronzey browns, which all compliment my brown eyes!

The shadows are soft and slightly powdery/crumbly to the touch, but they perform beautifully on the lids. Despite being a bit powdery, they manage to blend out very evenly and effortlessly to a smooth shimmery finish. There's no chunky glitters in sight, but all of the shades have a luminous sheen to them that makes them look almost glossy!

I'm pleasantly surprised with this palette and for its price tag? It's pretty good quality! Some of the shadows go on slightly sheer, but I like that since it makes it impossible to mess up with. One thing I did notice is that the palette is made in China, but I give nmnl a pass for this since Zawachin, the one who collaborated with NOYA, is a Japanese TV Personality!

HELLO KITTY SAKURA FACIAL MASKS (8 MASKS)

DETAILS: This 8-pack of facial masks contains sakura extract, tea extract, and hyaluronic acid to help moisturize your skin. Masks come in a resealable bag in order to maintain freshness. Once opened, use within 60 days!
RETAIL VALUE: ~$15

First off, the packaging is TOO cute! I was so excited to get these in my hands, but I was quickly disappointed to find out that the sheet masks inside are not printed with a Hello Kitty design (they're just plain white). The masks themselves are not individually wrapped and all 8 come neatly folded inside the resealable pouch. This is much more environmentally-friendly, but it also exposes the rest of the masks to air.

The mask itself is made out of a comfortable cotton and comes soaked in a gentle essence. There are slits all along the sides of the mask, which makes it easy to customize the fit of the mask to one's face. Sadly, there wasn't enough essence in the pack as I would like since these masks only stayed on for about 10 minutes before it dried and started falling off! Despite the recommended time being 10-15 minutes, I usually like to leave my masks on for at least 30 minutes, but I was unable to do that with these. Additionally, my skin still craved moisture after using this! :(

SAKURA FACIAL BAR SOAP (FULL SIZE)

DETAILS: Sakura leaf extract is said to help with skin troubles and prevent dryness. Wash your daily worries away with this luxurious and fragrant soap.
RETAIL VALUE: Unknown! There's a 3 piece set including this soap on Ebay (here) for $12, so I'd say this is maybe $4-5?

I feel like bar soaps make a major appearance in many Asian beauty boxes, and though I like them, I'd prefer other skincare items (maybe toners, creams, mists, etc) since it's very redundant! Nonetheless, I've been really liking bar soaps lately (with a foam net of course), so I'm excited to give this one a try. This one though smells just like cherry blossoms and is marketed as a natural soap! Unfortunately, I have way too many cleansers at the moment, so I won't be trying this right now.

PUCHI ANIMAL HAND CREAM (FULL SIZE)

DETAILS: This hand cream will leave your hands not only moisturized, but also smelling sweet. It's also encased in a convenient silicone carry-case!

VARIETIES: Soap, Rose, Honey

RETAIL VALUE: ~$6

I can never have enough hand creams! This one comes in a silicone case which can be attached to your purse or backpack for convenience. I received the Soap scent, and yes, it does smell like a generic clean, soapy, but slightly floral scent that's a little too strong for my tastes. The cream itself dries quickly to a moisturzing, but non-sticky finish!

*TOTAL VALUE: ~$50

*For the value, I did a quick Google Search to find stores selling the products, but these products are all very hard to find online and not easily accessible. These also do not include shipping prices!

REVIEW

This month's nmnl beauty box came with a total of 6 items with an estimated value of around ~$50, at least from what I could find online (do note that these products are not easily accessible, so you get to try a lot of products that you can't just buy online)! The box costs $29.99 a month with free shipping, so the value is definitely there! 

Also included inside the box is an informational booklet that describes the items, the different varieties offered, and even directions in English! None of the products contain English directions or descriptions on the packaging, so this is very helpful!

Let me start off by saying that this is by far the best Japanese beauty box I've tried. I've personally bought the Kira Kira Crate and that was a HUGE bust (too many masks, no variety, repetitive brands, etc). If you're looking for a beauty box focused solely on Japanese beauty, I highly recommend this one for a number of reasons and one being that this box isn't boring. I appreciate how nmnl includes fun, unique, and trendy items. It's definitely a risk, but i think makeup is something that's supposed to be fun and I love the adventurous side to this box (hello, I would never buy colored falsies, but who knew I actually like them?!)!

Another thing that I like about this box is that all of these products are EXTREMELY hard to find online, so you know you're getting products that are unique to Japan, not just products that you can already buy online. I also get really tired of beauty boxes that always include the same brands over and over again, but nmnl included products that were all from different brands!

FINAL THOUGHTS

What makes nmnl stand out from the rest is that they claim to offer products from a wide variety of beauty categories, and they actually deliver! Many boxes claim to offer a range of products, but all too often just send a bunch of masks and don't actually give me a taste of everything. There's a great balance between the beauty categories in this box - there was skincare and makeup items, along with hand care and beauty tools!

Personally, I LOVED this box! It's very hard to find an Asian beauty subscription box that offers new and fun things for me to try out, but this one did it all. Sure, there were some items I loved like the falsies, lash glue and eyeshadow, as well as some misses (like the sheet masks), but as a huge beauty junkie I just love trying new things and nmnl satisfied my cravings.

I'm excited to what nmnl has in store for the next month!

THIS BOX IS PERFECT FOR YOU IF:

1. You are new to Asian Beauty

2. You're interested in trying out a vast variety of Japanese brands

3. You want to try a variety of beauty items (skincare, makeup, beauty tools, body care, etc.)

4. You want to get a bang for your buck!

WHERE TO BUY?

The nmnl beauty box costs $29.99 per month and is available at nomakenolife.com, HERE! 

Use code: SAKURA* to save $5 off your first box now through 2/28! :)

*Not an affiliate code

Also check out TokyoTreat.com for more fun subscription boxes!

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for reviewing purposes from nmnl, however this does not affect my review. All reviews are my own 100% honest opinions. Post contains affiliate link.