FabFitFun Winter 2019 UK // Beauty Box Review

It's time! It's finally here! The spring 2019 box will always hold a special place in my heart because I love the Mumu robe more than anything but this box is truly spectacular and I have no qualms about renewing for another year. I can't believe I've had four boxes already!

I hope you've got some snacks ready because as always, this is gonna be a long post. So quickly, FabFitFun is an American quarterly beauty box. It features 7-9 full sized products each box and if you are an annual subscriber (select) you can customise 5 options and if you pay per box (seasonal) you can customise 3 options (with the other 2 randomly picked for you). The other items are then featured in everyone's box. This season a new product called the 'FFF Hotpicks' was added and instead of everyone receiving the same 3 items, 1 of them could've been a soap/body wash or some hand masks. 

Let's get into the products!

I originally also had the throw added as well but eventually removed it and now I'm having major FOMO and wish I'd kept it. I think $15 is extremely reasonable for a faux fur throw and I hope it turns up in the edit sale or I may buy another box because this season was just so good.

Rebecca Minkoff // Marled Beanie & Armwarmer Set

RRP £57.53

The moment I saw them I knew this would be my main choice as the arm warmers are perfect for driving and typing. Fortunately I work for a video games company and the office is filled with  many developer consoles heating up the entire room but I love that these are fingerless. They're super soft as well and the hat is ridiculously cute. Not sure I would pay £50 for them but the quality is definitely better than Primark.

Kate Somerville // Goat Milk Moisturising cream 

RRP £55

My very first KS product! I'm a hoe for moisturisers and I really wanted to try an expensive brand and this cream is marketed as a rich product perfect for dry skin and winter. I'm still using up the last of my current cream but this will get used soon. It has a thick consistency but isn't greasy. It does kind of smell like PVA glue but my skin felt silky soft when I quickly tried it out. 

I wanted to add the Erno Laszlo mask but I have about a thousand clay masks and I feel $15 was a bit too much so I just stuck with the slippers.

PJ Salvage // Faux Trim Cable in M/L

RRP $45 (£34.83 with current conversion rates)

For me this round was a no-brainer. It was always going to be the slippers because slippers. On the forum a lot of Americans thought this option was weird and people were like "but where do I wear them?" I guess slippers and a dressing gown is more sub-consciously rooted into every English persons psyche along with tea and biscuits. I have size 8 (US 11) feet and they fit perfectly. In all honestly, the quality reminds me of some £8 slippers from Primark. I would never pay $45 for a pair but I needed some new slippers and the colour/style is right up my street. A perfect addition for a winter box.

This was the round I was most disappointed in but then I researched the products and eventually went with the masks (that will get used immediately) and added on the Rodial drops as they seem super interesting.

Karuna // Face & Eye Mask Set

RRP $42 (£32.51 with current conversion rates)

You can buy some Karuna mask sets in Selfridges (my favourite store in the world) so I knew these masks had to be legit; Selfridges doesn't sell just any old products. This particular set seems to be exclusive to the US but you can buy the individual masks on various UK sites. It includes seven different masks that range from pore reduction to anti-ageing and brightening. The brand has generally good reviews so I'm looking forward to trying these out.

Rodial // Soft Focus Glow Drops

RRP £45

I was intrigued by this product after some research and you can't really get a better bargain since I snagged it for £9. I don't think it will ever be that price. Marketed as a primer/glow serum a lot of people were confused as to what this does. I was worried it was just going to be a highlighter and filled with shimmer particles however it is more of a serum/primer. It really does give the skin a nice glow that isn't shiny or greasy. After a couple minutes my skin seemed more matte but not in a dry way, it was the perfect base for my BB cream though. I'm so happy I decided to add this on.

This category...at one point I had every single item added, then removed them all to just the planner. Then got fomo and tried to add them all back again but as you can see they became sold out. Eventually after a lot of refreshing I managed to add them all back as others dropped them but just before customisation closed I had a word with myself and dropped everything but the LXMI melt. The other items were only $7 to add-on though which made it so worth it. 

LXMI // Pure Nilotica Melt

RRP £26

I wanted the eyeshadow palette but I never wear eyeshadow anymore and I have the ABH Soft Glam which is essentially the palette on offer. I have four 2020 planners already (why?) and the bag didn't really interest me, I'm just greedy. Eventually I settled on this skincare product. Apparently this is just pure Shea Butter but a really expensive version of Shea. This stuff is near impossible to get out of the tube, I have to leave it on top of the radiator for a few minutes to soften it up. Now I don't know if you've ever used natural shea butter but it doesn't smell great. I'd really forgotten what it was like and I do kind of regret choosing it now. It's this raw, earthy, nutty, truffle like smell. This version is even more pungent and I'm going to mix it with essential oils whenever I need to use it. They used to sell this is a jar and I don't know why they switched. Sure this packing is much cuter (and I'm already planning nail art on it) but this product would help from being in a jar.

This round was a bit uninspiring but it didn't take me long to decide on the dry blush cleaner as I don't have a bath for the salts and coffee scrubs just clog your drain up (seriously they're a nightmare).

Vera Mona // Colour Switch Solo

RRP £10.95

A lot on the forums said just use a hair donut instead of this but when I occasionally do wear eyeshadow I always use the same brush so I thought I'd get some use out of this. I have like 1 feathered tapered brush and that's all I use. This was me though when I swiped the brush against the colour switch for the first time:

I don't know what black magic wizardry is in that hair donut but in the words of JonTron,

// Items That Everyone Receives //

Up next are the three items that are in every box (apart from the Hot Pick which will either be body wash or hand masks).

DryBar // Prep Rally Prime & Prep Detangler
RRP $23 (£17.93 with current conversion rates)

I've heard of this brand but never been able to try it as it's not sold in the UK. I love the packaging and desperately needed a new detangler spray so this came just in time. Not only does it protect up to 232 degrees (c) but contains biotin, vitamins and UV blockers. It also has a nice but different scent that's a little bit spicy thanks to the ginger. I normally just braid my hair and then let it dry but I'm dying it again soon so I'll be blow drying it and this will get used.

MakeUp Eraser // Original Pink
RRP £16.99

I don't trust these products. I've had about every version of a microfiber makeup eraser under the sun thanks to various beauty boxes but that's all this is: a fluffy microfiber towel. If you google "what are microfiber cloths made of" it says a blend of polyesters. Wouldn't you know it but this cloth is made of a blend of polyesters. I use them all to dust; they're perfect for the job. As makeup removers though; terrible. Nothing will ever replace an oil cleanser followed by a cream cleanser. This is the only product in the box that I have no interest in.

//FFF Hotpick//
Cuccio Somatology // Calm + Clean Epsom Salt Hand & Body Wash
RRP $39.95 (£31.18 with current conversion rates)

I love Cuccio products and this appears to be a separate brand from their nail polish. It was a massive controversy on the forum boards though as this was the first time FFF did this 'hot pick' selection. Basically, instead of everyone receiving the same three products they decided to change things up and subscribers could receive either this wash or a NailsInc hand mask. This didn't bother me at all, what bothered me was the price difference in the two items. This is valued at $40 and the hand masks $8. They now appear to be shipping two hand masks instead of 1 and it's been revealed that the larger version of this body wash is $49.95 for 32oz. That would actually make this size worth $1.56 per ounce for a total of $12.48. Clearly Cuccio have marked up this smaller 8oz version to the max. I haven't used this product yet but it's shower gel so it will get used eventually.

// Box Price £50 + £23.38 (for the Add-Ons)

// 9 Full Size Items

// £327.92 Estimated Box Worth

Overall, I loved this box. It was by far the best box this year. There isn't one item I won't get any use out of. I have a feeling the RRP's have been greatly inflated but I consider all these items to be well worth £75. There's no way I could've gone out and curated a box just like this with high-end items like the Kate Somerville for that price. It feels like a winter themed box as well. Fall's box was nice but it didn't feel like autumn. This box was cosy with items perfect for the winter season. I also shopped the add-on sale (which is different from box add-ons) so look out for a post coming soon on them because I've already waffled on for long enough.

FabFitFun
// Seasonal // 
$49.99 per box + $10 Shipping* + $10 Tax
// Annual //
$179.99 (4 Boxes) + $40 Shipping* + $40 Tax

*UK Subs do not get charged any import tax, only VAT. 

And last is the shipping time. FFF give themselves 30 days from successful billing to ship your box. I was billed on the 8th November, received a shipping notification on the 13th and it was delivered on the 20th. It's always difficult waiting for these boxes in the days of next day delivery but it's worth it.