Sara's Segment: Beladoce Botanicals Skincare Review
Well Slather Me in CBD and Take Me to the Tropics:
The Bela Box Skincare Subscription Review
By Sara Thomas
I’m a simple girl. I see a well-marketed ad for eye catching skincare products while scrolling through Instagram, I click.
That’s what happened when I stumbled upon Beladoce (not sure if it’s pronounced ‘doshhh’ or ‘doch-ay’, complete with Italian hand movements) Botanicals. Specifically, I stumbled upon their Bela Box, a monthly skincare subscription service. Being a sucker for skincare and subscription boxes, I naturally visited the website to check it out...
I was shocked that the box, which contained 5 decently sized products, was only $25 SHIPPED (scroll down for info on how you can get a discount). As an online shopper who, again, invests frequently in skincare, subscription boxes and samples, this is an amazing price for what you get. I immediately forwarded the box to by sister-in-skincare, Aneissa; you can ask her, if I pass a product along, you know it’s probably good (because I’m so picky with what goes on my face)!
According to the Beladoce website, each subscription box comes with:
1. Cleanser
2. Toner/Face Spray
3. Face mask, scrub, or serum
4. Moisturizer
+1 bonus item & $5 coupon towards any full size product
As mentioned, a one time purchase of this box is $25 shipped. However, if you do decide to sign up for a subscription (you can cancel at any time), you will receive a 15% discount on your first or (around $22 shipped) and 5% (around $23 shipped) on all of your remaining orders. Naturally, I opted for the subscription (because who doesn’t love a discount, duh). Plus, if you sign up for their free rewards program, you get points for purchases, which = more discounts!
You also have options when it comes to your subscription. You can choose to have the box sent every month, every 2 months, or every 3 months. I messaged Beladoce to ask if each box came with all new products every month, or if they just rotated what they carry on their website. They responded that every box might include 1 or 2 new items, while the rest are items you may have already received previously. Because I don’t like commitment when it comes to trying new skincare, I went for the every 3 month option, just in case I didn’t like a product. However, if the June box looks good, I may ask them to change it to every month!
I ordered the May Bela Box on May 17, and it did take a little longer to arrive (June 5) in my opinion, but Beladoce sent an email to their customers that boxes were taking a little longer to ship out & arrive because of flooding (so points for their customer service).
Finally, this little beauty showed up on my doorstep:
Ok, first off, how cute is this packaging. I mean seriously.
First impressions: everything was individually wrapped to protect the products, so I appreciated that. A+ on packaging and the overall look of the box.
Here’s what came in the May Bela Box (taken directly from their website)
- The Jade Oil to Milk Cleansing balm
The Oasis Spray
The Jade Serum
The Jade 12 Hour Creme
Bonus item: Star Bright Luxe Eye Cream
My Review of the Products
Now I’ll be going through my thoughts on these products, what I did/didn’t like, how my skin responded, etc. For an overall opinion of this box and if I’d recommend it, scroll to the end of this post.
*Note: this review is based on my honest opinion and experience; I did not receive free products in return for a review, nor does Beladoce sponsor this post.
Size:
I already mentioned this, but you get some pretty decent sized products in this box. I think each product (except perhaps the eye cream) was around 1 oz, and for sample sizes (usually they’re 10 ml or .5 oz), that’s a good amount of product to try. With everyday use, I suspect these products would last me at least 2 weeks, if not a full month.
Ingredients:
If you caught my other post on JustAneissa.com, you’ll know that I am an all-natural gal, meaning I stay away from chemicals, fragrances, and ingredients I can’t pronounce. I’ve just found all natural products work the best for my skin. Beladoce Botanicals is a green beauty, organic company, so I give these products 2 thumbs up for ingredients.
Also, one of the things that drew me to this particular box is that several of the products (namely the cleanser & moisturizer) contain CBD, which is really hot in skincare right now and is something I’ve been wanting to get my hands on for a while, as CBD/hemp is lauded for its anti-inflammatory & acne fighting abilities.
How It Rates:
~ The Oil to Milk (?) Cleansing Balm
Since I don’t wear makeup or sunscreen (trying to work on that one), I’m not really a double/oil cleaning gal. And as I have found the cleanser I will need for the rest of my life (aka French Girl Organics Charcoal Neroli Cleanser), I didn’t really expect to replace my normal cleanser with the Jade balm. However, I was highly intrigued by the oil-to-milk claims for this product. Plus, this was one of the CBD infused items. This product had virtually no smell, which was fine (I’d prefer it to not smell at all than smell bad). The instructions suggested applying to dry skin first, adding water until it turned into a milk, and following with your regular cleanser if you were oily/acne prone (which I am). This balm was very moisturizing and my skin felt so smooth after cleansing. There was only one catch...
There was no milk.
Ok, maybe this was a case of misunderstanding the description/instructions. Or maybe my expectations were too high. But after adding water, nothing happened. Thinking I didn’t have enough to activate the milk magic, I applied a little more.
Nada. This cow was dry.
Overall, I would probably pass on the Jade balm because, besides the CBD (more on that later) and oil-to-milk cleansing (which I did not experience), there was nothing very extraordinary about this product. Maybe if it would’ve worked as described, I would have been more excited about the results. Also, I woke up the morning after using this with some small pimples along my chin area and cutting out this balm made them go away. I’m actually not surprised at this since it’s made with coconut oil (too pore clogging) and, as a balm, is a little too thick for my personal tastes.
Sara’s Score: 4/10
~ The Oasis Face/Hair Spray
After cleansing and toning with my regular witch hazel rosewater toner, I moved on to the Oasis spray. I did not replace my toner with this spray because the ingredients qualify more so as an essence than a traditional toner. 3 sprays and I was in paradise, complete with ukulele music.
Seriously, guys. If I could bathe in this stuff everyday, I would. My face smelled like a freshly cooked brown sugar & banana dessert. I felt like I should be lying under a palm tree on a tropical beach somewhere in Hawaii. It was absolutely HEAVENLY. I don’t know that it did much for my skin, but boy does it smell nice. This is one item from the box I would definitely consider repurchasing simply because I love the smell! It just screams Summertime.
Sara’s Score: 10/10
~ The Jade Serum
After coming off my banana-brown sugar cloud, I went in with the Jade hemp + hyaluronic serum. Like a lot of their other products, this serum has no smell. It has a greenish tint and a smooth milky consistency. This serum contains hemp, which is similar but a little different to CBD, but is still considered good for acne prone skin. I haven’t really used this serum long enough to judge whether it’s doing anything for my skin, but I do feel like this + the moisturizer have helped plump some of the fine lines that have been showing up on my forehead lately (thanks, fastly-approaching-30-body).
Sara’s Score: 7/10
~ The Jade 12 Hour Creme
So one area of skincare that is the bane of my existence is moisturizer; I rarely can use cream/lotion based products every night because they make me breakout (I’ve had better success with straight-off-the-plant aloe gel or face oils). And this Jade creme is THICK, which made me skeptical that it would work for me, but I decided to give it a try to present a thorough review. I just tried to apply very little to keep it from being too heavy. The first night I used it, I felt thoroughly hydrated and glowing afterwards. Like the serum, it has no smell and it applies like a dream.
At first, I thought this moisturizer was actually going to work for me because my skin was looking the best it had in a while (in my opinion; see pics below to judge for yourself). However, about the 4th night in, I started getting a big cyst-like pimple and some smaller ones along my chin, which is what normally happens when I use moisturizer every night, so I decided to take a break from the Jade creme for a while. But that breakout could’ve been from any number of things (this was the day after I did my 2x/week full-on exfoliator, mask, etc. routine instead of my regular one + I used the balm again to give it another try, which could have been the issue). Once my skin settles back down I may return to the Jade creme before ruling it out completely. I just really wanted this to work for me because it feels so luxurious and hydrating!
Sara’s Score: 6/10, just because I suspect it started causing a breakout but am unsure; if it didn’t, then I would give this an 8/10. If you’re a person who can tolerate regular moisturizer, this product might work better for you.
~ The Star Bright Eye Cream
Eye cream is a category of skincare I’m just starting to dive in to, especially now that 30 (hello crow’s feet) is creeping up on me. I have one with Vitamin C that I’ll use occasionally, but it doesn’t do much for me. This one, on the other hand...
After the Oasis spray, the Star Bright eye cream is the second product I would consider repurchasing from this box. I feel that it helped brighten up my eye area, smelled divine, and felt amazing. Like angel’s wings had softly caressed my eye bags.
Sara’s Score: 9/10
A note on CBD...
Again, as I haven’t been using these products very long, and because I didn’t introduce them into my routine one at a time, it’s hard to tell if the CBD in these products is doing anything for my skin. I think I’d like to try a different CBD product, like a serum or infused oil to test if this ingredient would work for me. Surprisingly, I liked more of the products that did not have CBD than those that did.
Final Thoughts (+ Before & After Pics)
I’ve been using the Beladoce products for about a month, which is a fair amount of time to try out a new line of skincare products. For about the first two weeks, I felt like my skin was looking a little clearer and more glowy, although consistent use has led to a few bumps showing up here and there, so as of now (late June), I’m giving this line a break to narrow down what products I definitely can and cannot use. I’m posting pictures below of my skin before, right after, the morning after, and one week after using these products. You guys be the judge (but not of my messy Anna from Frozen hair, or my bad lighting, please). If nothing else, I definitely would consider repurchasing the Oasis spray and Star Bright eye cream.
Overall, the Bela Box did not disappoint! For the quality of ingredients, size of the products, options for delivery, and for the price, I would definitely recommend trying out this company’s subscription service, especially if you’re a skincare junkie like me who likes to try out new things/samples before committing to the full thing. Shoutout to the Instagram algorithm for actually doing a good job of finding and introducing me to a good skincare company...you’re the real MVP.
Visit the Beladoce Botanicals website to purchase: https://beladocebotanicals.com/products/the-bela-box-subscription ; *note: unfortunately, you can no longer purchase the May box but the full-size items mentioned in this post are available for sale + their June box has some interesting items in it that are different from the May box. I would definitely keep checking back each month to see their new releases.
Be sure to check them out on Instagram @beladoceskin!
Stay blessed, well-dressed, and skincare obsessed.
Sara
