Memebox Unboxing - Korean Beauty Starter Set #5 Intro to Tea Version 2

Ok, so this is a clear sign that the end of times is near. Very near. I am doing a Memebox (Korean beauty box) unboxing. I'm sure if you look outside the pigs are flying right now. I'm also pretty sure that hell has frozen over.

But if you look closely at the contents of this set, you can very easily guess why I bought this box.

No to teraz mamy oficjalny sygnal, ze dni ostatnie sa tutaj. Bo wrzucam na blogaska wpis o Memeboxie. Memebox to koreanskie pudelko kosmetyczne, cos jak Glossybox, czy jak im tam, w Europie.
Fanka Memeboxa nie jestem, ale to pudelko kupilam w niesamowitym pospiechu i z niesamowita ekscytacja.

Normalnie koniec swiata. Jestem pewna, ze za chwile uslyszymy kopyta czterech jezdzcow.

Ale zaraz wszystko bedzie jasne dlaczego:

Yep. A-True.

I'm on my quest to try every single product this company has to offer.
This set had two A-True goodies, and that alone made it a fabulous deal.

Memebox was selling this set for US$40, but I had 2 points and a $3.00 coupon, so at US$35 with free shipping I couldn't say no.

It arrived today.

Tak. A-True.
Jestem na misji specjalnej, aby wyprobowac kazdy kosmetyk, jaki oferuje ta marka.
Ten zestaw mial dwie rzeczy od A-True, wiec to juz samo w sobie sprawilo, ze pudelko bylo swietna okazja i za swietna cene.

Membox sprzedawalo ten zestaw za US$40. Ja mialam dwa punkty i kupon na 3, wiec za US$35 z darmowa wysylka, musialam to miec.

Przyszlo dzisiaj.

Sent as registered mail and declared as a gift, the value was also nicely lowered, so no customs problems for me.

Inside the pink bubble wrapper we have the signature pink box:

Wyslane jako "polecony" i zadeklarowane jako "prezent". Wartosc tez ladnie zanizona, wiec nie bylo klopotow celnych.

W srodku rozowej babelkowej koperty - rozowe Memeboxowe pudelko:

And inside the box?
This:

A w srodku pudelka?
To:

The theme for this set was "tea" and all items were in one way or another had something to do with tea.

Because Memebox are asshats and decided to stop international shipping to countries other than the US, Korea, China (and possibly Japan) as of Valentine's Day, many of their faithful customers around the world are quite understandably quite unhappy right now.

There's also another reason why I feel that Memebox is particularly asshatty right now.
They remove the set and box descriptions very quickly from their website. So even though my box arrived today, I have no way of checking their product description page. Jerks. You have to be a bunch of total idiots to be pissing on your customers like that, if you ask me.

Oh well, anyway...
Moving on...

This is what was in this set, one by one.

First, the reason why I bought it. The price of A-True skincare alone made this box worth buying.


Tematem przewodnim byla "herbata", wiec wszystko tutaj ma jakis zwiazek z herbata.

Memebox to w chwili obecnej dno i wodorosty z dwoch powodow.
Po pierwsze zaprzestaja wysylki do krajow innych niz USA, Chiny, Korea i prawdopodobnie Japonia. Tak wiec rzesze ich wiernych fanow gdzie indziej na swiecie sa niezle wk*rwione.
Po drugie, z ich strony znikaja opisy zestawow i pudelek w ekspresowym tempie. Wiec mimo, ze moje pudelko doszlo do mnie dzis, opis zawartosci juz nie jest dostepny. Co za totalna banda idiotow. Olewaja klientow niezbyt cieplym sikiem, wiec to bedzie koniec mojej przygody z Memebox.

No ale, wracamy do tego zestawu.

W pierwszej kolejnosci, powod dla ktorego go kupilam.
Ceny A-True juz same w sobie sprawily, ze to pudelko bylo warte zakupienia.

I have tried samples of this watery gel cream and it was OK.
What I really wanted was this essence:

Probowalam juz probek tego kremowego zelu i byl w porzadku.
Najbardziej ciesze sie z tej esencji:

We shall see if it's as fabulous as everyone says.

This big bottle of Lavender Whitening Emulsion from The Skin House is not known to me:


Teraz bede mogla sama sie przekonac czy jest tak swietna, jak wiesc gminna niesie.

Ta wielka butla Lavender Whitening Emulsion od The Skin House nie jest mi znana:

I have a feeling I will end up using it as body moisturizer.

E Choice Sleeping Pack has the list price of US$2.00. Sorry. I am not going to put a bargain basement product on my face. But I might use it on my feet. They are awful enough, not much can make them any worse.


Mam dziwne przeczucie, ze bedzie ona uzywana jako moisturizer do ciala.

E Choice Sleeping Pack ma wartosc podana jako dwa dolary. Sorry, ale ja nie mam zamiaru smarowac sobie twarzy produktem z funciaka. Moze uzyje go na moje stopy, im juz nic nie zaszkodzi.

I'm not particularly interested in these last two products either.

A;T FOX Jasoyup Radiance Fixer, whatever that is:

Tymi dwoma ostatnimi produktami nie jestem zainteresowana.
A;T FOX Jasoyup Radiance Fixer, cokolwiek to ma byc:

And A;T FOX Tea Toc Water Clear Tablet:

So, all in all, US$35.00 for two A-True products was a crazy good deal, and I am very happy I bought this set.

Wiec 35 dolarow za dwa pelnowymiarowe A-True to swietna okazja i bardzo sie ciesze, ze udalo mi sie ten zestaw zamowic.

~~~

Below I pasted what Memebox had to say about this box:

Ponizej wkleilam, to co Memebox mialo do powiedzenia na temat tego zestawu (nie chce mi sie tlumaczyc, przepraszam bardzo).

Here’s a guide to a mix of full-sized natural remedies to address all your skin care concerns! Teas are natural wonders that have long been touted for their countless health and beauty benefits! Great for K-Beauty beginners and K-Beauty holics alike, this Intro to Tea set packs a punch with natural yet potent tea infused cosmetics that work to brighten dark spots, clear pores of impurities and perfect a glowing complexion. [Shipping starts Feb. 3rd] This set includes: $161 value for $40 + Free Shipping 

• A·TRUE White Snow Tea Brilliant Essence ($55) 

• A·TRUE Himalaya Black Tea Watery Gel Cream ($49) 

• A;T FOX Jasoyup Radiance Fixer ($12) 

• A;T FOX Tea Toc Water Clear Tablet ($2) 

• E CHOICE Fermented Tea Skin Drinks Sleeping Pack ($2) 

• THE SKIN HOUSE Lavender Lightening Emulsion ($41)

~~~

Now, what's this sound I hear outside? The four riders of the...?



Nah... False alarm. 
Just my local yankiis on their motorcycles.

Iope creams

I am lazy. And that's a fact.
I'm so lazy that when Memebox released two Iope boxes (anybody still remember those times?), I actually bought box number 1. I had a bunch of memepoints that came out of nowhere, plus when you bought that box through an affiliate link, you could get even more points. And hey, if you give me bonus points, I'm good and ready to buy just about anything.

I knew that the box contained cosmetics that were already discontinued by the company. And I didn't care all that much. It was more convenient for me to buy the whole box than to search for individual items elsewhere.

Jestem leniwcem. To jest fakt.
Jestem takim leniwcem, ze kiedy Memebox wypuscilo boxa z produktami Iope (ktos jeszcze pamieta te czasy?), to kupilam pudelko numer 1. Mialam jakies memepunkty, i dostawalo sie dodatkowy punktowy bonus przy zakupie tego pudelka.

Wiedzialam, ze kosmetyki z tego pudelka zostaly juz wycofane przez Iope. I w zasadzie, nie obchodzilo mnie to za bardzo. Bylo mi latwiej kupic cale pudelko niz szukac poszczegolnych rzeczy osobno. Choc osobno wyszloby taniej.

~~~

Iope is one of the many brands coming out of Amore Pacific. 
I like Iope cushion foundations. And that's a fact.
So in my naivete I thought that maybe perhaps I would also like their skincare.

I have already finished this poor excuse for an anti-wrinkle eye cream:


Iope to jedna z wielu marek ze stajni Amore Pacific.
Lubie podkladowe poduszki Iope. To jest fact.
I w mej naiwnosci tak sobie myslalam, ze more polubie tez i pielegnacje tej marki.

Juz skonczylam ta patetyczna wymowke za krem przeciw-zmarszczkowy pod oczy:

Its full name is Iope Essential Tone & Wrinkle Care Eye Cream. Any longer and we'd run out of the alphabet. Srsly.

We get 25ml of white cream in a soft, plastic, very shiny tube.

Pelna nazwa to Iope Essential Tone & Wrinkle Care Eye Cream. Ciut dluzsza i alfabetu by zabraklo.

Dostajemy 25ml bialego kremu w miekkiej, plastikowej, bardzo swiecacej sie tubce.

It looks like a tube of medicated ointment with that pointy tip. 

The cream claims this:

Wyglada na jakis medyczny specyfik z tym dlugim aplikatorem.
Krem twierdzi, ze:

"Advanced Formula for Reduce Deep Wrinkles".

Did it do it? No.
Did it do anything? No.
Anything at all? No.

I ended up using it on my neck. Goodbye and good riddance.

I am still fighting with this horror of a moisturizing cream:

"Zaawansowana formula do zredukowania glebokich zmarszczek."
Czy krem to zrobil? Nie.
Czy krem zrobil cokolwiek? Nie.
Zupelnie nic? Zgadza sie.

Skonczylam go uzywac do smarowania szyi.

Do tej pory walcze z zawodnikiem numer dwa:

Iope Essential Moisture Relief Cream. All 50 ml of it.

This stuff stinks. It's so heavily perfumed using it anywhere on my face would provoke a sudden asthma attack. And the scent isn't all that pleasant either. If I'm going to slowly suffocate myself, at least let it be due to something that smelled nice. Even a little bit nice will do.

This thing here, it reeks of chemically scented mothballs. The kind you can get at a 100 yen store. Too awful for words.

To dziadostwo smierdzi. Jest tak mocno naperfumowane, ze smarowanie go gdziekolwiek na twarzy grozi mi atakiem astmy. I nie jest to przyjemny zapach. Jesli mam sie udusic, to niech przynajmniej bedzie to przez mily zapach. Ale nie. Ten tutaj cuchnie.

Zapach przypomina do zludzenia chemicznie naperfumowane kulki na mole. Takie ze sklepu 100-jenowego. Brak slow, aby to opisac.

I'm using it on my ass. I haven't noticed any visible effects yet. My bottom doesn't feel any softer or more supple than before. But I have 2 jars of this cream (got another one in the Jackpot Memebox), so there is still a chance that my behind will end up looking like a Korean pop idol's face. We shall see...

Here are the ingredient lists. Just scroll down a bit.

Goodnight!

Smaruje sobie nim tylek. Nie widze, ani nie czuje zadnych wyraznych efektow. Ale mam tego dziadostwa dwa sloiczki (drugi przyszedl w pudelku jackpotowym). Wiec nadal jest szansa, ze moj tylek zacznie wygladac jak twarz k-popowej idolki.
Pozyjemy, zobaczymy...

Tutaj lista skladnikow.

Dobranoc!!

All About Brows Memebox Fiasco

If you are a Memebox fan, read at your own risk.
Consider yourself warned.


I am not a fan of Memebox.
But, first, for those who have been living under a rock in another galaxy, Memebox is a Korean beauty subscription box.
Korean beauty should be right up my alley, right? Right. So why am I not a Memebox fan?

Nie jestem fanka Memeboxa.
Ale najpierw, dla tych, ktorzy do tej pory mieszkali schowani pod kamieniem w galaktyce daleko stad, Memebox jest koreanskim pudelkiem kosmetycznym. Cos jak Glossybox i temu podobne.
Koreanskie kosmetyki powinny byc w sam raz dla mnie, nieprawdaz? Prawdaz.
Wiec dlaczego nie jestem fanka Memeboxa?

~~~

Memebox claims (from their US website):

"At Memebox, we’re committed to bringing you only the best - we’ll make sure it’s worth the wait."

Well, no, you're not. And no, you don't.

I've lost all respect for Memebox when I saw PureSmile products in their boxes.
PureSmile is a very (and I mean veeery) low end discount brand, which is widely available here in Japan. You can get it even at Daiso. And sorry, I don't want to purchase a mystery box from Korea with stuff that I can get at my local 100 yen store.

Yes, I've tried PureSmile products - sheet masks, yogurt masks, point pads, hand cream, shampoo, and bb cream, and I think it was enough for me to decide once and for all that this stuff is utter garbage.

Memebox twierdzi (z ich amerykanskiej strony internetowej):

"My, w Memeboxie, obiecujemy Ci, ze dostarczymy Ci tylko to, co najlepsze (w domysle - koreanskie kosmetyki) - bedzie warto na nie poczekac."

(To oddaje ton i tresc obietnicy).

Ale niestety, Memeboksiarze, nie dostarczacie i nie warto.

Ja stracilam wszelki szacunek dla Memeboxa, kiedy zobaczylam w ich pudelkach produkty PureSmile. PureSmile to bardzo (i naprawde baaardzo) dyskontowa marka, ktora jest latwo dostepna w Japonii. W tym rowniez w Daiso. I sorry, ale ja nie chce kupowac pudelka z nieznana mi zawartoscia z Korei, kiedy moge sobie kupic ten sam szajs w lokalnym odpowiedniku funciaka.

Tak, probowalam kosmetykow PureSmile - sheetmaski, maski jogurtowe, point pads, krem do rak, szampon i cos co mialo udawac krem BB, wiec moge ostatecznie stwierdzic, ze jest to, bez dwoch zdan, badziewie totalne. Szkoda mi cery na takie produkty.

~~~

Here you have it, a huge bundle of PureSmile masks for only 540 yen. These were two bundles for the price of one.

Memebox gives these products a highly imaginary value (called memevalue) and tah dam! Scores of naive girls jump for joy, because they think they snatched a real Korean beauty bargain in their Memebox.

The few boxes that I had the dubious pleasure of investigating were filled with similar low price, drugstore quality, very mediocre stuff.
I have a drugstore down the road from my house, I don't need to order that stuff from Korea.

Tutaj na zdjeciu to widac, paka mask PureSmile for 540 jenow. Czego nie widac, to napisu, ze to sa dwie paki w cenie jednej.

Memebox daje produktom w swoich pudelkach bardzo wyimaginowana "memewartosc" i bum! Gromadki naiwnych babek skacza z radosci, ze im sie taka okazja z koreanskimi kosmetykami nawinela.

Te kilka pudelek, ktore mialam watpliwa przyjemnosc macac wypelnione byly typowymi drogeryjnymi produktami, drogeryjnej jakosci, ale o bardzo zawyzonej "memewartosci".
Ja akurat mam drogerie za miedza. Nie potrzebuje zamawiac porownywalnych kosmetykow na slepo (bo nie wiesz co jest w pudelku) z Korei.

~~~

In all fairness, there are also gems (like A-True or Whamisa, for example) to be found in Memeboxes. But I don't want to have to order 10 or 20 boxes to find a couple of gems. The math confirms this. If the average price of a box is, let's lowball it and say, US$20, that would mean 200 dollars spent for one product that is truly special. Well, guess what? I'd rather take that 200 dollars and buy a really special product, sans all the additional junk that I don't need and will never use.

And yet, there are women out there who have purchased upwards of 50 Memeboxes. That's over 1000 dollars. And the same women very frequently complain that they have cash flow problems and say they buy Memeboxes, because they can't afford selective brand name skin care. Well, no shit Sherlock!

Ale, musze tez uczciwie powiedziec, ze od czasu do czasu mozna znalezc w tych pudelkach perelki, typu A-True albo Whamisa.
Ale ja nie chce zamawiac na slepo 10 czy 20 pudelek, zeby znalezc jeden czy dwa kosmetyki, ktore by mi odpowiadaly. Matematyka jest po mojej stronie. Jesli przecietne pudelko kosztuje okolo 20 dolarow,  to 10 pudelek wychodzi na 200 dolarow. 200 dolarow za jedna kosmetyczna perelke? Ja wole po prostu wydac to 200 dolarow na cos, z czego wiem, ze bede zadowolona. Bez dodatkowego balastu, ktorego i tak uzywac nie bede.

Ale sa babki, ktore kupily ponad 50 pudelek. To ponad 1000 dolarow. I te same babeczki czesto narzekaja, ze krucho u nich z kasa, i ze kupuja Memeboxy, bo po prostu nie stac ich na kupno selektywnych kosmetykow. LOL! Jasne!

~~~

Another thing that struck me while perusing the Memesphere was that it's probably easier to find a virgin in a Turkish whorehouse than an honest, well-balanced, believable Memebox review. Even the boxes that were utter junk were given a positive spin in blog reviews.
You may wonder why? Because the great majority of reviewers are also Memebox affiliates and Memebox rewards them in memepoints (1 point = 1 dollar) for each review. There are also people who get Memeboxes for free to review and thus influence the great unwashed.
How does the proverb go? Don't bite the hand that feeds you? Or somesuch?

Czytajac recenzje Memeboxow w internecie od razu rzucilo mi sie w oczy, ze latwiej chyba trafic na dziewice w tureckim burdelu niz na rzetelna, uczciwa, w miare rzeczowa recenzje pudelka. Nawet te boxy, ktore byly wypelnione gniotami, przedstawiane byly z pozytywnej strony.
Dlaczego? Ano dlatego, ze bardzo duza wiekszosc blogerskich recenzentow jest w programie wspolpracy z Memeboxem i Memebox wynagradza ich recenzje memepunktami (1 punkt = 1 dolar). Oporcz tego sa jeszcze blogerki, ktore dostaja pudelka od Memebox za friko do zrecenzjowania, a przez bycie Memeboxowym autorytetem - do sklonienia mas to kupna pudelka.

Jak to przyslowie idzie? Nie gryz reki, ktora cie karmi? (Nie pamietam polskiego odpowiednika).

~~~

But as I'm not an affiliate, nor an influencer, I don't feel obligated to spin a good review if what I got was utter junk.
Because what I got was, indeed, utter junk.

You see, during a momentary lapse of reason, I ordered the All About Brows Memebox.
In my defense, I was mad at Shu Uemura that day.
And I thought it would be impossible to stick a PureSmile product, or two, into a brow-themed box.

I also thought that it would be almost impossible to screw up such a simple theme box. It's just brows, right? But never underestimate the power of Memebox gods.

Ale ja nie jestem w programie blogerskim Memeboxa, nie naleze tez do grona tych, ktorym Memebox wysyla pudelka za darmo do recenzji. Wiec nie czuje presji zachwytow nad czyms, co wedlug mnie, bylo badziewiem.

Bo to wlasnie dostalam w pudelku, ktore zamowilam - badziewie.

Wstyd sie przyznac, ale w chwili slabosci (zacmienia umyslu moze, mielismy wtedy straszne upaly), zamowilam pudelko All About Brows - Wszystko o Brwiach.
Moja wymowka to to, ze tego akurat dnia bylam wsciekla na Shu Uemura.
I pomyslalam sobie, ze Memeboksiarze chyba nie dadza rady wcisnac PureSmile do pudelka dla brwi.

Bylam tez pewna, ze nie da sie zawartosci tego pudelka kompletnie spierniczyc. To przeciez tylko brwi, co nie? Ale nigdy nie lekcewaz talentu Memebogow, tak sie okazalo.

~~~

All I wanted was a few eyebrow shaping stencils, a pencil, maybe some filling powder. Nothing extraordinary. I thought that US$19.00 (plus shipping) would cover it. I used an affiliate discount code, paid, and patiently waited for my box. In the meantime I ordered 2 more Memeboxes, which further convinced me that I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

My brow box finally arrived.
And I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Yes, there were some products there that I could even see myself using.

Jedyne co chcialam to jakies szablony do modelowania brwi, moze jakis cien do brwi. Nic nadzwyczajnego. Myslalam, ze 19 dolarow (plus wysylka) to wlasnie to - jakis szablon, jakas kredka. Mialam tez kod znizkowy, zaplacilam i cierpliwie czekalam.
W miedzyczasie zamowilam dwa dodatkowe Memeboxy, ktore tylko utrwalily mnie w przekonaniu, ze raczej wole wydawac pieniadze gdzie indziej.

Moje pudelko w koncu przyszlo.
I nie wiedzialam czy mam sie smiac, czy plakac.

Tak, byly tam ze dwie rzeczy, ktore od bidy moglabym uzywac.

~~~

Nothing exciting, but serviceable. Sadly, not my color.

Nic szczegolnego, ale daloby sie. Niestety, nie moj kolor.

Again, just your overage drugstore stuff. I already have a set like that from Kanebo's M-edia line. Similarly cheap, but more suitable colors.

This set below I was actually happy to see:

Zwykly drogeryjny zestaw cieni do brwi. Mam juz taki zestaw z linii M-edia od Kanebo. Rownie tani, ale bardziej pasujacy mi kolorystycznie.

Kombo ponizej mnie ucieszylo:

This was a dual tip set - a powder tip on one end, and a slanted pencil on the other.

I swatched both:

Sypki cien (puder) na jednym koncu, kredka do brwi na drugim koncu.
Tak wygladaja:

Both in a shade of mild diarrhea, which actually suits me pretty well.
Or so I thought until a few minutes later my arm started to burn.

Oba w kolorze lekkiej sraczki, ktory akurat mi pasuje.
Przynajmniej tak myslalam przez pierwsze 5 minut, dopoki skora nie zaczela mnie palic.

Can you see the reddish line and the freshly forming blisters? It took literally less than 5 minutes for them to appear. I don't want to know what was in that powder. I'm just glad I didn't try it on my brows.

But the grand prize for "we really think our customers are so dumb, they will love anything as long as it's made in Korea" goes for this:

Tak, czerwona krecha i swiezo powstale bable na skorze. W 5 minut po zeswatchowaniu. Nie chce wiedziec co bylo w tym pudrze. Ciesze sie, ze nie walnelam tego bezposrednio na brwi.

Ale nagroda w konkursie "naprawde uwazamy nasze klientki za totalnie bezmozgowia, ktore beda sie zachwycac byle czym, jesli tylko ma to napis Made in Korea" idzie za te cuda:

Yep, you see it right.
A handheld razor. And mini-scissors.

Yes, I know... "What the *bleep*?" doesn't seem to fully cover it, now, does it?

This was so low that even I have to applaud Memebox's chutzpah. It takes balls to stick that kind of junk in a box and call it Superbox #57 (from Memebox's description):

"...this expert approved All About Brows Box! Packed with all K-Style inspired eyebrow essentials, this box will give you everything to recreate the signature Korean look with full, youthful brows!"

Gee, thanks, but no, thanks.

Tak, to nie pomylka.
Reczna brzytewka do brwi i mini-nozyczki.

Az mnie zatkalo, a to nie zdarza sie przeciez zbyt czesto.

To takie dno, ze az musze podziwiac Memeboxowa bezczelnosc. Trzeba miec duzo pewnosci siebie, zeby cos takiego wsadzic do pudelka i nazwac to Superbox #57 i tak opisac:

"... All About Brows pudelko, eksperci potwierdzaja. Wypelnione niezbednikami do brwi w koreanskim stylu, to pudelko do ci wszystko to, czego potrzebujesz, aby wyczarowac piekne, pelne,  koreanskie brwi."

(Jakos tak...)

Nie, dziekuje. Postoje.

~~~

Overall, this box just confirmed what I knew all along. Memebox is not for me.

True, Memebox might be a great experience for those people, who are new to Asian skincare and cosmetics. Or for those, who have too much money to burn.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), I belong to neither category.

W podsumowaniu, to pudelko tylko potwierdzilo to, co juz wiedzialam. Ze zabawa w Memebox jest nie dla mnie.

Zgadzam sie, ze dla tych, ktorzy dopiero probuja azjatyckich kosmetykow, Memebox bedzie dobrym doswiadczeniem. Rowniez dla tych, ktorzy cierpia na nadmiar kasy.

Niestety (lub stety) nie zaliczam sie do zadnej z powyzszych kategorii.