Review: The March Natural Beauty Box

Oh wow! This month was such an utter treat - my first Natural Beauty Box!* Every month, Emma curates a box of 5-7 cruelty-free, natural and vegan products from small UK artisans. There is a different theme with corresponding packaging every month and this month's was ALMOST GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT. And it really was.

This is the first time I've tried a box with so many brands in that I hadn't heard of before. I knew 2 of the 6 brands. Recently I've become very interested in supporting small brands because I love that their formulations are so pure, without huge lists of ingredients, without preservatives and made in small batches. The downside is a lot of them are expensive, I guess because they are not mass-produced. That's why it's such a bargain to subscribe to a box like this with a total value of £64.49 which gives you a chance to sample those brands you might not usually be able to afford.

PINK AND GREEN SKINCARE 'MARZIPAN' BODY SOUFFLE

This is probably my favourite product but in a box full of stars, it's really hard to choose. It has only two ingredients, organic shea butter and plum kernel oil, the latter of which gives the amazing smell to the body butter. Pink and Green designed this product to collaborate with Safe from Slavery, a charity supporting survivors of sex trafficking.

It's a thick and indulgent butter and a little goes a long way. It's really made a difference to my dry skin and it's one of the nicest body products I've used in ages.

Ingredients: Organic shea butter and plum kernel oil.

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HEAVENLY ORGANICS PEPPERMINT FOOT BALM

Heavenly Organics are a brand whose site I was perusing with interest on the day my box arrived, spookily enough. They are an ethical, organic and vegan company and all their packaging is recycled and recyclable. You can even get 50p off a product by opting for a dented lid! 😊 I think I'm in love with this company.

This balm is such a novel idea. I've never had a solid bar like this before and frankly it looks so much like a white chocolate that I just wanted to stuff it in my mouth 😀 Is it as good as it looks? Yes! I've used a few foot butters where I've hated getting them on my hands, which might sound weird and this negates that problem completely. I've been rubbing it over my feet and massaging the balm in before getting into bed and it has been a perfect solution for dry skin for me. No mess and smells divine! It comes in a cute little tin and even better, you can buy a refill for £3.99! Total bargain! The hand balm, which is in the same format, is on my list, a product that would be great for on the go.

INGREDIENTS: Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) seed butter organic, Butyrospermum parkii (Shea) tree butter organic, Mentha piperita (Peppermint) leaf extract organic, Limonene*, Linalool*. *Occurring naturally in essential oils.

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SKIN ALCHEMISTS THE GORGEOUS SOLDIER BODY SCRUB

Yes I had my fingers in this before I took the picture

This is the most luxurious body scrub I've ever used! Coming in at a hefty £34, this organic bad boy is packaged in a black glass jar, so it even looks gorgeous on the side of your bath. And this is what I mean about beauty boxes being the best things ever - I'd never be able to treat myself to this but as part of the Natural Beauty Box, it's made affordable.
The directions on the jar suggest to use this on dry skin and I found this rather painful as it's such an efficient scrub, so I used it on damp skin as I usually do with body scrubs and the result was wonderful. My skin felt soft, glowing and just amazing. I love a good body scrub and this is one of the best I've had.

I emailed Theresa at Skin Alchemists to ask about the directions on the jar and she told me that there's certainly no harm using on damp skin but that the ultimate exfoliating treatment was to use a body brush all over dry skin, followed by the scrub and then rinse off, with no soap and towel dry. This both exfoliates and stimulates blood circulation.

Ingredients: Sodium chloride (Hawaiian Red Alaea Sea Salt), *Cocos nucifera oil (Virgin Coconut Oil), *Theobroma cacao seed butter (Cocoa Butter), *Macadamia ternifolia seed oil (Macadamia seed oil), *Orbignya oleifera seed oil (Babassu Oil), *Prunus amygdalus dulcis seed oil (Sweet Almond Oil), *Simmondsia chinensis seed oil ( Golden Jojoba), Cocos nucifera shell powder (Coconut shell powder), Helianthus annuus seed oil (Sunflower seed oil), Tocopherol (Plant derived Vitamin E), *Theobroma cacao seed powder (Raw Cacao powder), Vanilla planifolia fruit extract (Vanilla extract)

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AURA ORGANICS CHOCOLATE AND ORANGE LIP BALM

Aura Organics are a small family-run company whose products are mostly vegan. They use almond and hemp wax in their balms instead of beeswax. This is quite a hard balm so you need to rub quite hard with your finger pad to soften some, which also releases the scent because I found I couldn't smell much until I dug into it and then I got that lovely smell.

It's a very nice balm. I do prefer a stick balm when I'm at work but I'm happy to use a tin when I'm home and for night-time. Aura have a choice of 5 flavours and they are a bargain £4.

Ingredients English: Organic Dark Cocoa Butter, Almond Wax, Organic Coconut oil, Organic Almond Oil, Hemp Wax, Organic Caster Oil, Organic Jojoba oil, Organic Chocolate Extract Flavour, organic Sweet Orange oil, Vitamin E natural Stimulated

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KOKOMELT MINI LAVENDER SCRUB CUBES

Kokomelt's products started out as post-gym repair creams made by athlete Deborah Spink. They are all vegan and their packaging is 98% recyclable. They make men and women's ranges plus a luxury range.

These little cubes are made from sugar and lavender and I was really drawn to them as soon as I opened the box, not just because of the novelty aspect (I've never used a cube scrub before) but also the lovely packaging. The tin has a purple elastic band around it, which holds the ingredients list with a paper clip, so it's all reusable/recyclable. And then when you open it, you've got a generous amount of fragrant cubes inside. It was quite a surprise to see these retail for the great price of £3.50.

So, you take a cube, dampen your hands, crumble it and scrub away until you're done. And the results are astounding. My hands feel so soft and rejuvenated (and they've had such a hard winter) after using these. It's probably a tie between these and the marzipan souffle for best product in the box and I'm totally in love with these cubes. I've given some of them to friends to try and I'll buy them again and again (at least I will when they are back in stock!)

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RAVEN COCONUT CHOCOLATE

The final treat in this box was something that rounds it off perfectly. Something to eat after dribbling over all the other almost good enough to eat products. Raven chocolate are a new vegan range who believe in minimal ingredients and if you are lucky enough to live in Glasgow, they are stocked all over the place.
I've been eating a fair few bits of vegan chocolate recently and this is another very tasty one. It's dark with a hint of coconut and rich enough to satisfy a craving. Chocolate is always a treat for me and it was great to get this in the box.

Ingredients: Venezuelan Cacao, cacao butter, coconut sugar and coconut milk powder

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In summary:

I'm awed by the quality inside this box, from the theme and thoughtful packaging to the small new-to-me brands and their products. I don't often get a box where I take everything out and use it straight away, but I did with this one. I'm using these goodies again and again and it's likely I will purchase replacements for most of them when they run out. My first try of this lovely box was a huge thrill to this product hoarder and I'll definitely be getting the next one.
The box contained added bonuses in the form of discount codes for some of the products. Emma does a theme reveal at the beginning of the month - the theme for April's box is 'Fresh-faced' - and she also reveals some of the contents of the box during the month via her social media, the links for which are below.

Natural Beauty Box on Instagram
Natural Beauty Box on Twitter
Natural Beauty UK Facebook Group

You can sign up to the Natural Beauty Box here

*This box was sent to me for PR purposes. I wasn't paid for my review.