Love Goodly is a non-toxic and cruelty-free vegan subscription box that sends a mix of 4-5 full-size beauty, wellness, and lifestyle items every other month for $34.95 (with free shipping). They also offer a VIP subscription for $48.95 that comes with an additional full-size product (or two). Every purchase supports a different cause each month.
This review is of the VIP subscription for $48.95 every other month.
FYI, COVID-19 Update:
Your Love Goodly orders are 100% safe and secure. The health and safety of our customers and team members is our highest priority. We've implemented clean room style packing procedures to ensure extra care in our packing and fulfillment. There may be a 1-2 day delay in your order, but rest assured that we are processing orders. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About this Vegan Beauty Box
The Subscription Box: Love Goodly
The Cost: $34.95 per box or $48.95 for the VIP subscription (which includes an additional full-size beauty product with a value over $35)
The Products: 4-5 full-size vegan and cruelty-free beauty products.
Ships to: U.S. for free, Canada for a flat $16.00 fee.
Good to Know: With each box and purchase, Love Goodly donates a portion of the proceeds to these causes. This month supports Farm Sanctuary.
Love Goodly VIP Box December 2020/January 2021 Review
Each Love Goodly box comes with an info card detailing the items included. If you're signed up for the VIP box, you'll receive all the same items that are sent in the Essentials box but with 1 extra VIP item. The VIP item is always full-size and information about it is given on its own separate card.
You'll also find that in the bottom corner of the main info card there's a code for 15% off any Love Goodly shop purchase. Throughout my review, I link each item back to the company that has created it, but every product in the monthly box is available for purchase through Love Goodly shortly after the box ships out. If you don't see the items in the Love Goodly shop right away, check back!
Evio Mascara, 0.282 oz - Retail Value $24
I know Evio from my first Love Goodly box, which showcased a spread of products from this Canadian brand. Evio recently launched a volumizing mascara, and I gather from the product description on their site that this is their second stab at it after a first offering wasn't well received. This clean formula comes only in black, and is infused with cannabis sativa seed oil (hemp seed oil). I have seen from a few internet sources that CBD-infused cosmetics are gaining traction because even after the makeup is removed, traces of cannabis oil remains, hydrating your skin, or in this case, lashes. I recognize that CBD is a trendy ingredient, but I have used it in various forms for quite some time, and do believe it has benefits.
The applicator of this mascara is curved with the intent to separate and lengthen lashes, and the tip is slimmer for more precise inner or bottom lash application. In the roulette of human eyelash length, I wound up with lashes that are already quite long, so I can't speak to the lengthening qualities of this or any other mascara. But I will say that the formula is beautifully thick yet smooth. There is some clumping of the product on the applicator itself, but the application is incredibly light. It's beautiful, and as someone who is always trying to achieve a natural look with her makeup wear, I can declare with confidence that it's a better experience than any other mascara I've ever tried. I've said before that if I were to choose only one cosmetic to apply before leaving the house it would be mascara, so I'm happy to have been introduced to a clean one that I love and could buy again at a discount from the LG shop.
Delia Organics Eye Dare You Serum, 0.33 fl oz - Retail Value $25.99
This eye serum is kind of magic. It's a blend of four oils: cranberry seed, sweet almond, jojoba, and avocado oils, but somehow it is completely scentless and goes on so smoothly and delicately as to feel nearly weightless. And yet, when you rub it in with your fingers, it's evident how deeply hydrating it is, which is a quality I would normally associate with a heavier-feeling oil. The first time I applied this roller under my eyes was moments after having opened my Love Goodly box, sitting on my couch, and I didn't feel it on my skin so I kept swiping and swiping, then when I touched it with my fingers I realized I had totally doused my face in oils! My dry winter skin drank it right up, though. In addition to its intended use, this oil blend has been working beautifully on other areas of my face that are prone to dryness.
I've long been familiar with Delia Organics through various subscription boxes—this brand pops up in non-beauty boxes somewhat regularly, so it's nice to see it appear here in Love Goodly as an affirmation of its caliber and virtues.
Professor Herb UK Mandarin, Basil, and Lime Night Cream, 2.11 fl oz - List Value $24.50 (Retail Value £18.99)
Here's another intensely hydrating product that I'm really excited to have on hand this winter. It smells lightly citrusy—which fits perfectly with how gentle and refreshing its smooth gel-like cream feels when being applied—and it's also got a bit of an earthy aroma. Earthier than basil normally smells, but I think that's the ingredient from which the scent is coming. I don't normally think of myself as seeking out a "refreshing" experience in the cold winter months, but this cream does what it does so well that my expectations were upturned. In terms of its active ingredients, it relies on mandarin to fight free radicals by way of natural antioxidants, like Vitamin C, and myrcene, which is naturally produced in basil and is known for its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
Okay, now to level with you all for a moment. I know that night creams aren't exactly a rarity to see in skincare subscriptions, nor are they uncommon to find on the average woman's bathroom counter. But this is somehow my first experience with it, and I had to pause and ponder the entire concept of night cream for a moment because I normally don't wash my face before bed. (Simply because it doesn't feel like it needs to be cleansed at night, whereas in the morning it does.) It seems that there are a few arguments for avoiding using night cream during the day: they don't offer sun protection, they do important hydrating work overnight, and they're richer, sometimes leading to the wrong kind of shiny skin for daytime. I'll be so bold as to say all 3 are non-issues for me. It's overcast approximately 300 days of the year where I live, I'm spending more time inside, and my heater is detonating my skin with dryness. Anyone else in this boat? My skin already feels awesome after just a few uses—two at night and one in the morning—so I'm sure it will be happy to have this hydration regularly.
Zatik Orange and Tea Tree Hand Sanitizer, 2 fl oz - Retail Value $8
Isn't it funny how a year ago a hand sanitizer might have felt a bit random to receive in a beauty box, but now it's like gold? The scent of this one is really unique in its combo of orange and tea tree, and the consistency is gel-like. It's a nice travel size for tossing in a bag or keeping in the center console of your car.
Nude & Noir Bijou Palette, 0.32 oz - Retail Value $36
As a stationery-lover and art supply collector, I liken receiving a new makeup palette to opening a fresh box of crayons or markers or pens. It's so thrilling to see the pigments all beautifully untouched, and just as fun to start using them. As a beauty newbie, I was excited that this quad of coconut-oil-based products is meant to be applied with your fingers—I'm more experienced and comfortable applying concealer and blending eyeshadow with my fingers than any brush out there, just because I'm a super low-tech gal. On the other hand, I learned that lack of precision wouldn't exactly serve me well with this product. More on that in a moment, but first I want to tip my hat to the natural ingredients that are used across the board by Nude & Noir. I really wish more companies were this transparent!
From top to bottom, we have Diamond (the highlighter), Amber (for eyes and cheeks), Obsidian (for bronzer or smoky eyes), and Jasper (for lips and cheeks). They're firm to the touch since they're coconut-oil-based, but as you dab your finger into each color you'll find that the warmth of your skin softens them. They're also highly pigmented, which is as satisfying as it is intimidating—you get the immediate gratification of seeing your look begin to form from the first swipe, but there really isn't any undoing what you've done. I gave this Clean Beauty look a try, following the directions provided, and in the end... I was waiting for icicles to form on my eyelashes, I was the most glowingly frosty snow witch around. I thought maybe a look with more contrast would serve me well so I tried the Glam Girl look next and, well, Beetlejuice would have been proud. Now my face was so covered in this bold pigment that I ended up having to use a microdermabrasion scrub to get it off. I put 2 applications of the Professor Herb night cream on after that!
For those who feel more at home in a bold, full-face makeup look, I can see this unique palette being a really fun one to explore. For me personally, I can see myself using the highlighter (more sparingly) and Jasper lip/cheek hue in a simplified way that's more intuitive to me. Perhaps the darker Amber and Obsidian colors will be something I'll be ready to explore further when I'm going to parties or concerts again. When I take a step back and look at it this way, this palette is more useful to me than it would be were I to try and use it as the Nude & Noir site recommends.
Verdict: Overall, this month's Love Goodly box was a hit for me. Actually, if you consider that the VIP item—the palette—was the only near-miss for a cosmetics layman such as myself, everything that comes in the Essentials box worked out great! My favorite item this month is the mascara (I actually threw my previous mascara away because this one is so much better), but close seconds are the eye roller and night cream. Both are hydration explosions! The contents of this box add up to a total value of $118, calculated using the list value for the night cream since I could only find it in GBP online. For a $48.95 box with free shipping, that is more than double the value, but still a little lower of a value than this box sometimes offers.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? You should be able to get the December/January box if you order by December 15 (today!). For renewal subscribers, the February/March 2021 box renews on January 28.
Value Breakdown: At $48.95 for this box, here’s what you are paying approximately per item:
- Mascara: $9.96
- Eye Roller: $10.78
- Night Cream: $10.16
- Hand Sanitizer: $3.32
- Palette: $14.93
Check out all of our Love Goodly reviews and see some of our other favorite vegan beauty subscription boxes!
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What do you think of the December/January Love Goodly box?
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