Joah Box September 2017 - K-Beauty Subscription Box Review

I say I'm excited probably in every post, but today I'm two times more excited because I recently received something really interesting in mail!

I did my internship for a beauty subscription box company, and got more closely introduced to the concept of subscription boxes. I mean, I'm familiar with the concept but I never saw myself trying them out, until I got to try one during my internship! I fell in love with the idea of getting a surprise package every month full of new products to try out. I started wondering if there is any k-beauty subscription boxes out there, and that's how I found about Joah Box!

Many k-beauty boxes seem to be based in USA, which I'm not a huge fan of: the shipping from there to Europe always seems to be such an hassle and I'm not into that at all. But, Joah Box is based in Korea, and the best thing is that they have worldwide free shipping!

So, what does Joah Box cost and what does it include? 

You can get the box as an continuous monthly delivery, or choose a subscription for 3, 6, or 12 months at a time. Monthly subscription box is $33 or 27,40€ each, and it becomes a little bit cheaper the longer subscription period you choose. The box is said to be sent on the 10th day of each month, and usual shipping time is something between 1-3 weeks depending on where you live.
The box will include 5-7 full size Korean skincare and makeup items up to $60 in value.

I chose to try Joah Box because I want good value for my money, and products that I really am interested in. Joah Box seemed to fill all my qualifications for good and interesting products! You can see their previous boxes here to see for yourself.

On to the September's Joah Box and my first box from them ever!

I got shipping confirmation on 12th of September. I didn't get a tracking for my package, which you could get for $2,5 extra if you wanted, so I didn't know when to expect my package to arrive. I wish I got the tracking though, because I've had tracking for most of my packages recently and it actually made me anxious not knowing where my package is, so next time I might get that. Based on my experience, it usually takes 1-2 weeks for packages from Korea to arrive Finland, and I was about right: I got my Joah Box 23rd of September, so it took around 2 weeks to arrive.

One note: Don't follow Joah Box on Instagram if you don't want to spoil the surprise! I actually spoiled one product for myself, because they started posting the contents to Instagram before I received my package. So stay out of Instagram before getting the box.

Anyway, let's get on to the products!



I opened the box and my immediate reaction was: "Oh my god this looks amazing." 
September's box has 5 products, and they have the product descriptions on the lid of the box.
I'm just briefly covering the products and telling my first impressions here. I'm also checking some information and the prices in Korea for all of these because well, I'm a nit-picker like that and I need to know I'm actually getting my money's worth.
I might do full review on some of these later, so let me know if you want any of these products reviewed!




The Pure Real Eye Cream for Face by AHC, $25 (price in Korea 25,000won)

AHC is a well known, selective anti-aging cosmetics brand in Korea and I actually have the original The Real Eye Cream for Face, because my boyfriend gave me that one! I've been liking it since it's really rich and moisturizing, so I'm looking forward trying this one too. I checked the AHC website for the product sizes and prices, because the eye cream I have is bigger than this one in the box. Seems like they have two sizes, 30ml and 12ml, out of which you receive the 12ml version in the box. I'm actually pretty happy receiving the smaller tube because I don't know how will I ever finish the big tube I already have... You can apparently use these "eye creams" for your whole face though, so I might have to try that!

Anyhow, The Pure Real Eye Cream for Face is their newest addition to the eye cream family!
91% of the ingredients are from natural origin, and as I checked the INCI list it definitely has a lot of different oils and extracts in it. It has anti-aging properties and it's said to provide elasticity and nutrients to your skin while brightening it.

I tried this one the same day I got it, and I actually much prefer this eye cream to the one I already have! The texture is really smooth and super nourishing & moisturizing, and I could literally tell the difference the next morning: I've been using much lighter eye cream and my under eye area just looked much more hydrated and alive after using this. I do normally get some creasing under my eyes, and honestly after starting to use this the creasing is less prominent! I must try this for other parts of my face, maybe this could help the smile lines I'm already starting to get...




Hair Sheep Steam Pack by Mediheal, $5 (price in Korea 5,000won)

This is the product I managed to spoil for myself before getting the box, but it just got me more excited! I've seen these steam hair packs everywhere and I've been dying to try one, but never got around ordering some, so perfect timing! Mediheal is one of the best sheet mask brands in Korea, so I'm putting my trust on to this one. All sheet masks I've tried from them have been super nice!

Basically, this product is supposed to be your ultimate one-step home treatment for your hair.
It contains Goat Milk Extract for nourishing the hair, and has
shiny hair, looks cute, steam effect, one-step care, nutrients for your hair, baby cotton scent

I really hope this works because I think something like this would be really good for my dyed hair and my scalp that has been dry ever since I got back from Korea - it's still not back to normal and used to the dry air of Finland.

I'm pretty sure I'll write another post about this steam pack when I get around to using it!




Snowflake Stick Cleanser by Nooni, $20 (price in Korea 20,000won)

Stick cleansers have been "the thing" in Korea for a while now that I have yet to try! I've seen this brand, Nooni, multiple times on Facebook but I've never tried any of their products. I think it's a brand by Memebox? This is supposed to be your more travel friendly oil cleanser, which sounds great because let me tell you, carrying your bulky oil cleanser in pump bottle isn't very practical.

The packaging is super cute! They say on the packaging that this removes even waterproof makeup with it's oil complex while moisturizing your skin. It also contains salicylic acid for exfoliating the skin and for clearing and minimizing breakouts. That sounded good to me!

I tried this oil cleanser straight away too, and I have to say I'm not that impressed. First of all, the product smells kinda weird, the scent reminds me of play-doh or something. It melts really nicely to your skin though and it removed all of my makeup, even my waterproof mascara. It just took a little bit more effort than usually. I wasn't wearing full face of makeup either, only really natural makeup so I'm doubting how well it would work on super waterproof full-on glam makeup. And, since it contains salicylic acid for pore cleansing purposes I'm not exactly sure how good it's to use around your eyes...

I'll keep using the product though, I think I need to get used to more lightweight oil and balm cleansers, since so far I've been using quite thick oil cleansers to remove my makeup. I'll report back if I end up actually liking this product or if it just stays as "meh".

I gotta say this though, the price in Korea is 20,000won, but when I checked it was on sale for 3,900won lol



Face Injection Mask Illumination by The OOZOO, $5 (price in Korea 6,000won)

Okay, this is some next level sheet masking right there. I've never come across this brand before nor this type of sheet mask and I was like wow what the heck is this? It sure got my interest and the brand seems to have the actor Park Seojoon as their ambassador so yes please!

So, where to even start with this one? I think this deserves a post of it's own, so I'll just go over what it is and how it works quickly. This sheet mask is supposed to improve skin radiance and the moisture balance, which sounds perfect for the fall time right now. They have other versions of the masks too, but I think this is the only one included in Joah Box.
Most of you are probably interested what's the syringe all about, so let's get on to that. Basically, some active ingredients might be unstable and when they're mixed with other ingredients, their efficacy might be gone by the time you get the mask on your face. That is why the syringe contains ampoule made of the key ingredients, and you inject and mix them into the mask before applying it on your face for the maximum effect!

I'm so so excited to try this product and I'm definitely making a separate post about this one!




Shake and Shot by Dr. Jart+, $8 (price in Korea 8,000won)

The last product of this box is definitely not the least, because this is again some pretty interesting face mask concept! Most of you are probably familiar with Dr. Jart+ because it's a well known brand in western countries too being sold in Sephora et cetera. This new face mask belongs in their rubber mask family, but in a little bit different form: shake bottle.

There is four versions of this mask, and I got the "Shaking Rubber Soothing Shot". I gotta say, the packaging looks crazy and that rubber mask face is creepy af, but the concept is really fun!
The cup comes with two kind of liquids you need to mix; Double Trans Booster and Soothing Liquid Ampuole and a spatula. You just mix the contents in the cup by shaking and apply to your face with the spatula! The texture should be like a thick rubber mask which you peel off after the usage.

I'm really excited to try this, I have tried one mask from Dr.Jart+ I actually liked so I hope this will be good too! I've also tried rubber type mask from other brand before, and I liked how it felt, so I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy this too. I'll give you an update on this one later for sure!

To sum up:

According to the prices mentioned on the box the value comes up to $63, which would be around 53€.
In Korean won the value would be 64,000won according to the Korean prices, which converted to US dollars is $56,45 and to euro 47,50€. If we think this way, it's exactly not as much as they say, but you still save quite a nice amount compared to the price of the box, $33/27,40€!
In my opinion, this box is really worth it if you're thinking about trying new products but don't really know what to try: you get the surprise and excitement factor, you clearly save money and in my case, I had no problems with the box getting stuck in customs like when ordering from online stores.

My overall rating of the box: LOVE IT! All products are new and interesting to me and from good brands that I'm really excited to try and use. Comparing Joah Box to other K-Beauty boxes out there, to me this one is the most appealing because of the fact they ship from Korea and that the content of the boxes is legit.
I'm definitely recommending Joah Box for anyone interested in a good k-beauty subscription box, I'm absolutely amazed with the products and I'll definitely keep subscribing to this box!

Have any of you tried any k-beauty subscription boxes?