After waiting for days I finally received my Vanity Trove February 2013 edition! Many of us are receiving the trove late because the shipping is divided to 2 batches. And I was in batch 2. A little bit sad cause all bloggers had gotten theirs on Tuesday. But all is good now.

Let me refresh your mind on Vanity Trove. First of all it’s not new in Malaysia. Back in December 2011 Vanity Trove was established in Singapore and 2 months later they launched Vanity Trove Malaysia whereas they shipped the trove all the way from Singapore for RM60. It’s not that expensive considering they are the only one oversea that are willing to send to Malaysia. My first trove was February 2012 edition and I subscribed up till April 2012 edition before I decided to stop subscribing temporary. I made the right choice cause it’s getting worse since then.

When I found out someone IN Malaysia took over Vanity Trove Malaysia and will be having an office locally, I was relieved. It’s about time someone took over and curated a trove just for us Malaysian.

Back to my trove. It’s exactly the same as previous. I like this kind of “drawer” type of box. The box is shrink wrapped like previous without any bubble wrap. I still think bubble wrapping the box is essential in preventing the box from dents and cuts.

It’s a pleasant sight to be able to slide the drawer out once again. I never thought I will be able to see this again! My nose was strike by a wonderful scent. This scent makes me very happy because it really do smells good. I like beauty boxes that smell nice like this.

The content of the trove was filled up to the top.

Notice the small lil pretty card earlier? It’s a hand-written card from Valerie Tan who is the correspondent “name” for all communication between the subscribers and Vanity Trove. Many of you didn’t know this but Valerie is not a real person. It’s more of an image created by the team as an official correspondent. Vanity Trove = Valerie Tan? See the similarity? You heard it first from me here!

Previously the content card is very confusing. Now it’s better, straight to the point, nicely designed and easy to understand.

As soon as I removed all the cards, booklets and voucher I find these in my box. Everything is nicely laid on the shredded paper and nothing move a bit. In my previous troves everything was jumbled up. I’m quite happy with the condition of this trove.

The content for February 2013 trove are:
1) Benefit the POREfessional 7.5ml
2) Wella Smoothen Shampoo 30ml
3) Wella Smoothen Mask 30ml
4) Di Palomo Tuscan Rose Moisturising Body Wash 25ml
5) b.liv Off With Those Heads Blackheads Sebum Gel 3ml
6) Oriks Wild Ginseng Stemcell (Callus) Twister Essence 5ml
7) Oriks Wild Ginseng Stemcell (Callus) Essence Twister B.B Cream 2 x 2ml
8) Merci Petits Almond Cream x 2 chocolate

Let’s take a closer look at the content shall we?

First up, Benefit the POREfessional 7.5ml (Retail RM115/22ml).

Minimize the appearance of pores and fine lines with this smooth operator. Silky and lightweight, wear the POREfessional balm on its own or under or on top of makeup. Its translucent, oil-free formula complements different skin tones and helps makeup stay put. It contains a Vitamin E derivative, known to protect skin from free radicals.

Wella Smoothen Shampoo 30ml (Retail RM65/250ml).
Wella Smoothen Mask 30ml (Retail RM100/200ml).

The Smoothen Shampoo cleanses and treats the hair structure to boost suppleness. Follow the cleansing routine with the Smoothen Mask to detangle the hair.

Di Palomo Tuscan Rose Moisturising Body Wash 25ml (Retail RM69/250ml).

The Tuscan Rose Moisturising Body Wash is a rich, luxuriant body wash formulated using the finest ingredients. Added moisturisers like Pro-Vitamin B5 keeps skin smooth and supple.

b.liv Off With Those Heads Blackheads Sebum Gel 3ml (Retail RM139/30ml, RM179.90/45ml).

Remove white heads and blackheads gently and effectively with Off With Those Heads Blackheads Sebum Gel! This wonder gel also keeps oil secretions under control and banishes all kinds of skin irritations.

Oriks Wild Ginseng Stemcell Twister Essence (Retail RM218/35ml).

Soft and velvety, the Wild Ginseng Stemcell Twister Essence reduces visible pores while hydrating and nourishing skin.

Oriks Wild Ginseng Stemcell Essence Twister B.B Cream 2 x 2ml (Retail RM108/35ml).

The BB Cream is formulated with plant stem cells to repair and keep the skin healthy while covering imperfections. Its unique three-tier cream design includes the milk lotion with wild ginseng, the concealer and the serum with repair complex CLR.

Something special from Vanity Trove team in conjunction with Valentine’s Day. I also received two Merci Petits Almond Cream that comes in a pretty little box.

There’s only one special deal voucher included which is from Oriks. The deal is quite good. With the purchase of one Wild Ginseng Twister Essence I can get a Wild Ginseng Stemcell BB Cream worth RM108 for FREE!

Also included is two product booklet from Wella and Oriks.

Everyone has been quite harsh with Vanity Trove on their first (new management) debut box since it’s the most expensive beauty box in Malaysia. I’ve read a lot about how disappointed they are for not finding at least one full size product in the box. I’m not going to be harsh in this review simply because I don’t hate it. Seriously. Why should I? I get to try new products that I never try before, the amount of deluxe size products included is more than what they promised i.e. 4-5 deluxe size products if I remembered correctly.

What I Like
Definitely the fact that I get to try products that I never tried before like Oriks, b.liv and Di Palomo. I’m also happy to see Benefit the POREfessional in the box. It’s about time as I’m going to finish my tube. I’m so glad that I was sent Di Palomo Moisturising Body Wash not body lotion or hand cream. I have too much of hand cream at home. I can imagine how angry I would be if I get hand cream LOL. Thanks to Di Palomo my box smells so good! Also no forgetting the chocolate treat. It’s a nice touch. I also notice that Vanity Trove uses Kangaroo Worldwide Express courier. The courier guy is polite on the phone when he called me to inform me that he is on the way to my house. My dad signed the receipt for me as I was out and I was told the courier guy even wish my dad Happy Chinese New Year when he was about to leave. Thumbs up for using a totally different courier company than other beauty boxes. If it’s GDex I think there will sure be a delay since everyone is using the same, well almost all.

What I Don’t Like
That there’s 2 batches of delivery. I’d expect every trove to be sent out at one go. It’s nerve wrecking to see others had received their trove, posted picture in Instagram and blog about it. Not so keen with another hair care set in the box as I get the same a few times from other boxes BUT thank God I was sent Smoothen and not Color Save this time. I don’t have colored hair so I have no idea why I keep receiving something for colored hair in beauty boxes. So I can live with this. I wish that the box is bubble wrap and not shrink wrap? It’s a lovely box that I wouldn’t want any dent on it though.

Conclusion
Honestly with RM60 subscription fee per month and also being the only expensive beauty box I’d expect luxury brands in the box. Other beauty boxes ranges from RM19 to RM38 and I can get medium to high end stuff in it. So Vanity Trove should be on the upper list. Full size or no full size it doesn’t matter to me as long as it’s not sachet. I hate sachet! I’m okay with deluxe size from luxury brands provided it’s not 3ml or 5ml tube. Deluxe size should be 15ml onwards. If not I can do brands that are not available in Malaysia? Like my April 2012 trove. Read here.
I’m also satisfied with the customer service and the speed of email reply. Compared with previous it’s quite bad, replies was so slow, harsh and MIA after that. Bravo to the new management. Lastly I hope to see more makeup product in the box. Most of us are overloaded with skin care and hair care now haha.

Disclaimer: The box was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.