Elle Canada's Fall 2013 Beauty Box

I signed up for Elle Canada's first beauty box recently. It's a registration process, so you're not automatically selected just for signing up, but I was lucky enough to be selected to receive one. Registration is now open for the Spring 2014 box. Info is here about how to sign up for the next one.

Let's take a look inside this pretty box! 

Inside is an information card (pictured below) and a Looking Glass booklet featuring step-by-steps on achieving three fall looks - Nouveau Nude, Glam Revival, and New Old Hollywood.

The products and samples inside are: 

• A sample of Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex (0.23 fl oz)
• Coupons for a free Venus razor (when you buy a Venus cartridge pack) and a free Satin Gel shave cream (when you buy a shave gel)
• A Crest 3D White Whitestrips sample (1 upper and 1 lower strip)
• Samples of Pantene Expert Collection Age Defy shampoo and conditioner (one of those impossible-to-open-without-scissors flat sample pouches)
• A full-size CoverGirl Clump Crusher by LashBlast mascara

My reviews?

Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex: I love a night moisturizer that feels like it's working. This one tingles on the skin. It's not one of those rich, heavy moisturizers I sometimes like to wear at night when my skin is feeling especially parched, it's for those other nights, when I want to feel like my skin is being renewed and refreshed. I don't have wrinkles yet, so I can't say whether this is effective in reducing their appearance, but it certainly makes my skin feel and look smooth, soft and refreshed. Jill has reviewed the Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex in the past. You can see her lengthier review here. 

Crest 3D White Whitestrips: I've never used any teeth whitening products before, apart from the occasional regular-toothpaste-with-whitening-properties. I'm not particularly interested in whitening my teeth and I know one Whitestrip is not going to make much of any difference in the colour of my teeth anyway. Teeth shouldn't be gleaming white anyway. Great review, right? Sorry. This sample product isn't for this beauty blogger. 

Pantene Age Defy shampoo and conditioner: It's difficult to review a shampoo and conditioner after using it once, which is the size of the sample I received. Still, I can say that my hair felt shiny and soft and smelled nice after washing and conditioning with the samples. 

CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara: My preference for mascara is a natural look, so this mascara is right up my alley. It's not thick and goes on very smoothly, clump-free and builds the thickness and length of my lashes without looking overly dramatic. Great for a natural look.

I have to admit I was disappointed with the Elle Canada Beauty Box. I know it was free, but considering it was from Elle Canada, I expected some higher end products. There's only one full-size item in the bunch. There's nothing wrong with the samples I did receive, I just expected fewer drugstore products. These would fit better in a Glow magazine Beauty Box, not an Elle Canada one. The Lookbook highlights three makeup and hair looks featuring Pantene, Olay and CoverGirl products but the only product included in the Beauty Box is the Clump Crusher mascara. It's disappointing. 

Having a look at the #ECBeautyBox hashtag on Twitter, it looks like some of the other beauty boxes had Cover Girl nail polishes in them. So that makes my criticism about only including a mascara in the box less valid. Still, there was no polish in mine. 

C.