All About Pink Parcel And Unboxing Pink Parcel - January 2019 Edition

So today I'm going to talk about menstruation, periods, the red tide or however else you chose to describe that rather icky time of the month. For something that so many people experience it still isn't talked about as often as it should be, so today I'm going to talk about my period and something that I do to make it a little less hellish!

I think I was about 12 when I started my period, and at that point in history ( yes history! it was probably around 28 years ago after all!) it was still all a bit hush, hush, and any mention of it usually triggered a lot of snigger's, particularly from teen and preteen boys, I remember one particular occasion when the girls in my form were sent into the school hall for a little talk on our changing bodies and our new monthly visitor. I've got no problem with that all education is a plus, but if you know that you're going to be handing out boxes of tampons and booklets, at least let the girls take their bags with them! You can imagine what happened when we went back to classroom with our freebies in tow - embarrassment doesn't quite cover it! That's why I firmly believe that boys should be taught about periods - if you're a guy at some point in time you're probably going to either live with a woman, be it a mother, a sister or a partner, or even spend time with a member of the female species, so you're going to need to know how it all goes down. We need to break down that stigma, and make those times of the month easier for every woman.

I don't know about you but my period is definitely a low point of month, I was on the pill for quite a few years, which worked wonders, my periods were short, light and virtually pain free - A couple of years ago though now I made the decision for certain health reasons to come off the pill, and as a result my periods are longer, heavier, and more painful, and my mood can change in a matter or seconds. Add horrid periods to chronic illness and you don't have the best of combinations. I'm not going to lie I dread it, and anything that I can do to make it even a tiny bit easier is therefore a godsend, and that's why I subscribe to Pink Parcel.

Okay it reminds me that my periods on its way, but it gives me one less thing to think about at that time of the month. Pink Parcel is basically a period subscription box, all you need to do is answer a few questions about the dates and the average length of your period, and select the type of sanitary protection that you would like, and you will never need to make a late night visit to the 24 hour garage again!

There are three different types of box to choose from, tampons only, sanitary pads only, and a mixed box which contains both tampons and sanitary pads. You can then choose various different products from top brands including Tampax, Bodyform, Lil-lets and Always, to suit your preference, and if you fancy a change it's really easy to change your preferences on the Pink Parcel website

The people at Pink Parcel recognise though that periods can be pretty horrible so as well as sending you enough sanitary protection to cover your period, you also receive a little box filled with treats to cheer you up and to make the 5 days or so, just a little bit better. You mainly receive a selection of beauty and lifestyle products, ranging from skincare items, to make up, to jewellery and candles, and you always get something to snack on, such as biscuits, chocolate or sweeties, and either a tea bag or a hot drink sachet, and if you fall in love with the products inside you can can often buy them directly from the Pink Parcel Shop, which you can find on their website x (Check out my You Tube channel to see some previous unboxings x).

There are a number of different subscription options, and you can put it on hold, and cancel your boxes quite easily. Like with Glossybox I just get the self renewing, monthly subscription which costs £10.50, but you can also subscribe for 3 months for £35.97, 6 months for £64.95 and for a full 12 months for £129.90.

I love the concept and since I started subscribing it'd definitely gave me one less thing to worry about but I'm going to be honest with you and say that I've had a few emails from Pink Parcel lately apologising for various things, and talking about changes and restructuring within the company, and changes to the box itself, so apparently in February we will be getting a new and revamped box, which is probably just as well because to be honest January's box was a bit confusing and a bit of a let down.

Now in theory Pink Parcel's boxes fit through the majority of letterboxes, and yes mine seems too but it always seems to look a bit squashed when it arrives, and according to some of the emails that I've received from Pink Parcel this is a common problem, so from February the box will be a little bit different and a bit sturdier. The current box is made from a very thin card, so to be honest I usually just stick it straight in the recycling so something reusable would be a bonus.

Immediately on pulling back the perforated tab and opening my box I realised that something was amiss. Normally the Pink Parcel box contains a booklet telling you the theme of the box and giving you a bit more information on some of the products inside but on this occasion it was missing!

The rest of the box looked normal and contained the usual 2 boxes and 1 fabric pouch containing sanitary protection. The "For Night" box contains extra absorbent products especially for nighttime use, the"For Later" box contains the bulk of your sanitary protection, and the fabric pouch is designed especially for your handbag or office drawer and contains usually some "normal' items and some pantyliners.

As I say you can request different types of boxes and since I was running low on pads I requested a pads only box. Normally you will get say all Always or Bodyform products but I do seem to have got a mixture of both here, instead of the Always products that I requested but since the replacement products were all of the same absorbency it didn't really matter. Just to give you an idea of how much you'll get, I received 25 sanitary pads, and 5 pantyliners in my parcel.

Now as I say periods aren't really something to look forward but in some ways I always seem to look forward to this little pink and grey box with the words "For You A Little Something To Cheer You Up" printed on it that comes inside my Pink Parcel. Pink Parcel by their own admission isn't a beauty box but you do normally a good variety of items including beauty products in your box. That said for me the word variety couldn't really be used about January's box, it was a definite let down compared to pretty much every other box I'd had from them, there didn't seem to be any theme, and it seemed to be made up of leftover products, I mean 3 face masks in one box really?

Natura Rose Infused Sheet Mask - 1 x Mask - 22ml - Full Size - RRP £4.95

First up a full sized face mask from Beauty Pro's Natura brand. I've said this before I love a face mask, and as well as helping with any skin irritation at that time of the month, face masks are a great tool to aid relaxation, just pop a mask on and zone out for 15 minutes.

I've tried a few Beauty Pro masks now but I haven't tried anything from the Natura line but being a rose fan this sounds lovely. This vegan friendly mask contains rosewater, lavender and rosemary is designed to calm and hydrate the skin, and to soothe irritation and minimise redness. My skin is a bit Topsy turvy at the moment so I think I'll be using this mask sooner rather than later, so keep an eye out for it in my February empties post x 

Beauty Pro Black Peel Charcoal Mask - 7ml x 1 - RRP £4.95 For 3 

Next another face mask and another one from Beauty Pro, on the Pink Parcel website they advise that you use this mask first and then the Natura mask, so I guess we've got to give them that one I suppose for giving us a mini skincare routine. Based on the picture I think it's one of those super effective, but quite painful peel off masks, designed to detoxify, re balance and exfoliate the skin, it also claims to re balance oil production, and improve skin tone. It contains charcoal powder, fruit extracts, lavender, tea tree, ginkgo biloba, and deep sea water, and is free from mineral oils, lanolin, parabens, and petroleum. My skin is just a touch sensitive at the moment so I'm going to stick this in the drawer and attack my pores at a later date. This mask normally comes in a pack of 3.

MudMasky Morning Boost Mask - 20ml - Travel Size - RRP $25 / €23

And would you believe it another mask! Now I've already had this in at least one other beauty box, but I haven't tried it yet. It's a one minute mask that is designed for morning use - it's apparently energising, lifting, feeding, hydrating and smoothing and it contains arabica coffee, Moroccan lava clay, Indonesian flowers and rice. Since I have more than one of these I should really give it a go - maybe it might be just the thing to give me a boost after a sleepless or insomnia filled night x

Percy & Reed No-Fuss Fabulous Dry Shampoo - 50ml - Travel Size - RRP £5.00

Next something else that seems quite familiar x I've tried a few Percy & Reed products before that I've received in various subscription boxes and I've usually been pretty impressed x This is a dry shampoo which means it's designed to soak up extra oil, and aid styling, whilst at the same time fragrancing the hair. I do love a dry shampoo but since I currently have about 3 or 4 on the go at the moment, and a few more stuffed in a drawer it might a while before I use this one. I do like the travel size though so it may end up making a slightly earlier appearance in my handbag or my travel bag.

Polaar Icy Magic Instant Eye Contour Energiser With Siberian Ginseng - 10ml - Est. RRP £29.50

From what I can gather this seems to be the most expensive product in the box, I can't find this exact packaging but the same size product in different packaging retails at a pretty hefty £29.50.  Now I know for a fact I've received something from this brand before in a subscription box but whether or not it was this product I can't be sure - maybe I should brave my skincare box and have a proper sort out, if it's getting to the stage I don't know what I already own - eek!

Anyways Polaar are a skincare company that draws their inspiration and their ingredients from the polar regions of the Arctic, and Antarctic, and one of the main ingredients in this product is Siberian Ginseng which tones and brightens the skin, and it also contains pro-vitamins and peptides.

I'm pretty lazy when it comes to eye treatments but I do love a roll on, and this one promises to hydrate and lift the eyes, whilst at the same time combating dull and puffy skin, and apparently aiding lash growth. I've only tried it a couple of times, but the liquid, and the metal roller ball feels really cooling, and soothing on the skin, so I'm definitely going to keep using it x

COCOBA Orange Milk Chocolate Neapolitans x 2 

Now one of the reasons I look forward to Pink Parcel so much is that I know that there will always be something that I can eat inside, in the past I've had sweets from Candy Kittens, popcorn from Joe & Sephs, and Cornish fudge - yummy! In this box though it was chocolate, and it was two tiny squares of orange milk chocolate from British based chocolate company COCOBA. Unfortunately I can't find these online which is a shame so I can't give you any sort of price comparison, but I do love chocolate, and these were particularly nice, so much so in fact that I could have definitely eaten a few more

Tea + Detox Apple And Blackcurrant Green Tea + Vitamins - 1 x 2g Bag - RRP £3.49 For 14 / 15 Bags

Now whenever I have my period my hot drink consumption always increase, a nice cup or tea or a hot chocolate, definitely helps when the dreaded cramp strikes, so it's always to find either a tea bag, or some other form of hot drink in my monthly Pink Parcel. When it comes to tea though, you can't beat a normal brew but since Mummy Lou is partial to a fancy cuppa every now and then though, she tends to drink the majority of my Pink Parcel blends.This one is green tea blended with milk thistle, dandelion root, ginseng, added vitamins and apple and blackcurrant flavours. It sounds yummy but I can pretty much guarantee that Mummy Lou will get to it first x I had some problems finding this online so the price estimate is either for a box of 14 or 15 bags x

Okay, maybe I've was a little bit harsh about this box at the beginning of this post because after doing a little bit research the value seems pretty decent, and I will probably end up using all of the beauty products at some point. It's a funny one the value is there but the box just doesn't seem to have been that well thought out, and it does seem as though it was put together with products that they had lying around without any aim or theme hmmm.

As I mentioned earlier in the last few weeks Pink Parcel subscribers have received quite a few emails basically telling us that changes are afoot, so I guess we'll see what happens. I've been a happy subscriber for quite a long while now so here is hoping that February's box is a better one x If you want to subscribe or find out more about Pink Parcel than please check out their website for more information x

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