Beautylish Lucky Bag 2016 Review, Unboxing

I celebrated the end of my shopping ban by splurging on the Beautylish Lucky Bag for 2016, as well as on Harrods' online sales.
It arrived in five days, when I was - still am - withdrawn from public life, feeling sorry for my battle-worn skin. I have to give it to FedEx. Shipped out on Monday, arrived on Friday, whereas DHL has been sitting on my Boxing Day parcels for two weeks, and ended up wrongly returning one to Harrods. 
The Beautylish Lucky Bags seem to be an annual feature, inspired by a Japanese New Year custom where merchants sell mystery grab bags, which are believed to bring luck. Beautylish do not actually include a bag. The products are wrapped with fancy paper, in a cardboard external box - see photo below.

Scroll down for the contents of my Beautylish Lucky Bag 2016. 

I received:

1. Wayne Goss The Brow Set - $55
2. Becca Ombre Rouge Eye Palette - $40
   
3. Kevyn Aucoin The Creamy Glow in Tresbelle - $26
4. NudeStix Blur Pencil and Sharpener set - $24
5. IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Pressed Translucent Powder - $29 
6. Bioderma Sensibio 100ml - $6.95

Wayne Goss The Brow Set - $55

Wayne Goss has proven me wrong yet again. When I bought brush #19 on a whim, I realised that there was a mammoth difference between his brushes and other (even similarly priced) brushes in the market. Now, this set has made me realise the difference between a proper spoolie and a cheap bit of plastic. 

Becca Ombre Rouge Eye Palette - $40

I was going to buy my first Becca - and Viseart - product this year, so I'm glad they sent me this palette. I have had my doubts about whether the shimmering skin perfector would suit my oil-slick, gargantuan-pore skin, so I would probably have gone in for a palette anyway. Shades, pigmentation, packaging. There isn't one thing I dislike about this palette.

Kevyn Aucoin The Creamy Glow in Tresbelle $26

Initially, I thought of giving this away because cream blushes + large pores = bad idea. But an hour later, I gave in and did a swatch. This works perfectly well as a lip colour! Dusty rose, creamy, buildable to full coverage and long-staying. Keeper, but as a lip colour. 
This had sweated on arrival but Beautylish assured me it was normal. 

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Pressed Translucent Powder - $29

No self-respecting oily-skinned person can have enough of translucent powder. Laura Mercier is my HG but I'm glad to have an alternative. Beautiful for touch-ups and for setting makeup. 

NudeStix Blur Pencil and Sharpener set - $24

Probably the one product that does not wow me. This is a blurring, colourless waxy pencil that you rub over your fine lines to mask them. Anything waxy is the last thing I need on my staph skin right now. Besides, duh, I use Pores No More or PoreFessional for that! Still, I am a sucker for tin packaging, and the sharpener is cool. Will try using this as a brow wax.  

 

Bioderma Sensibio 100ml - $6.95

This is the only product that I have tried before - I love this micellar water so much so that I invested in a 500ml bottle last Summer, and have barely made a dent in it. This 100ml is great for travelling. Unfortunately, the bottle leaked in transit and just less than half had gone, as you can see below. Beautylish resolved this on a Saturday and is sending me a replacement - got to love their customer care (Harrods, are you listening? I emailed on January 7 and no reply).

Verdict

The Beautylish Lucky Bag 2016 has certainly cheered me up no end. The total worth of this bag is a WHOPPING $180.95. And the products! Everything is full-sized, usable and from a reputed brand. Becca. Kevyn Aucoin. WAYNE GOSS. Need I say more? I paid $75 plus $20 FedEx shipping but used up $20 I had from the gift card event, and luckily enough, ended up with products I have never tried before, except for the Bioderma, but you can never have enough micellar water.
They've done a magnificent job with these. I saw a few other #luckybag2016 on Instagram and a few of them had Charlotte Tilbury! And - HURRAH - no pencil liners! 
If ever Beautylish decides to make this a quarterly or seasonal bag, sign me up, please! If not, I'll just have to spend Christmas time stalking their website for news of future Lucky Bags.