nomakenolife is a monthly subscription box of Japanese cosmetics and beauty products. Japanese women take their skincare very seriously, and their beauty products are superb quality. They are also very big on products which contain natural ingredients, including collagen, and avoiding harsh chemicals.Here are the basics:They have one-, three-, six-, and 12-month subscriptions costing $29.99, $29.00, $28.33, and $27.50 per month respectively. At current exchange rates this is £23.44, £22.67, £21.14, and £21.49.Shipping is free. nmnl is part of the TokyoTreat group, who also produce TokyoTreat, a lovely box of Japanese snacks, and YumeTwins, an equally lovely box of kawaii Japanese goodies.Anyway, let’s have a look.It’s a great shipping box, I love the simple stylish branding.The box is very sturdy, which is very useful considering how far it has to travel! You see that tiny dent on top? There’s on in more or less the same place on every month’s box. How strange.That’s what you see when it’s opened. The blue stuff is a bit of shredded paper padding.On top is their menu booklet.It contains useful information about each item in the box, including descriptions and ingredients.It’s also helpful because if you don’t read Japanese (I don’t!) you know what each item actually is! It’s not always that obvious from the packaging.This is what’s under the menu!This is a toothbrush, of course. But it’s not just any old toothbrush. It’s a Candy Faceline Massage Toothbrush. It has a bump on the opposite side to the brush which apparently massages your face from the inside out. It feels rather odd but it does indeed clean your teeth. I use an electric toothbrush (because I’m fancy, y’know) but the menu suggests this brush can do double duty as a lip exfoliating brush. It certainly works very well, it’s soft enough, and as I get very dry lips I love using this.This beautifully wrapped item is Hada Bijin Tofu Soap. It’s so nicely wrapped I could give it as a gift.But I’m not going to.Anyway, this soap is made from ingredients found in tofu, and also moisturizing extracts including apricot seed and yuzi fruit.It’s sitting in a little plastic basket that doubles as a soap dish.Not only that, but do you see the net the soap is in? That acts as a loofah, and makes the most incredible lather. I tried it in the shower this morning and it’s gorgeous. When the soap is gone I’ll be keeping the net to use with my usual bar of Dove (which is not half as nice as this soap).I was slightly perplexed by this. It’s a beautiful quality eyeliner pencil, highly pigmented, and goes on very smoothly.But it’s purple!I love the colour, and the quality is great, but I’m really not a purple eyeliner person. But as it turns out, my mother is. She has snaffled it for herself, and I have to say it looks great on her! Perhaps it’s because she has blue eyes (I don’t).Thank you nomakenolife, my mother is thrilled to finally get her hands on something from you!I love body moisturiser, because my skin gets pretty dry. This Lassic Creamy Mint Body Massage Milk is lovely and light, perfect for summer. It has a gorgeous minty scent, which is very refreshing in hot weather. It’s also perfect for morning, as the slight tingly sensation helps wake up your skin!Apparently it can do double duty as massage lotion, but I’m happy to keep it for moisturizing.I’ve been waiting to get a sheet mask in a nmnl box, and now I have two!This is a box of two Rune Naito’s Rune Girl Face Masks. They are meant to moisturise tired and dry skin. Fantastic, as after a long summer I certainly have both! The gorgeous artwork on the box is by Rune Naito, a Japanese artist and illustrator in the 60s and 70s, and considered one of the founding fathers of the modern Japanese kawaii aesthetic.I can’t wait to try one of these out! If you’re really lucky I might put a picture on Instagram.Anyway, with that lovely image in your mind, let’s wrap it up.This month’s box is terrific.The toothbrush is a little unusual, but by Japanese standards it makes a lot of sense. I think only the Japanese would think up a toothbrush that massages your face.The soap is brilliant. I did briefly toy for with the idea of saving it for a lovely gift. But I’m basically selfish. And as my mother got the eyeliner I’m one item down this month anyway, so the soap is mine all mine.You can never have too much body lotion. The mint scent is lovely, and it doesn’t feel heavy or greasy going on. You want something light in the morning because no one likes the feel of jeans adhering to a slimy layer on your legs. And yay for sheet masks! I’m very excited for these. I promise you action shots OK?I think nomakenolife has done a great job this month. Even though I think the eyeliner is kind of wacky, it found a happy home, and everything else I can keep and enjoy. This first appeared in a different form on allsubscriptionboxes.co.uk.
