Belleza box - massage kit by Principessa Beauty - review by Valentinka

---Overview

The Bellezza Box by Principessa contains an assortment of popular bath and body products, including hydrating shampoo and conditioner, body wash, body cream, hand cream, travel-friendly soy candle and a nice pink shower pouf. All of these, except for the pouf, are mini versions of the original Principessa products designed to pumper your hair and body. All of them are made in Canada.



Again, the set includes:
#1 Terme Tresses Shampoo - 2 fl oz (60 ml) tube
#2 Terme Tresses Conditioner - 2 fl oz (60 ml) tube
#3 Fresh Fiore Body Wash - 2 fl oz (60 ml) tube
#4 Dolce Dreams Whipped Body Lotion - 2 fl oz (60 ml) tube
#5 Cattiva Diva Hand Cream - 0.85 fl oz (25 ml) tube
#6 Candelina Soy Travel Candle - 57 g tin
#7 Shower Pouf

The box is made of thick sturdy cardboard and is reusable. All tubes are rather simple, made of soft plastic and have a flip-cap:



Candle's packaging is very original, though. It comes in a metal tin which closes with a cap:



---Ingredients: lots of ingredients and not all of them harmless

Ingredients list for each of 6 products is absolutely huge, so there's no chance to put all of it here. So I'll give you conditioner and body lotion ingredients as an example (the rest are pretty much the same).

Terme Tresses Conditioner: Aqua (Water), Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Chloride, Quaternium-91, Glycerin, PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate, Cetrimonium Methosulfate, Cetyl Alcohol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Extract, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Laminaria Digitata Extract, Morinda Citrifolia Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Meal Extract, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Gardenia Tahitensis (Tiare) Flower, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Silk Amino Acids, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Polysilicone-18 Cetyl Phosphate, Myristyl Myristate, Methyl Gluceth-20, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Butylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Fragrance

Dolce Dreams Whipped Body Lotion: Aqua (Water), Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Lauryl Glucoside, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Glycol Stearate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Extract, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Macrocystis Pyrifera Extract, Morinda Citrifolia Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Phospholipids, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A), Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C), Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Root Extract,Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Glycerin, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Polyquaternium-7, PEG-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Fragrance,Tetrasodium EDTA, PEG-150 Distearate, CI 17200

--Ingredient list analysis:

First of all, a good thing is, these Principessa products are paraben-free and sulfate-free.

Secondly, lots of ingredients are organic, for example, Sunflower Seed Oil, Green Tea Leaf Extract, Carrot Root Extract and many others. What's more, Candelina Soy Candle is all-natural 100% pure soy wax candle and doesn't contain any dyes, lead or paraffin at all. But this abundance of organic ingredients (and also it's huge number) might be a bad thing for those with allergies.

And finally, not all of the ingredients are harmless. For instance, there are lots of preservatives like Methylisothiazolinone or Phenoxyethanol, which are strongly associated with allergic reactions. So again, make sure to check the list and never use any products right away. Apply a small amount to your wrist or inside elbow area and wait for 10-12 hours to see if there is any reaction.

---Aroma: featuring two signature fragrances

Products in this set are scented by two signature Principessa scents: Isolina and Bellocia. I arranged the key information about these fragrances into a chart:



Some reviewers mention that these scents are too powerful, even overwhelming, but neither me nor my boyfriend noticed that. It might be just a matter of taste, but I even like that heavier scent of Bellocia a little bit more.

---Experience: rather ordinary products

--Likes

My favorite thing in the whole set is the candle. It's organic, small and handy. It smells nice and it is placed in a convenient metal tin, which makes it great for traveling. You can create a romantic atmosphere wherever you want, isn't it great?

I also love that rich viscosity and thickness of both body and hand creams. They are very moisturizing, but don't feel oily or greasy. The fact that they are scented with my favorite fragrance out of these two (Bellocia) makes them even better.

I haven't actually tried body wash and shower pouf yet as I'm going to give them both to my Mom as a part of International Women's Day present... I'm doing this, because I don't need another pouf and I never use body wash, but I find these particular ones to be promising enough to be given to someone I love. I promise to share her opinion with you in the follow-up.

--Dislikes

Hair products didn't manage to make any positive impression on me whatsoever. Shampoo doesn't foam well enough and I had to apply more and more to make it work. Conditioner could have been nice, but in comparison with the one I normally use, it doesn't stand up to the competition.

And finally, I'm not a huge fan of such a long list of ingredients. I'm not allergic to many things, but I don't want to develop any allergies due to excessive use of different preservatives, fragrances and wild combination of organic oils.

---Conclusion

Therefore, even though this set includes products I like and would probably recommend, I don't think I would buy any of them myself again. Except for that candle, maybe. I might give a try to some other Principessa products, though.

I was struggling whether I should be giving Belleza Box 3 or 4 stars and came to a conclusion that I might sometimes give higher rating than I probably should. From now on, I intend to be more strict and thus Bellezza Box ends up with 3 stars only.