Glossybox Free Box Offer Review!

This month Glossybox had a promotional code - buy the Valentines box and get a bestselling box from 2012 for free! Too good an offer to pass up so Hubby got me the boxes as part of my Valentines present.  Here is the review of the Valentines Glossybox that I received link.

The free box had the normal baby pink packaging

I was made up when I opened the box!

It's the November 2012 box which as I had already cancelled my Glossybox subscription by then means that all the contents are completely new to me.

Dr Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm

This is a 15ml sample, 50ml retails for £18.00 here making the sample worth £5.40.

I have heard good things about this BB cream so I'm really happy to get this sample, I wore it to work on Friday and was really happy with the coverage and application.  The colour is probably a touch too dark for my pale skin but will be perfect once the snow stops and the sun starts shining!

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant

This is a 13g sample, 75g retails for £31.00 here making the sample worth £5.37.

Again I was really happy to get this item, I have also read great reviews on this and I love dermalogica products.  13g is a fab sample size as it is a powder so you actually get quite a lot of product.

Crabtree & Evelyn Himalayan Blue Ultra-Moisturising Hand Therapy

This is a 25g tube and 100g retails for £13.40 here making the sample worth £3.35.

 Nourishing macadamia nut oil, a potent vitamin C & E complex, and soothing tea, ginger and champaca extracts make for gorgeous-looking hands, while myrrh extracts take care of nails.

It smells gorgeous! It sinks in very easily and doesn't leave a greasy residue.  Perfect handbag size too.

Alison Claire Mango Body Butter

This is 50ml sample, 200ml retails for £15.00 here making the sample worth £3.75.

This is a natural product that contains organic ingredients, it smells lovely so I'm looking forward to trying it out.  I'm trying to moisturise a lot at the moment to minimise the dreaded pregnancy stretch marks so this will definitely come in handy!

Nails Inc Caviar Topcoat

A 4ml sample. 10ml retails for £12.00 here making the sample worth £4.80.

I have never tried this topcoat as I usually use Seche Vite but this claims it leaves nails touch dry in 45 seconds so can't wait to try it out.

I absolutely love this Glossybox! It is the best box I have had in ages!

It made up for the Valentines box not being this best and I would have happily paid full price for this free box.

Did you take advantage of this offer?  Did you get the same free box?

Glossybox February 2013

Hi everyone, hope you have all had a good weekend! 

I'm a but late posting this review but I wanted to share with you what I got in my Valentines box.  I don't have any beauty box subscriptions as I cancelled them all after Christmas but Glossybox had a promotional code to buy the February box and get a bestselling box from 2012 for free! Hubby treated me to these boxes for Valentines day along with the Urban decay Glinda palette (I will link the review when I post it). So spending ban is still intact!

I really like the design of this months box

Lovely hot pink ribbon and pink tissue - very pretty!

The new style "magazine"

It contains discount codes, information on the products in the box and a beautiful lip tutorial.

My first impression when I opened the box was one of disappointment, I had seen a lot of reviews on other box and unfortunately this was the box I was least excited about receiving. However that's the risk you take when ordering a Glossybox!

MeMeMe Fat Cat Volumising Mascara

This is a full size product and retails for £7.99 here

The mascara is described as having an extreme volumising formula.  I have quite a few unopened mascaras to get through but I do like to try new mascaras so even though my first impression wasn't great I will actually use this and I am looking forward to see if it really does have an extreme volumising formula!

Helen E Moisturising Lipstick in Caribbean

The second full size product in the box, this is 3.5g and retails for £8.00 here.

I wasn't sure if this would lean a bit brown which I find very unflattering on my skintone but actually it looks quite nice.  I wasn't sure if it would be like an "old lady" lipstick but it applies nicely and the colour got a thumbs up from hubby - although maybe he wasn't the best person to ask!

Micabella Cosmetics Blush Powder in Terracotta 

This is a 0.8g sample, full size is 9g and retails for a whopping £34.95 here, making the sample worth £3.11.

This is a small sample so it was hard to get the product out to swatch for you, hence the messy swatch on the next photo.  It will be nice in the summer but I think I will have to put it into a larger container as it is hard to use in this small pot.

Swatches of the Helen E Lipstick and Micabella Blush Powder

Narciso Rodriguez for her EDT

Sample size of 0.8ml, 30ml retails for £34.50 here making the sample worth 92p.

I have had this sample in a previous beauty box but the perfume smells lovely so I am happy to receive this in my box.

Voulez Vous Warming Body Oil in Bubblegum

This is a 10ml pouch, they are sold in packages of 6 various flavours for £20.  The sample is worth £3.33.

I won't link the website here as it is described as erotic and intimate cosmetics so not to everyones taste so to speak!

This has to be the weirdest item I have ever had in a beauty box!! The English translation on the back of the packet doesn't even make sense which makes the product seem a bit cheap and nasty! 

I definitely wouldn't class this as a beauty sample, maybe if they had included it in all the boxes as a valentines "treat" then I could understand but I wasn't happy to receive this as one of my samples.  Maybe it's because I'm pregnant!

A Glossybox heart lollipop!

I contacted Glossybox about the oil and they kindly sent me another item from this months box, I think they had a number of complaints about it being classed as a beauty sample!

This box is actually better than I thought from my first impressions, it's not very exciting but I will probably use most of the contents. 

Did you get this box? What did you think?

Glossybox December 2012 Review

If you read my blog you will know that I have a love/hate relationship with Glossybox and I haven't bought a box in months, when I got an email for 20% off the December box I couldn't resist and bought myself a Christmas box.

Last years box was amazing and so I couldn't wait to see what they put in this years.......

A silver box with black tissue paper with black stars - very pretty!

The contents are listed in a little booklet, along with discount codes for numerous brands that have been featured in previous boxes.

 Packed full of goodies! 

 Ayuuri Moisturising Sandalwood Face Wash

This is a full size product 200ml and retails for £3.49 here.

This is quite heavily scented and at first I wasn't sure about using it on my face but sandalwood is both anti-bacterial and moisturising so I'm going to give it a go.  I can always use it as a shower gel if my skin doesn't agree with it as a face wash. 

 Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry

Again another full size item, this retails for £4.99 here.

Cherry is a lovely berry vampy shade, perfect for this time of year! It looks quite pink toned on me which is good as I am very pale so dark lippys can make me look washed out.

Mary Greenwell Lemon EDP

This is a 1.5ml sample, 50ml retails for £84.00 here making the sample worth £2.52.

I know a lot of people don't like getting perfume samples in their beauty boxes but I actually really like perfume samples! 

This is gorgeous!! I thought it might be too summery to wear now but it smells of lemons and spices - so hard to describe! I will definitely be using this up over the next week.

Rituals Cherry Blosson & Rice Milk Body Cream

This is a good size travel tube which contains 70ml, it retails for £5.00 here.

I love rituals products after last Decembers Glossybox which contained the foaming shower gel, so I was pleased to find this product in the box.  It smells divine!

Seche Nail Polish in Bella.

Another full size product! This retails for £9.95 here.

Bella is described as a deep shimmery red, it is so pretty.

I put it on as soon as my Glossybox arrived (in the evening!) so excuse the dark pic.

This is only one coat! It applied beautifully and dried really quickly.  I will  definitely be buying more Seche polishes.

 Glossybox Blusher in Glossy Rosewood

This is a bonus item, it was made by Kryolan and is a very pretty pink colour.

Definitely the best own brand product that Glossybox have sent us!

So this month is a big thumbs up and I am glad I bought the box, some lovely products that I can't wait to try and there is nothing that I dislike! A winner this month Glossybox.

Did you get a Glossybox this month? Did you get the same contents as me?

Glossybox June Review

I know there are loads of reviews of this box and I wasn't going to bother this month but after the uproar with the mens box - you can read my review here - and all your comments I thought I would tell you about the ladies boxes I got and what the outcome with Glossybox was when I emailed them a complaint over the way I was treated as a customer.

I got two boxes this month, one from my annual subscription and one that I paid full price for as I bought one for my sister as a birthday present in May and forget to cancel the subscription.  Oops!

First thing I noticed when I opened the box was that the sticker wasn't holding the tissue paper together as it normally does in the boxes. The ribbon was not tied either. 

I got these first three samples in both my boxes

Vichy Dermablend Starter kit - 6 different shades. For minor to severe skin flaws.

The pack is 6g. Glossybox list the full size of 12g at £19.00, making the sample worth £9.50.

I found the starter kit for £3.69 here

L-R Shades 11-16

BM Beauty Summer Warmth Bronzer - a multi purpose pure mineral bronzer.  This looks way too dark for my pale skin as a bronzer but I am going to try it as an eyeshadow.

1g sample size, full size retails at £8.00 making the sample worth £2.

I couldn't find this any cheaper.

Glossybox goat hair blusher brush - I think this was the product that caused the most uproar! It smells very strongly and is quite scratchy. I personally would never buy a brush made from animal hair and I think from the complaints about the product a lot of people feel the same way.

We are paying to try 5 luxury samples a month and a self branded brush that you can't actually buy doesn't seem to fit that criteria - they also value it at a whopping £15! I think if this had been added as an extra, like the mirror they put in the birthday box then there wouldn't have been so many complaints.

Erm not sure how to value this on here as you can't actually buy them....does that make it £0? 

So those were the three items that I got in both boxes.

In my annual subscription box I got 

Yves Rocher France Ultra Volume Sexy Pulp mini mascara.

This is a 2.5ml sample, fullsize of 9ml retails at £16.90 making the sample worth £4.69

I found it for £8.45 here, making the sample worth £2.35

This really is a mini mascara! Look at it next to the sample of benefit Bad gal lash that I got with my Glamour magazine!

The last item I got in my annual subscription box was a set of three Agent Provocateur perfumes. These are all 1.5ml samples and have a spray top which I really like on samples.

Full size 50ml retails at £39.00 making the samples worth £3.51

Agent Provocateur were giving away this sample set on their website for free, I bookmarked the link to share with you but I have just gone on the site and they are out of stock. You can sign up here to register for future free samples. I'm not surprised they are out of stock though - as people have been reviewing the box they came across the free samples on the website and I'm sure lots of Glossybox subscribers have this set on the way to them ;)

Well I valued the brush at a big fat zero so I'm going to be kind and let them have the value of the perfume ;)

Value of box £34.70 using Glossyboxes numbers £11.55 using mine.

Now, this may be a co-incidence but these are the items I got in the box I paid full price for

Caudalie Zeste De Vigne.

A generous 10ml sample. I'm really not sure if I like the smell! Its strong and smells of lemon scented bathroom cleaner!! It is nicer once it settles on the skin but I definitely wouldn't repurchase it.

Fullsize 50ml retails at £26.00 making the sample worth £5.20

I found the full size for £20 here making the sample worth £4.00

HD Brows precision tweezers.

Full size product, retails at £19.95.

So this box is worth £51.65 according to Glossybox and £35.45 according to me.

Wow thats a HUGE difference in the value of the two boxes!!

Now I know its not about the value of the items in the box but more about their value to you as a subscriber - no good having a £20 full size product if you don't use it. BUT, I think its very unfair on the difference between the boxes that you can see here.

Lots of people had HD brow products in their boxes last month, wouldn't it have been a better idea to have all the HD branded products in one months box with subscribers getting a different product rather than missing out completely??

Which box did you get? Are you happy with the contents?

After the issue with the Mens box I wrote an email to customer services to make an official complaint on the way I was treated as a customer and the way I was made out to be lying about posting abusive comments. I asked them to cancel my subscription and refund me the remaining months (10) that I had left.

I had no reply to my first email so I chased it up and I had a polite, well written email back from customer services apologising and agreeing that on this occasion they would cancel and refund my subscription.

So looks like this was my last Glossybox.

The refund has now cleared, I signed up to She Said Beauty to give them another try and treated myself to a pandora bracelet!

Glossybox Birthday Box May Review

So this month was Glossybox's first birthday - they held a big party for all their ambassadors and held competitions on their FB page so we were all expecting an AMAZING first birthday box....

Love the printed tissue paper, the ribbon is printed with Anniversary Box, little sticker with one printed on it - how exciting....

Shower gel and perfume samples..erm

Face mask, hair oil and Eldora lashes (can't believe these have appeared in yet another beauty box)!!

There was a balloon and a mirror too as little birthday extras.

Noble Isle Summer Rising bath and shower gel, this is a 75ml sample.  250ml retails for £20.00 on their website making the sample worth £6.00.

It smells nice and luxurious, but I wouldn't pay £20 for a full size bottle.

Two Lolita Lempicka perfume samples - these samples are tiny 0.8ml.  The sample tubes are standard sized so they only look half full!

Si Lolita retails at £31.50 for 80ml at Fragrance Direct, making the sample worth 32p

Lolita Lempicka EDP is £23.99 for 75ml at Fragrance Direct, making the sample worth 26p

I like trying new facemasks and I like honey so I'm hoping these smell really nice and that they do nourish my skin.

There are two masks and they both contain 8ml of product.

The masks retail at 3.50 euros for two masks on their website, making them worth £2.90

Next up Berber Oil hair treatment with Argan Oil from Osmo.

This is a 10ml sample and I found it for £5.99 on Sallys website

The oil smells really nice like jelly sweets! I have never used argan oil before, as I'm still in love with my ojon oil but will take this on holiday with me as the Ojon is a full size bottle.

And lastly, yet again eldora lashes. I have had these in so many beauty boxes that I have a box full of them! Plus at least the styles I have been sent in the past are nice, I would personally never ever wear these.

Incase you do like them they retail at £4.25 on their website (and they look much nicer on the pic selling them than they do in reality!)

There was also a handy compact mirror and a pink balloon as birthday extras.

I will use everything in this box apart from the lashes so I suppose that must mean that I like the box, and I would if it was a normal non hyped up regular monthly box but all the fuss that Glossybox have made about it being a birthday box has made me feel disappointed with the contents.

Shower gel, face mask, hair oil, teeny perfume samples - hardly exciting.  Plus lashes that have been in every other box apart from Joliebox.  Disappointing.

I actually think this is the worst box that I have had from Glossybox and I have just purchased a 12 month subscription - lets hope I don't regret it!

I have now seen reviews of other boxes that people have received and I accept that Glossybox send out a variety of different boxes every month - it seems to be luck of the draw what you get BUT this month boxes have contained full size HD brow products that alone nearly equal the value of the whole of the box I received!

Fair Glossybox? I think not.