December 2012 Glossybox Review

We haven’t reviewed a beauty box for a while as we haven’t been that impressed with the latest offerings, however we thought that as it’s Christmas, we’d share the December Glossybox. Hopefully all the subscribers have had theirs now so it won’t be too much of a spoiler! She Said Beauty sent out a box in December, and then announced it would be their last, as they have decided to stop their subscription box service and stick to the online forum they do best. In our opinion, that’s no bad thing as their boxes haven’t been up to standard lately.

The thing is, beauty boxes are actually quite a difficult offering to have. They’re a great idea, and when done well they’re fab. However, it seems that many companies really struggle to hit the mark. With companies like She Said Beauty and Feel Unique being great at their main revenue streams, yet unsuccessful at beauty boxes, it seems subscribers have very high standards!

We think that sometimes beauty boxes get confused about what subscribers want, and likewise, sometimes subscribers have unrealistic expectations as to what will be arriving on their doorsteps. The aim of beauty boxes is to bring subscribers the latest in beauty, things that they probably haven’t tried before, from up and coming, emerging brands. That means that we don’t expect full size products all the time, although they are a nice bonus, but we definitely don’t want sachets and tat! We need to be able to actually try enough of the product to entice us to buy the full size products, which is what the box firms need to be explaining to their brands. Perhaps this is why only dedicated beauty box companies seem to succeed? It takes a lot of time and effort to build those kind of relationships, not just something that you can add on as an aside.

Anyway, moving onto Glossybox this month. We were really pleased with this Christmas box, in silver instead of the usual pink.

Containing six products instead of the usual five, and most were from brands we haven’t tried before which is great.

From left clockwise: LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo, Rituals Magic Touch, Seche Nail Lacquer, Ayuuri Purifying Neem Face Wash, Glossybox Blusher, Sleek True Colour Lipstick

LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo – Full Size £14.99 (30ml Inc)

These are sachets, which as we’ve already said we’re not keen on, however there are three included, all of which feel like they hold a decent amount, so we’re looking forward to using these. A little tip for using sachets is to stick a pin in them rather than ripping them open. It stops the product from drying out and being wasted.

Rituals Magic Touch – Full Size £15 (70ml Inc)

This is a good size miniature worth £5. We have loads of body creams to use up, but we’ll get round to trying this soon as it smells lovely.

Seche Nail Lacquer – Full Size £9.95 (Full Size Inc)

We’ve not used this brand before, but the shade, Lumiere, is a gorgeous, shimmering rose gold/peach colour which we can’t wait to try.

Ayuuri Purifying Neem Face Wash – Full Size £4.95 (Full Size Inc)

Another brand we’ve not come across. There were two different face washes in the boxes this month, the other being Tumeric & Bergamot, however the purifying seems like it will suit our skin type well, so we’re happy! The price is very reasonable as well, so if we like it it will definitely be something we’d consider buying ourselves.

Glossybox Blusher (Box Exclusive)

We’re not normally a fan of own label freebies, but this blusher, in Glossy Rosewood, is created for Glossybox by Kryolan and we love their products so have high hopes for this one.

Sleek True Colour Lipstick

We’ve used other Sleek products before but haven’t tried their lipsticks before. This shade, O.M.G, is a really lovely orange-toned red which we really want to try out.

There were also lots of discount codes included, for products that have been featured throughout 2012, which is great for anyone wanting to purchase full size products they’ve already tried.

 

Did you get a Glossybox this month? What did you think? If you subscribe to any beauty boxes, let us know which ones and what you love/hate about them! 

Glossybox is a monthly subscription service costing £10 plus £2.95 P&P. You can subscribe here for a monthly, quarterly, six month or yearly subscription. And as a little treat for our readers, you can receive 20% off your first box by using the code AFFJAN20.

*Disclaimer* We pay for our own subscription to Glossybox and our review is 100% independent. 

 

#NailTrend – Manicure in a bottle?

We were sent Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure in our October GlossyBox and have been meaning to try it ever since. It has swept across the blogosphere, so you may have already seen a review on this shade; Calypso Blue. We wouldn’t normally review something that’s been done so much already, but we really, really liked this polish and wanted to explain why!

Sally Hansen say that their little bottles contain all 5 steps of a salon manicure; Base Coat, Strengthener, Growth Treatment, Color and Top Coat. They also say it contains Vita-Care Technology for advanced wear, more shine and nourishing care.

The first thing we noticed was the colour, in the bottle Calypso Blue is a gorgeous aquamarine/turquoise colour with a slight shimmer, and it translated into exactly that with two coats to the nail as well. The brush is wide and rounded at the end, which makes applying really easy and the polish itself doesn’t streak or stick.

With two coats you can really notice the difference between this and other polishes. It finished to a high gloss, with an almost fake, plastic look. It didn’t require a top coat and it dried quickly considering it looks so thick.

We’ll let you know how long it lasts and in the meantime we’re going to try and get our hands on some more in-season colours! The RRP is £4.99 but we’ve found it on a number of sites including FragranceDirect at lower prices.

Get 15% of your first GlossyBox!

Get 15% off your first GlossyBox! 

GlossyBox is a beauty box subscription service which will send you a box of five miniature and often full size beauty products for you to try before you buy. They’d make a fab Xmas present for someone who is as beauty obsessed as we are, with 3, 6 and 12 month subscription options, or a rolling contract. Read our review of the October box here and sign up for your own GlossyBox here. If you use the code AFFDEC15 you’ll receive 15% off your first box!

Glossybox – October 2012

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Glossybox, it is one of many new “beauty boxes” taking the UK by storm at the moment.

The idea of a beauty box is that you pay a subscription fee and every month you are sent a box of beauty related samples, miniatures and occasionally full size products to use as you wish. Think of it as a rather glamorous “try before you buy” or as we like to think of it at thebeautyobsession, Christmas every month!

With the Glossybox, you receive 5 products each month for a subscription fee of £10 + £2.95 p&p. October’s box is filled with products for, and we quote, “an indulgent and cosy night in”. As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, Glossybox have themed their boxes pink, and have said they’ll be donating, although we don’t know how much per box will be going to the charity.

As usual, the products inside are wrapped in tissue paper and tied with ribbon, making us feel like we’re opening a luxurious present before we’ve even seen what’s inside!

We weren’t disappointed once we unwrapped, this month’s box contained a great variety of products, all in generous sizes. Two of the products are full sized with an RRP of £24.99 alone.

From left to right: Yves Rocher France, Instant Anti-Wrinkle Moisturiser £18 for 100ml (full size included); The Organic Pharmacy, Enzyme Peel Mask, £49 for 40ml (5ml included); Skinetica, Anti-Blemish, £6.99 for 100ml (approx 15ml included); Sally Hansen, Complete Salon Manicure in 440 Calypso Blue, £6.99 for 14.7ml (full size included); Anatomicals, Don’t just clean it woman, scrub it Body Scrub, £3.49 for 200ml (75ml included).

We’re looking forward to trying everything in this month’s box, but we’re particularly excited about the Sally Hansen polish as it is such a gorgeous colour and the Skineitca Anti-Blemish, as anything that can help us fly through the day with confidence is always welcome here at thebeautyobsession!

We’ll update you with individual product reviews shortly, but in the meantime why don’t you let us know what you thought of your Glossybox this month? If you don’t yet subscribe to a beauty box, what do you think of the concept and would you be tempted?

You can subscribe to Glossybox here.

Thanks for reading!

tbo

xxx