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.
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