Glossybox - Hits and Misses!

Hello strangers!

It's been quite some time since my last post so thought I would do a quick 'hits and misses' post on the products that I have received with the July, August, and September Glossybox's to get me back into the swing of blogging :)

I've picked out my top three favourite products, and three products that I have been a bit disappointed with or I haven't liked at all - bearing in mind there are quite a few products that I'm just not fussed about either way! Just in case any of you haven't heard of Glossybox (not likely) - its a £12.95 monthly subscription where you receive a beautifully packaged box full of beauty samples and sometimes full sized products!

So I'm going to start with my least favourite products, so I can end this post on a positive note! 

First up is the Ciate Nail Enamel in Mojito, which I received in the July box. In all fairness it is an excellent product to receive considering sample sizes are expected, in addition to the fact that Ciate are pretty pricey polishes - it was a nice surprise to see this in my Glossybox. However, my problem lies with the colour. It's an apple green colour which I just could not for the life of me make it work! I thought I'd try it on my toes as a nice summery colour and my mum actually commented that it looked like I had infected toe nails - not the look I was going for. The formula of the nail varnish is really great, so I would love to try other colours and as a brand I've heard really great things about Ciate!

Next up is another nail product, and my problem lies again with the completely random colour choice that I was given! It was the Rebel Nails Nail Wraps, that were in the August box. I was quite excited when I saw some spoilers on Twitter that they would be in that months box, and there were some really pretty designs - but once again I appear to have drawn the short straw on colour choice! A bright, fluorescent yellow/green colour, think high visibility jackets, yellow highlighters and 80s rave gear - definitely not a colour I would choose for my nails!

Finally we have the Daniel Sandler Jumbo Jet Mascara, which was also in the August box. Now this mascara was... okay. However, I love super long and voluminous lashes and this mascara failed to do anything too spectacular. I also found it to clump quite easily so it's definitely not a mascara that you can layer up to produce longer length or more volume.

I think on the whole, its pretty fair to say I have never been majorly disappointed with any of the products that I've received considering the first two were because of the colours I was sent and the third product is a personal preference I suppose! I really love the idea behind Glossybox and I love that you get to try out products that you would probably never come across or purchase off your own back, and that you can come across some holy grail products that you can now unfortunately cannot live without!

So, with that in mind, onto my favourites... 

I'll start off with the Orla Kiely perfume sample that I received in the July box! I think I've mentioned before how bad I am at describing scents, but it is a really pretty and fresh floral perfume, and in my opinion quite unlike anything I've ever smelled before! I would definitely consider buying the full size version of this perfume. I also really love that the sample was in a miniature version of the full size bottle, as appose to the little tubes that perfume samples usually come in.

Next up, is the Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether which was also in the July box. This was my first Illamasqua product so there was a lot of obvious excitement over that, but it's such a gorgeous product! It's a shimmery golden powder that can be used as a subtle highlight or, as you would expect from Illamasqua, it can be built up to an extremely dramatic metallic finish to create a pretty spectacular look. I love using this product on nights out to give my skin a lovely shimmer, using it mainly on my shoulders, collar bones and on the top of my cheek bones.

Last but not least is a product that I have only just received in the September box, but I have already fallen in love with - which is the L'Oreal Professional Mythic Oil. This product is to be used either on wet or dry hair and gives hair a gorgeous shine and feeling lovely and nourished. As I have bleached my hair in the past, my hair is so dry at the ends and the Mythic Oil really puts some moisture back into my hair giving it a really nice shine without it looking greasy or oily in the slightest!

So to round up this unexpectedly long post, I really can't see me ever wanting to cancel my Glossybox subscription as I've enjoyed every box so far and I have found the customer service to be really fantastic. I know a few people have had problems with their HD Brow Palette, myself included, and Glossybox have already replied to my email and have already popped a replacement in the post. 

Keep up the great work, Glossybox :)

xxx

July Glossybox - worth the wait?

Hey everyone!

Today was a very exciting day for me... my first Glossybox arrived! I saw quite a few tweets and blog posts this morning from other girls saying how amazing this months box is, so as you can imagine I was willing the postman to come to my house!! 

I really do love the idea behind this product, it's the surprise aspect that I love and that different boxes contain slight variations on samples which I also like. I'm really pleased for Glossybox, that they have had such a positive reaction to this box after a rather disastrous month where a lot of people unsubscribed because of the increase in price, and also disappointing products in the box itself! I think a few people may be kicking themselves for unsubscribing after some of the gorgeous products that are in this months box!

However I do hope this standard continues and it's not a pattern of a good month and then a bad month and then good again, because I think consistency is really important especially because you can cancel your subscription at any time, and also that Boudoir Prive are releasing their first box in the next month! 

Anyway... onto this months box. I know loads of blog posts and YouTube videos will be popping up here, there and everywhere in the next few weeks so I won't go into loads of detail, I will just do a quick introduction to the products and then I have a blog post planned to do a comparison when I receive my first Boudoir Prive box in August.

Just to repeat what everyone has already said, and you will know if you have received a Glossybox yourself, is the presentation is just gorgeous! Even the outside cardboard box has the little symbol printed onto it, and the box itself is really sturdy and a lovely pink colour - which is perfect for using for storage! 

 

The products that I received this month are the:

1. Ciate Nail Enamel - I've never tried this brand of nail varnishes before, and being honest I'm not too crazy about the green colour but I will definitely give it a go!

2. Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether - A full size Illamasqua product!! I've never tried anything from this brand before, and I don't think this goes as far to heal the pain I felt on missing out on the Nars highlighter in the first Glossybox, but it's a gorgeous gold shimmery powder which can provide a subtle sheen on the skin or can be built up for a dramatic metallic finish. It's a lovely golden colour that I think would look great with a tan!

3. Orla Kiely Eau de Parfum - I really struggle describing specific tones of perfumes, but I will just say that I do like it! The little sample bottle is really cute, its shaped like a flower which makes sense as it is a floral scent. The card says that it has "light floral notes, with natural extracts of rose geranium and bergamot, subtly balanced with fresh fig and a hint of chocolate".

4. Ultra Sun Face 30 - I don't tend to use a separate sun cream on my face, as my foundation already has SPF in it so I might pass this one on to my mum!

5. Weleda Pomegrante Regenerating Body Oil - I LOVE the smell of this it is just beautiful! I applied this after my shower this morning, a little sceptical as I thought it wouldn't absorb into the skin nicely as it's an oil but honestly it is such a nice product! It's a massive bottle, considering they are supposed to be sample products, and I can see this lasting me ages.

I am delighted with this months box and I hope everyone else is with theirs. You can sign up to Glossybox here for £10 a month, after the August box it goes up to £12.95 which in fairness I think is still really reasonable, especially when you receive full sized products worth more than £12.95! I'm now even more excited to receive my next Glossybox and also my Boudoir Prive box which arrives at the start of August, so keep your eyes peeled for my first thoughts on that!

Thanks for reading if you got this far, I know Glossybox posts are definitely not the most original but I was too excited not to share this lol and I'm sure all bloggers and YouTubers feel the same way!

Hope everyone is okay xxx

Boudoir Prive

Hey everyone,

I started my new job this week so have been a little busy to be blogging, but I thought I'd share some very exciting news about a new company that rivals the Glossybox, Boudoir Prive! 

I signed up for Glossybox well over a month ago now, and have paid for my first box yet won't be receiving it until the end of July! I don't mind this too much, and will be happy to wait - as long as the wait is worth it! As I'm sure many of you know, Glossybox are adding postage and packaging costs onto their £10 subscription (from September I believe?), which has angered a lot of their subscribers causing them to cancel their subscription with Glossybox! 

I'm really gutted that they've received such bad press because I think the product is such a great idea, allowing subscribers to try out high end samples and new products that they may never have come across! But I think the way Glossybox have gone about wording the increase in price is a little sneaky in my opinion, as it appears they had planned it all along but hadn't admitted the £10 price was an introductory offer. However, I feel that £12.95 is still a reasonable price and if the samples continue to be worth the money, I will definitely continue my subscription!

I know a lot of Glossybox subscribers have also been a bit dissapointed with the products they received this month, such as Batiste dry shampoo - now i love a good dry shampoo as much as the next girl, but I can understand the disappointment as it is supposed to be luxury samples and lets face it, we can all pick Batiste up down at our local Tescos! On the flip side though... they are four other samples that you can enjoy so you can't complain too much. I guess everyone was just anticipating great things after the full size NARS product in the previous box - still heartbroken i missed this box ):

 

So... onto the exciting new company! For Boudoir Prive, I think they have entered the market at a great time, while Glossybox is unfortunately suffering a bit of bad press they are in a position to attract their dissatisfied subscribers! This company operates in a similar way to Glossybox, or the Birchbox in the US, offering SIX deluxe samples for £10 a month. It works on a subscription basis similar to the Glossybox, but they are offering one extra product for your £10 and there are currently no P&P charges! The company have not released a huge amount of information about the box so far, but I think this just adds to the excitement and builds the suspense around the product!

images from Google

You have to sign up by email to receive an invitation to subscribe, as they have stated that there are a limited number of boxes to be had! I definitely want to get my hands on one of these and have signed up already (: and you can do this here!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the lovely sunshine (:

Hannah Elizabeth