Glossybox January Review!

Hello lovelies!

Here is my January Glossybox review. Yep, it finally arrived on the 25th of January via express post, almost 8 business days after Glossybox first sent it out on the 16th of January. For some reason, the boxes sat in Sydney the entire time, and the tracking just didn't work. I didn't even receive my shipping notification and had to email Glossybox to inquire after it.

There was quite a bit of confusion about the postage issue, as some subscribers received it within a day or two of it being sent out, while others only received it this week. There was even some drama about a beauty blogger getting sent a free box to review, and she received it before most of the paying subscribers did, which led to some disgruntlement.

Anyway, without further ado, let's get on with the unveiling. The theme of this box was Australia Day, and here is what I received in my box:

Australia Day temporary tattoos

Sheer Cover lip gloss in Pink Praline

Sheer Cover nourishing moisturiser with SPF15 (face)

Nivea rich nourishing moisturiser (body)

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri fast dry nail color in Petal Pusher

Estee Lauder advanced night repair synchronised recovery complex serum

And there were a couple of $25 discount vouchers for The Iconic, an online boutique, plus a Sally Hansen brochure outlining their products.

Box contents.

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The Australia Day stickers.

L - R: Nivea moisturiser, SH nail polish, EL serum,
Sheer Cover lipgloss, and Sheer Cover moisturiser.

SC moisturiser covered in black dust. :(

SC lipgloss swatch, notice how sheer it is?

So what did I think of the box, you wonder? Basically, I'm a bit disappointed with Glossybox as this is their third box, and you'd think they'd have sorted out their shipping issues by now. Instead, there was a whole fuss about how Australia Post had messed up and hence, left the boxes sitting in Sydney for nigh on a week. Not that I'm blaming Glossybox for this but I've never heard of such a thing happening before, it would be quite convenient to just cast the blame on Australia Post but when you think about how none of the other boxes (like Ilovethisbox, Bellabox and LustHaveIt) have these issues, you have to wonder why it's just Glossybox that constantly has trouble with shipping and subscribers receiving their parcels on time. This is the third time in as many months that I've had issues with my Glossybox, so it's getting a little wearying. Having said that, their customer service seems to have improved greatly and I had much quicker (and more helpful) responses to my emails this month. Having great customer service really does help immensely.

One last thing that bummed me out about this month's box. I know several other bloggers had received a blue Mirenesse tightliner in their boxes, and from a Facebook post that Glossybox posted on their wall, I was led to believe every subscriber would receive one in their box. Instead, I got the Estee Lauder serum and the pastel coloured SH nail polish. Apparently all subscribers above 25 years old received the EL serum, as that was the target audience specified by EL, but I think that the selection should have been based on profile choices and not just on age, as I really wasn't very thrilled to receive this product. Fortunately, Glossybox customer service kindly agreed to exchange the unopened EL product for the Mirenesse liner, provided I paid shipping costs. I was quite happy to agree as I would definitely have gotten more use out of the Mirenesse liner than the EL serum. I mailed it out on Wednesday the 27th of January, so let's see how long it takes Glossybox to send me a replacement liner.

One last thing, the dust that I found in the first Glossybox was back, but fortunately, as the products were individually wrapped, I wasn't too concerned about it getting into the products. Did anyone else have this problem?

Verdict: Mixed feelings. I wasn't especially chuffed to receive this box. I love nail polish but a pastel nude colour doesn't really do much for me, I'll probably get some use out of it though. I'm probably going to chuck out the advertising brochures and discount vouchers, so the only things I might get some use out of are the moisturisers and the lip gloss, which is really very sheer. I'm much happier with the GB customer service than I was, so I'm going to give the much hyped about February 'limited edition' Valentine Day box a go, before I decide if I want to cancel my subscription or not.

What did you receive in your box, if you subscribed, and are you happy with it?

Much love,

MM.
x

Update (01.02.12) : I received my replacement Mirenesse tightliner today and I'm so happy with it! It's such a gorgeous eyeliner, look out for a blog post about it soon! It only took 2 days to get to me in Melbourne from Sydney, I wonder why the boxes have so much trouble?! So happy with Glossybox for sending it so quickly! :)

Glossybox November Review (Part 2)

Hello lovelies,

Just a quick little post since I finally got my hands on my November Glossybox last week. I was a bit annoyed as they had promised it would arrive before the 4th of December, which it failed to do. But I guess better late than never, right?

So here we go, let's look at what arrived this time. The items that were the same as in the previous box were:

Pink jelly beans 

Deluxe sample of Jurlique Purely Age-Defying Ultra Firm and Lift Cream

Full sized Bio Oil

Full sized Mirenesse 3D Lip gloss (I got shade #8, Hello Kitten, this time. It looks like a colour I would definitely get more wear out of, can't wait to try it out properly!)

Mini Essie polish in Super Bossa Nova (thankfully intact this time, yay!)

And the item that was different from the previous box: I got a full sized Lily Loves Pearl facial exfoliant. Quite excited to try this, I wonder how it will compare to my Dermalogica Microfoliant? 

It states on the box: A gentle, daily facial exfoliant with antioxidants and a blend of Grapefruit, Jojoba and Lime combined to hydrate and deep cleanse skin. The gentle polishing beads leave skin fresh, smooth and radiant. Helps fight the visual signs of ageing.

Well, doesn't that sound amazing? I'm sold! I'm going to have to try it and let you all know what I think shortly. Stay tuned for an upcoming post. ;)

From L - R: Mirenesse 3D lipgloss, pink jellybeans,
Lilly loves pearl facial exfoliant, Essie polish
 in Super Bossa Nova, Jurlique cream and BioOil.

 

So there you have it, folks...I was much happier with this box compared to the last one...especially as I was quite happy to receive a full-sized exfoliant instead of the Bobbi Brown cleansing oil sample.


Verdict: Much happier...BUT still not 100% satisfied. If only I hadn't had to go through the trauma of posting multiple messages on their wall and sending their customer service multiple emails. All of which was for naught as the replacement box failed to arrive before the promised date. 


Much love,
MM.
x

Glossybox November Review (Part 1)

Hello lovelies,

If you've noticed the post title, and are wondering why it says 'part 1', allow me to explain.

The first ever Glossybox in Australia arrived at my doorstep today. In case you didn't know, Glossybox is pretty popular, particularly in the United Kingdom, and they joined forces/took over BeautyBox (a company offering a similar product) in October 2011. As a result, there was a wee bit of a mess with subscribers to BB being forced to resubscribe to Glossybox. Those of us who had been with BB previously were awarded 1000 glossydots (the subscription equivalent of a free box) to make up for having been charged twice.

Truthfully, we beauty addicts afficianados were all in dithers waiting for the first box to be shipped out. But owing to the fact that the items were shipped from overseas and then packed in Australia, the boxes only shipped out at the end of November, i.e. the 25th of November.

That would still have been fine and I would have been happy waiting, but more issues popped up. We got sent a tracking number, but it didn't include a link by which we could track the parcels. I sent them an email which was ignored, but similar posts on their website were answered, with Glossybox telling subscribers that events would only show up when the box was actually close by and in the courier van ready to be delivered. Pardon my ignorance, but isn't the purpose of tracking being able to actually see where your box is at ALL times? Not just when it's about to land on your doorstep anyway?

Anyhow, my box popped up today, and I was so disappointed when it arrived. First of all, the box arrived encased in a larger cardboard box for protection. Unfortunately, when I opened the outer box, I found black/grey dust all over everything, including my hands and desk. By the time I managed to open the parcel, dust was everywhere, which was really off putting. I couldn't make out if it was from the packing inside the Glossybox or if it was a result of the transport.

And here is where I confess to a major blogger mistake...by the time I got to the actual contents, I was so put off by the dust coating everything, that I barely paid much attention to the contents. I did notice that I received the following items in my box:

Pink jelly beans (look gorgeous but I'm afraid to eat them thanks to the dust coating everything)

Deluxe sample of Bobbi Brown cleansing oil (I'm really not a fan of this, I much prefer the Shu Uemura ones).

Deluxe sample of Jurlique Purely Age-Defying Ultra Firm and Lift Cream

Full sized Bio Oil

Full sized Mirenesse 3D Lip gloss (Not very excited by this colour, it's a deep red, why-oh-why can't I receive a nude gloss?!)

and...

Mini Essie polish in Super Bossa Nova...which was completely dried up and tacky when I opened it. Either I got given a used sample or it hadn't been closed properly because it was completely ruined. It had dried up so much, you could actually see through parts of the bottle, which was a fairly incredibly feat given the hot pink colour of the polish.

So you can probably understand why I lost interest in the box after that. :(
Well, that, and having to mop my desk with dampened tissues to clean up the mess that had been left behind from the dust from the box.

All the same, I'm not 'quite' giving up on them yet...I sent their customer service an email to complain, and included photos of the box. I got a reply within an hour apologising, stating that they weren't responsible for the handling the boxes received during transit, and a promise that a replacement Glossybox would be sent out to me as soon as possible! While encouraging, it's still a bit of a disappointment as I was hoping to receive and review it before I left the country for a month-long trip abroad.

Anyway, do have a look at the photos and stay tuned while I wait for part 2 of the November Glossybox to arrive.

Outer covering

Inner covering

Description of contents...covered in dust.

A view of the contents. Sorry, should have taken more photos
 but lost interest thanks to the dust covering everything,

Look at the dust!

My ruined Essie polish. :(

Look, you can actually see through the bottle,
that's how dried up it was!

My verdict? Disappointed. I haven't quite given up on them yet but I have to say their customer service hasn't been as excellent as, say, I Love This Box, who go above and beyond in the name of customer service, namely answering to emails in a speedy manner, even past midnight!

I have to say, though, that some of my favourite fellow bloggers, Glossybeauty and Beauty in a bottle, have received much better Glossyboxes, and they've written some great reviews which you can read, here and here, respectively. Do check them out. And you can have a look at the different colour options people received in their November Glossybox here.

I'm still holding out that Glossybox might redeem themselves yet...I'll keep you posted.

Much love,
MM.
x

P.S. - I forgot to add that the box came with a voucher for 15% off store-wide (applicable only in stores), which expires/d on 30 November 2011, which disappointed some subscribers as we didn't receive the box in time to actually use the voucher!