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Glossybox: beauty items, $21/month
Promo: save 20% your first box by clicking on link above (limited time promo) or get a pre-paid 6 or 12 months subscription at Gilt City for $99 or $150 (see below for Gilt code)
I paid: $9
Box retail value: $65, My value: $30
Glossybox is a monthly subscription which sends you five beauty items every month, generally a mixture full size and travel sizes. They started in Europe so they often send out European brands that are new in America. While this is just my second Glossybox, I’ve swapped items from this box before.
Glossybox’s regular price is $21 a month, but it’s a good idea to be in the look for special offers. I subscribed to Glossybox with a Gilt deal for one-year of Glossybox boxes for $150 (normally $120). At that time, Gilt had a promo that let you save 30% off your first deal. That is now expired, but if you sign up with Gilt using this link, you’ll be able to save $20 off your first purchase. This makes a 6 month subscription cost $80 or $13.5 a box and a 12-month subscription cost $130 or $11/a box. If you’re lucky enough to read this on Dec. 29th, you can use the code TODAY40 for 40% off your Gilt purchase up to a total of $30. This means the annual subscription is $120 or $10 a box, and the 6-month subscription is $69 or $11.5 per box. At this price, Glossybox is one of the best deals as far as beauty boxes are concerned.
While my first box arrived promptly, I did not get December’s Glossybox until the fourth week of December. The lateness in shipping boxes has been a frequent complaint with Glossybox subscribers, so I think you are best off assuming you’ll get your box at the end of the month. If it comes early you can be pleasantly surprised.
Items come in a very pretty, sturdy box that can be easily reused (just put a sticker to cover the brand name). I loved the Christmas box and I will use it to keep old letters.
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Each box comes with a two-sided card listing the products and describing them. While the card gives information on the size and value of the items, it does not indicate where they are made. It does, however, include helpful tips on how to use the products.
Glossybox has also received criticism for sending different boxes to bloggers than to regular subscribers (and while I’m a blogger, I don’t think I count as nobody actually reads this :-). In my first box I got the same items that were sent to Liz Cadman from My Subscription Addiction, the premier subscription blog. In this one, I got three of the same items. The other two items, however, were of comparable value.
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My December Glossybox came with five full size-products, though one was made in China so I don’t count it as far as value is concerned. The RV of the other four came up to $65, which is quite nice given how much I paid for the box. Still, I will only use one item for sure and might use another one, so the box didn’t have a particularly great value for me. It was worth what I paid for it, however.
This is what I got:
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MTJ Cosmetics High Definition Mascara, .32 oz, $21
MTJ or “More than Just Makeup” seems to be a brand of Italian cosmetic seller Napura. I couldn’t really find any information about them. I have a couple of mascaras that I’m using now, so I’ve put this one up for swap, but if it doesn’t swap before I run out of mascaras, I’ll probably use it. My daughter thought the brush was cool. Made in Italy.
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De Bruyere Paris Lipgloss, .17 oz, $17.50
This lip gloss came in the “French” themed October Glossybox and while I hadn’t been a subscriber then, I had actually swapped for
The brand is, indeed, French, though the lipgloss itself is “made in EEU”. It turns out that the EEU is the Eurasian Economic Union, a free market zone which includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Belarus seems to be the most eager country to use the EEU designation, so I’m going to guess that’s where it’s made, but who knows where the ingredients come from. I’m going to guess that manufacturers are hoping that customers will confuse the EEU with the European Union, and think that these products are made in western Europe.
In any case, I’m a little worried that this lipgloss does not look like the lipglosses in the De Bruyere site, but perhaps it’s because they were specially made for Glossybox. The bottle doesn’t actually say what color it is, though it looks red in the bottle. Once you apply it, however, it looks more like a fuchsia. It actually looks very good on my oldest daughter. However, I don’t need a second one, so this one is up for swap.
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Oro Gold Hand Cream, 2.5 oz, $18?
As readers of this blog know, Oro Gold has to be one of the worst cosmetic companies in the industry. Not only do they use high-pressure sales techniques and intimidate people into buying ridiculously overpriced items they don’t need, but they reportedly lie to them about whether those products can be returned. As if that wasn’t enough, many of their products seem to be of less than stellar quality.
Take this hand cream, for example. The version I got is simply called ” hand cream”, but it has the same ingredients at the “24K Hand Cream” listed for sale on their website. Despite the name, and the description of the cream on Amazon and other websites, no gold, “nano” or otherwise, is listed as an ingredient. That’s just as well, as gold offers no known benefits for the skin.
What this cream does have are relatively common and cheap ingredients: water, glycerin, mineral oil and petroleum jelly with a tiny bit of shea butter for show. While those ingredients may make for a great lotion, they are not what most people expect to find in an $18 (or $38) hand cream.
Not that it’s particularly clear how much this lotion actually sells for. Glossybox lists it for $18 – but they also claim it’s 1 oz, while the tube itself (both the one I got and the one pictured) claims it to be 70g or 2.5 oz. The tube does look like it’d contain 2.5 oz, so I think Glossybox is wrong, but so is Orogold itself which lists the hand cream as being “travel” size and weighing 70g/1 oz. The 2.5 oz lotion does sell for $38 at Cleopatra’s Choice.
In any case, I’m not using this lotion both out of principle and because of the icky ingredients. At least it’s made in Japan.
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Glossybox Eyeshadow in Mauve, .11 oz, $11
Yikes, Glossybox is now getting in the private label cosmetic business? Yes, it makes sense for them. They can buy super cheap Chinese makeup products, attach their name on them and claim a value of many times their actual worth. But it makes for a horrible customer experience. I quit Ipsy because they were filling up their boxes with Chinese crap, and I’m weary that Glossybox will do the same.
BTW, though I list the RV values of products made in China, I don’t consider them to be worth anything when adding up the value of the box.
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Colour Club Nail Polish in Feverish, .5 oz, $8.5
I love the color of this nail polish. It’s a dark raspberry that works great both for the season and in general for a woman my age. Unfortunately the formula is very thin and runny, which makes it very hard for me to keep the nail polish from running onto my skin. It’ll probably work better over a clear coat, and it does need two coats for full coverage. Still, I do love the color.