Glossybox has learned very quickly how to get good publicity in the Australian beauty blogging community without actually being worthy of it: give out free stuff. Generally, the positive reviews I've read and seen on YouTube have been from people who have received a free box. Those who paid for it often tell a different story. Not true in all cases, but there's a definite pattern there and it seems to be the modus operandi for businesses trying to get a name for themselves in the beauty world these days. Never mind actually being good at what you do - throw a couple of parties and ply some chicks with champagne and macarons, give them a bag of goodies and sit back and watch the accolades roll in.
After getting the Lust Have It box a couple of times I realised that these monthly box things are essentially junk, so I cancelled it. Seeing everyone's monthly reviews of various boxes hasn't swayed my opinion, so why did I sign up for Glossybox? And more importantly, why did I sign up for Glossybox while watching a video where jodik76 slammed them for their craptacular customer service. What can I say? I'm impulsive. Actually, I looked at their brand list, and it looked pretty impressive. I should have known that it would be less Bobbi Brown, Clinique and Shu Uemura and more Mirenesse and Nivea. Foolish me.
The Good
Value wise, this is a major score - a 30ml bottle of Advanced Night Repair retails here for $105. (Unfortunately, this is the only Estee Lauder serum I don't particularly like, but that's not Glossybox's fault - I fit the profile as someone who would be perfect for this. I can probably swap it with someone for something I'd use). The alternate of this product was a Kosmea Daily Facial Exfoliant. The full size is $39.95 - not exactly a comparable product. And I don't believe that the one sent out was a full size. If I were on the receiving end of that and my mates all got the ANR, I think I'd be a bit pissed off. If they're going to alternate products to 'personalise' the boxes (really? what about me made you think I'd wear blue eyeliner on my tightliner?), they should be of roughly equivalent value. It would have been better to send ANR to old farts like me, and perhaps the Estee Lauder pore-minimising serum or the illuminating one to the younger subscribers.
The Bad
And here we have the TVSN clearance bin. There is no escaping Mirenesse - their tentacles are everywhere. I hate their stuff - it's overpriced junk. And I wasn't even aware Sheer Cover was still around. I thought that had died off 10 years ago when mineral makeup companies exploded on to the scene. A lip gloss in a pot (bleh), and a moisturiser that looks oddly like calamine lotion. As for the Nivea body lotion, seriously? I could buy a bottle of that at my local supermarket for about $5. Not exactly what I'd expect from a box business that throws around words like 'luxury' and 'innovative'.
The Ugly
Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of monthly cosmetic boxes, one thing that definitely does not come to mind is fake tattoos. Perhaps those Chanel ones that were around a couple of years ago for about 5 minutes until everyone got over the cuteness factor and realised how silly they were, but these? I saw them in Angela's review before I had even received my box, and though I was unimpressed with the other stuff, this was enough to make me cancel my subscription immediately. (Oh, and can I tell you how painful it is to leave this mob? They make you click box after box and respond to email confirmations and then click more boxes going are you sure you want to leave? Are you sure? This is what you're missing! Look at more of what you're missing? Are you sure? OH MY GOD GET AWAY FROM ME!)
There's a gap in those tattoos because Noodles decided to channel her inner bogan and get into the Oz Day spirit. And before everyone gets up in arms, it's not that I object to tattoos in general - I have two myself - but come on. If I wanted to shop at The Reject Shop, I'd shop at The Reject Shop. This garbage does not belong in a supposedly classy beauty box.
I don't even want to talk about the vouchers. VOUCHERS ARE NOT SAMPLES.
I'm not overly bothered that I spent $15 on this pile of crap. I've spent $15 on piles of crap many times before. It's the cost of a magazine and a coffee. I should have bought the magazine and the coffee. My final thought is that Glossybox should put less effort into arse-kissing bloggers and more effort into putting together thoughtful, good quality, comparable boxes and working on their customer service (I haven't had any issues, but I've heard a lot of horror stories).
And that's me done with the monthly box fad. Next!
