Thursday, January 1, 2015

Glossybox December 2014 Review



It had been quite some time since I ordered a Glossybox - May 2014's Bergdorf Goodman collaboration I believe. At $21/month, it's definitely a subscription I pick and choose based on the preview items rather than one that I just let run for months on end. If you use Ebates then you can get $2.75 cash back for each box every time you place a new order, so it does pay to cancel and re-subscribe based on which boxes you want! This time, the preview items were a Nuxe product worth $32 alone, a Ciate mini nail polish, and a Toni & Guy conditioner. I was pretty sold on those and planned to get the box anyway. Then, I saw an amazing offer on RueLaLa to get the box for just $15, so I hit the bid!


The packaging for December was another major selling point. It made the box the absolute perfect Christmas gift! I loved the hunter green motif with the bright red bows both inside and outside of the box. 


Now, let's get on with the month's awesome selection of products!


Ciate Mini Paint Pot in All Aglow (Full-size, $10)

This polish was part of the holiday tree trinket collection of limited edition colors for 2014. This is the full sized product from that collection (they are all mini paint pots). This color has both gold and rose gold glitter flecks in it. 



I tried it above with two coats and it is still translucent.  It's a tricky one to photograph but you can definitely still see through my nail in most places. So, I think it would likely look best when used over another polish in a solid color like gold or red rather than just on its own. I love the Ciate brand and recently even tried one of its "Caviar" manicures. It's long lasting and good quality. I wasn't wild about this particular color on its own but do think it would look nice combined with another.


Bellapierre Cosmetics Mineral Lipstick in Burlesque (Full-size, $19.99)

This product also appears to be the full size. This product is only sold online via Bellapierre's website. Admittedly this was the product I was most skeptical about because I hadn't heard much about it and it isn't available in a major retailer to get check out in-person. I admit the the ultra-bold Burlesque color is really attractive. I like bright pinky reds.



However, I did find that this lipstick is one of those that gets all over your teeth for the first several minutes you're wearing it and that the pigment didn't distribute evenly on my lips, so some parts appeared to be a much more intense pink than others. It was very silky and moisturizing but overall I was not a fan of the look. I think I'll be gifting or swapping this one. I have too many other nice lip colors that don't have these problems. The packaging is also made of a really flimsy plastic which is nice because it's lightweight but does make the product feel a bit cheap (and $19.99 isn't all that cheap!).


Nuxe Paris Masque Creme Fraiche de Beaute (Full-size, $32)

Again, this is another full size product! I recently read an article that said this brand will soon be available at Target stores nationwide and it does appear that many of the products are already sold on Target's website. I think that's absolutely fantastic because it is one of my favorite French brands! It's sold in all the major beauty stores over there. There was a particularly large selection at the Monoprix I went to in La Defense in October. I'm so excited to see that the brand is becoming more readily available in America.

All Nuxe products smell so nice, and this one's no exception! It reminds me of wild flowers and herbs you'd find in a country kitchen. It's got some great natural ingredients (composed of 90% to be exact) like 8 plant milks, aloe vera sap, almond, and orange white flowers. I have some of the driest skin there is and the mask left it feeling refreshed and not greasy at all. My skin also has a lot of redness in it and the natural ingredients noticeably help calm that down and balance out my skin tone. I love that the product keeps working for 24 hours and that it's a mask you leave on / absorb into the skin rather than one you wash off. I already use the Nuxe Hand & Nail Cream and the Lip Moisturizing Stick, and I'll definitely be adding this mask to my routine too!



Rituals Cosmetics Miracle Scrub in Ginseng & Ginko Biloba (Full-size, $17)

Another full size product! Rituals is a very zen inspired Dutch company with one stand-alone US store in Soho NYC. I recently shopped in their Amsterdam store at Schiphol Airport during a flight layover and got some great bargains (photo below!). I first heard about the brand when I got a sample with a magazine when I was in the UK and again in the US when Birchbox hosted a blogger breakfast with them and then started to feature them in some sample boxes. This is a very popular brand and the product is currently Out of Stock on Birchbox's website, but will hopefully soon return.



I currently have a pretty good hand exfoliator from Mary Kay that comes in a liquid hand soap type dispenser. Hand exfoliators are generally not that easy to find and I'm not a big fan of the Mary Kay beauty rep purchase model, so I like that Rituals offers a similar product that can be purchased either independently from a store or on their website without the sales pitch or pressure from a brand rep.  This scrub is extremely thick. At first I thought there might be a foil seal, but nope, the cap doesn't come off. You just have to push the white product through. You don't need much at all to get the desired impact. Afterwards my hands felt absolutely divine! They were so silky you'd think I remembered to moisturize them every single day. They also had the nice elasticity that usually only essential oils can provide. The scent was very pleasant but extremely subtle. So, you can use it whenever you'd like around people with fragrance sensitivity and it shouldn't be a concern. I am so pleased this particular product was included because I only have Rituals body oils and cleansers but had never even seen that they have a hand scrub, something that is such a fantastic fit for my dry skin!


Toni & Guy Leave In Conditioner (Full-size, $16.99)

This last produce was also full size! Despite the pricing above that Glossybox quoted, this product is sold at Target for just $9.19 and Walmart for $10.93 without any discounts applied. It's also on sale at Soap.com for $11.06. Just a little bit of this product will go a long way. I think that using too much would make your hair look a little greasy. It's got an absolutely lovely scent - a lush floral with a  touch of spice. It left my hair completely tangle-free (which is quite a feat when wet), silky, and maybe even a bit sun-kissed - the lighter blonde tones in my hair definitely appeared to be more noticeable.



This is quite honestly the most stellar beauty box I have ever received! The value and the quality of the brands is just spot-on what I'm looking for at all times. It was also composed entirely of full size products - when does that ever happen? I loved it so much that I ordered a dupe box - something I've never done before with any subscription box! I opened a new account and used a special code on the second one so that I could get a free full-sized Tarte LipSurgence Power Pigment in Flush too (worth $24) - what a steal! It arrived inside my second box with the same samples as the first box. In case you didn't catch it, that means I got 2 of these boxes for just $36 plus a $24 bonus product and not counting the Ebates cash back. The value of these boxes was approximately $88 each!!! All I have to say is Glossybox, you gave this blogger a very Merry Christmas!

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