In December I was contacted by GlossyBox to let me know they were launching their product in Canada. GlossyBox, which originated in Germany and is now available to 20 countries, is a service that sends a monthly packaged box with 5 travel size beauty and cosmetic samples for you to try. Glossybox kindly offered to send me a sample box to try out!
Late January I received the February Glossybox in the mail. The packaging was so pretty: from the shipping box down to the delicate pink ribbon tied around the tissue-enclosed products. For $15 a month (and that does include the shipping costs), I'd honestly say you get a pretty good deal if the products are this good every month. The Essie nail polish alone would be $10 plus tax if purchased on it's own. And that night cream- if you were to buy the full-size 50ml container- isn't cheap at $160 a pop.
Here's the scoop on all the samples I received inside the February Glossybox:
1. Ahava Skincare Mineral Hand Cream 20 mL
The cream does have a pretty, but subtle floral scent and leaves your hands feeling soft. However, given that I mostly work in scent-free environments, this cream is a little too perfume-y for me to use on a daily basis. It leaves your hands feeling like there's a powder finish on your palms and it will fully absorb- but not instantly. I'll continue to use this sample at home but likely stick with the more cost-effective hand creams I currently use in the future.
Cost: $22 for 100mL bottle
2. Skin Care Moisturizing Stick by Elizabeth Grant
This was probably, and unexpectedly, my favourite item out of the box. It's essentially a luxe lip chap in lipstick form! It definitely works well at moisturizing the lips time of the year! It has a light cantaloupe scent/flavour. I'd probably pay the price for this product if I could find it locally.
Cost: 5g (regular tube) for $12
3. Essie Nail Enamel- "Neo Whimsical"
Essie is already one of my favourite nail polish brands. I liked that this shade went on thicker than I expected- you could probably get sufficient nail coverage with 2 coats. It's also the perfect soft pink that any woman should have in her nail collection.
Cost: 13.8mL (regular sized nail polish bottle) for $9.99
4. Live in Love from Oscar de la Renta 50mL
Love the scent and it absorb fairly well- even on the hands. It's a perfumed lotion (the perfume was launched in Fall 2011) so I couldn't wear it to work, but I'll definitely continue to use it outside of that time.
Cost: 200ml for $54
5. Prevage Night Anti-Aging Restorative Cream 7mL
I've been considering adding a night cream to my skin care regime, but I haven't been entirely sure where to start and what product to choose. Just as I check out the ingredient list on all my grocery items before tossing them into the cart, I took a peak at ingredients in this product too.There were over 50 names of compounds and chemicals I didn't know- may of which I couldn't pronounce without trying to sound them out.
So I took to Google in search of reviews on this night cream. Many rate the product very positively with many women reporting they actually saw results from using this cream over time. The cons seemed to be possible skin irritation. I took a peak Health Canada's Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist- an administrative list of restricted and prohibited ingredients in cosmetics. It seemed that none of the products are on this list (although having to check over 50 substances, human error on my part is possible). I do wonder the impact of long-term exposure to all these compounds.
Cost: 50mL for $160
6. Beauty So Clean Sanitizing Wipes & Mist 8mL & 4 wipes
Bonus item! Apparently this doesn't always happen, but sometimes they'll sneak in a 6th trial product. I was intrigued by this sanitizing spray and wipes for make-up. A little more than a year ago, I didn't even know you could try and sanitize cosmetic products. You simply spray or wipe the product and within 10 seconds it claims to be germ free. I'm not sure it would help me feel comfortable about using store testers, but it's something to consider!
Cost: 48 pack of wipes for $12.50 or 125mL for $15.99
It was fun to receive this beautifully packaged surprise from GlossyBox. At $15 a month, if you have room in your budget, I'd definitely recommend it. You definitely get your bang for your buck. Consider this: when you compare it to the regular prices of these products, those sample amounts (which are not for resale) in February's box would be worth almost $65!
It would be fun to get a different surprise package each month! Some of GlossyBox's global partners include brands such as OPI, NARS, Yves Saint Laurent, Clinique, Elizabeth Arden, Biotherm and Estee Lauder.
For more details on GlossyBox and how the process works, click here.
If you're from the US and interested in signing up for this service, click here.
* I did receive the February GlossyBox as a sample for free. However there was no stipulation within the offer that I had to blog about the contents. I decided to share this service with my readers because I enjoyed the experience and the quality of the products. This is not a paid or sponsored post.
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