29 June 2012

Glossybox June 2012: Tools of the Trade

 I'm very late rounding up this month's Glossybox. The box arrived on the day I left for New York and so I only picked it up from the office on Monday, but then again, I'm not especially keen on this month's offering, so I don't mind too much.

Previously on Glossybox... The May box turned out to be OK for me: I like the (combination-skin-appropriate!) moisturizer, the shower gel is fine and the UniqOne hair treatment is pretty nice, although it does make my hair feel a little greasy. I gave away the false lashes and haven't used the perfumes. Oh, there was also a Glossybox compact mirror, which was quite nice.

The June Glossybox theme is travel and the products are supposed to "lighten the load [...] with these travel-friendly products." So, what did I get?

Dermablend foundation, Glossybox brush, Caudalie perfume,
HD Brows tweezers and BM Beauty bronzer

1. Glossybox Serie Exclusiv Pro Beauty Brush (full size). Glossybox claims this is worth £15 but if I had paid that much for a make-up brush, I would want something of a much higher quality. It's a decent size and looks quite sleek, but it's already been shedding a little, and it doesn't feel very soft on my skin. I'll probably use this, but, well, meh... £15, apparently.

2. HD Brows Precision Tweezers (not sure if they're full size). As someone with very sparse eyebrows, the last thing I need is to take a pair of tweezers to my brows. However, I had had a tiny splinter in my foot for several months and these helped me remove it with very little fuss. They're nice to use and will be useful to have. £19.95 for the full size.

3. BM Beauty Summer Warmth Bronzer (1g). I love my Bare Minerals foundation, but I've never been keen on the loose mineral make-up products because they're always so messy to use--BM Beauty might be interested to know that their better known competitor Bare Minerals has started producing pressed make-up products for this very reason. This bronzer is a pretty, golden shade and it looks nice on my skin, but its chunky grains make it really difficult to apply with my usual Bare Minerals bronzer brush. Sorry, BM Beauty, but this is too much hassle; I'll stick to my Bare Minerals Warmth. £8 for the 4g full size.

June 2012 Glossybox

4. Caudalie Eaux Fraîches in Thé des Vignes (10 ml). I was expecting not to like this fragrance as I have loathed the scent of most of the other Caudalie products I've tried, but actually it's quite nice: light and fruity. I probably would have preferred the Zeste de Vigne scent, but that's OK. I probably won't use this, though, although it's a decent-size sample, because, as I've mentioned before, I am faithful to Un Jardin en Méditerranée by Hermès. £26 for the 50 ml full size.

5. Vichy Dermablend Ultra-Corrective Foundation Cream Stick (mini sample pack). I can't complain about this product, although it doesn't work with me, because this is exactly the kind of thing beauty sample services were set up to provide: a way to test new products and new brands at home, without the glaring lights and pressure of a department store. Anyway, there are six samples, each in a different shade of the foundation, allowing you to find the one that best matches your skin. As expected, the sand was the closest match for me, but although it applied nicely, the coverage was too heavy for what I normally wear during the daytime. I think it is probably more suitable for normal/dry skin types, as it didn't last 16 hours on me. £19 for the 12g full size.

Total value of the products in this month's Glossybox: hard to say, given that they over-inflated the blush brush price and because you will only use one of the foundation samples, the other five are worthless. Pricing the brush at a more reasonable £10 and generously valuing the foundation sample I could use at £1, the value of this box is about £38.

Overall rating: 2/5. There was nothing terrible in this box but nothing that excited me much either. The tweezers are the product I'll use the most, although I probably will give the brush a go too. I think it's slightly cheeky of Glossybox to include their own marketing tool brush in the box, especially as there is another beauty tool included this month. This meant there were only three beauty products, none of which I really like.

I'm nearing the number of GlossyDots I need to get a free box (after which point, I am unsubscribing), but conveniently, Glossybox has managed to only credit me for four of the five product reviews I did last month, which will put me at 980 points at the end of this month. I'll be really irritated if they don't credit the extra points because it means paying for another month (it would be silly to quit 20 points away from a free box). I've emailed Glossybox customer service but as expected, they haven't replied yet. Sigh. Edit (July 3): Glossybox have now added the points to my account. Phew!

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