My Glossybox for October 2016 has arrived! This is the final one of my subscription that I kept forgetting to cancel, and at least the box was better this time, a vast improvement over last month’s box. The largest product in the box is a drugstore brand hair product. I thought Glossybox was supposed to be a luxury-brands sort of box and there’s nothing luxury about a product you can find in every drug store and grocery store. Oh well, not going to miss this subscription, and the next time I think about signing up for Glossybox? Someone take away my internet.
- Masque Bar Brightening Sheet Mask – 3 pack / $16.99 – (Product is one mask, value of $5.66) I took the lowest price I found online via Amazon.com – Target was advertising $42.99 for a three-pack which seems really absurd when Amazon is offering the same for less than half the price. The product card advertises it as 3 sheets for $10, but I was only able to find it two places online and none of them at $10. Sheet masks are always fun to try, so this is an okay item for me. The only thing I’m a little bothered by is that the manufacturing date stamped on mine is from over a year ago (18 Sep 2015). I’m not sure that these have any true expiration, and it does have preservatives to keep the product fresh longer, but the idea that this has been sitting around for over a year generally doesn’t mean good things.
- Decleor Aromessence Neroli – .5 oz / $31.49 – (Product is .17 oz, value of $10.71) Again, the value is all over the map – some sites list it for $73, but I found a lot in the mid to low $30 range for the same size. It contains a blend of oils and is a lot like another product I already use so this is right up my dry skin alley. There are no outrageous claims that it will make you look younger or erase dark spots, it’s just an awesome moisturizing serum that smells amazing. The scent is sort of musky (Sandalwood, my favorite, is in the ingredient list!!) with a hint of citrus and honestly really pleasing, plus the product moisturizes well and makes my skin feel soft. This is honestly something I’d purchase a full size of, I actually like it that much!
- Emite Lip & Cheek Tint – 6 mL / $19 – (Product is full size) It’s basically a lip and cheek stain, much like Benetint, although maybe a little bit thicker than that. The color is a bit darker though and the formula seems to be a bit more like gel and it stains rather well. This may be one of the best stains I’ve used before and I’ll definitely be using this regularly!
- Unani Il-Lluminate Milk Cleanser – 200 mL / $18 – (Product is full size) A quick check of the ingredient list shows it’s an aloe and water based cleanser with no ALS/SLS or parabens, so this sounds like it’s another product right up my dry skin alley! The formula is a thick cream that smells light and fresh like aloe and cucumbers. It cleanses well with no foam and rinses off cleanly. It’s probably going to be my go-to during winter since it’s a gentle cleanser that won’t dry out my skin. One small gripe though, the label was printed on the seam of the bottle, so I have to imagine these were offloaded to Glossybox because they were misprinted bottles. The product inside is still the same, but they clearly couldn’t never be sold as-is in a retail setting which makes me feel a little cheated.
- OGX Bamboo Fiber-Full Thickening Root Booster – 6 oz / $7.99 – (Product is full size) This is an automatic nope based on the ingredients (polymers and acrylates tend to be build-up ingredients and are a no-go for a no/low shampoo routine) and the fact that my curly hair does NOT need volume or thickening. Glossybox, are you drunk?! Also, it’s a basic drugstore/grocery store sort of brand and isn’t at all anything I’d consider “Luxury” like Glossybox claims to be. I’d expect to see this in the Target or Walmart beauty boxes, but in Glossybox? It just doesn’t fit and isn’t what subscribers consider luxury at all.
Overall, by my calculations, the box is worth $61.36. If we were going by the product sheet, it would be $73.14, but that’s due to the really wide variation in value on the Decleor oil. If a product is available for half the price from another retailer, I’m going to buy from that retailer. I do like the Decleor oil though, sheet masks are always fun to try, and really, I’ll use everything but the OGX product, so it’s not a bad box, BUT Glossybox is still being deceptive and misleading about the products they’re including. One is clearly a misprint, and the OGX is just ridiculous for the supposed luxury status of this box. The box costs $21 per month, so no matter which way you calculate it, the value is still great, especially since I’m keeping all but one item, but their practices as of late have left a really bad taste in my mouth, and I have no desire to continue to give my money to a business that doesn’t value my business and thinks it’s okay to offload clearance and discontinued items to be under the guise of a “Luxury” subscription box. That’s NOT okay. If this is going to be a clearance box for discontinued cast-offs and misprinted items, say so. Price it accordingly. Continuing to charge $21 a box for items that can’t be sold on store shelves is absurd.