Wednesday 11 April 2012

Glossybox Flashback Favourites

Good morning, afternoon or evening (you can never be too sure on the magical blogesphere!)

I'm currently a subscriber to Glossybox Australia, which (as many of you may already know) is Australia's version of the American Birchbox. I've been signed up to this particular beauty box since December and have received both drugstore and high-end products ranging from makeup to haircare to skincare to nail polish to perfume and everything in between. Since I've only just started this humble little blog of mine I've missed out on the opportunity to blab about the past 4 months' hits and misses. So I thought I'd do a bit of a 'Best Of The Boxes' post and chat about my top 5 Glossy products so far. Admittedly, most of them are from the January box but that's just how things go. Behold!

 
Left to Right: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Colour, John Frieda Frizz-Ease Finishing Creme, Kosmea Daily Facial Exfoliant, Sheercover Nourishing Moisturiser & Bobbi Brown Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara

  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Colour in the colour Petal Pusher. I was a little sceptical of this to begin with. I've tried a lot of supposedly 'quick drying' polishes which haven't lived up to their name. This exceeded my expectations. As the name suggests the polish is super quick to dry. After about a minute it was completely, run-your-keys-along-your-nails dry. As a girl who does her nails late at night and often wakes up with quilting indents this was an absolute godsend. So much so that I went out and purchased the Sally Hansen Ista-Dri Top Coat which is equally amazing. I really really love the brush too. It's wide and dense, making it a breeze to apply.
  • John Frieda Frizz-Ease Finishing Creme. This is certainly not a new product by any means. I remember purchasing this years ago. Even still, receiving it in my Glossybox reminded me of why I used it in the first place. It's great for smoothing fly-aways and making my hair look more hydrated and healthy. Plus it smells so good! If you run it through your hair in the morning you can still smell it at the end of the day! A word of warning though - using too much on dry hair can give it a wet appearance which isn't great if you've just straightened it. So it pays to use the creme rather sparingly.
  • Kosmea Daily Facial Exfoliant. I have to say, when I first tried this I hated it simply for the smell. It's unique to say the least. Kind of peppery. I'm not sure if it was the rose hips or the chamomile, or both, but I detested it. In spite of this I persevered with it because the effect the product had on my skin was lovely. It does a great job of brightening and softening and works wonderfully as a face mask for a deep cleansing facial treatment. These days I don't even mind the smell so much!  
  • Sheercover Nourishing Moisturiser. Yes. We've all seen the late-night ads on TV. The kind that make your mind go numb because every single person rattles on about how extraordinary the Sheercover brand is. While this product is not extraordinary by any means (the retail price leaves little to be desired) I adored this product for 3 reasons. Firstly, it's the perfect daily moisturiser for me. It's not too heavy and it sinks into the skin quickly leaving it fresh and soft rather than greasy. Secondly, it contains SPF 15 which is always a plus when you're positioned under a giant hole in the ozone layer! Thirdly, it's a great base for makeup. I have used day creams under my foundation before and they've always tried to escape through. This one sits under makeup beautifully. So yay for that! It should be noted that while the moisturiser says it's fragrance free it does still carry with it a very subtle scent. Nothing too noteworthy though.
  • Bobbi Brown Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara. I'm kind of cheating with this one in that I haven't actually road tested it yet! Eeep! I've been saving it to travel with later this year. It's for this exact reason though that this product has made it into my top 5. At an adorable 3ml's this mascara is perfect to travel with. Plus it's Bobbi Brown so it's got to be good right?!
Well, that about wraps things up for my top 5 Glossybox products over the past 4 months. I hope that was in some way helpful or interesting or at the very least - time filling! If you have any beauty box gems you'd like to share with me I'd be more than delighted to hear about them.

A whole lotta' love,
Courtney. 
     
     

7 comments:

  1. Good afternoon! ( 2.51 pm in Italy :D )
    Glossybox launched its service here in October and I've to say I've been quite disappointed. Most brands featured were low quality_drugstore, especially if compared with other countries version!
    I really hope that it will improve, I've recently unsubscribed but you never know..
    xx

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  2. That's such a shame. Perhaps the company is still trying to get on it's feet? It sometimes takes a couple of months for them to team up with the more high-end brands. Their brand partners are always growing.

    I still feel as though the US has the best range of products in their boxes but that might be because of the low cost of cosmetics and skincare over there. Who knows?!

    I hope for your sake that Glossybox Italy gets it's act together!

    Thanks for reading m'dear.

    Court.

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  3. I don't subscribe to any beauty boxes, but judging from your product picks, they seem like a really convenient way to test out new products, some of which you probably would've never bought on your own accord. And there's always room to be pleasantly surprised in that respect :) I laughed when I read your description of the Sally Hansen because that is totally me, with the whole late night painting and waking up with quilt indents on my nails :p

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  4. Haha! Good to know I'm not alone in my frustration!

    I would definitely recommend subscribing to one of the beauty boxes. As you said they're great for introducing you to products you may have overlooked or not even known about. Plus they tend to be around the $15 mark which I think is very reasonable for what you get. There are quite a few beauty box companies in Australia now too. This month I also subscribed to BellaBox and Lust Have It just so that I could compare them (and also because it's like receiving 3 presents!)

    xx.

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  5. I have been wanting to sign up for a box like this for a while but there are a few out there and I don't know which one I'd prefer to go with. But this has given me some extra information. Thanks!

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  6. Yeah, it can definitely be a bit daunting. Especially when there are so many options out there and they all seem to be around the same price mark. I know quite a few people have had problems with Glossybox (as far as delivery and payment issues), but I've never experienced anything like that. However they have, on the odd occasion, given me some haircare products for blonde hair when it says on my profile that I'm a redhead. This is one of the reasons I'm testing the waters with some other beauty boxes. Just to see if they take more care in tailoring their products to suit their customers.

    Glad I could help!

    I hope to see a blog post on it if you do decide on a beauty box to subscribe to.

    x.

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  7. I don't subscribe to any boxes, I already own too many things to be sampling others... just in case I fall in love with something and feel the need to buy it full-sized. d:

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