Those of you that have read my Beauty Box reviews over the past few months, probably know that I'm a huge fan of Glowbox and that I rate it as the top subscription service in its category, an opinion which I still stand by for the most part. Unfortunately though, this month left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth, and, if anything, I think their glow has grown a bit dimmer.
I'll elaborate soon enough, but first things first: the contents:
1. Fresh Line "Erato" Repairing & Moisturizing Conditioner, 75 ml. Ok, now this smells like heaven and vacation together, more like vacation in heaven! I haven't tried any hair conditioners by Fresh Line so far, and if this works as good as it smells, I may have found a new haircare staple. I'm honestly not exaggerating about the scent: the whole box smells like this, and it's a sealed tube!
2. Human + Kind All-In-One Hand + Elbow + Foot Cream, 50 ml (Full Size). Human + Kind is an Irish skincare brand that focuses on natural products. Although it's not widely known, it's been getting quite a bit of buzz over the past year or so, especially after winning one of Irish Tatler's 2012/2013 Beauty Awards. I'm excited to properly test this cream out - from my first experience with it, I loved that it's not at all greasy (unlike the ones by Soap&Glory and Ahava).
3. Avon Ultra Colour Lip Crayon in Showstopper Pink (this must be full size too). Great hot pink shade and fruity scent, though I can't help but wish the color was more fall appropriate.
4. Juvena Skin Energy Moisture Cream Rich, 5 ml. I've never had the chance to try anything by Juvena and since I'm still trying to find my HG moisturiser, this sample will come in handy. Although it's not a cheap brand (I believe this retails along the basic YSL skincare price range), I can already tell the ingredients are carefully selected: an abundance of plant extracts, without nasty chemicals or silicones.
5. Pure Gold Collagen, 50 ml. Now, when it comes to this one, I don't even know where to begin! Drinkable collagen, I mean, seriously??? First things first, this is a "food supplement", not exactly a beauty product, and a dubious one at that: the main ingredient, collagen, is a complex protein, one that my fundamental understanding of biochemistry tells me that it will be broken down during digestion (anyone with a background on biochemistry and/or biology, please shed more light on this one). Also, my brief googling session on "drinkable collagen" led me to some sites questioning Japan made collagen for possible radiation contamination, and guess what? This is made in Japan! Safe to say, I'm not going to try this, in fact I have absolutely no use for it, so it's headed to the trash bin asap.
My Issues with Glowbox
1. The last minute price mark-up: Glowbox was already the most expensive box among its competitors (€12 instead of €10), however this month they decided to go up to €14! Obviously, a privately owned company can charge what they want, whanever they want to, but not letting your customers now before-hand shows just how much respect you have for said customers. I personally shop with a debit card and I usually don't keep more money in it than what I'm about to spend, so when the subscriptions opened, I was surprised to see that I was actually a couple euros short! Bit of a hassle for me, and bad business on their part, especially since it already was the priciest box.
2. Obviously, many people got disappointed and angry, and I can't fault them, especially those that hadn't managed to get a box yet (they sell out pretty quickly). This means that Glowbox's fb page did get quite a few complaints by customers, and those were to be expected. Glowbox, however, deleted quite a few of them, which disappointed me even worse than the additional cost. Ok, it's your page, I get it, but you surely didn't expect that everyone would accept this with a smile? So, deleting complaints was your way of dealing with the issue?
3. The contents this month were middle of the road in my opinion. Yes, there were 2 full sized products and a travel sized one, but the lip crayon could have been more October oriented. Now, the service promises 5-7 items each month, but I feel that 5 items at a higher price was a little inconsiderate (actually, to me, it's just 4 items, the collagen doesn't even count). And while the hair conditioner and the multi-purpose cream do add up to the cost if the box, there was no "wow" factor this month to compensate for the extra costs.
Personally, I'm on the fence about renewing my subscription, and I'm leaning towards "no". I'm thankful that through Glowbox I've tried brands I was curious to try (Ahava), that I discovered HG items (That's Better Face Lift) and that I got generously sized products (Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse, Fresh Line hair products, Castalia body moisturiser etc), but I just can't neglect the problems that arised this month. What's more disappointing is that Glowbox's competitors have actually stepped up their game, making better boxes than what they initially came out with, when Glowbox seems to be doing the exact opposite (and, no, I'm not expecting 7 full sized products each month, but good customer service is an important deal).
Did you get October's Glowbox? Thoughts?
Goodmorning and word up!
ReplyDeleteThe conditioner smells awesome but it's too heavy for my thin and oily hair :(
The hand cream was a good choice and it smells nice (gets absorbed quite quickly).
The face cream is too heavy for my skin (if face oil was a product I would be filthy rich).
The lip crayon, Showstopper Pink too, well, I'll give it to anyone interested, applied it once, hated the color, I looked like mentally disturbed, never gonna use it again.
Don't let me get started on the collagen, I'm not sure whether they are even allowed to distribute a food supplement in the first place (such products should be only distributed by drugstores).
I don't care about the sizes (and never really complained about them) cause it was clear to me that they sell samples to try. But I do care about keeping their promise when they say that each box is taken care "personally", based on the questionnaire we answer. I also think 14euros are too much when, as you said, their competitors offer equally good products & service, just 10euros a box. And even their loyalty scheme is better. It's a definate no to Glowbox by me.
@tomboy: Oh gosh, now I'm afraid to try the lip pencil, is it really that intense??
DeleteAs for the collagen (I'll reply here for both of your comments), I agree, though, I'm not sure, perhaps there's new legislation that will allow a wider distribution for such supplements, as in super-markets etc? Still, there should be some authority to regulate what goes on the market, and even then, if all's legal, it's up to the customer to see through a marketing ploy (I still challenge anyone to provide the proof that drinkable collagen actually works, because, from my own research, I didn't find any).
As for the questionnaire... yes, it's pointless to send a person with oily skin/hair extremely moisturising products!
I dunno, I think they dropped the ball this month, big time!
Mine just came and instead of the hand cream there is a unkown brand nailpolish in a muddy blah color....I definitely regret these 14€!
ReplyDelete@ScrapgalGR: That sucks, the hand cream was one of the two products worth getting from October's box imo (despite the scent that some dislike)! :/// Booooo!!!! :((((
Deleteεκανα κι εγω review για το κουτακι και συμφωνω απολυτα μαζι σου.οντως το κολλαγονο ειναι κατι που δεν περιμενα να δω και τα υπολοιπα εε ενταξει μπορουσαν και καλυτερα.Αληθεια εσβησαν αρνητικα σχολια απο τη σελιδα τους;Αυτο δεν το ηξερα και η αληθεια ειναι οτι μου κακοφανηκε.Καποτε εκραξαν το cherrybox για τον ιδιο ακριβως λογο!
ReplyDelete@Stella: Ναι, σε καποια φαση επεσαν βροχη αρνητικα σχολια... Αν δεις τωρα, νομιζω εχουν κρατησει...ενα που να δειχνει τη διαφωνια με τη νεα τιμη? Τα υπολοιπα προφανως εχουν σβηστει... Το ειχα δει και στο cherrybox αυτο και ηταν ενας απο τους λογους που δεν το ξαναπαρηγγειλα... Νομιζω θα κανω το ιδιο με το Glowbox...
DeleteWhere is all that Glowbox Glamour go??? Didnt know that they erased complaints, not a good marketing on their behalf...Didn't get it this month...I was like ok I love surprises but why not spend money on something I really want? I mean it's 14 euros , and you can get something from a good quality brand.But this is me thinking this way and to be honest I dont regret it. I might give it one more chance for the Christmas box, after all you have to put something glamorous in...to get your disapointing customers back(me including from previous boxes).
ReplyDelete@Blushingloves Irene Greece: I agree, 14 euros is a full size.. anything from the drugstore, even some higher-end stuff if you get them on discount! Hope you get lucky around the holidays if you decide to order it! At the moment, I'm still undecided as to whether I'll be ordering again... we'll see...!
DeleteI feel you...!I have always been on the fence about beauty boxes...!Sure there are tons of products you can try without having to purchase them in their normal /full size form however I am still sceptical. Also, I cannot help but compare what I see in greek beauty boxes with the products offered in beauty boxes abroad...!
ReplyDelete@Athina: See, this is why Glowbox stood out imo: it was the only one that could sort of level up to the beauty boxes from abroad! Buuut, things turned really sour this month - if you can't offer many products or full sized ones, the very least you can do is be consistent with your customer service, right? I mean, one would hope so!
DeleteJust a quick update! After contacting the National Organization for Medicines, my fears came true. According to the Greek Legislation (Υ1/Γ.Π. 127962/03 and ΦΕΚ Β 395/27.2.2004) drugstores are the only allowed point of sale for food supplement.
ReplyDeleteSomeone is on the borderline I guess :)