A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Over the past 5-years, I’ve made a point of not blogging about beauty boxes – I mean, at one stage, there were so many, who knew where to start?  However, being a bit of a country yokel, the scarce occasions that allow a visit to the big smoke invariably involve a mad dash to Harvey Nichols and Fenwicks… the two department stores that I can’t leave London without trawling.  I love the beauty departments of both, they’re quieter than the colossus that is Selfridges and a little friendlier than Harrods.

It is with this in my mind that my excitement over the latest Glossybox for Harvey Nichols has reached near feverish levels.

Suavely packaged in white and silver, it has that sophisticatedly-decorated Christmas look going for it.  You know the kind that only people without children can manage to pull off, while the rest of us make our homes look like every Christmas – past, present, and future has done a sick on it.

Anyway, back to the Glossybox because if you thought the outside looked slick, wait until you see what’s inside!

Booyah!

We’ve got candles and primers and mascaras and polish and… oh my, let me just break it down for you!

• ~ Laura Mercier Foundation Primer
• ~ Harvey Nichols Mini Scented Candle
• ~ Dermalogica Overnight Repair Serum
• ~ Macadamia Oil
• ~ Benefit They’re Real Mascara
• ~ Rodial Bee Venom Moisturiser
• ~ Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream
• ~ La Coupe Intensive Hair Repair
• ~ NARS Mini Satin Lip Pencil
• ~ Show Beauty – Dry Shampoo
• ~ OPI Nail Polish in Viking

Box contents may vary slightly depending on your location and postal restrictions but the basic gist is that for just £30+p&p (subscriber price, £35+p&p non-subscriber price), you’ll receive this rather exclusive box packed with goodies that boast a combined value of over £150!

Glossybox for Harvey Nichols will go on sale next Monday, the 17th November but stock is predictably limited, so to maximise your chances of getting your hands on this beauty-lovers wet dream, make sure you pre-register your interest now at glossybox.co.uk.

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I have a sticky relationship with beauty boxes – I don’t generally like them and I rarely feature them.  I’ve been sent them at various times, but I don’t write about them on here because there always seems to be a heap of twitter politics and reports of bad customer service associated with the phenomena.

I have made a couple of exceptions though… before I started blogging, I signed up for the inaugural Latest In Beauty box (which was £1 at the time – I have no idea how much it costs now), and I got a bunch of samples in return for a text message.  It was novel, quirky, and introduced me to some great brands.  When LiB released their CEW winners box, I felt that it represented great value for money, and similarly, when Selfridges compiled their one-off special, again, it seemed to offer something different to the rest.  Having said that, with hindsight, they released a woefully small amount considering the demand.  Major bug bear.

So, why am I talking about this one?  Well… because it offers something different and I, for the life of me, cannot decide if it’s the biggest waste of money I’ve ever seen.

The Fragrance Shop.  A high street chain with 135 stores nationwide… definitely not some startup jumping on the wagon, has announced their “Discovery Club”.  You pay £5 a quarter (fair enough, it’s not expensive), and in return, will receive a box containing five fragrance samples and a booklet of deals offering discount vouchers on the fragrances included in the box, should you like them enough to purchase the full-size.  Of course, the vouchers are only valid for use at The Fragrance Shop.

The problem I have with this venture is that fragrance samples are the last vestige of beauty sampling on the high street.  Have you seen how hard it’s become to get a sample of anything on counter that hasn’t been released in the last month?  Sample quotas are incredibly tight in the beauty world… which is absolutely crazy when you consider the UK’s non-existent refund policy and how completely necessary it is to trial a foundation outside of a beauty department’s skewy lighting.

Fragrance, has always been so much easier when it comes to sampling.  My goodness me, the last time I bought a couple of bottles of perfume, I came away with more actual volume in sample vials than I did in the bottle I bought… ok, slight exaggeration, but you know what I’m trying to say.

Perhaps if The Fragrance Shop were offering niche samples (isn’t that what the whole Beauty Box thing is supposed to be about?) rather than the kind you can pick up in Boots if you smile sweetly enough, I’d be more on board with this idea.  It would save me a fortune in postage from LuckyScent and I’d happily pay more per quarter for sure.

Having said that, let me play devil’s advocate (with myself) for a moment… a quick look on eBay reveals that these samples, despite being mainstream… would easily cost more than £5 to acquire if you aren’t local to the kind of big stores that carry a wide fragrance selection.  It’s horses for courses isn’t it, and at this time of year – £5 discount vouchers off bestselling perfume isn’t something to be sniffed at is it? (sorry.)

I must admit, I’m not familiar with The Fragrance Shop’s sampling policy instore, but if there is/was one, I bet it’s not quite so relaxed now that their Discovery Club has come to fruition!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on The Discovery Club – is it something you would treat yourself to once a quarter, or would you rather spritz instore and ask the counter for fragrance samples?

The Fragrance Shop Discovery Club is available to join now and costs £5 per box with no ongoing commitment, boxes are delivered every quarter.

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You only need the quickest of peeks at the iconic flash of yellow below to see where the latest in beauty boxes is coming from…

Image courtesy of vexinthecity

Yes, iconic store Selfridges are releasing a one-off beauty box (filled to the brim with niche and luxury brands for us to sample) in celebration of the launch of their new Beauty Workshop.

The box costs £15 to buy but contains items worth that value many, many times over.

I can’t divulge the contents, so instead you’ll have to head over to my good friend Vexinthecity for that grand reveal.

The main thing to remember about the Selfridge’s Beauty Box is that numbers will be extremely limited and are likely to sell out faster than a certain Mr. Bolt could do a lap of the sportswear department.

Will you be buying the Selfridges Beauty Box? If so, you’ll need to sign up here – and be quick about it!

If you’ve been umm-ing and ahh-ing over the influx of ‘beauty boxes’ to the market, I’m just about to make your life a little more complicated.

Latest in Beauty were the beauty box scene pioneers.  Back in 2008, I agonised over choosing my first three samples, paid my £1 (taken off my mobile phone bill) and waited with bated breath for my beauty box to pop through the letter box.  A few days later, it did and has over the years introduced me to some great brands like Ginvera, Blinc and Lavera, not to mention cultivating my addiction to Elemis.

The company went through what I’d describe as a ‘wilderness’ period a couple of years ago (a 1ml sachet of sun protection – what’s that gonna protect, my little finger?) but relaunched with a new website, adding more strings to their bow ever since.  Most recently, they’ve introduced the Beauty Insiders Choice Winners Box, where for £4.95 – you will receive 6 products worth in the region of £20 that share the common theme of picking up a trophy at this year’s prestigious Cosmetic Executive Woman awards.

Contained within the Beauty Insiders Choice Winners Box are the following products:

Dr. Organic Rose Otto Skin Lotion (5ml sachet), Clarins Multi-Active Day Early-Wrinkle Correction Cream (15ml tube), Batiste Dry Shampoo (50ml can), Balance Me Rose Otto Body Wash (55ml Bottle), Nivea for Men Q10 Revitalising Gel (15ml tube) and Lanolips 101 Lip Ointment (1g Sachet).

The Clarins is clearly the shining star of the set when it comes to value, 50ml of product usually retails at £38, making a 15ml tube more than cover the outlay for the £4.95 box.  The transparency is refreshing for people who like to know exactly what their money will be buying them, I’m a bit torn – I lurve nothing more than a wonderful surprise but I am also a horrific control freak.  Just ask Mr. L.

This is the first of the new themed boxes produced by Latest in Beauty, so if this one doesn’t grab at your wallet, be sure to check back soon for more.

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As a little sweetener to tempt you into trying, Latest in Beauty have put together a rather delicious prize in the shape of a NARS-A-PALOOZA!

The prize includes:

~ NARS Illuminator in ‘Orgasm’ – £21.50
~ NARS Lipstick in ‘Jungle Red’ – £17.50
~ NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in ‘Carthage’ – £18.50
~ NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in ‘Bolero’ – £17.50
~ NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in ‘Queen’ – £16.50

…worth £91.50 in total!

This lovely lot will go to ONE person who orders a CEW box from latestinbeauty.com using the exclusive code LIPGLOSSIPING before 30th September.  Only one entry per person and DON’T FORGET THE CODE!  Good Luck!

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What are your thoughts on the Latest in Beauty CEW Beauty Insiders Choice Winners Box?

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