Birchbox UK v Glossybox UK September 2013

Both boxes turned up on the same day this month

First up Birchbox:

This month it contained:

Reverence de Bastien nail polish shade no 13 which is a nice deep red with a touch of shimmer.  The RRP for this is £16 and it definitely feels like an expensive product.  Not a colour I would usually choose for myself but I'm pleased they sent it as it is great to try for the autumn.

Bioderma Sebium H20 make up remover 20ml.  Not much to say about it other than it is a make up remover and it removes make up effectively.  I don't think I would buy it again but it was nice to try.

Eva Cosmetics Mystic Diamond 60ml.  Hair oil with diamond powder for incomparable shine.  I love hair products that add shine and this one didn't disappoint.

Model Co Party Proof Lipstick £15.50 for a set of 3 so around £5.18ish for this one.  The shade is called Kitty and I absolutely love it. It is a nude pink in a shade I've been looking for in Boots for ages so I'm chuffed to bits with this.

Molton Brown Ylang Ylang Nourishing Body Lotion 30ml.  This is the same fragrance as the body wash in the last box.  Love it.  It holds the fragrance for quite some time.

Green & Black's White Chocolate mini.  Love love love white chocolate. Shame it was a small sample but that is a good thing for the waistline.

Fabulous box this month from Birchbox. I couldn't be happier with it.


 

and here's what Glossybox had to offer this month:

The box this month was a fun union jack design and the tissue paper was printed with iconic british things like telephone boxes and black cabs.

The contents were:

Toni & Guy Classic Shine Gloss Serum. Full size 30ml.  Another shine product.  I feel spoilt.  Love it.

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Onyx Eye Liner.  A black eyeliner like a felt tip.  I must admit to not having tried this as I don't really use eye liner but it is good to have in my kit.

HD Brows Bronzer Full size £19.95.  I'll be honest and say that despite the description being that it suits all complexions I found that it is a case of using a very small amount as a blusher or you end up looking like a tango oompa loompa.  Probably would be better to describe it as suitable for medium to dark complexions.

Eylure Pre-glued lashes.  Hmmm I hate it when they put these things in the boxes.  I hope it is a one off and we aren't getting them regularly as happened with She Said Beauty last year.  I just don't wear them so these will be a gift I guess.

Elizabeth Arden Untold 5ml sample.  Unlike a lot of other people I actually really like perfume samples in beauty boxes.  This one is like a miniature bottle which makes a nice change.  This particular one is absolutely gorgeous.  I always associated Elizabeth Arden as being highly floral scents which I'm not too fond of but this is one I could see myself buying.

I should just add that I was sent an additional product by Glossybox because I complained about receiving Olay again.  The additional product was a Philosophy cleanser which I have enjoyed using.

So a direct comparison this month and I think Birchbox has the edge because I will use every single product whereas the Glossybox (whilst still good this month) has those flipping lashes.

November 2012 Glossybox

Mmmmm not quite sure what to say about this month's box.

Here is the picture of  the contents:

It is meant to based around stocking fillers.


I'll start with the positives.


Alison Claire Natural Beauty Mango Body Butter 50ml - A delicious blend of organic mango and cocoa butters will leave your skin feeling wonderful. Original product £15/200ml - which makes this worth £3.75.

I love this product. It's in a pump dispenser which is quite unusual for a body butter and whilst I'm not a fan of mango it doesn't smell too bad. I tried a bit on my dry hands and it sunk right in. A winner I think.




Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant - 13g. A unique rice-based powder that gently exfoliates skin, leaving it noticeably smoother and brighter. Original product £38.50/75g - so this is worth around £6.67 so I guess with this and the body butter I've got my money worth. 
I have heard of this product before but I didn't know anything about it. I am quite excited to try it.




Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top coat/Porchester Square/Notting Hill Gate  - 3 nails inc best sellers including traffic stopping brights and the award winning Caviar Top Coat.  Original product £11-£12/10ml
I read that to mean there would be all 3 in the box so I was disappointed to find there was just the top coat in a meagre 4ml size.  Obviously I didn't read it in the way it was intended. However I do like Nails Inc and I don't have one of their top coats so am looking forward to trying it.


I did say I was doing the positives first so I'm getting to the more negative ones as you can tell by the comments about the nails inc.




Next up is Wei Beauty Jujube Age Control Serum 4ml - This all in one anti aging serum renews, revitalises and restores suppleness and elasticity. Original product £60/30ml so this is a hefty amount of moneys worth at £8 for a sample which would probably last for two applications. 
It is nice but I'm fed up to the back teeth of skincare stuff lately. I'll elaborate on that in my summing up at the end.




Lastly (can you hear the sigh as I'm typing?) for the second month in a row Olay Regenerist 3 Point Treatment Cream and the third month in a row for Olay.
Yes I like their products but three months in a row is not acceptable and two repeat products in as many months is definitely not acceptable.

So my opinion this month -

Good points - the body butter and Dermalogica and maybe the Nails Inc had they included all 3 as mini samples as it reads to me.

Bad points - my beauty profile with glossybox specifically stated when I resubbed that I preferred to receive make up, body and perfume products not facial skincare.  They changed their website and we had to do a new beauty profile which is now not able to be viewed. There wasn't an option for your type of product preferences just what sort of skin you have, hair type etc and I can see that maybe they have to send skincare products depending on what they can source from suppliers that particular month.  I'm not over the moon about it but I can live with it.  What I am not happy about is getting the exact same product two months in a row and I've emailed Glossybox to complain about it, query the nails inc wording about 3 products and also (this makes me sound really greedy) to ask why there wasn't a full sized product in my box this month.  That doesn't bother me too much and maybe if the Nails Inc had been a set of 3 minis I wouldn't have queried the full size thing but whilst I was emailing them anyway I took the opportunity to ask. 

I will of course report back on what they have to say if I get a reply to my email.

Hope if you got a Glossybox this month you were a bit more satisfied with your loot.