Recent Beauty Box Subscriptions-December Glymm Box and Top Box

I haven't updated in a while because I have been caught up with school work and exams. Now that they're out of the way, I hope to blog more about a variety of beauty products during the holidays :)

First, I received my December Glymm Box about a week ago and this is what I got.

Parisienne Eau de Parfum by YSL, Sula Natural Lip Gloss, Ahava Mineral Hand Cream, Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream 

As much as I like hand creams, I didn't expect to receive two this month...I saw that some other bloggers received a Caudalie Vino Peeling mask and I thought I would receive that too. The Caudalie hand cream kind of smells fruity, but it doesn't really have a grape scent to me. It smells more like a citrus sour scent.

On the other hand, the Ahava Dead Sea Water Mineral hand cream actually smells aquatic to me.

Next, I think that the Sula lip gloss has a nice texture and I do like the sparkles in it. But the colour...doesn't suit me at all. I was expecting a much more lighter and neutral colour as I have seen from other boxes. I would have even preferred a more red colour but this colour that I recieved in "mesmerizing" is a more brown toned colour. So I was really disappointed with the colour selections I have been getting with Glymm. Last month, I received a blue eyeliner and dark purple nail polish which are just sitting on my desk everyday untouched. What can I say? Different people have different tastes. I just don't prefer dark colours though.

Everyone received the same YSL Parisienne Eau de Parfum bottle and I think it doesn't smell bad. I would describe it as a sweet floral scent. I think I prefer this scent over all the other perfume samples I have received from Glymm.

Oh, and my almost-empty jar of jelly beans. I think they taste my jar tasted like raspberry and coconut flavor. I'm not sure if the flavors vary from each box but they were yummy! =P

Almost forgot to mention the red $10 gift card from Glymm this month. It is a nice $10 gift for subscribers, but the cost of the shipping for the Glymm shop is around $6.

Moving on, I have been newly subscribed to Top Box this month after seeing the awesome boxes that they had October. I was going to to subscribe to the November Top Box. However, there was an error on their site when I tried to pay with Paypal. So a few days later, when I tried to subscribe, their November Top Box was already sold out :( Nevertheless, I got the December Top Box and their boxes for the next few months are already sold out. Impressive...

I love the packaging from Top Box! i received the Cargo Gloss with Time Strip Technology, Skinceuticals B5 Hydrating Gel, Bella Pella Marula and Neroli Glycerin Soap.

To be honest, I wasn't wowed by this month's box. I wasn't too excited about the products but nor can I really complain about any of the products. They are great products, but just not products that I get particularly excited about.

I mean, I love Cargo products and I own a few of their products but I just have wayyyyy to many lip glosses lying around. The good thing is that this "Time Strip Technology" will activate once you insert your "time strip" into the lip gloss and the strip will turn colour by the time 9 months are over. Seeing that a lip gloss expires in nine months, I wonder if I'll be able to reach even half a tube of lip gloss at that point. I'm sure a lot of my lip products are...expired by now :(

I haven't really tested out the other products to say much about them yet. Although, the soap does smells very nice and refreshing.

Lastly, here are all the boxes piling in my room :S I feel like I should stop subscribing to these boxes at least for a while...I feel guilty whenever I stare at these boxes. I have already unsubscribed Luxe Box for two months now. At the same time, I don't want to feel like I am missing out on a month if there are good items in one month's box.

I'd love to hear what you've received in your box or any feed back. Happy Holidays everyone!

October Glymm Box!

Yay, my Glymm Box arrived this morning!! I had been anticipating this box for a while. For those who can't wait for their boxes, I'm going to do a quick post about it.

Here's a shot of all the products.
Can you believe it? There's three full sized products this month!!! :)
This month is my birthday month and this was supposed to be a mini gift to myself.
I'm glad I had purchased it. It sure made my day.

This month's box was definitely worth it's price. I mean the full size products itself adds to $44 already.
 I love October's Glymm Box ^_^!

Another Vasanti product. Here's the shade of the eyeshadow. It's a plum colour with gold flexes. Very pretty!

And this is the Lise Watier Lip Kiss Crayon Gloss. I like Lise Watier products.  This is quite an interesting product. I didn't expect it to look like a giant lip pencil. It's pigmented like a lipstick but glides on like a gloss. I don't usually wear reds but I think it might be nice for a change.

I was going to do a swatch but I'm about to head out for school. Maybe I'll swatch the colours when I get back.

September Luxe Box

So after a tiring day at school, I finally come home and see that my Luxe Box has arrived! :)

To be honest, I read a few reviews on the Luxe Box already since there was a problem with Canada Post this month and it was taking forever for these boxes to arrive. Even though there were a few variations of the Luxe Boxes, I could have guessed what I have gotten already.

Here it is.

And I was right!

Here are all the product samples I received:
Mereadesso-Face+Toning Gel
Moroccan Oil-The Original Oil Treatment
Laura Mercier-Rich Perfecting Water
Seche Vite-Top Coat

September Glymm Box

Yay! I received my first Glymm Box in the mail last week and was super excited to see all the goodies they have for this month. I was constantly checking the mail for my Glymm Box and Luxe Box all week and was surprised that the Glymm Box came in first since they shipped out on the same day, and I usually get my Luxe Box very quick.

Annnnd....here it is! In a pink and glossy box.

Tada! Here are all the contents that I received. (listed in order from left to right)

John Masters Organics-Blood Orange and Vanilla Body Wash
John Masters Organic-Blood Orange and Vanilla Body Milk
Oscar De La Renta-Esprit d'Oscar Perfume Vial
Jar of Jelly Belly from Glymm
Vasanti-Rockies Blush
Croc Print Makeup Bag (Glymm Surprise)

I have yet to try out all the products but here is my favourite product so far.



It's the Vasanti Rockies Blush! I love the packaging and it's a full size product I received.

I will continue to subscribe to Glymm for next month. If you haven't already subscribed, I think it's a good idea to check it out. It's $10/month (+tax) but it includes shipping and I think it's a great way for makeup starters like me to experiment with a variety of products.

Thoughts of Luxe Box-June, July, August

Ever since Loose Button has launched Luxe Box, a monthly beauty samples subscription in Canada, I've heard lots about it from YouTube and blog posts. I was pretty excited to try out their service in June and longed for each month to pass by more quickly just to get my Luxe Box. I don't know why it is, but I really LOVE receiving beauty samples!

I can't believe it's already been three months since I've subscribed to them. I love searching about other people's Luxe Boxes and comparing the variations and thoughts that they have compared to mine. Thus, I am inspired to create my own blog and share my thoughts on my Luxe Box as well.

Okay, enough rambling and onto my thoughts on these products themselves. I think everyone pretty much received the same products so I just took a few pictures of the monthly card and pulled out the products that might vary in colour according to the card.

For the month of June, this is what I got.

A Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant, Joico Colour Therapy Restorative Styling Oil, and Laura Mercier Eye Colour in Sandstone. (Full Size)

My initial thoughts- Yay, full size eyeshadow! This was my favourite product from the subscription because I love eye shadows! I've always wanted to try Dermalogica but never got to. Also, my hair was feeling a bit dull and dry, so a hair oil came just in time. I thought that I would be able to make good use out of all these products. Not a single product would go to waste. From then on, I was hooked into this service.

After thoughts-I've used the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant for about one week straight. It is in a powder form and the texture kind of reminds me of a dish washing detergent. I have to say that it really does seem to brighten my skin and improve my skin tone. I have annoying blackheads around my nose area and I have seen an improvement after using the microfoliant. However...after a week now, I've noticed that my cheeks have been drying out? There has been a slightly pink patch on my skin and I think this microfoliant could have been the cause. So I've stopped using it since yesterday. Exfoliating everyday could have been too harsh on my skin. Maybe I will use this not daily but every other day?

I really liked the Joico Styling Oil. It smells great and makes my hair easier to manage. Despite this product being a colour therapy, I still find it works great with my non-coloured hair.
Yesterday, I found out that I hadn't pushed the cap back in after using it and the whole bottle leaked into my drawer :S It happens that there was a tissue next to it so there wasn't a big spill or anything. But my whole bottle was empty! Ughh...I think I will grab the full size bottle if I ever see it in stores.

As for the Laura Mercier Eyeshadow, I haven't worn it out yet. But judging from a swatch, it looks pretty pigmented. I love how the colour gives a pearl finish because most of my shadows are pretty shimmery and I've been looking for a more neutral shadow.

Alright, here is my July Luxe Box.

I received an Essie nail polish, Proclaim Hair Oil Treatment, Stella in Two Peony Fragrance, and Trucco Pro Lip Liner.

I like Essie but..I wish the colour was a bit lighter. I received the colour In Stitches. I think it would be a change from my usual nail colours. I haven't heard about the other brands before so I guess it's good to try them out too?

I like hair oil treatment but I have to say that I am not liking the scent of this one too much and I feel that it doesn't work as well as the Joico one.

As for the fragrance, I think it smells nice. It came in a little spray vial so it would be great for carrying it on the go.

I was disappointed with the Trucco Lip Liner as with many other subscribers. :(
I don't use lip liner and the brown colour doesn't work very well my my lip colours. From reading other blogs, I understand that some liners can work for the lips and eyes, but my liner specifically says "for lips only" on the lip liner itself. In addition, I found that it was easy for this product to smudge. So...I wouldn't really use this product at all... I don't like wasting products.

I was more excited for the July Luxe Box than the June Luxe Box but wasn't nearly as happy after receiving the box.

Finally, my thoughts on the August Luxe Box!

I got the Cheeky Monkey Nail Polish, Lip Plumping Treatment by City Lips, Proclaim Cocoa Butter and Body Lotion, and the Calvin Klein Forbidden Euphoria Fragrance.


I like nail polish but if the Essie In Stitches was already considered out of my range of colours, then Cheeky Monkey's Filthy Madame would be..out of the ball park. I'm thinking of giving it out to a friend instead.

I have never tried any lip plumping products because I think my lips are already good the way they are and I don't know if there are any harmful effects to the lip plumpers. Having read the City Lips website, I understand that it claims that the treatment is completely safe and will increase collagen production in your lips. Out of curiosity, I decided to try it on my upper lip to compare with my lower lip. It does indeed look slightly more plump but I still won't be using plumpers often just because I don' think they are necessary.

I wasn't too satisfied on the last Proclaim product that I received-the argan oil. This Proclaim Lotion doesn't leave a good impression on me either. It does come in a very generous size though. I don't really like the chocolaty scent on my lotions. I prefer a more floral scent. If we were talking about food though, it would be a different story. I will give this a try soon and let you guys know about the results of the product.

As for the Calvin Klein fragrance, I was glad that it came in a mini roller ball. I actually liked it better than the Stella fragrance in July, which I initially had liked. Although I don't usually wear fragrances, I was happy because the packaging was so pretty!

That being said, I wasn't satisfied on my August Luxe Box. I've read many other reviews on how much the other subscribers enjoyed their Luxe Boxes. Maybe I'm just being picky but hey, we are all entitled to our own opinions. I don't like how I am recieving some products that I will never use so I am thinking of unsubscribing. I think I might have already unsubscribed if it weren't for these pretty earrings that compensated for the products.

So pretty! :D I decided to wait for the September Luxe Box to decide whether I want to keep subscribing or not. I think that some of this just has to do with luck? Like our colour selection in the products and the variation in products. Some people may just receive the perfect product for them some people will recieve products they they don't like. After all, we are all different and it is hard for Loose Button to cater to all our needs, especially because they are just starting out.

I've subscribed to both Luxe Box and Glymm Box (which provides a beauty sample service like Loose Button) for September so I will be looking forward to  reviewing that. This is my first post and I didn't expect to write such a long blog and if you read until the end, then good for you :)