The French GlossyBox - February 2014

The mail-man must have known that I had a pretty rough weekend, because he brought me several feel-better-goodies Monday morning, as well as some good news in the form of a letter.

One of these goodies was my long-awaited Glossy Box. I've heard so much about these beauty boxes over the last few months, and I've read tons of reviews about the different options.

In the hexagon, Glossybox and Birchbox seem to be the best bets. So I will be testing each - 6 months of Glossybox followed by 6 months of Birchbox.

Disclaimer: I have not tested any of these products long enough to give them a proper review. I'm just reviewing the box as a whole, and definitely paid for the subscription with my own money. :)

Just look at that packaging.

It's a little corny, but still pretty, and I definitely felt like I was opening up a present. That's what I'm really looking for from these boxes anyway - feeling like it's my birthday once a month.

As with all the other nationalities of Glossybox this one came with a little magazine for some light reading. However, I highly doubt that the American Valentine's version of Glossy comes with a Striptease Tutorial. Sure gave me a good chuckle. Maybe I'm not mature enough for this box. :)

So we've got:

Anatomicals Puffy the Eye Bag Slayer

A little eye mask in the form of a patch that you place underneath your eyes when you're looking tired. It's a full-sized product, I've never heard of the brand, and it's definitely not something I would have ever thought to buy on my own. Exactly what I hope to find in a discovery box like this.

The package comes with 3 sets for your eyes and it actually looks like a really fun pampering treat. I can't wait to try them out.

Coslys Keratine Shampoo

It's a pretty small sample - only 20ml. But what can I say really? It's a shampoo. I'll use it up. This is going straight into my travel collection because it's the perfect size for a weekend stay some where. 

Sumita Beauty Brow Set Eyebrow Wax Crayon

This is what I was most looking forward to after seeing other girl's reviews. I've got relatively thick eyebrows naturally and sometimes I don't want to spend time carefully coloring them in, but they still look better with a little taming. I haven't tried this yet, but I'm crossing my fingers that this will become a favorite. Plus it's another full sized product which makes me super happy (Glossybox only promises to send you minatures).

Nougat London Sparking Body Shimmer

Another full sized product! It looks incredibly, incredibly sparkly in person. I haven't tested it out on my skin yet, but I will be saving this one for summer when I prefer having a bit of sheen on my legs. Now I'm just wondering if it will give me that Edward Cullen glitter ball effect.

I do think it goes really well with the Valentine's theme though, and it's really large for a beauty box product. Good job Glossy. Good job.

Sublixime Precision Wrinkle Filler

So when I signed up for Glossy and filled out that little questionnaire, I put that wrinkles were one of my skincare concerns. I figured that they'd either send me prevention products that I could use, or send heavy duty stuff that I could send to my mom. I was right.

This little cream looks like a miniature, but that's actually the full size. They're selling that size at a nearby pharmacy for 29€ ($40). So that is a fantastic, fantastic deal.

I paid less than 15€ for the entire box.

Hope my mom isn't reading this because this is definitely going into the next box I send her.

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré

This is an itty-bitty sample. I'll probably only be able to get about 2 uses out of it. That being said, it's not counted as one of the boxes official products. It's just a little extra that they threw in there and I certainly don't mind.

I've been wanting to try this for a long time because I've heard so many beauty bloggers rave about it. However, I was put off the last time I tried to pick it up in a nearby parapharmacy because the pharmacist working there told that it wasn't very good and that it was absolutely a crap product if you have even slightly acne prone skin. Granted, that's just one woman's opinion, but I really didn't want to invest 14€ in a cream that even the person selling it wouldn't recommend.

Now I'll get to find out for myself. :)

Glittery Headband

This is just an extra little goody that Glossybox threw in there, and it doesn't count as one of their promised 4-5 miniatures. So once again, no major complaints here. However, it's a bit tight on my head and not quite my style. That being said, my sister who is 19 would probably love this. I'm going to see if she wants me to send it to her the next time we Skype.

Definitely a fun surprise, and even if I don't like it personally, it will be really easy to find some one to give it to.

Overall impression

I was told I'd get 4-5 miniatures and I got 7 products, 5 of which were full sized. So I'm pretty stoked. I've also seen a few other versions of the box pop up on different blogs, and I feel like the version I got is loads better.

There are a few products that I'm not sure that I'll love, but that's kind of how it goes with these beauty boxes. It's also more fun that way. I get to try products that I may have never picked up on my own.

I guess we'll see how next month's box goes.

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Note: A lot of girls who were reviewing the box on French blogs complained that the well known bloggers always get their boxes before everyone else and they get better versions of the box. But that tends to be a complaint that the British and American beauty box subscribers have as well.

I thought that was an interesting complaint. While I get why that might be a good idea for marketing purposes, I think that Glossy would be better off making every girl feeling like she's one of their most important subscribers. Thoughts anyone?