First Glance: May 2012 Glossybox

The first Glossybox has arrived!

Open box

The packaging is simply gorgeous!  It's a high quality pale pink box with black lining with Glossybox's logo patterned throughout.  The packaging is so cute - black tissue paper with a logo sticker and a really nice rose pink ribbon tied around.  Like other beauty subscription services, Glossybox comes with a notecard with a welcome note from the Glossybox team and a brief description of the products included.

Notecard included gives a description about the products this month

This month has five travel-sized products (well, 4 and one full-sized) and an extra gift.

This month's goodies!

So, without further ado, let's dive in!

Zoya Summer 2012 Beach and Surf Collection Nail Color in Meg

This nail color from Zoya (retail: $8.00) is part of the Summer 2012 collection.  It's a brighter green metallic shade with silver tones swirled within.  Although I like the color in general, I'm not sure how this will translate on my nails.  I won't wear it on my toes because I don't want to look like I have fungus, but I'm not sure it's the best color for my fingernails either.  I will give it a shot at some point and see how it goes.  Look for it on a NOTD post, usually posted to my Twitter.

Next product!

Burberry Beauty Lip Mist Natural Sheer Lipstick Copper #202

This little baby lipstick is so cute!!

Lip Mist in Copper #202, 0.8 oz

The full size of this is 0.12 oz, and it retails for $30.  This sample is 0.8 oz, which calculates to a $20 value!  Not totally certain about the color, but the formula is smooth and sheer, and designed to look natural and pampering for your pout.  I didn't get a good picture of it, but the lipstick itself has the Burberry plaid design.  The name says Copper, but it's fairly mauve in color, and it does, indeed, go on sheer.  It's not the lightest weight product, which is fine - it sits more like a lipstick than a lip balm.  It does have that typical old-school lipstick smell.

And next...

Marvis Whitening toothpaste

This is new.  I've been getting beauty subscription products for almost a year now, and I've never gotten a toothpaste before!  This product hails from Italy, and this is full size at 1.23 oz, retailing for $7.50.

Mmm, minty paste!

I haven't tried this on my teeth, but I opened it and took a look.  It's a white paste (not gel), and it has a normal mint fragrance.  It's not overwhelming or gimmicky.  I like that.

Up next...

 Amore Pacific Moisture Bound Refreshing Hydra-gel

This gel has a nice, luxurious fragrance, reminding me of something I can't place.  It's a cool blue gel that is oil-free.

This sample is in some really unique packaging, but it's very small, 0.27 oz.  A full size (1.7 oz) retails for $100, which is very pricey for face cream (in my opinion)!  Nevertheless, the sample is worth over $15 because the product is so expensive.  My skin tends to be on the dry side, so I'm looking forward to trying this out, but I have to admit that I almost don't want to like it since I cannot afford that price for a daily moisturizer... especially when I'm already in love with the equally expensive Babor argan cream that I got in my Beauty Army kit a couple months ago!

Last but not least...

 Phytojoba Intense Hydrating Mask

A hair product!  This is the Phytojoba Intense Hydrating Mask for Dry Hair.  It's a conditioner designed to nourish hair without weighing it down.  I have never tried a Phyto product before, but I've heard good things!  The full size is 6.7 oz, which retails for $38.  This sample is 1.7 oz, which is a value over 8 dollars.

I don't notice a strong fragrance... just clean.  I'll be sure to update the blog after giving this a shot.  I appreciate the large size of this sample.  Too often, we get those little one-time use packets that don't really give enough product to try out and get an accurate "regular use" experience to judge.

Last up is the little bonus treat:

It's a goat hair blush brush.  Now, if you follow my blog, you've read my issue with a powder brush that shed hairs - it annoyed the crap out of me (and has since been remedied with a replacement brush). That's probably my biggest pet peeve with makeup brushes, shedding.  This one actually seems like it's shedding too.  I haven't used it on my face, but I'm going to give it a shot for blush and bronze/contour. If it sheds, it's not really a big deal.  But if it doesn't and it holds up well, this will be a nice addition to my makeup brush collection.

So, that's the first non-promo Glossybox for the United States.  It's already popular in a bunch of other countries, and I think it'll catch on nicely here.  It's the most expensive beauty subscription service that I've seen, but if you do the math here, it's worth far more than the cost.  Let's hope it stays that way!