It’s no secret that I’m a beauty junkie, and for months, I debated whether I should try a beauty box subscription. I did a bunch of research, read reviews, talked to people who subscribed to certain boxes, and finally decided to take the plunge.
This is an hilarious story in itself, because after reading that Loose Button’s Luxe Box has the best deluxe-size samples for the subscription price, I eagerly requested an invitation and awaited their response. When it came, I quickly signed up, only to be asked for my province in the middle of the information. Province, what? Now, I first heard of Loose Button via my blog friend Shayla, and she lives in a pretty remote town in CANADA. But I had read about the Luxe Box on several blogs, so I assumed, wrongly, that it shipped to the United States, too. Hanging my head in beauty product embarrassment, I decided to wait things out before trying another subscription.
A month or so later, I got an email from Luxe Box announcing their “World Tour” that was coming to the U.S. first! I eagerly signed up, and for $50 (US, ha ha), I subscribed to two Luxe Boxes, Fall and Winter. I had some trouble making my payment, because the online form was still formatted for Canadian credit cards I guess, and my number did not fit within the boxes. After notifying their customer service, it was worked out, and I entered my profile information into their system and awaited the arrival of my beauty box.
It finally came a couple of weeks ago, and arrived in a beautiful white box. Another nice touch was the seal of the enclosed envelope, which was personalized with my first initial.
(Loose Button’s Fall Luxe Box.)
But that’s where the personalization ended, and I got some fairly basic beauty and bath products that were not quite as high-end as I was expecting. In fact, most of the full-size products were what I consider “drugstore quality,” and I was very disappointed by that.
(The contents of the Luxe Box.)
The box included deluxe samples of Refreshing Toner by Vichy, Pretty Piede foot cream by Principessa Beauty, and two tiny samples of moisturizing products by Orlane. My full-size products were Skinny Liquid Eyeliner by Eyeko, Sally Hansen’s Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in a glittery gold, the Hydro Silk Razor by Schick (complete with coupons for replacements), and a bottle of “Miss Fancy Paints” by Essie.
I don’t use toner, since it strips my oily skin, and I’ve yet to try the products by Orlane, which will be good for exactly one use each. I also don’t wear liquid eyeliner, and I could easily get the razor and nail products at one of the three Walgreens stores near my house. I was really hoping to try some new products that might normally be out of my price range, not things I can pick up at the grocery store. I did like the Principessa cream so much that I’m planning to order a full-size bottle of it soon. But otherwise, I just wasn’t impressed.
Now, I used to sell Mary Kay and I’ve been blogging long enough to know these two things: first, beauty samples cost literally pennies to make, which is why the saleslady at Sephora or your favorite beauty counter always sends you home with a handful. They’re a dime a dozen, literally. And second, companies love to give out free products as promotions, especially if you’re going to offer a great review in return.
So why Luxe Box isn’t able to offer more than this, I really don’t know. I do know that the products are different than what their Canadian customers get, and despite filling out an online profile several times (that was never saved on the site), I didn’t receive any products that were personalized for my skin. I know this simply by googling “Fall Luxe Box” and reading what other bloggers and forum members received in their boxes. I was also given the chance to pick one of three deluxe samples for my box, and that did not arrive with my other products.
Other beauty boxes I’ve researched actually sell the full-size versions of their products on their sites, and many offer a discount each month that arrives with your subscription. That way, if you find a product you love, you can purchase the larger version for a percentage off the actual price. Loose Button doesn’t have anything on their site at all, and the link that says “My Products” is never updated. So, there’s really no good reason to visit their site once you sign up for the box itself. And that foot cream I like so much? I’ll have to order it elsewhere, too. It seems like they are missing a key component of the beauty box success, and one from which they could truly profit.
Needless to say, I’m less than thrilled with Loose Button, and there’s nothing “Luxe” about the beauty box at all. Sorry. I already paid for two boxes, and the Winter box will arrive in January, but I’m not holding my breath that it will be any better than the first.
I normally refrain from writing negative product reviews and choose, instead, to highlight things I truly love, but I put a lot of time and research into this little project, so I wanted to share the results with you. I think Loose Button does offer some good products to sample, and since it is based in Canada, subscribers in remote areas are able to access new products not sold in nearby stores. But for someone like me, who is fairly knowledgeable about beauty products and has local access to high-end products, it’s just a waste of time.
I was really excited to finally try a beauty box, but this experience was disappointing, and I think I’m going to stick with my Sephora buys for now.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the next edition of the box, so stay tuned!
Do you subscribe to any beauty boxes? I’d love to hear your experiences and recommendations!
(Linking up with The Glamorous Housewife.)
I’m an “everything in its place” kind of girl, and I’m trying to teach my boys to clean up after themselves and to put away toys when they are finished playing. Ryan is also pretty good at cleaning up his messes, after living with me for ten years now.
But there’s one spot in our house that is a constant source of frustration for me, and that’s the landing strip. Here’s what it looks like on a random weeknight.
This is the edge of the kitchen bar that hangs over into our living room, and it’s the first stopping point once we enter from the garage, the door we use most often. It’s a natural landing strip and catch-all for our keys and other clutter. I prefer to keep my purse and jewelry in the bedroom, where I can easily access them as I’m getting ready, but Ryan likes all of his pocket stuff here, since he puts it on before walking out the door.
When we redid our kitchen last winter, I bought the cute little bird dish from Pottery Barn, specifically for Ryan to use, but his things soon spilled out and over the sides, so I added that second basket (the one with the wires hanging out). If you know Ryan, then you know he’s always attached to some kind of wire (phone, laptop cord, headphones, etc.), so it’s no surprise that the cords end up on our counter. You can also see his sunglasses, glasses case, wallet, and handkerchief, in addition to the day’s mail and the remote control, purposefully out of the boys’ reach. (And the Wheat Thins were only on the counter to remind me to send them to school with Rhys the next day.)
I straighten and organize this little spot multiple times throughout the week, and it always ends up like this. Part of me thinks I should just give in and accept it, since it’s certainly not a hill to die on. And then the Type A part of my brain takes over, and I take a picture and write a blog post about it, just for fun. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
But he does bring me flowers all the time, and that more than makes up for it.
I had fun posting a few interesting links last week, so I thought I’d try it again this week. Who knows if it will turn into a weekly thing, but we’ll see.
This site is incredibly fun for Halloween, and I promise it’s not nearly as scary as it looks.
One thing I love about weekends is that I get to take a quiet shower and get dressed at my leisure, which means I also get to listen to funny stories like this one from This American Life. It runs about 16 minutes, but is hilarious in an extremely dry way.
All of these famous people attended the University of Texas at some point in their lives, and I was surprised by a few, like Jon Hamm!
And this is the scary side of motherhood. I prefer retail therapy, personally.
Elmo at the Ritz, to end on a happy note.
Have a wonderful weekend!
