How Glossy is Your Box?: August Glossybox Opening

Hot dog! I somehow managed to get my August Glossybox in August!!! How cool is that?! This is going to be really long and amazingly picture-heavy, so let's just get right to it. I can, in all honesty, say that this is the best Glossybox we've had yet!

Immediately upon opening, we have the increasingly unnecessary GlossyMag. I said it last month, and I'll say it again: this is useless. *Spoiler Alert* There's nothing neon in the box. 

The pretty pink box that I've yet to figure out how to repurpose this month. Any ideas? Leave 'em in the comments!

This month's insert with the theme. August was "Pure Luxury", and they weren't kidding!



The items, along with brief descriptions and prices for the full-sized versions.



And the inside! This is what I saw as soon as I popped off the lid.

Here's a new one: a coupon for a free gift with purchase. That's nice. Probably won't use it, but I appreciate the gesture.

Here's the item I was most excited for: Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster! It's a vitamin C serum, and supposely works wonders on dullness. I've been wanting a vitamin C serum forever, it seems, and I've really enjoyed using it over the past couple of days. I actually have seen a difference in the "glow" of my skin.

Sorry this is fuzzy. I did this unboxing during Hurricane Isaac, and was having to go pretty quick, since we could have lost power at any moment. Plus, let's face it, I'm a horrible photographer. This is the bottle of serum, and it's a very generous sample. The size is .5 oz, or half the full-size. It's about the size of a nail polish, and since you only use a drop or two at a time, should last a good, long while.

Next up, we have the Biolage Exquisite Oil.

This is a small sample, but as with the serum, it only takes a drop. I used this on the ends of my hair before pulling it into a side pony, and my frizzy, wavy, crazy hair obeyed. That's unusual.

This product just plain intrigues me. It's a face primer, but has decent-sized flecks of gold floating in it.

Do you see them? It's like Goldschlager! How on Earth does that work?!

Truth be told, it works really well. The consistency of the primer is very smooth and light, non-greasy, and doesn't feel silicone-based. The gold flecks don't show up too horribly on skin, either. You just end up with a pretty glow. I used it underneath my Rimmel Clean Slate, which has a tendency to feel really heavy and look a little ashy. Not only did I not feel the urge to run and tear the make up off of my face after a few hours, my makeup did look brighter, and it stayed put nicely, even in crazy Hurricane humidity. The full-size is only $20, with is not bad at all, and this is nearly full-sized. I have a long time to play with it, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it does in the long run.

Here's another highly anticipated product! See, each month, Glossybox varies a couple of items. Sometimes it's by style (like half of subscribers get an eyeshadow and half get a lipgloss--that sort of thing), and sometimes it's by color. That's how this month's went, and I was dying to know which color of this gorgeous Illamasqua nail polish I was going to get! This Purity, and it's just lovely. It reminds me of when I played an Angel in a super-fun production of Anything Goes. Our names were Purity, Charity, Chastity, and Virtue (me), and we had a couple of costumes that were very close to this color, only slightly pinker. No one else may care, but it made me smile.

The color is much brighter in person. It's a rich, vibrant peach, and I think it'll be the perfect nude for my skin tone. I have not tried this yet, but plan to tonight. I've been waiting for the storm to completely pass, since clean-up can be a bi--I mean, it can chip your polish. Yeah, that's it...



The other variable in the box was this ridiculously, incredibly, even-if-I-could-I-don't-think-I-could expensive, thirty-five dollar lip glaze from Ellis Faas. 

The packaging is beyond cool. Thomas said I should definitely carry it everywhere I go, since it'll work on both werewolves and vampires, and he wants to know I'm safe. I'm glad to know he cares.

The color I got was L209 (Toffee Beige) in the Milky Lips collection. I don't know why I even included swatches, since they look nothing like this in person. The color is, like the Illamasqua, a beautiful peachy-nude.

I wore this yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised at how moisturizing and lightweight it was, and at how long the color lasted. Of course, for $35, I should probably expect to be all those things while tap dancing and balancing my checkbook. Still and all, I think this might be the first nude lipcolor that has ever worked for me. It's just gorgeous for redheads.

Here's one last look at all of the products, side by side. These are some impressive products at some impressive sizes. Good job, Glossybox, and thank you!

Oh! In case you're curious, here's the price breakdown for each item:

Ole Henriksen   $24 for .5 oz
Biolage   $1.14 for .16 oz
Touch in Sol   $18.76 for 1.06 oz
Illamasqua   $14 for Full-Sized Item
Ellis Faas   $35 for Full-Sized Item

Total Worth of Glossybox   $92.90
Total Paid for Glossybox   $21.00

That means that this box was actually worth the price of almost four and a half Glossyboxes. Wowzers.

Also, if you were wondering, the nail polish I was wearing in the pictures was Fast Track by China Glaze.