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.

Nothing a Good Mai Tai Probably Couldn't Fix

Photo Credit: Sephora

Okay. The picture round-up is currently on-going, so I'm going to have to put off any Disney tales till next week. I know; you're heartbroken, but I'm sure you'll find a way to get by.

I will say, that after three full days of sweating glowing in the hotter'n Hades beautiful Florida sunshine, I could literally feel the dirt invading my pores. I could see the clogs. That's bad. I did the best I could to combat the elements: drank lots of water, scrubbed my face at least twice a day, used tinted moisturizer instead of foundation, and tried to let my skin breathe as much as possible. It didn't matter. I am so broken out, people are mistaking me for a high schooler. Of course, I'm sure my being short isn't helping with their confusion.

As soon as I got home, I washed my face (again), and slathered on my Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. True to form, it cleared out a significant amount of clogged pores and blackheads. Still, my face was in a state of trauma. You don't think about the wringer your skin goes through while you're laughing it up in the Happiest Place On Earth (okay, I know that's Disneyland, but same deal). We've established there's the heat and sweat and dirt...fine. There's also greasy food (which, I know, dermatologists have said that the grease you put in your stomach doesn't affect your skin...try eating pizza without getting some on your face. I dare you), drastic changes in enviroment (a/c in the car, airplane atmosphere, getting on and off rides, fog machines, wind machines, etc.), sleep deprivation, too many cokes and not enough water, little germy kids with little germy hands that touch all the same things you touch...I could go on, but you see my point? Even after the masque my skin was still screaming.

Yesterday, I happened upon Ole Henriksen's Blue/Black Berry Enzyme Mask. According to Sephora:

This potently calming blend of lavender, papaya enzyme, blueberries, and blackberries gently polishes the skin, relieving facial stress and delivering smooth results.

Well, that sounded like it might help. There was a fantastic sale, so I snapped this puppy up for only six bucks.

So, last night, after work, I put on my jammies, washed my face and pulled my hair back, opened up the jar and spread the contents all over my face. Then, I sat down to relax and watch some television.

The Good: The scent. Wow. This mask has a very strong lavender fragrance, but not a fakey, chemically one. This is real lavender, and it is extremely calming. The gel mask is downright frosty, and there are also no parabens, sulfates, or artificial colors. In fact, there's no color at all. It's clear, which also keeps you from having that whole Wicked Witch of the West thing going on.

The Bad: I had a hard time washing the mask off, and really, I couldn't tell if it did anything to my skin. I followed up with a moisturizer, partially because you should always follow a mask with a good moisturizer, and partially because my skin felt really dry. That's not a good sign when it's supposed to be a hydrating mask.

The Ugly: Normally, this is priced at $32. That's insane.

I'm going to give this another go. The directions said it could be used 2-3 times weekly, so it may just be very gentle. If nothing else, twenty minutes of inhaling lavender might relax me enough to not care about my skin anymore. I say, for six bucks, it's worth a second look. For $32, I suggest you keep your money and look elsewhere.

Final Verdict: It'll calm your nerves, but not necessarily your face. 4 out of 10.