Battle of the Beauty Boxes: Glossy Box VS Carmine January 2012

Somehow I have managed to subscribe to two beauty boxes...

I subscribed to Carmine first as I had a discount code, I think if you google 'Glossy Box' a link comes up in the ads section to get your first Carmine box for £5 (correct at time of writing this article, January 2012). So I told myself I would get the December box and cancel it after I received it. Well I 'forgot' to cancel it and ended up with the January Carmine box.

Then I found a code to get a Glossy Box for £7.95 delivered, so I had to take advantage of that! So now I have the January Carmine Box and the January Glossy Box. I am pleased with them both, but I have to cancel one as I don't really want to be paying for two. If I could afford it though, I would definitely keep subscribing to them both. So this article is as much to help me as it is you, to help me decide which one I am going to keep subscribing to. It will be based on first impressions of both boxes, I wont be doing a detailed product review of what's in each box.

PACKAGING

Carmine Box : The box itself is nice, just plain black,nothing special on the outside, with a bright lime green interior which personally I don't find very appealing to the eye. But all this is aesthetic, what really annoys me is how hard it is to open! It took me about 5 minutes to eventually open it. The lid and the base of the box seem to be vacuum sealed! Its a bigger box than the Glossy Box, handy to store things in and very sturdy. Like the Glossy Box the products come wrapped in tissue tied with a ribbon and with those annoying little bits of crinkled paper in them that get everywhere. 

Glossy Box :  I love the colour of this months box. They are usually a pale pink, but as this months box is Valentines day themed, they have gone with a hot pink theme. The box, to my delight, is very easy to open and comes with the same tissue, ribbon, paper combo as the Carmine box, but this too is all pink, which I think is a very nice touch.

Winner: Overall for packaging I definitely think that Glossy Box has the edge over Carmine. I hope that they take note that a lot of people find it difficult to open their boxes, and do something about it! Also the fact that Glossy box seems to pay more attention to detail with a theme in their boxes as they also did a Christmas themed one which was red I believe. 

PRICE

Carmine Box: Usual price is £10 a month plus £2.75 postage 

Glossy Box: Usual price £10 a month plus £2.95 postage

So obviously Carmine wins this one, with a 20p price difference in postage costs, it isn't much but every penny counts!

PRODUCTS

Carmine:

• Eldora False Lashes 
• Korres Wild Rose Moisturiser
• Eyeko London Fat Stick
• Balance me Oil
• West Lab Himalayan Bath Salts

I love the false lashes, I only wear them occasionally but will definitely be wearing these on a night out. They are not to obviously false looking, and seem good quality. 

I needed a new moisturiser so was excited that I had the Korres to try, as it is a natural product I am hoping that it agrees with my sensitive skin.

I have benefits bad gal black eyeliner, which is very similar to the eyeko fat stick, but none the less I was pleased to receive this, and I will always use a black eyeliner.

The balance me oil I was looking forward to trying as I do suffer from breakouts and have not found a product that will get rid of them without totally drying out my skin, so I am also looking forward to trying this.

The bath salts didn't exactly excite me, but I like the fact that they are detoxifying and will be giving them a try.

Glossy Box: 

• Eyeko skinny eyeliner in Emerald
• Weleda 2-in-1 Cleanser and Toner
• FAB body wash
• Murad Skin Perfecting Primer
• Mini Orly nail varnish in a ruby red colour

I received the skinny eye liner in a dark green colour, which I was disappointed with. I don't really see myself wearing this colour at all. I think for someone who has green eyes this could look lovely on them, but I have blue eyes and blond hair and I just imagine a horrible colour clash if I was to wear this. 

The Weleda Cleanser was something I was quite happy to receive. I believe it is 100% natural so I am hoping this may suit my skin and not break me out. I have tried this and it stinks of lemon, but I can get past that if it is good for my skin.

I wasn't really bothered about the body wash. I will get around to using it I suppose, but it wasn't something I was excited to receive.

The primer is something I will be happy to try out, but every primer I have tried has broken me out, so I don't have high hopes for this one unfortunately. 

I really don't like the colour of the nail varnish at all. I will never wear this, I may give it away. I think they should have had a hot pink nail varnish in there to complement the whole theme. 

Carmine is the winner here, I am not really bothered about the value of the products, its whether I am excited to receive them and if I would use them myself that I am more concerned about.

OVERALL

What it really boils down to is what is inside the box, and this month I think I preferred my Carmine Box. I will continue to subscribe to Carmine as they seem to have more products to my taste. However I have subscribed to a new beauty box called She Said Beauty. I'm sure you would have heard about it. If you sign up now you can get 25% off your first box HERE. Oops,

 Gemx