Glossybox US Inaugural Box

Beauty subscriptions have become quite popular in the last few years, and the latest to join the ranks in the US is Glossybox. Glossybox has already been available at a number of other countries, and anticipation has been high for their arrival in the US.

As far as I know, the inaugural Glossybox is not for sale, but given only to select press and beauty bloggers. Glossybox was also having giveaways where you could win a box, and that is how I got mine. I'm super happy I won and now I'll show you guys what I got. :-)

Everything came nicely packaged in a pink box with the glossybox logo. I really love this pink box. It's sturdy and well-made, and would make a perfect little memory box to hold pictures, cards, and little trinkets. Here's what came in the box:

• C.O. Bigelow Lavendar & Peppermint Shampoo - 5.2oz, retail for $12
• BASQ Cucumber Tea Eye Gel - 0.5oz, retail for $24
• OPI Kiss Me on My Tulips - 0.5oz, retail for $8.50
• Cargo EyeBronzer - 0.035oz, retail for $22
• Kryolan High Gloss Brilliant Lip Shine in Toffee - 0.135oz, retail for $18.10
• Erno Laszlo Hollywood Collection - sample pack of 5 various creams (no size listed on samples)

This is an absolutely amazing box. It contains five full-size items (!) and a sample item. I love everything in the box, although I am most partial to the OPI polish (no surprise there :P).

Even though this inaugural box contains five full-sized items, it looks like the regular subscription will not. Glossybox US's website states that every month, you will get five "travel-sized" beauty products. The other unfortunate thing is that subscriptions will be a somewhat costly $21 a month. That is more than twice the cost of some other existing beauty subscriptions (such as Birchbox and MyGlam).

If you are interested in Glossybox, regular subscriptions will start sometime this month and you can sign up at Glossybox.com to inform you of exactly when. Due to the higher subscription cost and the unknown amount of products you will receive, I recommend waiting a month or two to see how things shape up.

What do you guys think? Will you be signing up for Glossybox? If you do, will it replace or augment your current beauty subscriptions? Or is the cost just too high to take a gamble on a mystery selection every month?

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win the entire Zoya Surf Collection containing 6 brand new bottles of polish! <3

China Glaze Summer Neons Preview

Hi lovely readers! <3

I'm still sick and my cough medicine has been making me loopy all day, so I have not been able to write a full polish review. Instead, I will just take it easy and share with you a preview of China Glaze's Summer Neons Collection. :-)

(All info and images are courtesy of China Glaze.)

Heat Up Your Summer with China Glaze® Summer Collection

Los Angeles, CA – (March 2012):  The sun has nothing on you this summer!  Rival its brightness and heat with China Glaze® Summer 2012 collection, Summer Neons.  Featuring 12 new sizzling shades perfect for surf, sand and nightlife, the all new hot hues in China Glaze® Summer Neons include:

·         Pink Plumeria: Light pink with gold shimmer

·         Under the Boardwalk: Fluorescent raspberry

·         Splish Splash: Bright sky blue shimmer

·         Love’s A Beach: Sizzling hot pink

·         Hang-Ten Toes: Bubblegum neon with iridescent purple shimmer

·         Beach Cruise-r: Glimmering fuchsia grape

·         Orange You Hot?: Bright orange with attention-grabbing gold glimmer

·         Surfin’ For Boys: Glistening bright coral

·         Flirty Tankini: Shimmery strawberry smoothie pink

·         Ride the Waves: Dark ocean blue

·         I’m With the Lifeguard: Glimmering lime green

·         Sun-Kissed: Hot highlighter yellow

Also available 8-piece box collection featuring Under The Boardwalk, Ride The Waves, I’m With The Lifeguard, Sun-Kissed, Orange You Hot?, Surfin’ For Boys, Flirty Tankini and Pink Plumeria.

China Glaze® Summer Neons will be available as open stock colors and 12-piece counter display.  Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP and the 8-piece box set retails for $56.  China Glaze® Summer Neons will be available at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide in June 2012.

Julep Ashley

Hi and happy Friday! I have been trying to fight off a cold for the last week as everyone else around me has fallen sick, but my efforts have been in vain. It looks like the cold has caught up with me. At least the weekend is here, so I can get some much-needed rest and relaxation. :-)

Today I have for you Julep's Ashley, another pretty polish from my May It Girl Maven Box. Ashley has a light orange base with lots of shimmer in a metallic finish.

As far as oranges go, Ashley is a mellow one. It's a light sun-kissed orange, with just a hint of bronze so that it looks slightly burnt from some angles. Due to the gloomy weather, I had a little trouble capturing the exact shade for my pictures. In real life, the color is a little more muted and less red-influenced than in the pictures. It is a lovely orange that works well for the spring and summer. 

The formula on Ashley is a little thinner than it is on Nessa, which makes Ashley easier to work with. It spreads out smoothly and evenly onto the nail, without any pooling or dragging. There are some brush strokes, but that is pretty much on par for a metallic. To keep the brush strokes to a minimum when working with metallics, remember to do thin coats and allow each layer to dry before applying the next one. The only problem I have with Ashley is the bad brush (the same problem I had with Nessa). I have emailed Julep and hope it will get resolved very soon. 

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win the entire Zoya Surf Collection containing 6 brand new bottles of polish! <3

Take care and hope you guys aren't sick like I am! Let me know if you have any fun plans for the weekend, so I can live vicariously through you! :D

Julep's Cinco De Mayo Mystery Box

Hi you guys! :-)

It looks like Julep has listened to their customers and is releasing another batch of their mystery boxes for sale! :-) If you haven't heard about these before, they are on sale for $19.99 and you get anywhere from $60 to $200 worth of Julep goodies. These mystery boxes are usually super popular and sell out quick (who doesn't love a surprise of polish goodies :D), so if you are interested, do jump on this.

You can find the mystery boxes for sale HERE. Enter promo code CINCO at checkout. Shipping is free for Mavens. If you want to learn more about being a Julep Maven, including how to get your very first box for ONE CENT(!), take a look at my post HERE.

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win the entire Zoya Surf Collection containing 6 brand new bottles of polish! <3

Julep Nessa

Hi dear readers! <3

Today, I have for you Julep's Nessa, from my May It Girl Maven Box. I received my box earlier this week and I have been really excited to try the polishes in there. Nessa is has a bright yellow base with tons of shimmer in a metallic finish.

Nessa is a yellow that leans more lemon-y than gold. It is a bright and cheerful color that works well for the summer. Unfortunately, it has some application issues. Its shimmery and metallic finish makes it really streaky. The brush strokes are exacerbated by the crazily wonky brush that came with this polish. The brush poofs out at the bottom, so that polish would collect there and then dollop onto the nail. It felt like I was using a giant cotton swab to apply the polish!

Really, it was rather comical to use this brush, although I apologize for the less-than-stellar swatches as a result. :D My other bottles that came in the box (Ashley and Kylie) have the exact same wonky brush, and other mavens are sharing that they ran into brush issues with their Maven polishes. Hopefully Julep will sort this all out and send out some replacement brushes.

As it stands, I am a little disappointed with this polish. It is just too full of brush strokes to look good. However, I am not writing off Nessa just yet. It is a beautiful color and has so much potential. I just hope that the application issue is due mostly to the brush problem and it will be better with a new brush. :-)

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win the entire Zoya Surf Collection containing 6 brand new bottles of polish! <3

My First Giveaway: Zoya's Surf Collection!

Hi everyone! <3

I wanted to do something special for my wonderful followers because you guys and this blog have brought me so much joy! :-) I am a big fan of Zoya and their new Surf Collection, so I thought that is the perfect choice.

So here it is: my first giveaway! I have up for grabs Zoya's entire Surf Collection, which includes 6 brand new polishes: Carly, Kimber, Rory, Myrta, Meg, and Zuza!

This giveaway is open to US residents only. I apologize to my international followers. It's a big item and the international shipping cost is too much for me, but I will be having giveaways in the near future that will include everyone. If you win, I will be buying from Zoya.com and shipping it directly to you.

Please allow the widget to load in full; it may take a moment. And please support The Polish Hideout by following us via Google Friend Connect (on the right-hand side), liking our facebook page, and sharing this giveaway.

You can email me if you have any questions: thepolishhideout@gmail.com.

Julep Maven May 2012

I am so excited that I just got my May Julep Maven box in the mail. For my May box, I switched from my usual Boho Glam profile to It Girl.

As usual, everything came nicely wrapped in a black Julep box. The nail polishes for It Girl this month are Nessa (a light yellow shimmer), Ashley (an orange shimmer), and Kylie (a purple shimmer that is also a magnetic polish). I can't wait to try all the colors and I will definitely have swatches for you guys. The box also include the magnetic to use with Kylie and a small packet sample of the pedi cream.

If you are wondering about Julep Maven, it is a subscription program that normally retails for $19.99 monthly with free shipping. Over at Julep.com, you can take a style quiz to determine your personal style. Every month, you will receive a Maven box that best fits your style filled with over $40 worth of Julep goodness. The advantage of the Julep Maven subscription program is its flexibility. It allows you to skip any month free of charge, to send a box to someone else, or to switch your box to a different style. And of course, you can cancel anytime.

To join and get your introductory Julep Maven box for only ONE CENT, just click HERE and use code COLORS4ONE at checkout. The code is available for a limited time.

** This post contains my referral link. If you click on the link and sign up, I will earn credit towards free Maven boxes.