GLYMM BAG: February 2013

there you are, Glymm! i almost forgot about you and your February bag until you finally showed your face March 8. i don't recall that it was going to be so late so i checked my inbox and i checked Facebook. there were no emails saying that you would be sending February bags out so late and there were a ton of concerns from your customers that went unanswered - until March 1. that post on March 1, informing us that they were finally shipped, took much too long and is very unprofessional on your part. Glymm bags are supposed to ship on the "week of the 10th" but i see that you have made changes to that and now say that you ship "by the end of the month". i have to say that customer response time and shipping times can definitely use some improvement.

aside from all this, Glymm's bag - as in the bag it came in - is my favorite yet. it is a satin black bag with white hearts all over it. super cute!

but haven't we been taught to never judge a book by its cover?

1) Purely Pro Cosmetics Eye Shadow in "Luxury" - how many people pulled this eyeshadow out and wished it was any other color? that navy blue in the pamphlet is pretty but it seems that everybody got a rather boring-looking brown (they even tease us by saying that this "innovative shadow is sure to make you stand out in a crowd"!). BUT if you have dark hair, you may be in luck since i found it to work well for filling in my brows!
the color is very similar to my Ameli Cake Eyeshadow in "Charcoal Brown".

size: 1.7 g (full size!)
retail value: $18

2) Villainess Bar Soap in "Ginger Snapped" - this is a newly released scent - smells more like cinnamon than ginger i think. if we are to keep receiving Villainess products, please oh please send Paradise Misplaced!

size: N/A
retail value: $6 (99 g)

3) Nailuv Gel Nail Polish in "Berry Sweetie" - i don't understand.... this polish requires me to purchase a $70 UV/LED light in order to use it? why do you bother sending this, Glymm? did your team research how many of us actually own such a device? and this is just out of curiosity but how many of you have brought your own polish to a salon before (as suggested by Glymm)?
sadly, the color actually looks pretty in the bottle (Nailuv: "a fresh dark pink with a hint of iridescent shimmer").

size: N/A
retail value: $14.95 (15 mL)

4) Femme Couture Plump Up The Color Lip Gloss in "827241 Coral Burst" - i haven't tried many Femme Couture's products so i was pumped up that we got a product from them but this shade is rather interesting. there seems to be multiple shades of coral in the gloss and it is very, very shimmery. i just don't feel like i would wear this often... but i'd love to see a swatch of someone who did try it!
there was some variability in the bags this month, where some got this Plump Up The Color gloss or  a Monster Gloss - which did you prefer?
the Monster Gloss is almost twice as big! 10.4 g! that's monstrous indeed.

size: 5.4 g (full size!)
retail value: $9

this month's bag also came with a 50% off a ShinySet subscription (jewelry) and a red heart lollipop. a subscription to ShinySet regularly costs $24.99 a month. they also have quarterly and annual ($299.99!) subscriptions. there's no way i'd subscribe for more than a month since jewelry is a very personal thing. it might be good to try it out for a month at 50% off though... hmmm. i'll need to do some more research!
as for the red heart lollipop... it would've been cute if it arrived by Valentine's... or even if it came while it was still February... oh - and if it wasn't slightly broken already :(
what are your feelings on Glymm and ShinySet?

GLYMM BAG: October 2012

first thing i see: Glymm brought back the product cards!!! yessssss! it is now in the form of a brochure (instead of the previous card and booklet formats). thank you Glymm for listening to your customers!

as for the bag, it is pink this month in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. it's always nice when you notice a little bulge in the bag! i am predicting that we get a new type of bag next month but we'll see. actually, i'm really hoping that Glymm comes up with something completely different - i think most of us are getting tired of these bags...

October's edition:

1) Lash Card (Individually Wrapped Mascara Shields) - so Glymm was smart to include a product like this in a bag that also contains a mascara but really, the product itself is pretty lame. the Lash Card is described as "innovative" and it's actually "patented". really?! very silly since i am sure most people do not use such an item when applying mascara or even if they do, they just use a simple FREE business card. or any type of card period.
i also think it's funny how they try to recommend "1 card per make up session" - is that really necessary? or is it only because they want to sell a box of 10 for a whopping $7?
size: 2 cards (each card has 2 curves - a large and a small, depending on your eye shape); Glymm says: up to 4 uses (not really sure how that works given the previous statement)
retail value: $6.99 (10 cards)

2) Femme Couture Lightning Lash Mascara in "Midnight Black" - Glymm has a slight typo on their card, calling this a "Lightening Lash Mascara" - i paused for a second since i thought that people wore mascaras in the first place to darken - not lighten - their eyelashes. ;)
anyway, this Lightning Lash Mascara focuses on lengthening. i have some Femme Couture loose eyeshadows somewhere in my stash and i've always been tempted to pick up something else from them while at Sally's. mascara takes me a long time to get through so i don't know when i will be able to use mine up and review this!
size: 11.3 g (full size!)
retail value: $14

3) CyberDERM H2O Hydration - think it sounds familiar but looks different? it's because Glymm sent these out in their July bag but it was in the form of a syringe. it did not have a scent and felt moisturizing and light. be careful when you first use this since it can get messy.
size: N/A... looks about 5 mL?; Glymm: 10 uses
retail value: $60 (50 mL)
see 4) for pic

4) CyberDERM Every Morning Sun Whip - after using H2O Hydration in the morning, you can apply this Every Morning Sun Whip which is a matte sunscreen with SPF 25.
the Sun Whip is thicker and not as creamy as the H2O Hydration. there's hardly a scent to it. i like this product but not enough to fork over $38 for a 50 mL sunscreen.
size: N/A... about 5 mL; Glymm: 2 uses
retail value: $38 (50 mL)

5) Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme - buttercreme... you'd think that butters and cremes are for the body right? so of course i was thrown for a loop when i read that this for HAIR. i have never heard of such a product before... looking at the instructions, it says that this moisturizer is to be used on wet hair. you only need a nickel sized amount to soften "dry, crunchy curls" - i have neither dry nor crunchy nor curly hair... if you check out the website, you will see that the company is focused on curly hair.
to me, buttercreme sounds well, buttery and creamy - both of which will probably weigh down hair or make it look greasy - and both of which are hair no-nos.

nonetheless, i decided to try it. i used it on my wet hair and only on the ends of my hair. my hair is still air drying but i can feel the difference between my ends and my roots. the ends are noticeably softer but i still wouldn't recommend using this product on your roots.

it smells like shea butter and... wait, caramel is listed in the ingredients? correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't recall caramel being used in cosmetics. i wiki-ed it and it lists caramel candy, caramel coloring and caramel sauce. under caramel coloring (which i thought would be the most likely reason), it says it is used in food coloring and beverages - no mention of cosmetics. sooo do you guys know?
size: 59 mL ("full size"!) - as in full size of a mini version; Glymm: 5 uses but i hardly even scraped the top layer
retail value: $9 (also available: $32 for 237 mL and $58 for 473 mL)

6) *bonus* Johnson & Johnson Johnson's Baby Oil - i don't understand why people are complaining that this item is in the bag... it is a bonus item and it is to promote Glymm MAMA. i think it's a neat idea and i can use it to remove makeup or for shaving (which i didn't know so yay!).
yeah so this is baby oil and it smells like babies!
size: 88 mL
retail value: $4.49 (414 mL) or $6.49 (592 mL) according to well.ca

i think this is definitely a step up from last month's Glymm - bigger samples (hello full size items! it's been a while!) and a bonus item. plus the list of samples is back! still my overall impression of the bag is that it's good - nothing jaw-dropping but good.
are you guys happy with this month's bag?