Essie + Rebecca Minkoff = A Happy New Spring Collection!

"Women around the world have fallen in love with Essie’s iconic nail colors and Rebecca’s stylish accessories. It is an incredible honor to bring together two fashion authorities to create the next generation of must-have nail collections for women around the world.”

Seeing Essie and Rebecca Minkoff together makes sense. Essie has been working with Minkoff on the runway for a few years now at New York Fashion Week. So them doing a collection together makes sense. And while not an Essie fan myself, I AM a big Minkoff fan though as you all know and may have to pick up a few of these!!! 

Shades from left to right: Flowerista, Petal Pushers and Garden Variety 

Shades from left to right: Blossom Dandy, Picked Perfect, Perennial Chic

Essie Vending Machines!

I wish I loved Essie polish! I find that they are thinner than I like, I find them inconsistent, and overall, I just cant justify the $$ on a polish that I am so underwhelmed by. That being said, man do I wish I loved them! How cool is this?! 100% GUARANTEE that no one tests out the polish you are about to buy. I have seen the Sephora vending machines, and I have seen the Benefit ones, but this is a new one for me!

Each Essie vending machine will be stocked with a total of 42 shades from the permanent lineup, along with six seasonal colors that will rotate out every time a new collection launches.

Currently Essie has vending machines at the Jet Blue in JFK (BAH! I am ALWAYS in the United/Air Canada terminal), The Oakland International Airport (not sure when or why I would ever end up there), with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and a few luxury shopping centers in California already scheduled. 

Glossy Box September Review And October Preview!

So what is in this upcoming box? How about a nails inc polish, FUL SIZED tarte lippie, deluxe mini perfume and two other items? All for $21?

• tarte power pigment (You’ll receive either the shade flush or awakening) FULL SIZE! Value $24 
• Vince Camuto Amore – .25 FL oz – Value $6 
• Nails Inc Westminister Bridge Matte Topcoat – FULL SIZE! Value $10

Oh, and you get a free $19 glamglow mask with code GBGLAM

SIGN UP HERE! DONT FORGET

THE COUPON CODE GBGLAM!!

GLOSSYBOX Has Come to Canada!! Take A Peek!

EDIT - It has just been brought to my attention that this is NOT the regular February box. It is apparently a press box meant for bloggers and such and is different from the normal box. The normal boxes did NOT have the Oscar De La Renta lotion (the largest and most expensive item in the box) or the one full size product (the Essie polish) in the box. 

Within 15 minutes of my post I had 4 people contacting ,e telling me this was the press box, NOT a normal box. I did some googling and it seemed that it was indeed the "press box". But I've had a reader commenting here that this is what she got in her paid for box. Glossybox simply said every box has 5 deluxe samples. . 

I really don't know what to think! 

/END RANT

The selection of subscription boxes for beauty samples has been steadily growing in Canada for some time. I am happy to now announce GLOSSYBOX has now joined the party here in Canada! So how does GLOSSYBOX work?

I was lucky enough to get to test drive a box for all of my readers and it came to me yesterday! Now I had NO IDEA what to expect (I find a massive difference from box to box) and this one says its 5 high end luxury items! Sounded great to me! 

Now I was slightly surprised at how it came at first. The box was pretty but I was expecting a more re-usable box.  But that worry lasted about 5 seconds. Inside this very detailed box was a letter covering a gorgeous reusable box!

This is DEFINITELY a reusable box! And a really pretty one and in a practical size!

Now look what comes in the envelope!! A set of labels so that you CAN easily and in an organized manner save and reuse the boxes! This was a really nice detail that surprised me!

And a list of what comes in the box.

I do like Ahava products and while I personally dont consider it a "luxury" item, it is a nice item that will be well enjoyed and used!

The next item is an Elizabeth Grant balm. It says its a moisturising stick and in the description it calls it a balm. I am unsure if this is meant ONLY for your lips, or if it is similar to the bliss stick I love so much.

A full sized Essie polish. I personally wont ever use a pink polish, but since it is a February box, its very season appropriate with Valentines Day!

Now this for me was the first real luxury product in the box. And I am surprised at how much I enjoyed the scent! And at 50ml, its a very generous sized bottle!

Now this would also certainly be a luxury product. It would be one of those things I hoped I DIDN'T like for fear of falling in love with such a pricey product. Thankfully it is not something that is really age appropriate for  me, so my mom can deal with that issue if she loves it!

This was the most exciting thing for me in the box though again, not what I would personally consider a high end luxury item. I see this at department stores all the time and have ALMOST bought it a zillion and one times. I would sit and debate the spray or the pads. Is it worth it? I am SOOO excited to get to try these! I can't wait!!

Now everything was wrapped really well in tissue, and even more packing is underneath. In packaging and protecting they have spared no expense!

Everything together:

So all in all, is it worth it? The pros and cons of this box:

Pros:

• It is 15.00 with no extra shipping charge making it affordable
• It comes REALLY well packed! They don't skimp on packaging
• There seems to be a nice selection of products. Makeup, skincare, and other beauty items
• They reply to emails VERY quickly. Communication is GREAT!
• For ever 50 products you review you get a free box! That's every 8-9 or so months a free box

Cons:

• While it advertises itself as high end luxury items, that was not the case. Essie or BeautySoClean are not at all what I would Consider LUXURY items! Elizabeth Grant or Ahava seem more like department store brands than luxury as well. But Essie and BeautySoClean are certainly drugstore brands
• At 15.00 while reasonable and affordable it is still more than the typical box on the Canadian market

So really, I find a lot more pros than I do cons, though I really find the description of luxury brands misleading and that REALLY bothers me. I really did enjoy this box and will seriously consider signing up in a few months when travel and other personal events are out of the way. But had I paid for this box without the benefit of a review I would have been VERY VERY disappointed. Not because it wasn't a good box, but because it was not what it was advertised to me in MY opinion.

TO SIGN UP FOR THIS BOX FOR

 $15.00 CLICK HERE!!!

Essie Luxeffects Collection for Holiday 2011

This year Essie put out a collection so far from their normal collections and so unique to their line of polish it made me stop and stare. I can not recall ever seeing a glitter from Essie, and certainly not an entire collection of glitters and flakies. I am not a salon brand kind of gal when it comes to polish but I KNEW the minute I saw this release that I had to get three of the five!

 Essie Pure Pearlfection. This is a clear base with itsy bitsy silvery white sparkles

Essie As Gold As It Gets. This is clear base wtih gold flakes of all different sizes and shapes. Includes tiny gold shimmer! This one was much more opaque than I expected. Would be much nicer over a gold or yellow colour. Maybe even a brown?

Essie Shine Of The Times. A multi coloured flaky topcoatthat shifts from red to orange and green. Lacking is only the blue and purple colours! This one is similar to numbar 2010 but much more dense.

I chose to use a black as a base to most show off the colours, though probably not the choice I would use to wear the colours.