Sample Bar is as stated on their website this is New Zealand's first luxury beauty service delivering a package to your door every month for only $25.00 including shipping. Each glam box will cover a range of products from skin care, hair care and makeup. This is pretty much like Birchbox, Glossybox and Ipsy Myglam Makeup Bags in America.
I received my first box in October 2012, which is also known as the Sample Bar "Launch Box". As soon as I heard of New Zealand having its own beauty subscription services I rush to get my own! I was that excited :") My plan was to write a monthly blog post and also upload a monthly vlog to my youtube of the subscriptions, but obviously I got lazy, the only post I have written was the March 2013 Glam Box and the only video I had done was the February 2013 Glam Box (this was one of my favorite boxes).
During October and January my glam boxes were okay, it wasn't bad but it wasn't good as I expected (maybe I have too high expectation?!). My first glam box was perfect cause I have been waiting for something like this to happen in New Zealand for a long time and it finally happened so I was very happy. The boxes then becomes very... bad? To the point where I wondered if I should continued my subscriptions. I remembered when I signed up to Sample Bar I also filled out a beauty profile where it asked all sorts of questions like what type of skin color / conditions you have, what do you like more makeup, skin care or hair care and all sort of things. In between October and January all I get was tanning products and I got sick of that because my skin color is already yellow enough, I don't ever tan in my life so at the time I felt like I throw that $25.00 down the drain :(
At the time I told myself I am going to wait and see what's in my next glam box to decide if I want to continue my subscription... I guess Sample Bar could read my mind haha the next glam box (February 2013) was perfect! As stated above it was one of my favorite glam boxes! So I thought okay will give this one more go. March 2013 glam box was okay, it was filled with natural skin care products which I am not a fan of but whatever. It was so hard to let go of the Sample Bar subscriptions, I was loving it but also hating it at the same time so I couldn't decide if I want to cancel or not. April's glam box was bad again and May's glam box was PERFECT!!! P E R F E C T / A M A Z I N G / B E A U T I F U L / MY FAVORITES OUT OF ALL GLAM BOXES I RECEIVED!!! May's Glam Box was the limited edition Life Pharmacy box, I think it was to celebrate Mother's day so Sample Bar made it so perfect. May's Glam Box came with amazing products such as Lancome volume mascara, Shiseido pore smoothing corrector (I love the sample so much I went and get a full size from Farmers ^^-), Prevage anti aging daily serum (don't need it), Viva La Juicy eau de parfum (I think it's only a 4ml sample but I still love it so much!) and Clinique matte eyeshadow. May's glam box was just too perfect that I have decided to stay and continue my subscriptions.
Sadly the happiness did not last long, June's Sample Bar glam box was lame, all I remembered was more natural, organic skin care and I've made the decision to cancel my monthly subscriptions for good. I emailed the Sample Bar staff that I want to cancel and they told me I will get my July glam box as my last box.
At the beginning of this month (July) I received a small package from Sample Bar, I was surprised, I thought my July glam box came early cause I cancel last month! But no, I opened it to see little gifts from Sample Bar, to thank me for being a good customer etc.. They sent me a full size Orly magnectic nail polish, 2 x sample of bath salt and a little pot of hand cream sample. It's pretty sweet of them but still, I feel like $25.00 is not worth a bunch of organic skin care that I will never use.
On Tuesday (16/07/2013) I received my July Glam Box :) I am always very impressed with their delivery times, but still not happy with what's in the box :( I don't know, I don't want be mean and diss the company etc cause let's be honest, Sample Bar's customer service is very good and that is one of the most important thing when you spend money etc...
Sample Bar "Mid Winter Glam" July glam box came with the following products:
Samples size of Dr Hauschka Rejuvenating Mask and Moisturising Mask
"Pamper your skin with two of Dr Hauschka's most popular cream masks. Rejuvenating Mask: soothing, enlivening, deep cleansing and pore mimimising. Moisturising Mask: for winter dehydration and dryness, skin will feel silky soft and nourished. - FULL SIZE: RRP range from $85-$95 (30ml)".
Skinfood 50ml
"New Zealand's own natural based skin care. Feed and nourish your skin, it has never tasted anything like this! Environmentally friendly with no artificial perfumes or paraben preservatives to cleanse, nourish, protect and perfect your skin. - FULL SIZE: RRP $13.99 (100ml)".
Full size of Designer Brands Kohl Eyeliner Pencil"This eye pencil will glide on gently, allowing great eye definition or easy blending for sexy, smoky looks. more afforadable than expensive brands without compromising quality. Dare to compare? - FULL SIZE: RRP $8.99".
Angel Professional Hair Soften Spray
"Enriched with deep-sea nutrients, this softening spray rejuvenates dry and stressed hair to make it shiny, smooth and moisturised. Just spray on towel-dried or dry hair thoroughly after shampooing and leave-in (shake before use). - FULL SIZE: RRP Range from $21.50 - $34.50 (80-250ml).
Manicare Glam Eyes Lashes
"Beautifully designed Glameyes Eyelashes are perfectly shaped to accentuate your eyes and enhance volume and length. The reusable, 100% natural lashes create instant glamorous eyes for every occasion. - FULL SIZE: RRP$12.49".
Esteem - $20.00 off your next Esteem purchase!
Alright ~ I am not a fan of any of the products in this month's glam box :( grrr once again I felt like I just throw $25.00 down the drain! I've made a right choice of cancelling my Sample Bar monthly subscriptions and I am very proud of myself to finally being able to let this go. I figure It's better to spend the $25.00 on a full size product that I like than to spend it on a monthly subscription that I won't know what I will get and may end up not liking any of the products.
I completely agree with your post!! I have cancelled mine as well, I am sick of getting products that I will never use (e.g self-tan and anti aging products). I did get a pair of earrings in this months box but that won't stop me from cancelling. There is another subscription service in NZ called Goodie Box so I might try that out.
ReplyDeleteI throw away most of the products, they're so useless to me grrr. I tried Goodie Box when they first came out but I cancelled straight away cause their customer service were shit and they also sent me tanning stuff so I was like nahh not for me lol but I should really give them another go :)
DeleteI know what you mean, we have a few beauty box subscriptions here but most of them offer mediocre samples and stuff so I don't bother :s
ReplyDelete