GLAMEGO - NOVEMBER, 2018

My excitement with receiving a box at the start of the month has actually gone! Once upon a time I used to eagerly look forward to it. Now, I hate repeating in every post that products are being repeated. I am annoyed because I have been receiving this box for over a year now and they are already running out of ideas.  Hence I’ll get straight to the review.

The box this month, comes in the cyan shade and has a lady adorned with ethnic jewelry. One product didn’t quite fit into the box hence the edges of the box had ripped.

(Price and product details are mentioned in the Product List)

#5FactsAboutUs

1-Lulu and I became friends at a camp in the year 2005 even though we were acquainted with each other since 2002.

2-Lulu and I have a serious disagreement on “Capital Punishment”.

3-Lulu and I both speak French.

4-Lulu and I love twizzlers!!!

5-When street shopping Lulu understands what the vendor is saying and I am good at bargaining.

The products for this month:

Activated Charcoal Powder for Natural Teeth Whitening by Health Vit:

This is my favourite product this month. I actually am looking forward to using this because I am scared of going to the dentist’s for a teeth cleaning session. I’d rather opt for an option that I can use at home. This is an Indian brand and is made and manufactured in India. On opening the cap the bottle is sealed with foil. The instructions mention dipping your wet brush in the powder. I’d instead recommend using a spoon and taking a certain quantity in your palm for usage to prevent clumping. I will definitely be writing a thorough review of this product.

SESA Mud Hair Spa Kit:

This spa kit helps nourish your hair, prevent hair fall and stimulates hair growth. This is a product that we had earlier received in July.

The kit comes with a sachet of shampoo and hair serum each and two packs of hair masque. Now, I don’t really go to mess with my hair too much for fear of damage. Hence I am not sure how I feel about this product. I know I will end up using it. My love for experimenting has no limits. As I mentioned in our post from July, store bought hair products are way out of my comfort zone.

Water Lily Body Mist by Bio Bloom:

               

Like the Valley of Flowers perfume we received in the July GlamEgo box this perfume too smells like men’s perfume and that is not a bad thing. This product is paraben and alcohol free and can be used on all skin types. People sensitive to strong smells may want to stay away from it. The smell though initially strong, gradually mellows down with just a lingering hint on your skin.

Ulti Matte Liquid Lipstick by Bella Voste:

We had the option of choosing a shade we wanted. I chose No.4 Cinnamon and Lulu chose No.1 Gothy Plum. This is my first liquid lipstick. I had read a whole bunch of reviews on liquid lipsticks and had stayed away from them as a matter of choice. But since we got this in the box I thought, “Oh well might as well try it out.” Usually I just know that a product won’t suit me because I know what suits my skin and I am extremely careful about what I will put on my face.

This lipstick claims to be Silky Smooth (It’s just smooth.), give full coverage with full matte finish (True.), long lasting and transfer proof (Absolutely true.), vitamin-E for moisturizing lips (A big fat lie.), excellent coverage and intense colour pay off (Very, very true.), one stroke application (Yep.), perfect adhesion (Of course.), Colour does not bleed on lips (True again.).

The lipstick does almost everything it claims but it is not moisturizing at all. In the picture you can see lines accentuated on my lips. I prepped my lips by exfoliating it with a lip scrub by Neemli and then used the Mango butter lip balm by The Body Shop (This is the best balm to moisturize your lips and keep them hydrated.) I Let it stay on my lips while I photographed the products for the blog and once I was done I applied the lipstick and it set really quickly and in under two minutes it made my lips so dry that I could feel the lipstick tighten on my lips. It was like wearing a clay mask on my lips. Since it is transfer proof it is very difficult to remove as well. I am currently typing this post after applying coconut oil on my lips and around my mouth so I can easily remove the lipstick without being too rough on my lips because excess exfoliation on lips is not the best thing.

I love the colour, I love how a little product gives such deep colour and I love how it makes a difference to my face but I don’t like how dry my lips feel. I don’t like dry lips but all liquid lipsticks tend to dry out ones lips and hence I’d recommend this only after one has properly prepped their lips. I in fact recommend that one skip blotting of excess lip balm and directly apply the lipstick.

Use this product if and only if you have a lot of time before you get ready and have ample time to take it off before going to bed.

Cocoa Butter Formula by Palmer’s:

                 

The final product is a sample sized moisturiser that claims to keep one moisturised for 24 Hours. I haven’t tried this product and will be giving it to my mom to use as she has a lot of travelling to do and likes carrying travel friendly products.

Like I mentioned in last month’s GlamEgo review, even in this month’s box the Bella Voste Liquid lipstick contains SLS and Parabens. What do you think about GlamEgo not sticking to bringing us SLS and Paraben free products?

GLAMEGO - JULY 2018

Products in the box!

Fun fact, ever since we started blogging we have stayed loyal to GlamEgo and written honest reviews about them and thanks to that a large chunk of our friends and other readers who read our blog have told us that they subscribed to the box after reading our reviews. We hope what we have to say now won’t disappoint our readers.

On 3^rd of July last year I landed my very first subscription to the GlamEgo box thanks to Lulu, who got me the 6 month plan as a birthday gift😄. Once the subscription expired, I renewed it in January for 6 more months and then did so again on 1^st of July. When we started out with the box, we used to get 4 products but since March of this year we have been getting 5 products. Of course the Bella Voste nail polish in the March box was supposed to be a ‘return gift’ as GlamEgo was celebrating its first anniversary. Then in the following months we got the Natural Bath and body – vital nourishment cream, Bella Voste Nail polish. Therefore when I saw the product list this month, I was slightly disappointed because we have once again received The Nature’s Co.’s Saffron day cream which we received in our February box. Hence I left a comment on GlamEgo’s official Instagram account asking them why we have been getting repeat products. GlameEgo direct messaged us to inform us that it was a complimentary product. For all lay persons let me elaborate on the word “complimentary”, it is an adjective which means something given or supplied free of charge. Here is the thing though – IT AIN’T FREE!

For those who have been subscribing to this box since last year will know that the subscription was priced at INR 1794. Now the subscription is priced at INR 1914. There was no mention of change in tariff!

The price change isn’t even an issue for me because I love the products we get in the box but I do have a problem with the box itself. I cringe every time I go through the product list and see gross spelling or grammatical mistakes. I wish GlamEgo would take time to proof read their captions, stories and cards.

The final issue that has bothered me in the past few months is how late my box has been arriving. The disappointment is immense when all the excitement is gone😞. I have also noticed a lot of people complaining about the same.

With that I end my rant because Lulu and I both received our box today! (We don’t stay disappointed and angry too long. 😎)

Here’s a glimpse of the box. This time around GlamEgo has collaborated with Zariya an organization that is reaching out to help women facing violence. Hence the box with the depth of the neck line and with each centimeter we see a tag associated with the depth. Necklines used to be the most discussed topic between Lulu and I and we were such ninnys back in college and through our mid 20’s that we wouldn’t even bother dressing up (even though we love doing that) unless we were accompanied by our parents! Yes, you read that right. We were little puppies who hid behind our parents except now if anybody passes a comment we know how to respond and if anybody stares I stare back at the woman’s cleavage or the man’s crotch. See, this trick has made people put their eyes down in shame and I haven’t caught them staring at me after this dose of staring contest.

 

Price and product details are mentioned in the Product List

As always we have the product list and a card with information about Zariya.

Price and product details are mentioned in the Product List

The products for this month are:

The Nature’s Co Red Wine Face Gel:

I love how it smells!!! I like products that smell so good that you want to taste it. This gel smells nothing like wine. This gel is to be applied before sleeping on the entire face in upward circular motions and left overnight for vibrant, moisturized and perfectly rested skin every morning. I am looking forward to using this product. Fun fact, GlamEgo continued last month’s trend of revealing the product to have people guess what brand it was. I was betting on Innisfree as I have eyed that for the longest time I even had their price list memorised😑.Hmmm… I wonder why GlamEgo didn’t continue revealing the products after this one. ✌

The Nature’s Co. Saffron Radiance Face cream:

I love Nature’s Co. products. In the February segment I had gone on to rant about how their signature square hard plastic bottles result in excess wasting of product. I have since checked their products to find that they are now in round pet jars!

The Saffron cream is amazing. This cream has a very mild smell and is perfect for all seasons. I like how just a little bit makes the face feel well moisturised. This jar is easy to carry around in your purse or when you travel.

SESA Mud Hair Spa Kit:

This spa kit helps nourish your hair, prevent hair fall and stimulates hair growth. The kit comes with a sachet of shampoo and hair serum each and two packs of hair masque. Now, I don’t really go to mess with my hair too much for fear of damage. Hence I am not sure how I feel about this product. I know I will end up using it. My love for experimenting has no limits. As I mentioned last time store bought hair products are way out of my comfort zone.

Valley of Flowers Body Mist by Bio Bloom:

        

This perfume smells like men’s perfume and that is not a bad thing. This product is paraben and alcohol free and can be used on all skin types. People sensitive to strong smells may want to stay away from it. This Orchid and Marigold combo won Amma over, who promptly took this product and handed back the Vert solid perfume from last month’s box back to me.

Elenblu High Volume Waterproof Mascara:

This is my second mascara. I first used mascara way back in 2009 straight out of college. I remember purchasing the one by Lakme and I remember that it didn’t make much difference to my lashes and hence I never went back to this product. Now that I have this mascara I tried it on and I love how nice just a single coat looks. 

I don’t like making my lashes look too thick as they are already thick and using mascara only clumps them together and that’s why I have never been drawn to this product.

This mascara is light, dries quickly and doesn’t make the lashes too stiff.

Lulu though has a contrary opinion. Here’s her take on this product.

"I use the Benefit Roller Lash Mascara and every other mascara pales in comparison with it. However, that mascara is reserved for special occasions ONLY. Unlike Bob who has naturally thick lashes, my thin lashes needed two coats of the Elenblu Mascara and even that didn't do much for them. I do not like the shape of the Mascara Wand (traditional shaped bristle). The 'comb shaped' wand works best for my lashes. But I suppose, it would work well for daily wear as it doesn't give a dramatic effect to the lashes and washes off easily."

I am looking forward to the Wine Gel the most from this box and we will definitely write a product review after we have used it enough number of times 😄

KERASTASE RESISTANCE – MASQUE THERAPISTE

The length of my hair keeps varying every 6 months. One moment I have long flowing tresses to my mid-back and then I get a Bob cut. I have been getting blonde streaks for my hair since three years. Two years back I got my hair straightened and then a few months thereafter, got a global hair colour done with blonde streaks. You can imagine the state my hair was in after some time.

As a child, I used to have thick, straight, raven hair. Now, it’s wavy, coloured and not so thick (sigh). Colouring your hair is an addiction. I keep trying to get out of it, but each time I go to the parlour for a haircut, I walk out with streaked hair.

Two years back, post straightening and colouring, I’d been to B-Blunt and after the haircut, I had an array of Kerastase products placed before me – shampoo, hair mask and serum. They applied the serum to my hair and my hair ‘shone’! I beamed and picked up the shampoo, casually turning it around to check the price. I tried not to visibly gulp. I had three pairs of eyes look at me expectantly. (I hate products being pushed on me because I always succumb to it!)

“I’ll take the hair mask” said I.

Product: Kerastase Resistance – Masque Therapiste

Price in 2016, purchased from a salon: Rs.3,000/-

Quantity : 200 ml

I was instructed to leave the product on my hair for 10 minutes

I carried the precious tub back home and used it the next day.

My hair was dry and frizzy back then due to straightening and colouring. After I’d shampoo my hair, it would somehow get all tangled and clumpy and be one big knotted mess. My regular conditioner wasn’t helping at all.

I used a dime-sized amount of the hair mask for my shoulder length (towel dried) hair, applying it only on the length of the hair. When I smoothed this product through my hair, it miraculously untangled. The mask smells great and the fragrance lingers in your hair even after you wash it off.  I left the product on for 10 minutes and washed it off.

This is one those products that immediately works its miracle. My hair felt so soft and smooth to touch. It wasn’t knotted, dry of frizzy and it stayed like that for two days.  I used it once a week back then. Now I use it only on the days I have an event/function to attend when I want my hair to be frizz-free and appear glossy. (Yes, I am still using it). A little product goes a long way. 

My hair is no longer in the condition it was, in the year I purchased it and I don’t feel the need to re-purchase this product. Though it does work like magic and the product lasts long, I find the price a bit too steep. For those who have severely damaged hair due to chemical treatments, I would definitely recommend using this product till it smoothes out your knotty problems ;)