What is this Glossybox thing, anyway?

The beauty corner of YouTube has been inundated with reviews and unboxing videos of something called Glossybox. You may recall a little while back I reviewed JustFab.com, a shoe subscription service -- well, it seems a lot like that.



Glossybox is a worldwide company, but is just now coming to America. In order to raise some hype, they've sent boxes free of charge to a whole lotta Youtube beauty vloggers, not just the big name gurus. This shows a transition in the way fashion and beauty products are marketed to young consumers. While we may still covet our issues of Vogue, we are spending more time browsing Youtube, blogs, Chictopia.com, and Lookbook.nu than magazines for fashion and beauty "inspiration." I mean, these days you can even watch people unbox new shoes on Youtube with a detailed review -- times are a-changing, people! (Which is sad for all of us who hoped to be magazine editors.) Lots of companies are offering free products in exchange for blog updates and vlogs.

Let's take a look at my favorite Youtube fashion/beauty/paranormal blogger, Grav3yardgirl, as she opens her free Glossybox:



From what I gather, you pay $21 each month for one monthly box filled with five different travel size beauty products (a nice way to dress up what seems like samples to me) curated by "beauty experts." I am not sure if you can skip months or not, like you can with JustFab and ShoeDazzle. They are packaged very nicely, and some of the products actually are full size, like OPI nail polish. The company promises that all the brands are high end or luxury. So, is it really worth the $21 per month?  That's $252 per year, and as grav3yardgirl says, that's potential shoe money. Perhaps the added retail cost of all the contexts is enough to draw you in. I definitely want to see more.

The whole thing is still in the "beta" stages for America, but I am intrigued. Their marketing tactic has certainly succeeded in creating a lot of buzz.

Related articles

• Birchbox Addicts Beware: Glossybox and Total Beauty Collection Launch (eye4style.com)


• GLOSSYBOX USA Is Here! (style-love-repeat.com)

A Look at the Upcoming Versace collaboration with H&M

This past weekend, my boyfriend and I took a short vacation to New York City, and for the long bus ride home I picked up the new issue of Vogue. As I read through the magazine, I came to the feature on Versace's upcoming diffusion line the fashion house is launching with H&M. (For those of you who are like me and don't know what diffusion line means, it's basically a more affordable, redesigned version of an expensive designer line.) I'm still mourning the loss of my chance at snagging a piece from the Missoni for Target line that is still technically going on, but as most fashionistas will tell you, the shelves are bare, so the article in Vogue was pretty exciting for me. The Missoni for Target line sold out within days of release online and in my local Target. I wanted at least a cardigan, but no dice. Perhaps, like the Dolce Vita line, I'll be able to scrounge something up on eBay. (I found a pair of Dolce Vita for Target boots with the gold buckles and zippers for only $15, including shipping! I'll show them off in my next post!)



The Versace line will have two roll-out dates, the first being Novermber 17th and the second coming January 19th of next year. The first installment will include woman and menswear as well as goods for the home, such as decor and dinner ware. Both installments are reworkings of iconic designs from Versace's archives, including many from the late Gianni Versace.



Above is a video released by Versace back in June. Lots of leather and studs, she says. Well, the line will be far less expensive than real Versace pieces, but not cheap by H&M standards. Maybe the upside is that the line won't sell out immediately like the Missoni for Target line has.  We're getting more and more looks at pieces now that the full ad campaign has been released. Here are some to pique your interest...

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="515" caption="Donatella Versace wearing one of the studded leather dresses from the line for H&M at a Versace fashion show."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Daphne Groeneveld and Lindsey Wixson modeling the H&M line. Photo by Mert & Marcus."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="412" caption="A reworking of a Gianni Versace design for the H&M line."][/caption]

I am excited, but doubtful I will be able to afford anything. Hopefully the H&M closest to me will be one of the "select" stores. For more scans of the ads that have been released, check out this Fashonologie article.