Well I have now received my second glam bag…. and thank goodness I did! This month the newbie beauty by subscription company MyGlam encountered a pretty bad snafu that has some people up in arms.

January marks the second month of business for MyGlam and sadly they had a rather large error in their shipping process. It seems that their shipment company accidentally printed multiples of some address labels while failing to print others which caused widespread havoc throughout the subscriber base of the company. Some subscribers will not be receiving bags at all this month which was a major disappointment. Other subscribers received multiple bags and while some of them opened the bags and kept them, others were kind enough to resist the urge to open them and marked them ‘return to sender’ so that MyGlam could try and reroute them to someone who was without a bag. The community seems to have come together in this crisis and they have formed a group on Facebook to attempt to give bags directly to those who did not get one. There are some people also doing YouTube giveaways with their extra bags, but personally this really gets under my skin as that would mean it could go to a non-subscriber which just isn’t fair.

All of this sounds pretty bad, but overall I admire the way that MyGlam is handing the mess. As it turns out, this whole issue is only going to cause approximately 1% of their subscribers to miss out on January’s bag (although if you look at the screaming discontent -fest that is ongoing on their Facebook page you would swear the entire world was affected). MyGlam has of course offered refunds to all of the subscribers who would not be getting a bag this month, and as an added apology they are adding an extra gift in those bags next month that is valued $10! (considering the bags themselves cost $10, that’s a nice gift). They are also not charging for the extra bags that were received and kept rather than returned (which I think is pretty awesome because I have had other companies actually charge customers for receiving and keeping something erroneously sent before). So, thanks to the shipping company’s error, MyGlam will be taking a rather painful profit loss this month. In business though, this was the right thing to do and it is obvious to me that they care about their customers.

Another problem that MyGlam seems to still be encountering is damage during shipment. The cute pink bubble mailers just might not be enough to protect fragile cosmetic products and easily squished liquid products such as conditioner and facial masks. Some customers had the nail polish shatter in the bag, others had the facial mask all over the bag. From what I can see on the Facebook page it seems that MyGlam doesn’t carry many replacement products and they usually opt to offer a refund on the bag if something is not in good condition. That is wonderful that they handle the situation, but I know my fellow glammies (term used for a MyGlam fan) feel the same way I do – they would rather have gotten the product! As a solution I think they should either keep subscriptions closed while acquiring 10-15 extras (at least) of each product to accommodate for broken/damaged items OR they need to start using a cute pink BOX instead. I know they want to appear different from companies such as Birchbox, but boxes are simply more protective of the contents within and they can still put the adorable cosmetic bags inside the shipping box too.

The final physical issue they need to work out is with missing products. I haven’t heard of many people missing items all together, but it does happen and MyGlam doesn’t seem to have extras on hand to send out replacements. Instead, they are offering refunds on bags with missing products (from what I have seen them post on the Facebook page). This is yet another reason they should hold off on opening more subscriptions even if they get some more products in because again, we would really rather get the product than a refund.

The non-physical problems are occurring with their website issues. Some people cannot seem to get email responses. This could be due to the system not delivering them; I like to give the benefit of the doubt. Although, with the sheer volume of emails they were getting this month due to the shipping issue it was likely very difficult for them to keep up with it all causing a delay in response time. I have always received responses to my email inquiries so I cannot say too much on this topic. However, I cannot even access my account on the website anymore. I tried all the troubleshooting, and then emailed MyGlam to be told “wait for our new website to be built in order to log in again or we will have to reset your account which would cancel your subscription”. I am an understanding person who doesn’t feel the need to log into my account a million times a day – or heck, even once a day – so I simply confirmed my subscription status and told them that I would wait so that I wouldn’t jeopardize my subscription. I could see other people not being so accepting of this answer though, so I hope that the new site is coming along swiftly. (I was billed correctly and I did receive my bag even though I could not log in to my account so it wasn’t, and isn’t, the end of the world).

Even with all the chaos and malfunctions present, I still love MyGlam. I would have stuck with this statement even if I had not gotten a bag this month too. I guess I am an easygoing person and so long as they are offering refunds on bags not received, on bags received with damaged goods, and they continue in their efforts to improve then I am satisfied with the company’s offerings. I would have been disappointed had I not received a bag and I feel bad for those who didn’t get one this month but in the end it is a $10 bag of goodies – not a lifesaving organ transplant. Some people are so infuriated that they are running to report MyGlam to the Better Business Bureau and frankly I don’t find that to be a valid course of action as MyGlam is working hard to rectify the problems that have occurred. I will be very sad to see MyGlam get a bad reputation because they had one major mess-up in their second month of operation. MyGlam is still offering quality products that I am enjoying, so I want to see them thrive and grow!

I’m sure that you’re super interested in what products I got this month though, right? This month’s bag was themed ‘Back to Nature’ and all the products were organic, cruelty free, and natural. The bag was simple yet super cute with little green leaves printed on canvas. It also had a plastic interior lining to the canvas material making it resilient to liquids/cosmetics that might get loose in it.  I live in California and I can tell you, having your makeup melt in the 100+ degree weather and finding it all over the inside of your purse SUCKS… this cute cosmetic bag will help to keep such things from wrecking everything in your purse. Yay! Here’s what came inside this month’s nice little bag:

A sample size of Wen Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner (2 fl oz.) The introductory 3pc. kit retails for $29.95 (not the $36 value listed on the included card). This is an interesting product as it takes the place of both a shampoo and conditioner (Hence the name ‘cleansing’ conditioner). Personally, I love what I already have for hair care so I am not certain I will even try this, but I will hang onto in case I get a wild hair – pun intended. The reviews on this product are pretty amazing so it’s tempting for sure.

A FULL SIZE Freeman Cucumber Facial Peel-Off Mask (6 fl oz.) While on the low end of retail value at $3.99, this mask has some amazing reviews as well. (The card included mentions sachets – those were not actually something that was included this month in ANY bag so that, along with the listed $8 value, must be a typo). Thus far I have tried it on my hand and it left the skin feeling silky smooth after I easily peeled it off. It also has that cool factor of feeling like you’re a lizard that is sloughing off an old layer of skin! hehe.

A FULL SIZE Sheer Cover Duo Concealer (0.10 oz.) This item is actually a component to a kit that retails for $29.95 and includes: Mineral Foundation SPF15 (in 2 shades), Duo Concealer, Base Perfector Primer, Bronzing Tan Minerals, and Extra Length Mineral Mascara. You also get 3 free gifts with it as well. I have a REALLY hard time matching my skin tone to anything and sadly this was just a bit off the mark for me, but it did feel nice on the skin. I also like the clear packaging so that you can easily see what it is you’re reaching for.

Finally my last product was one of two options that might have arrived from theBalm. A FULL SIZE Shady Lady Eyeshadow(0.12 oz.) that retails for $16. I received the shade “Shameless Shana” which is a nice brown/bronze color. I like the container’s screw on lid and the size of the eyeshadow – it’s huge! (The screw on lid may possibly be exclusive to these bags as others seem to be in square containers). Also it is quite pigmented and goes on very smooth.

In addition to the products there are valuable coupons from the manufacturers in this month’s bag as well! This month I don’t see myself taking advantage of them, but they do add to the overall value of the bag for someone who would use them. This means that the total value included in the bag comes to $19.99 without the Sheer Cover duo concealer included or the sample of Wen (I left those out since they are each parts of a more valuable kit and therefore I cannot accurately place a dollar amount on them). Again, MyGlam delivers a high quality, good value bag for only $10 out of my pocket… I am one happy camper!

I cannot wait for February’s bag! The sneak peek of the bag fabric showed it to be bright pink with little hearts… *swoon*! One good result of receiving my bag late due to the big shipping issue is that now I have even less waiting time between bags this time around – always look on the bright side

What are your thoughts on everything that’s happening with MyGlam?