Beauty by subscription… now you can try out new makeup, skincare, hair care, and nail products without ever leaving your house! So you can keep on raiding, keep on reading, and keep being your geeky self while also getting glamorous.

If you don’t know what MyGlam is, it’s a monthly subscription service where you get 4-5 beauty product samples sent to you for $10 per month (or $110 for a full year pre-paid subscription). You take a short makeup/beauty quiz online that is supposed to help customize your glam bag to your preferences. (So far it has been stated that the first bag was not highly customizable, but they do intend to increase personalization in the future). The company was founded by Michelle Phan, the #1 beauty personality on YouTube.

Beauty-by-subscription (as I call it) has been taking hold for the last few years now. More and more people are thrilled to get surprise items mailed to them each month for a small fee – and why not? It’s like getting Christmas presents every month! Other companies such as Birchbox, Beauty Test Tube, Julep Maven, and many more have slowly been carving out a new market in beauty that allows people to try things they otherwise might pass up or be unable to afford on limited budgets. This gives more exposure to new brands, high end brands, drugstore brands, and established industry giants looking for more new customers. The idea is that if you love the sample you received, then you will go out and buy the full sized product. Personally, I am in love with the idea but no one seems to have gotten it just right yet (for my taste). Perhaps MyGlam will be the lucky winner to get a slam dunk in this new industry.

MyGlam’s debut glam bag is out and I have nothing but praise for it! (Due to the format transfer of my blog this review is coming out much later than when I first received my bag). Inside my $10 bag I found a treasure trove of goodies that are worth much more than what I had to pay for them. In addition, I found some new products that I like!

A travel size Urban Decay Primer Potion (0.13 fl oz.) in Original, which retails for $9. I still have a bottle of this but it was running low so I am thrilled to have this little version of my absolute favorite primer.

A FULL SIZE Urban Decay Eyeshadow (0.05 oz.) in Sin, which was originally found in the Naked palette and it retails for $17. I adore this color! There was also a generous $15 off coupon for the Book of Shadows IV included in the bag and I managed to catch an amazing sale on Urban Decay’s website that allowed me to combine the coupon and get it for $29!! That’s over half off!! (I really love the colors in the Book of Shadows IV too!)

A FULL SIZE NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream (0.23 fl oz.) in San Paulo that retails for $6. The shade is a bit bold for my taste (still beautiful though) but it feels good on the lips and overall I would have to say that I like it and may go in search of a different shade.

A FULL SIZE pack of Mai Couture Blemish Control Blotting Papiers (100 sheets) which retails for $20. This came as a bit of a surprise to me as I hadn’t heard of this company before. I am really pleased with the sheets as they do their job in absorbing oil, and I hope that the salicylic acid helps with blemishes/blackheads. I keep them in my purse for quick touch ups and they are pretty awesome.

There were two sample sheets of Mai Couture Blush Papier Blush in the shade “Sunset Blvd.” along with a 25% off coupon to buy more. I only tried the shade on my inner arm, and I found it nice. It was a touch more orange than I like my blush though so I will likely not purchase it. It was kind of cool how the blush just rubbed off of a sheet of paper. these would be handy for when you want to look nice after having gotten unexpectedly stuck overnight at someone’s house (that happened to me many times with late night sessions of tabletop role playing lol) as they would be super convenient to keep in your purse.

A mini Tarte lights, camera, lashes! Mascara (0.10 fl oz.) in black. The mini is not sold on its own so I am uncertain of what the retail value of it would be, but it makes for an excellent travel size and that is worth a lot to me as I hate to carry a large purse hehe. (This mascara was actually awarded Best Mascara in 2010 by Elle Magazine)!

Everything was packed inside the stylish purple and white striped bag, which has a small mirror on a string tucked inside (very handy for touch ups on the go). Altogether, this retails for approximately $52 and I only had to pay $10!  (There is also the $15 savings on the Book of Shadows IV from Urban Decay to consider in this value as well – at least for me since I was able to buy it – so that’s more like a $67 value for me!!!). If the quality of each glam bag remains this high then I can see myself being extremely pleased with my investment.

My fear is that with increased demand they will sacrifice the quality of the items included so that they can cater to a larger audience. While it is fair to try and offer the service to everyone who wants it, it’s not fair to sacrifice the integrity of the product included to do so. I have heard stories about BirchBox going down that road from people who had been subscribed right from the company launch until somewhat recently. Apparently, when BirchBox first launched they had large sized sample products and even full sized products quite often, and these days people are getting paper coasters, food bars, and sample sizes you could get for free from magazines and cosmetics counters. The way I see it, that is unacceptable. These beauty subscription services are supposed to offer a more elite level of sample product that you would not otherwise be able to get.

According to MyGlam’s comments on Facebook, they plan to keep the quality high and that makes me want to squeal with joy! Here’s hoping they live up to those comments.

Since MyGlam is a brand new company, they are having some growing pains. I think that perhaps they did not anticipate so much attention upon their launch and that has left them scrambling to keep up with the bugs that keep popping up in the process. (To be fair, I think they are doing a pretty decent job and it’s obvious they are working hard to get things stable). At this time making changes to your account is… less than smooth. You end up needing to cancel your subscription and then re-sign up. The problem with this method is that sign-ups are closed most of the time right now due to the high demand for the product. So basically, if you manage to get in try to sign up with current and accurate information so that you can STAY IN or you might miss out on a wonderful glam bag!

Tips!

• Use a credit card that will last for awhile (a credit card that is not about to expire, not prepaid – unless you can add funds whenever you wish to it, etc.) because you cannot change your payment method without cancelling your subscription at this time. You can email the company and have them try to change it for you manually so that you do not lose your subscription status, but that is quite a hassle and not easily done. They plan to get this kink worked out later so bear with them as they work through it. (email is: glamgirls@myglam.com)

• They do not ship internationally at this time due to the high cost of international shipping. They plan to open the company up to other countries little by little as time goes on, with Canada likely being the first as shipping to Canada is one of the easiest and less expensive options as far as international shipping from the US goes. The problem is that for $10 they cannot ship the bags internationally and still make any money with them. It would likely cost twice as much for international bags because of shipping and customs fees. They have not given any time frame as to when they will open the company up internationally (since they are still figuring out how they an make it affordable), so just sit tight and check back on their Facebook page occasionally for more news on that.

• They do not ship to PO boxes for some reason so have a physical address ready!

I highly recommend reading through MyGlam’s website FAQ (frequently asked questions) section before you sign up so that you can avoid making any mistakes and understand the process better. The billing and shipping questions you may have are also explained in the FAQ so that you fully understand what you are getting into before signing up. I check out the Facebook fan page fairly frequently and I am constantly seeing the exact same questions asked over, and over, and over again. The repeat questions are, for the most part, all answered in the FAQ and taking the time to read through it would greatly reduce this and in turn reduce the workload on the MyGlam girls so that they can turn their attention to fixing issues instead of repeating themselves endlessly.

For the debut glam bag they actually posted a list of products that would be included in the bag. For future bags they “may share a sneak peak of the content of that month’s Glam Bag as well as the theme for the looks. However, part of the fun is the surprise of discovering great new products when you receive your Glam Bag.” (Quoted passage taken directly from the FAQ  page of their website).

They also speak of a community on their website. A place you can go to watch videos of the glam bag products in use done by some of your favorite YouTube gurus such as Michelle Phan, Promise Phan, Jessica Harlow, Andrea (known as AndreasChoice on YouTube), and Bethany (otherwise known as Macbarbie07 on YouTube). The community is lacking at the moment but I am sure that it will continue to grow as the company gets on its feet. Keep in mind that this was the launch of the company so there is so much more to come!

All in all – I would recommend signing up as soon as they have some open space for more subscribers (they sell out and re-open the sign ups frequently right now as they acquire more company sponsors and product).

Stay tuned because I am about to get my January glam bag and plan to show you what is inside! I will most likely slip that article onto the site in between my normal posting schedule so check back frequently for it. I will, of course, link to it on my Facebook fan page so be sure to become a fan to get updates on my posts. So how do you feel about beauty-by-subscription? Leave a comment and let me know!

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