Mr Hermit Crab : The Gallery

Mr Hermit Crab for this week's Gallery.

Do stop by The Gallery Linky over on Tara's blog to enjoy some of the other photographs posted this week and if you are feeling inspired, why not join in too?

The Not So GlossyBox

Yesterday morning I was rather excited to receive my much hyped 'Luxury' Harrods Edition GlossyBox, my excitement was heightened by the fact that the postman knocked on my door at 9am on the dot and that never happens in the depths of the countryside that I call home.

I raced downstairs to open my box of goodies but what lay before me was not the luxury assortment that I'd seen people blogging and tweeting about. Where was my Burberry Lip Mist or my YSL Forever Youth Liberator???

In their place were items that I could have picked up in any high street Boots store. I decided that I'd been sent the wrong items and went back to check what it said on the GlossyBox blog.

My box contained: Lancome Hypnose Mascara, Molton Brown Bath & shower Gel, SK-II Signature (nice), Clarins Firming Body Lotion, Valentino Valentina Perfume, Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil.

Below quote from the GlossyBox blog...

"This month we teamed up with the world of luxury... Harrods! Harrods is most well known for having the largest and most luxurious beauty hall and in this month's GLOSSYBOX we bring you the luxury to your front door.

Here is the selection of samples that are in the box this month..." 

Whizz forward 24 hours and the first tweet I chanced upon this morning was from someone blogging about her GlossyBox (hereby known as #BloggerA), so I went over for a read.

She had exactly the same contents as me and she was similarly disappointed. I tweeted #A to let her know that she wasn't alone but all around my stream people were raving about the awesomeness of their deliveries.

By this point I was becoming increasingly annoyed and I tweeted GlossyBox to tell them so. I tweeted them a fair bit, @messaging to include them in the conversation trail that was panning out but they didn't reply at all.

They had hyped up the arrival of this Luxury box, packed with luxury cosmetics so much yet I had been sent a box of tat.

I stepped away, but everytime I went back to Twitter the situation had escalated. Blogger A had been in dialogue with GlossyBox throughout the day, via Twitter and email. I joked about not being influential enough to warrant a reply from them.

Then another blogger (lets call her #B), who just happens to be a GlossyBox ambassador chips in and questions Blogger A's integrity, saying that she should have stated that she'd been sent the non luxury special edition Harrods GlossyBox as a freebie sample.

Ouch. As a brand you don't really want your ambassadors to be sprouting that kind of stuff do you?

No you don't. Cause you can bet your ass that if Blogger A had posted a glowing review then GlossyBox would have been re-tweeting it from the rooftops.

So to my second issue in the ongoing GlossyBox saga.

This is where I became aware that most of the GlossyBox conversation was coming from bloggers / tweeters /  who had also been sent their boxes free of charge. 

That's fine. I'm a PR myself but what isn't fine is when the views of paying customers are completely ignored or when different boxes are sent out to 'elite bloggers' to secure favourable reviews.

Over the past few months I have seen many posts, pics and tweets about GlossyBox boxes, yet not once I have I seen it disclosed that the boxes were freebies.
Think about it... 100 or 200 free subscriptions to bloggers = lots of brand mentions and positivity each month but unless conversations like this take place bloggers don't realise that they are being used by the brand and that they ARE the marketing plan.

It leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth.

I will be cancelling my GlossyBox subscription as soon as I get back from my business trip and if anyone one can suggest another beauty box, but with good customer service, please do say.

Loving the new Burberry Prorsum Striped Trench

How much am I loving this stunning new Striped Jacquard Slim Trench Coat from Burberry Prorsum?

A Burberry trench is a real investment piece that you can bring back year after year. I have the bright blue scuba trench from a few years ago (as modelled by Aggy) and I love it but maybe I need a bit of this gold stripe in my life?!

If you have a spare hour to loose yourself in The Art of The Trench you won't be sorry.

Silent Sunday : Original Sister

Original Sister stock has arrived

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Loving Dr Martens New Chalky Colours

If a new season isn't a valid excuse for a new pair of Dr Martens then I don't know what is.
I've fallen head over heels in love with the new chalky colours collection but how on earth am I supposed to choose which ones to go for?

Blueberry

White

Raspberry

Made from super soft 'Cartegena' leather the Pascal 8-eye boots are light, comfortable and perfect for the spring.

Chalky colours collection 8-eye Pascal boots £100

For the Love of Pinterest

I love Pinterest. There I've said it.

I sat back and watched whilst it kicked off on Twitter over the terms and conditions and waited for the vocal, late adopters to move on (which they quickly did), so that I could settle back into my favourite down time pass time.

I'm not sure exactly what it is that draws me in. Though I have always been a serial 'inspiration collector' with boxes and boxes of images and ideas torn from magazines over the years.

I'd always put this down to my PR background but now I'm not so sure. I think I just like looking at beautiful things.

As time passes my boards are evolving and merging as I discover a new passion or simply re discover an old one.

This weekend it's Morrissey. Searching out and pinning new photos takes me right back to being 12 years old when every single inch of my bedroom walls were covered in his image. 

I like it.

For me, Pinterest real is a true reflection of your being. The things that interest you and the things that you are really passionate about.

My Style

My obsession with drawers

Big Eye Art

Are you on Pinterest? Please feel free to leave a link to your account in the comments so that  others can find you. You never know, you might have more in common that you think.

You can find me http://pinterest.com/sianto