**Update on 23/04/2013: I had opted for a 3 month subscription, but the March Bag left me totally disappointed with near expiry products that were a part of the bag. What left me angry was the reply from Enchantess that the products were well within the expiry date despite this post and the mail that was sent to them. I opted for a cancellation and they refunded my money. They did not have the option to cancel a subscription earlier, but now they do.
The Vellvette box and the Enchantess bag arrived a day apart. Enchantess did well last month with a bag everyone was raving about and I got around subscribing it for another 3 months and now I wish that I just hadn’t! When you receive samples that are over two and half years old and probably the manufacturing sticker peeled off, you have the right to be unhappy. I mean you are introducing beauty products that is likely to influence the person you have sent samples too and if you do such a shoddy job, why would anyone trust your sampling services?
Team Enchantess: You have a long way to go and you need to send out quality products. Please make a note of this!
Without much ado, this is what that was in the Enchantess potli/bag
1. A dry shampoo – Full size product
2. TBS – Vitamin E Moisturiser
3. A sample sized soap from the brand Snan ( Azafran)
Let me get talking about the products
1. The dry shampoo was from a brand called Cotton Vantage
Yes, I know this is a life saver especially on those days when you are in a hurry and have no time to shampoo. The good news is that this is a paraben, sulfate and triclosan free product. I had been contemplating trying a dry shampoo and was pretty happy when I got this as a sample. The bad news? When I saw the bottle, the date of manufacture sticker was peeled off and it had a very flimsy seal. It was just a thin piece of clear tape. Notice those brown marks on the bottle? That is the peeled sticker. When I get something like that, I have a very valid reason to be worried. Why was the sticker peeled off? The product has a shelf life of 12 months. Do a google search and you will find a couple of good reviews on this product. But of course, I will not be using it because I have my concerns if the product has already expired.
2. TBS – Vitamin E Moisturiser
I am not a fan of TBS, but there are some products like the Rainforest Coconut Oil that I totally love and am addicted to. I have used the fragrances, soaps, moisturisers and lip balms, but never found anything good enough for a re-buy And when I got the sample I was happy till I noticed the date of manufacture. You need to have guts to send out a product that has been manufactured in 2010 for sampling 2013. Yes, no doubt that there are another 7 months to go before the product expires, but the very thought that I have a product sent to me that is two and a half years old is unacceptable. So well, this goes in the trash can because this product came without a seal or any outer packaging. And how did TBS even think of sending across something so old as a sample? Don’t they have a reputation to think of?
3. Snan Rosemary and Cream Extra Mositurising Soap
Peel out the xerox paper and you can see the brand of the soap. It comes from a brand called Azafran that I am familiar with. But I have not used their beauty products and I had no idea that they also had beauty products. I have just used their Herb infused olive oils for salads and cooking. And I quite like the oils. And yes they also have a fantastic range of essential oils. The soap has a pretty strong fragrance and I will surely give this a try. At least I get to write something nice about one product at least!
Wrapping up: Totally unhappy but one the brighter side I have one product out of the sampling that I will try!
** This post originally was published on 1st April and it has been republished with an update.
That’s just embarrassing for the company…… The way this is going I should start my own beauty subscription box. LOL>
You know what was the sad part was that when I wrote to them pointing out what they had sent, the lady who runs the show replied telling me that the samples were *fresh*. A two and a half year old product, fresh? Absolute attitude issue, I am cancelling my subscription with them.
Seriously do that. And I’m not subscribing either. Now I’m wondering about the products they sell. Seems odd that they seem to be the only ones carrying many brands.
I always give people the benefit of doubt. I have written to them about cancelling my subscription anyway. No point is receiving near expiry date products.
Yup. Let me know what they say in their response.
In the FAQ on the Enchantess site 🙂 Looks like I am stuck to it for the next two months!
Can I cancel my subscription?
Unfortunately, you cannot cancel a subscription at the moment.
Well expiry date is something one should really care about. And great , that you threw them away in trash 😀 I have never been on the sites you have mentioned above , because of the fact that they send random samples/products each time, which might be the normal commercial products easily available in the market. But yes , your review has indeed strengthened my decision. Thanks for the review 🙂 By the way , Azafran is really making headlines these days ( coz of its organic range). I have never tried any of its products. I have read that some of them are USDA certified , but Iam not really sure about the whole range. Do post the review ! 😀
So I heard about Azafran! Googled about them. I have discovered two other awesome websites, will review them soon and yes they have amazing products 🙂
This sampling bag was the pits really. As I said, you really need to have guts to send out a 2.5 year old sample. TBS or Lush, I don’t care about the brand. I just expect quality.
i had long back subscribed the first ever enchantess bag in last december… which managed to arrive only as a january bag…. 🙁
hated the products i received…. there was one hair conditioner that had separated/sedimented contents of some unknown brand…. then there was this bath & body works full size shower gel… sent in the worst condition ever possible… label all scraped n no mention of shelf life too….
there were some samples of scrub & pack from an Indian herbal brand.. can be termed the savior… i hv spoken about all of these in my blog too….
i liked wat other people received in their feb & march bags & actually thought of subscribing to it in the coming months.. thanks to ur review.. i m not gonna do so..
looks like enchantess has a habit of sending near-expiry products with bad packaging.. a big no for me!
What you are talking about is the Berina Leave in conditioner. yes, I threw mine away too. The last month’s bag was nice and what I use is the tatha skin elixir. It is good. and so were the vedantika samples. Other than that, they have sent really sad products. What is more sad is the attitude. the mails went unanswered and the casual reply that the products were fresh! Seriously, they need to do something about the attitude. And I wanted to cancel my remaining two months of subscription and apparently they don’t encourage cancelling of subscription. I am stuck with them for 2 more months!
tats so sick of enchantess…. ::(
Hey…
I agree with each and every word out here, and finally I quit any kind of sample box ever.. no vellvette or enchants for time being now 🙁
Did I tell you that Enchantess offers no cancellation of subscriptions? I am stuck with it for the next two months!
this is really pathetic! just a week back i was thinking of subscribing to enchantess, thankfully i didnt!
even though sometimes i dislike vellvette samples but they have never sent such products! i hope u get better stuff in the next 2 months in enchantess!
poorva
suggest that you check other reviews too and then decide. There are others who have liked the stuff. they sent crappy stuff to me 🙁 iam a stickler to expiry date and things like that.
hey ya ive seen a few more reviews but i feel sending expired stuff is just not acceptable for me too !
It was not expired prods. they were old prods with a near expiry date and in one product the mfg date label was missing, so I am a bit clueless about it 🙁
ya i got that but just like ur saying it seems so fishy na 🙁
Of course it does and the sad part is taht tehy don’t offer a refund if you want to cancel subscriptions. So I am stuck with the sadness for another two months!
@Kofykat, Poorva, Revathy, Anjali and Divya,
My money was refunded in about two weeks and they have updated the clause about the cancellation of the subscription too. Post updated 🙂