Beauty Army May 2012

[serioussparkles]

I have had a few friends with issues with bad-smelling samples. And lots of expired samples (like the Befine deal). I cannot get a single Shea Terra Organics sample to show up. I think I'll skip this month.

 

[tameloy]

So...my selections opened up this morning, and they are ALL perfume samples and small packets. What the heck Beauty Army?? I re-took my beauty profile quiz a few times with all different answers. Not sure if Beauty Army is for me. I may be switching to a second Birchbox account, or Sample Society.

 

[zadidoll]

I didn't order last month and I've decided to simply cancel. I love the boxes but I can't justify spending $12 on a box plus some tiny size samples. I wish there were more than nine items to select from and that there was a way to NOT allow certain selections. All last month I had only perfume choices or men's samples to choose from and so far this month it's pretty much the same thing. I love Beauty Army but right now it's just not for me.

 

[tameloy]

I'm considering e-mailing Nancy Lee. I really think I am in a odd week during the month when the stock is at its lowest. I see so many people at the first of the month with the best samples!

 

[Playedinloops]

Yeah...it's weird. When BA is on, they are really on. And i'm sure they are trying hard to get more samples, but it is hard to justify keeping (or at least for me keeping 2 accounts) when they charge you and then refund you when you skip a month. 

 

[CookiesGirl327]

I'm considering e-mailing Nancy Lee. I really think I am in a odd week during the month when the stock is at its lowest. I see so many people at the first of the month with the best samples!

I don't know how she will handle that, as far as my understanding goes...u cancel (not skip the month but cancel) and then resub and whenever u want to start ur sub again it then changes the date. Nancy Lee is great but I'm not sure if she actually BELIEVES some of the things she says or if she has to say them, as part of BA's company. She is going to tell u that inventory is added all throughout the month and items are never added at the beginning end or middle , so no one has an advantage over anyone else. I believe that SOMETIMES that's true. But I have never gotten a box when they had old items restocked (Larocca myface boob tube etc) and my box used to be at the end of the month. @playedinloops-I agree! For me, I retook the quiz so many times....I decided not to choose right away and on the 2nd or 3rd day, I retook it and got my Joico. BUT this box doesn't excite me. My first box was the best and I think every one after that has had ONE thing I like a lot but very mediocre. My point is, being that they had already charged me, I told Myself I may as well just choose samples. Next time I get sucky choices, I'm skipping. I'm excited about a few of the choices I'm getting but I can't keep spending $12 on stuff I don't really want or need. They have NYX on their brand page and also posted on fb about it. If I get NYX products in a future box that would be awesome. And lastly, I say they take off the Kellet packets, and the rest of those tear-off-top one time use packets. Noooooboooody wants some of the things that KEEP popping up.

 

[Annelle]

Originally Posted by autumnandicarus /img/forum/go_quote.gif


So did I! I remember them making a facebook post about being excited about recent deals they've made, but I can't find it :[ Also it feels a little misleading to make a bunch of posts about a makeup company like NARS (It was a while back, but still!) when you don't intend on having their products available for sampling. I know they're a beauty company so it makes sense that they post about makeup trends; I guess I'm just a little disappointed we haven't really gotten makeup since January/February (aside from LaRocca which I never got in my selections- boooo!)

Originally Posted by glamourdolleyes /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I see where you're coming from. I don't go to BeautyArmy for "advice" nor do they have a beauty column, videos, etc like BB or MG have, so why are they posting about NARS? I go to their facebook page to see what is coming. I didn't see the NARS post but I could understand.

Hi All,

I just wanted to post a small response from Nancy-Lee, Community Director of Beauty Army, about these posts.  She's told me that Beauty Army hadn't mentioned NARS on their facebook, however someone uploaded a picture of their kit with a NARS lip gloss in the photo.  The reason that confusion came up was because although the photo was labeled that the lip gloss did not come in the kit (she included it in the picture to use as a scale so you could get an idea of the sizes of the samples), I think that people just looked at the picture and assumed that it all came in her kit.  Beauty Army just wanted to clarify in case people were confused as to why NARS was being talked about on their Facebook, when there haven't been any NARS products in anybody's kits.

 

[lady41]

My selection window opens up in a couple of days. If I don't see any Shea Terra or Indie Lee products, I'm skipping. Lately the samples I've been getting from BA have been weird. They are a nice size, they seem to work ok...but there is always something a little "off" about them. For me...most of them smell weird. Like, old-ladyish. I have about 3-4 moisturizers that I won't even use because the smell is so strong. The 3 worst ones are the Boob Tube, Babor Anti-Jetlag Cream and one of those Cellceuticals. It's so annoying because the actual products work pretty well, but I just can't get over the smell. Does anyone else seem to have this problem?

yessssss that Babor about made me sick! It was horrible! I posted the same question a few months back but it seemed no one else. Had the same issue. Also It took a full seven days for my kit to ship after I made my selection...love the concept but they definitely need to step it up a bit.

 

[autumnandicarus]

Originally Posted by Annelle /img/forum/go_quote.gif



Hi All,

I just wanted to post a small response from Nancy-Lee, Community Director of Beauty Army, about these posts.  She's told me that Beauty Army hadn't mentioned NARS on their facebook, however someone uploaded a picture of their kit with a NARS lip gloss in the photo.  The reason that confusion came up was because although the photo was labeled that the lip gloss did not come in the kit (she included it in the picture to use as a scale so you could get an idea of the sizes of the samples), I think that people just looked at the picture and assumed that it all came in her kit.  Beauty Army just wanted to clarify in case people were confused as to why NARS was being talked about on their Facebook, when there haven't been any NARS products in anybody's kits.

It was these posts, coupled with how other companies (BirchBox and MyGlam) feature looks from companies that they plan on having in their boxes, that had me thinking they planned on having NARS. They also had a post that said something along the lines of "We're so excited about recent deals we've made, but we can't tell you about them!" but I can't find it. I love Beauty Army and I think it's awesome that they hold contests and keep in touch with their customers- but I think they should try to keep their posts on BA's facebook limited to products we'll be seeing in our own boxes.





that last one is from before they had officially started, but I figured I'd include it anyway!

 

[Annelle]

Originally Posted by Angie Tacker /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I am having to contact them to reverse the charge after my skip. They should not charge till after you place your order with the skip option. This is a glitch that needs fixing ASAP

Originally Posted by cappuccino /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I decided to skip this month and give them another try next month. I used my skip option on May 1st but they charged my account today May 4th anyway. I just want to cancel and get a refund at this point. The samples are much to small for $12.00 a month anyway and in Feb I didn't get what the samples that I ordered and they still have not fixed that for me!

I wanted to let you gals know about this too.  BeautyArmy is aware of how this can be inconvenient for their customers (to need to wait for a refund instead of not getting charged for a skip) and is looking into possible options, but there is no current ETA for when this might be fixed. 

HOWEVER, the way that billing works is that there is a $12 HOLD placed on your account that takes 24 hours to process.  If you SKIP before the first 24 hours is up, the hold is "released," and you won't be charged at all.  If you don't skip until days 2-5, then the payment has already gone through, which is why you'll have to wait for a refund instead.  So if you want to skip, do so within the first 24 hours to avoid being charged for the month.

 

[glamigirl]

Originally Posted by Annelle /img/forum/go_quote.gif


I wanted to let you gals know about this too.  BeautyArmy is aware of how this can be inconvenient for their customers (to need to wait for a refund instead of not getting charged for a skip) and is looking into possible options, but there is no current ETA for when this might be fixed. 

HOWEVER, the way that billing works is that there is a $12 HOLD placed on your account that takes 24 hours to process.  If you SKIP before the first 24 hours is up, the hold is "released," and you won't be charged at all.  If you don't skip until days 2-5, then the payment has already gone through, which is why you'll have to wait for a refund instead.  So if you want to skip, do so within the first 24 hours to avoid being charged for the monthly

i skipped the first day my selection opened and was still charged for the month.  however, it was reversed the following day.

 

[Playedinloops]

Originally Posted by Annelle /img/forum/go_quote.gif


I wanted to let you gals know about this too.  BeautyArmy is aware of how this can be inconvenient for their customers (to need to wait for a refund instead of not getting charged for a skip) and is looking into possible options, but there is no current ETA for when this might be fixed. 

HOWEVER, the way that billing works is that there is a $12 HOLD placed on your account that takes 24 hours to process.  If you SKIP before the first 24 hours is up, the hold is "released," and you won't be charged at all.  If you don't skip until days 2-5, then the payment has already gone through, which is why you'll have to wait for a refund instead.  So if you want to skip, do so within the first 24 hours to avoid being charged for the month.

That's not true. I skipped the morning of the first day of my window and had a 12 dollar charge processed on my credit card. The refund was not processed until the 6th, my window opened on the 1st. 

 

[autumnandicarus]

Honestly I guess I'm being a little harsh on Beauty Army. Even birchbox has random entries about NARS, but it makes more sense to me because BB actually has a blog. I do love BA's facebook posts, and I follow them on instagram (where they mention products they love- and I completely don't mind it there for some reason) and pinterest. I think it was just a moment of hoping for more makeup to try! There are things that I think could be done better, it's strange to have makeup as a choice in the quiz process if there's no makeup in stock.

I think most subscription companies make the mistake of trying to look like a beauty sampler distributor, when most of them only have skincare and lotion. Don't get me wrong, BA is my favorite sub (next to LBB) just because I get to choose and they have a skip system. :]

edit: I just realized BA has a blog too! I think that that's where those types of posts should go, while facebook should be limited to contests and upcoming products or products that just got restocked (like LBB!)

 

[Annelle]

Keep in mind that BeautyArmy is still a very new program (their first shipment was in January of this year!) so they're still learning these things too /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[cappuccino]

Originally Posted by Angie Tacker /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I am having to contact them to reverse the charge after my skip. They should not charge till after you place your order with the skip option. This is a glitch that needs fixing ASAP

Did you get your refund? I skipped and they charged me and will not refund my money! Bad business!

 

[cappuccino]

Originally Posted by Annelle /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Quote: Originally Posted by Angie Tacker /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I am having to contact them to reverse the charge after my skip. They should not charge till after you place your order with the skip option. This is a glitch that needs fixing ASAP

Originally Posted by cappuccino /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I decided to skip this month and give them another try next month. I used my skip option on May 1st but they charged my account today May 4th anyway. I just want to cancel and get a refund at this point. The samples are much to small for $12.00 a month anyway and in Feb I didn't get what the samples that I ordered and they still have not fixed that for me!

I wanted to let you gals know about this too.  BeautyArmy is aware of how this can be inconvenient for their customers (to need to wait for a refund instead of not getting charged for a skip) and is looking into possible options, but there is no current ETA for when this might be fixed. 

HOWEVER, the way that billing works is that there is a $12 HOLD placed on your account that takes 24 hours to process.  If you SKIP before the first 24 hours is up, the hold is "released," and you won't be charged at all.  If you don't skip until days 2-5, then the payment has already gone through, which is why you'll have to wait for a refund instead.  So if you want to skip, do so within the first 24 hours to avoid being charged for the month.

Not true! I skipped well within 24 hrs and they still charged me. I asked them to reverse this charge on May 3rd it is still not done and they will not answer my emails. This is not a good start!

 

[MakeupA]

I agree! I have overall been very impressed with how they conduct business and their customer service. They have made a lot of improvements in such a short period of time and somehow managed to avoid errors and imo offer a better service than another subscription service that started around the same time.

Originally Posted by Annelle /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Keep in mind that BeautyArmy is still a very new program (their first shipment was in January of this year!) so they're still learning these things too /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[aleeeshuh]

At first, I wasn't impressed with Beauty Army. I actually never received my first subscription from them. Now I actually really look forward to their boxes every month. Most of their samples I really like and compared to BB their samples are very generous. Like this month I was able to snag the Joico reconstructor, which I'm super excited about!!!!

Sorry this isn't the greatest pic quality...

 

[amygab1126]

My selection window opened today and HOLY CRAP the choices are bad! No matter what I do with the profile, it's all tiny samples, and almost half of them are perfume. I'll check back over the next couple days, but wow...it's not looking good for Beauty Army.

 

[samplegal]

They really need to add new stuff every single month, not just once in a while.

It seems like from month to month, they roll over the samples I rejected from the previous months into my current selection window, and eventually, the selection window is nothing but rejected samples. I didn't pick them the first time for a reason, lol.