Hello, Hex Squad! Today I’m saying goodbye Madam Glam and sharing a major update about the brand. Initially, I was captivated by their commitment to producing vegan, cruelty-free, and non-toxic gel nail polishes. However, my recent experiences, particularly with their VIP program, have drastically changed my view.
Every brand mentioned purchased by me. All opinions my own. I have received PR from Madam Glam in 2021.
Madam Glam’s Lure and the Reality of VIP Programs
Madam Glam gel polish seemed promising with its extensive “free-from” list—vegan, cruelty-free, and free from numerous harmful chemicals, making it a go-to for safe, DIY nail care. Yet, the VIP program, intended to offer value through monthly credits and significant discounts, turned out to be less than stellar.
About Hema Free Gel Polish
I know it is critical to use hema-free gel nail polish, especially if you are DIY’ing your nails at home like I am, to prevent developing a gel allergy. Once you develop a gel allergy, you can’t ever use gel polish again. Sadly, I read about it happening frequently on RedditLaqueristas. I’ve even had a few friends develop gel allergies.
One of the brands that I’ve seen repeatedly pop up as causing allergies is the gel polish brand Beetles. It’s a popular, inexpensive brand on Amazon. I’ve even purchased some of their gel polishes, but I use them very infrequently because I don’t generally want to risk my health.
Learn more about gel allergies from the Ultimate Guide to Nail Allergies.
Madam Glam VIP Program
Madam Glam polishes are priced at around $13.48 if you’re a VIP member or $26.96 if you’re not a member, depending on the formula.
Despite claims of easy Madam Glam VIP membership management, I’ve encountered issues with unauthorized charges even during supposed pause periods. These incidents, including repeated charges after cancellation requests and delayed refunds, suggest a disconnect between their service promises and actual practices.
Madam Glam States You Can Pause the Membership at Any Time
Inside the membership, it claims that you can pause the membership for 1, 2, or 3 months.
In the past, I would pause my membership for 3 months, then allow the membership to charge and spend that money on either Madam Glam gel nail polish or their Gel Polish remover. Then I would pause the membership again.
I set reminders in my calender to check the membership and pause/unpause it.
Madam Glam’s VIP page even claims that you can pause or cancel your subscription at any time. This did not seem to be true in my case.
The Pause Did Not Work for Me
However, multiple times I had the subscription paused, Madam Glam would charge me anyways. The first few times it happened I chalked it up to a technical glitch.
In August of this year, however, it happened again. I contacted support and told them I wanted the payment refunded because my subscription was paused and I wasn’t supposed to be charged. Their support said they would refund me and it wasn’t a problem.
Spoiler alert, it was a problem.
I don’t know about you, but my budget is much tighter this year than it was last year.
I went to check my credit card statement to see if Madam Glam had refunded me. Not only had they not refunded me, they had charged me again. I contacted their support again, furious at this point. I was told there was a glitch and they would issue me a refund.
At this point, I was done with Madam Glam and told them refund me and close my account.
I finally received my refund from the Madam Glam VIP program at the end of August, but the damage was done.
Not Worth It
At this point, my opinion on their VIP program is that it’s a shady way for them to get easy money. I don’t know if most people monitor their credit card statements as closely as I do.
The appeal of exclusive discounts can’t outweigh the frustration and financial unpredictability brought by their problematic VIP system. It seems the program is more beneficial to the company than to us as consumers, promoting overconsumption through enticing perks that don’t compensate for the potential hassles.
I don’t feel the $29 monthly VIP membership cost justifies the discounts and perks I actually used.
Community Feedback Echoes My Discontent
I’m not alone in my frustrations. Many others have voiced similar disappointments online, pointing to a pattern of customer service shortfalls and misleading subscription practices among various VIP programs.
I found complaints on several sites of people who had similar issues to me, such as RaveCapture and the BBB. Several people had the same issue I had where they put their VIP membership on hold, only to be charged.
Many were also gaslit by Madam Glam’s customer service about refunds that didn’t happen. It certainly happened in my case and it made me wonder where the customer service was based, because it seemed like there were several communication issues.
How to Spot a Shady Membership Program
There are so many deceptive membership programs out there. When researching about Madam Glam’s VIP membership program to see if others experienced my issues, I found that Savage by Fenty, Fabletics VIP, JustFab VIP, Adore Me VIP, and ShoeDazzle VIP all shared similar complaints.
It seems like shady membership programs have a few things in common:
- Automatic charges with no warning.
- Difficult cancellation processes that require customers to go through a tedious or deliberately unclear process.
- Misleading sign ups that make some people think you’re paying for a one-time purchase instead of a recurring membership.
I also remember people complaining with issues like this from companies like ScentBird and Ipsy.
What Brands am I Using as Alternatives to Madam Glam?
Instead of shopping with Madam Glam, here’s what I’m using on my nails.
- Vettsy – hema-free gel polish. Use my code of CORDELIA to save 20%. They have some great nail art tutorials. Shop their $9.99 gels.
- Painted Desert – hema free gel polish. They make my favorite builder Cactus Gelly Plus, and favorite top coat. I also love their tips. Their polishes are around $14.
- Daily Charme – most items are hema-free. I buy lots of nail art products here too. They have the best nail art tutorials on IG. Their polishes are around $16 and they have frequent sales.
- iGel Beauty – they make my favorite true glow-in-the-dark gel nail polish (instead of just UV reactive). Mostly hema free. Their polishes are around $14.99 and they have frequent sales down to $4.99.
- Nails by Dev – a local indie nail polish brand that is awesome and Dev’s tutorials are fantastic! Their gel polishes are around $14, but cheaper if you visit their store in person.
- F.U.N. Lacquer – an incredibly creative indie brand from Singapore. Their gel polishes are around $22.50
- Apres – I buy their natural short stiletto tips and Gel-X Prep. Their polishes, which I’ve never tried, are around $14.99
All of these brands are lower priced than Madam Glam’s non VIP gel polish pricing. The only one even close to Madam Glam’s ridiculous $26.96 is Apres. And as you can tell, most of these brands are priced around $14, which makes Madam Glam’s ‘discount’ VIP price of $13.48 not worth the hassle of the membership.
Vettsy
Vettsy is a new-to-me brand that I found on Instagram who curates nail trend boxes while also selling hema-free gel polish. I’ve purchased several of their jelly and creme formulas. The neon formula was about the same challenge level as iGel glow-in-the-dark gel polishes, which is to say slightly lumpy and takes some extra tlc to get it to look just right, but worth the effort. The cream formula was excellent for me.
Painted Desert
Painted Desert makes my favorite Cactuc Gelly Plus builder, which is what I apply on top of my Orly Nail Tip Primer in a thin coat, cure, and then apply it to the base of my full coverage nail tips to adhere the tip to my nail. They also make my favorite Glossy Top Coat. It’s no wipe, but I still end up wiping with alcohol after I’m finished with all my nails to make sure they look their best. I have a few polishes from Painted Desert and they’re lovely too. I love the full coverage nail tips that they sell and have several shapes from them.
Daily Charme
Daily Charme is the nail brand that I’ve purchased from the most over the past few years, primarily because I love their extensive nail art selection. I do own their UV-reactive nail polishes, but was disappointed that they are not true glow-in-the-dark. What I mean by that is with true glow-in-the-dark gel polish, I charge it either outside in direct sunlight or in my LED nail lamp (wearing my LED protection gloves), and then it glows all night in the dark. UV-reactive gel polishes only glow under blacklight. I adore the full coverage nail tips that they sell and have several shapes from them.
iGel Beauty
iGel Beauty is the brand that I’ve tried the most variety of products from. I tried their dip products, which are definitely not for me. I love their gel polishes, especially the glow-in-the-dark, mood change glow gel (thermals + glow-in-the-dark), pearl gel, platinum ombre gel, and blossom gel. iGel polishes are reasonably priced and they’re constantly having sales where you can pick up gel polish for $5 a bottle. If you want true glow-in-the-dark products, you need to shop iGel. I don’t know any other brand that has them.
Apres
I only use two products from Apres. I used their natural short stiletto tips and Gel-X Prep. Gel-X Prep is a product used to etch the inside of full coverage tips to help them adhere better. And I prefer the Apres natural short stiletto tips to any other short stiletto tips that I’ve tried. Their shape fits me well.
No More VIP for Me
I’m over companies that employ VIP programs like Madam Glam. I understand that a recurring revenue model, such as a monthly fee, helps to provide businesses with a steady and predictable revenue stream. It also makes sure that there’s a higher customer lifetime value with the automatic renewal, because many people forget to unsubscribe or pause memberships.
These companies use FOMO (fear of missing out) to get people to join their programs by offering VIP only discounts, early access to products, and other things to entice people to keep the memberships even if they’re not frequent shoppers.
However, these deceptive business practices can also harm their company’s reputation, especially when coupled with bad customer service.
This experience has reinforced my stance on supporting businesses that value transparency and customer respect over deceptive subscription tactics. It’s disheartening to see a brand with potential falter through poor customer management. I’ll stick with Vettsy, Daily Charme, iGel, Painted Desert, Nails by Dev, F.U.N. Lacquer and Apres since they don’t treat me poorly and have fair pricing.
Madam Glam, it’s time for a change—not just in how you handle subscriptions, but in how you treat your loyal customers. Until then, it’s a goodbye from me.
