Which Box Is Best?

There are literally hundreds of subscription boxes out there right now. It seems like the subscription box thing is the hot item of the moment. I have succumbed to the mania by subscribing to several different boxes that I think are catered to my likings. There are many, many categories of these subscription boxes. There are beauty boxes, boxes for new mothers, craft boxes, children's boxes, food boxes, organic boxes, etc. I tend to go for the ones that offer beauty products.

My question today is, which box is best? So far I have found that the one I enjoy most and look forward to getting is Popsugar's Must Have Bag.  I have yet to be disappointed with the many treasures I have found when I opened the box. I guess my second favorite is Cravebox. I am always pleased with Cravebox, but I wish it would be a little more regular. One thing I do like about Cravebox is that it does have a Facebook so the subscribers can chitchat about the goings on at Cravebox, as well as getting updates on shipping and contents from the Admins of Cravebox. The reason I like these two boxes so well is because they include mostly full-size products.

Now my question to you is, which box do you like best? Post in the comments below if you have a favorite! 

Sample Society September 2012

Sample Society is becoming one of my favorite subscription boxes. The products usually are not full sized, but they are all high end so I feel like I am  getting something luxurious. I am very pleased with this month's box.

I love lip gloss, so my eyes immediately were drawn to the tube of Borghese B Gloss lip gloss. And the color is perfect for me. I will definitely enjoy this. The color is Fiore and it retails for $19/0.21 oz. This is slightly smaller than full size at 0.16 oz.

I next noticed a little box with foreign lettering. The little box contained a small spray tube of perfume. The brand is Dipytyque and the fragrance is Do Son. It retails for $88/50 mL. 

There was one tube that was larger than the others. It is Cellceuticals Extremely Gentle Skin Cleanser. I feel like this will be a great addition to my daily skincare regimen. It retails for $35/6.7 fl. oz. The sample size is 2 oz. I can get a couple of weeks of use from this sample.

To use after the Extremely Gentle cleanser, I found Ahava's Time to Clear purifying mud mask. It claims to clear the skin of oil and root out acne and blackheads. I am really looking forward to using this. It retails for $31/4.3 oz.; the sample is 0.9 oz. I feel like this will probably be my favorite product from this month's box.

Lastly, I found a Stila Smudge Crayon. This turns out to be an eye primer, liner, and shadow all in one. I love the color, which is Umber. I already love Stila products, so I'm sure this one will not be an exception. It retails for $22 in the full size. The sample looks like it is probably about a third of the full size. 

I always love getting these high end products and trying them out, even if I can't afford them! Oh yeah, and let me not forget to mention the $15 off $50 purchase from beautybar.comhttp://www.beautybar.com/. 

Birchbox September 2012

Yesterday I got my 2nd ever Birchbox. I was less than impressed with my first one, so this 2nd one was a test to see if I would continue for another month. I am a little more pleased this time, but not just overwhelmed. Anyway, if you would like to know what's inside this month's box keep reading.

Here was my first look at the box:

The first thing that caught my eye were the Bandaids. They are very cute and are "designer" Bandaids designed by Cynthia Rowley. They retail for $15 for a pack of 20 and are very cute (a little expensive for Bandaids if you ask me):

Next, I noticed a small tube and upon further investigation learned it was Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25. This says it is a 4 in 1 moisturizer, serum, sunscreen, and tint. I will try it in the morning and see what I think. Retail is $32 for the full size; the sample is 0.1 oz.

Gray must be "in" this year because this is not the first time I have seen gray nail polish recently. This nail polish is Birchbox Custom Polish and Color Club and the shade is Status Update. I will give it shot on my toes before I go with the nails. It retails for $8 on Birchbox's site. I never could get a very good picture showing the color:

Benefit Cosmetics included their Foamingly Clean Facial Wash + Refined Finish Facial Polish. I believe I will really love this product and perhaps since I have been earning points on Birchbox's site through ordering this box and reviewing products, I will use those points on this product. It retails for $21-$22 in the full size. These are two samples that look like they will last 3-4 uses.

A Kate Spade New York perfume sample was included. It is in a little spray bottle. The fragrance is Twirl and it smells great. The description states that it is a blend of fruity and floral notes. The full size is 1.7 oz. costs $80.

I have to admit that I almost threw the next item away! It looked like a little ribbon that might have been tied on the top of something that had come loose. I am SO glad that I noticed that tiny little tag attached. It turned out to be a Twistband hair tie. It is very cute and looks like it will do a good job of holding my hair. A set of 12 costs $18.

Also included was a card for $25 off a $75 purchase from Madewell, a Fashion Fall Basics booklet, and a code for two free music downloads from Tristan Prettyman.

Overall, I liked this Birchbox, but I really don't feel like I'm getting a bargain. I feel like I'm paying for samples and the shipping. I'm still on the fence with Birchbox. Popsugar and Cravebox include full size products and I always feel like I get way more than I paid with them.

Popsugar Must Have Bag August 2012

Popsugar's Must Have Bag August 2012 has once again excited me. I waited in  intense anticipation for my box to arrive. The tracking site said to expect it on Tuesday, Sept. 4, so imagine my surprise when my mail lady came knocking on my door this afternoon with an over-sized box. I immediately saw the bright pink writing and knew it was my Popsugar box.

I immediately opened it to find many, many surprises inside. I was well beyond pleased to see the number of items inside my box.

The first thing that caught my eye was a picture of a butt in green underwear. This happened to be a DVD called Pop Physique Original Butt Total Body Workout. This is just what I need. No, really, I'm not kidding! I really, REALLY needed this! My husband and I have been on this intense diet and we have already lost 45 lbs between us and I was thinking that I needed to start working out. This workout boasts on the front that you will burn 500 calories if you do the complete DVD. I will start this tomorrow (maybe I should take before and after pics!). This DVD is $13 on amazon.com, but they only have 3 available.

I then turned my eyes to a bright blue bag. Since I have been on this diet, I am constantly looking for products that compliment what I am already eating and that will replace unhealthy choices I have made in the past. I believe this next product will do just that. Pretzel Crisps are crispy, delicious, and have no fat and only 110 calories per serving. I'm sold! In fact I bought a giant bag tonight at Sam's Club. The hard part will be limiting myself to a serving size! I will, though, because I am liking the scale going down too much to mess up now. These cost $3.49 for a 7.2 oz bag.

A long cardboard box, the entire length of the big box, was next. I had no idea what to expect as I opened this box. It turned out to be a reed diffuser from Alora. The scent is Isola and it smells heavenly. This exact diffuser can be ordered on the Alora website for a whopping $90.

Next, I noticed a red box with the name Govino on top. I had no idea what this was, but I quickly found out that these were on the go wine glasses. I don't really drink much wine, so they will probably be used for juice or Crystal Light. This 4 pack tote of shatter-proof wine glasses are $12.95

Wrapped inside Popsugar's signature pink tissue paper, there was a small black drawstring bag with two glass bottles inside. I was pleased to find that these were facial products, a cleanser and an exfoliator. These products are made by Sprout. The 4 oz cleanser costs $23.99 and the 4 oz exfoliator costs $24.99. The cleanser is non-foaming and the exfoliator is a powder, both of which are new to me. They are made from all natural ingredients. These look very promising.

Alongside the Sprout products were some Tatcha Blotting Papers. These Petal Fresh Japanese papers remove excess oil from skin without disturbing makeup. These will definitely come in handy for me and my combination skin. They retail for $12.95/30 papers.

A small striped blue and white package had gotten moved to the bottom of this box. It was a Baggu Bag all wrapped up in a neat little package. I plan on using this when I make a short trip to the grocery store. These bags retail for $10.

This month's box box included several "extras" as well as the regular stuff. Included with the extras was a sample size bag of Bear Naked granola that looks rather tasty, a Postagram card with a code for 10 free prints, valued at $10, and a couple of cute cardboard coasters with a 15% off coupon for Benziger Family Winery.

Altogether I thought this was an awesome box and well worth $35. I will definitely continue with Popsugar. I felt like a kid at Christmas when I opened my box this afternoon. Want one of your own for September? Click HERE to get it!

I Can Buy That For What?

I know many have heard of these so called "deals" websites where you can buy premium products at dirt cheap prices. Do these sites really exist? Will they just take your money and run? Will they hack your bank account and transfer all your money to some Caiman Islands off shore bank?

First, yes these types of sites do exist. I check them daily and do get some really great deals on many days. For example, just today I scored some facial products that retail for over $150 together on the product's website for $25.98 with free shipping and no tax. I have not had any problems with any hacking my account. I have always gotten what I've ordered with no problems.

Before I give you the links to some of my favorite sites, I will give you some pointers for a smooth sailing great deal transaction. Number one, most of these sites allow you to pay via Paypal. I strongly suggest using Paypal when paying for anything online. A multitude of sites take Paypal now, even itunes, so it pays off to have a Paypal account. The main reason I suggest using Paypal is that if you do encounter a problem, Paypal offers certain protection as well as tracking your transaction and providing all the contact information for the other party. Another tip is to always Google the item you are about to purchase before you buy. The reason I do this is because there are times when the item offered is available on other sites (such as amazon.com) for the same price or cheaper. Be a smart shopper!

Alright, now to the good stuff. I am going to list some links below that I have personally used and gotten some really great deals.

My favorite is http://1saleaday.com/ 
They change their sales up every 24 hours and the products range from beauty products to tools to jewelry. On some products they charge shipping, but on the tab that says Flash, shipping is free.

Another of my favorites is http://www.dailysteals.com/
This site changes every 24 hours, too.

These next two do not change every day, so I only check them a couple of times a week. I would strongly suggest checking them out if you need electronics accessories, such as HDMI cables or earbuds, because you can get these types of products here for a fraction of the cost that you will pay at Wal-Mart or Best Buy.

http://www.icemonkey.com/

http://bensoutlet.com/

I have bought many, many products from these sites and have been pleased every time. Happy shopping!

Birchbox 2012

After waiting only a few weeks, I got added to the subscription box known as Birchbox. I have read on many websites that Birchbox is a favorite of some. I guess I have been spoiled by the full-size products from Cravebox and Popsugar or the luxury products that I receive from Sample Society, but I was not impressed with Birchbox.

I received my first box a few days ago and was a bit disappointed when I first looked in the box. First, the wrapping on the items had come loose, so it was not a very good presentation especially with the bow that was supposed to be around something just laying to the side. The other three boxes I subscribe to are always so neatly packaged. I tried to put my prejudice of the sloppily packaged items aside and look at the contents with a clear mind.

I was not impressed with the size of the samples, for one thing. The Viva La Juicy by Couture was tiny. I have actually already received two of these same samples for free. I do like the smell of it and I will use it, but in my opinion it doesn't stack up to the deluxe sized samples of perfume that I have gotten from Sample Society. 

Next, there was a tiny little bar of some sort. I had to pick it up to read what it was. I found out that it is an Uber bar and the flavor is Apple Turnover. I had never heard of this bar so I googled it and found out that the cost is about $25 for a box of 15. This looks like about half the size of what appears to be a full-size bar. I will pass it on to my children, however, because I am currently on a strict weight loss diet and this has way too many fat grams for me to eat right now. I hope they enjoy it because at $25/15 I will probably not be buying any!

There was a card which appeared to have q-tips attached to it. I looked closer and the q-tips had clear middles which seemed to have liquid inside. These turned out to be Beauty Fixation Makeup Remover. Apparently you break one end and use the other end to remove makeup. These are relatively inexpensive as I found them online at $5 for 24 count. The card in the box had three attached.

The next item was a bright red tube that read "Stainiac". This is a lip and cheek tint. Supposedly it is not as bright as it looks, but I haven't tried it yet. It is supposed to stain your lips and cheeks and be long-wearing, so I don't really want to try it when I am going somewhere as I'm afraid it will be too red. Perhaps I will try it before bed tonight and hopefully if it's too dark it will wear off before morning, either that or my husband will think I'm sexy. ;P

The last item is my favorite (I think, I have yet to try it). It is Sumita Brow Base and at first I was unclear as to the purpose of this product. I was pleased to find that this is a smoother for eyebrows, but it also doubles as an eyeshadow primer. It will be great if it keeps my eyeshadow looking fresh all day. We will see. It retails for $11, so I guess you could say that this one product was worth the $10 I paid for the box.

I also found that for every box you pay for, you get 10 points at the Birchbox website and 100 points translates into $10 to spend on their site. So, to sum things up, I'm not super excited about this first box. I will give them another go next month, but if I still feel the same I will probably cancel and give someone else a chance to get their Birchbox.

Sample Society August 2012

Well, this is my third time to get a box from Sample Society and so far so good. The products you get with Sample Society are all high end and not necessarily something I would buy, but it's nice to try these products. They do send you a code with each box for $15 off a $50 purchase of a full-size product from that box, which I guess you could say pays you back from the price of the box. However, after my 3rd month I have yet to use my code. Maybe I will just love something from this month's box enough to purchase it, who knows...I do love the little black boxes the samples come in; I think they will be great for wrapping Christmas presents.

Now, to the good part! What I found inside my August 2012 Sample Society box.

I always enjoy opening a box that I know is full of surprises, so I hurriedly opened my box when I found it on my doorstep. Here is what I found inside:

My eye was immediately drawn to the bright yellow box across the top of the box. I was pleased to find that it was treatment oil for hair, which I definitely need for my hair which I straighten daily. It turned out to be from Phyto and was called Phytonectar Treatment Oil. It claims to bring damaged, dehydrated hair back to life. This retails for $30/1.7 ounces on Sephora, this sample is 0.33 ounces. A good sized sample that I think will last quite a while because I don't think it will take much for each use.

Next, I picked up a small gold tube that I anticipated to be some sort of face or eye cream. I was surprised, however, to find that it was mascara. It was Jane Iredale's Longest Lash Mascara in black ice. I have never seen mascara in a soft tube before, but it seems like you would be able to get more of the product out than with a traditional mascara container. The mascara retails for $33/1.2 ounce, the sample is 0.1 ounce. It has really good reviews on janeiredale.com, so I am excited to try it.

I spotted a bottle with pink liquid inside. Upon inspection, I found that this little pink gem was Arcona's Cranberry Toner. It is a 3 in 1 toner that cleanses, tones, and hydrates. The cost is $33/110 mL and the sample is 30 mL, which is about a third of the full size. I don't know how well it will work, but it sure is pretty!

I love, love, LOVE the color of this next product. The color of this Deborah Lippman nail lacquer is awesome! It is called Private Dancer and it's a metallic purple. As soon as this post is done, I'm going to break out the nail polish remover and change my toenails from blue glitter to purple, the website says it is gilded ultra violet. It retails for $18. The bottle says sample, but it looks like a full bottle to me.

One of the facial products included in this month's box was a face cleanser called Elemental Herbology Cool & Clear facial cleanser. It smells like it will make my face cool and tingly after using. It claims to clean pores, remove impurities, and help with congestion. It seems to be a European product, since the main website lists the price in Euros. I found it on another site for $46/100 mL. The sample is 25 mL.

The final product was a small sample of face moisturizer. In my other two boxes I only got 4 samples and this box has 5 so I really don't want to complain about the size of this one, but it is really tiny. The name of the product is Malin+Goetz Vitamin e Face Moisturizer. Their site says it is oil free and residue free, which should do well on my combination/oily skin. We shall see. It retails for $45/4 ounces. This sample is 0.04 ounce.

Overall, I am pleased with this box. If you decide to try Sample Society, please use my referral code, REBE721088.