August Sub-Box Recap!

Well friends, the end of the month only means one thing: I try to cram in all the monthly features that I've somehow forgotten about over the past 4 weeks. Just kidding, I've dropped the ball on several, but I can't let the sub-box haul pass me by! Today I'm sharing Birch Box, My Glam Bag, GlossyBox, and Love Club!



My Glam Bag is one that I almost never subscribed to because of the founder's sketchy reputation. I've followed it myself for a while and I'm still not a huge fan of her, but I do like the subscription service. However, this month's was just " N". The postives? The Circus nail polish (in briiiight pink!)... even though I got a Circus nail polish last month. The pink is beautiful and it actually holds up incredibly well! That says a lot because I am not easy on my hands. The mineral eyeshadow is very pigmented. Looking at it you wouldn't think it's pink, but it definitely is. The rest: I loved the color of the "generic" My Glam lipgloss, but it was veryyy sticky and thick feeling, though it gave little to no color. It also tasted like watermelon and I hate all artificial watermelon tastes/smells. Personal preference. The "clean skin" roll on perfume very much smelled like clean skin, and that is kind of creepy to me. I'm not sure why. The 2 Eclos products have yet to get used. Face stuff, galore! Overall: Take it or leave it. 


Love Club is a fairly new player in the sub-box game, and I've heard great things about them so far. I was asked to review their August box (along with other months), so in full disclosure: I did not pay for this box. Opening it up I was happy to see the pretty polka dot tissue paper. I'm such a sucker for packaging. Inside, it felt a little "messy" (for the lack of a better term). Now, take into consideration that I'm someone who buys something solely for the packaging sometimes. A lot of the items were just in clear baggies stapled to a business card. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, as all the items made it safely to me, but I often want more in terms of indie box packaging. Maybe how BirchBox wraps + ties it's smallest items together? Not sure, just an idea :) Inside contents: A silver ric-rac headband that I've already gotten plenty of use out of, nail decals that I've yet to try but am waiting for the perfect color palette, a ginger lily lotion sample that was pretty darn dreamy, and then some of those pain-free elastics (I never wear hair ties so I'll give these away) and die-cut paper pieces that probably won't get used because I'm horrible at keeping up with my letter-writing! (Though the colors are great) Another thing I loved about LC is that the content sheet was fixated clearly on the lid of the box itself. That was a great way to see what I was getting as I was opening it. It's a simple move, but it speaks volumes (to me at least). While August wasn't overwhelmingly "me", I've heard some of the other boxes were truly spot-on, so I hope I have the chance to share those with you. I can think of a few gals that this box would have been perfect for, so that's a great first impression. I also think it'd make for a great gift box! Overall: Great start, but I can't wait to see more.


There's no use even trying to salvage this one: I was not impressed, GlossyBox! I hold GlossyBox to a much higher standard than the others simply on the basis that it costs twice as much. The lip balm came in beautiful packaging, but I've just kind of thrown the rest of the box aside. Spoiler: the lip balm is good, but not great. I'll admit I haven't given the hair products a whirl, so they could totally surprise me. Based on other reviews and what my hair tends to lean toward however, I'm not too optimistic. Overall: I sure hope September is better!

Another slightly-disappointing package? August's BirchBox. The only product that actually surprised me and had me excited was the Per-fekt lash perfection gel. I wish the sample had been bigger because I really loved it. I try to switch up my mascara every month because it's the one beauty product I notice a huge difference in. I'd recommend it for sure. I think one of the reasons I was bummed about this month's BB was because I got a razor. A razor. I just don't feel that to be an adequate usage of my subscription fee, but I'm sure plenty feel differently. The soaps (lavender pine scent) smelled very regal, if that's a word I can use for them, and I decided to keep my little spritzer of the new Juicy Couture fragrance in my bag. I've been using the DDF facial cleanser for a few days and so far so good. It hasn't broken me out like traditional facial cleansers tend to, but it's also nothing to write home about. I do appreciate the generous sample size, though! Overall: Not nearly as bad as GlossyBox, but still far from the best.

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Sadly August didn't overwhelm me with awesome like previous months had, but I'm just calling a fluke. Each box had it's own redeeming qualities (except for GB haha) so it's still a success! I have a great feeling about September and I hope it doesn't disappoint. At the end of the day I still really dig all 4 of these boxes and I'd recommend them to absolutely anyone. They can't all be winners, and the gamble of that is what makes it fun. Did you get any of these this month? How do you feel about them? (Did I totally miss out on the greatness of one of them? Sway me ;P)

PS: Not related to sub-boxes at all, but Romwe is having a 75% off sale on their site through the end of this week! Check it out HERE!

21 comments:

  1. I wish I got razors in my Birchbox! I received a slightly different DDF product, which I really like. I use a facial scrub in the morning and my brightening cleanser at night. What I really, really loved was the Viva La Juicy perfume sample, because it's one of my favorite brands!

    I really love reading your reviews, Kaelah!

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  2. I love the polka dotted paper in the Love Club box, pretty packaging is more than enough to make me a fan of a product too!
    Faye x

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  3. I didn't realize there were so many sub-boxes out there. I get Birchbox and it's hit and miss. Sounds like August was a pretty disappointing month overall.

    http://shannonhearts.blogspot.com/

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  4. Dude, I looooooove my per-fekt lash perfection gel sample I got from Sephora. This year, I've used Lancome Doll Lashes (it was ehhhh, I got it to qualify for the free gift bag), Givenchy 4 in 1 (AMAZING mascara but at $32 soooo expensive, I got it with my Sephora Points), and that per-fekt sample and I think I'm going to buy a full size bottle of that.

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    1. I really love that it doesn't make my lashes feel dry and crisp! I'm going to use up the entire sample and then see if I want to snag it from the BB site with some of my points. I'm amazed at how soft my lashes still feel while I wear it! And yea, $32 for mascara is redonk! I love Makeup Forever mascara but at like $28+ tax, it was just too spendy!

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  5. I love to see what boxes get you. I don't have the money to subscribe to one and there isn't really one I could spend it on but I love to see what you get, that way it benefits me a little as well haha. (Exactly why I always love your stitch fix posts :)

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  6. i love your box recaps, i've been hooked on birch box and stitch fix for a while now because of you. thanks!

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  7. I got my first BirchBox and it was so different than yours! I got the DDF Brightening Cleanser (but in a different shaped bottle?) which I like well enough, a Dr. Jart's BB Cream that is way too moisturizing for my oily face, the same perfume (love!), a granola bar thing, and a hair volumizing spray which I have yet to use. I must say I was VERY impressed by the packaging and can't wait to see next month's.

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  8. Thank you for sharing these. I am always hesitant to sign up for clubs not knowing what I will be getting.
    http://livefreeandfashionable.wordpress.com/

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  9. I was pretty annoyed at getting a razor! Although I actually loved this months glossybox.

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  10. I just tried out MyGlam this month and now I'm sad that I got the orange nailpolish and not the awesome pink that you got lol. (Orange is a hard color to wear! You can see my review of it on my blog.) I love these subscription box reviews of yours - I think it's almost as fun reading about what you got as getting my own. :) Xx

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  11. I just started getting Umbabox this past month, and I love it! Sub-boxes are so much fun!
    xo Heather
    http://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/

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  12. I was so disappointed with my Birchbox this month! I didn't use the razor, because my good friend also gets Birchbox and it tore her legs up something gnarly. My face is also super sensitive to cleansers, and the DDF cleanser has been nice. I haven't broken out or gotten any nasty dry spots, so that's a win for me! I'm thinking of getting a My Glam sub-box and getting rid of my Birchbox. I haven't been that impressed the past two or three months. I just started getting the Citrus Lane sub-box, which is baby/kid stuff, and it's pretty good so far.

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  13. I lol'd when you said the clean skin stuff was creepy. It does sound pretty creepy, actually, haha. I don't subscribe to any boxes, but it's always fun reading your posts about them!

    -Lindsey

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  14. that's so funny about how disappointed you were with the razor in Birchbox!! I love Birchbox and they can basically do no wrong in my eyes, but I was PYSCHED about that razor! I just feel like its an expensive product so it was awesome to get something so high quality for my normal subscription price.

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  15. I really want to start signing up for more subscription boxes once I move and address-changes is no longer a concern. =) Love reading your recaps of each box - thanks for sharing your honest thoughts!

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  16. I have been wanting to try the whole sample box deal, but by the time I realized BirchBox had sent me an email my 48 hours had passed and I had to go back on the waiting list. Thinking I might skip on it, though... I mean a razor? Really? I don't really think it would be in my best interest to try out new things on my face every month. Tennessee weather is taking a toll on my skin this year. I just feel sticky and gross 24/7.

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  17. Yeah I spotted this the other day about My glam bag... http://violetsage.wordpress.com/tag/cancel-glam-bag/

    xx

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  18. Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's been disappointed in Birch Box lately. I didn't like ANYTHING this month. I'm going to give it one, maybe two more months, before deciding if I want to cancel it. I love the idea but it's been to disappointing lately!

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  19. I also got the bright pink nail polish in MyGlamBag this month...I am excited over it as I've been looking forever for the perfect hot pink nail polish. I got dragon berry or dragon something...for my roll on. It's not overpoweringly sweet or anything. /shrug.

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  20. I almost signed up for BirchBox and I'm glad I didn't. I don't really need a razor for that price! Haha.

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HEY! Thanks for dropping by. xo KB