NatureBox March 2016 Unboxing

I've been reviewing snack boxes for a few months now but I think I have finally found my match.  Let me present you NatureBox. 

This is a snack box the promises simple ingredients, no artificial stuff, no HF corn syrup, no MSG and calorie-size is always below 200 calories.  That is exactly what I want in my snacks! :)  They are healthy, smart and crave-worthy options and you'll get to see my first pick in just a few clicks.  But first, let me tell you about their plans:
You can get:
5 snacks at 19,95$ per box or
10 snacks at 32.95$ per box

Shipment can be done to match your schedule:
Every week
Every two weeks or
Every month.

I opted for 10 snacks every month.  Shipping is free to US but costs 4.95$ for Canadians, which is reasonable. To try a free box, click here!

First snack is Cashew Power Clusters :kind of like a granola byte but it's made with cashews.

My review: I really liked these.  They were tiny, crunchy cashew morcels and I definitely have always been a cashew fan.  Would I get these again?  Absolutely!

Second snack is Guacamole Bites: ok, seriously?  As soon as I see anything guacamole, I grab it.  Should be a real treat!

My review:  These are addictive! Nice salty treat that taste similar to guacamole.  Only downside is the greenish fingers I sometimes had after eating this great treat.  Would I get again? Definitely, yes!

Next are Jalapeno Cashew : I guess I was in the mood for cashews this month as I grabbed two different snacks with them.  I love spicy nuts, so this should be a sure win.  The fact they are single-serve packages also is great because it is so easy to limit your serving when it's pre-portioned.

My review: wow! these pack on a good amount of spice!  I like these a lot and again, can't go wrong with cashews.  Obviously, not for everybody though, as it is more spicy than I expected.  I just clicked in though that is might be because I was probably expecting a cheddar jalapeno flavor instead of a just plain jalapeno.  Don't get me wrong, these are awesome nonetheless and I would definitely get these again.  Bonus: I love that they are in individual serving packages.

Sorry for the lighting...this one is Spicy Sriracha Popcorn and yes, I'm one of those people that like Sriracha sauce on just about everything so I obviously could not resist grabbing this.

My review: mmmm popcorn!  Add sriracha in the mixture and bang! amazing popcorn!  Sriracha has become a staple in our household so this defenitely was appreciated.  Alex thought it was a tad too spicy, but I really did enjoy it.

Next is Salted Caramel Pretzel Pops : can you blame me?  I see anything salted caramel anything and I automatically want to try it...even ask Alex lol

My review: I was sadly disappointed by this snack...I found them a tad bland and have a hard time depicting the salted caramel flavoring...it does have a salty taste though, just maybe no my thing.  I probably won't try these again.

Another word I have a hard time resisting: coconut.  Obviously why I grabbed these: Crispy Coconut Squares.  These look amazing!!!

My review: My favorite snack this month! These are just plain insane! I love the taste of toasted coconut and the fact that these are small byte sized morcels of exactly that makes it fall right in my aisle! yummy! These will likely get added to my boxes often.

Ok seriously, I know how to pick things.. or... I mindlessly pick things that have the words : salted caramel, coconut or cheese in them.  These Asiago & Cheddar Cheese Crisps apparently are good with dips.  I probably will enjoy them as is as well!

My review: these have a nice cheesy taste, and the right amount of crisp to them.  I also find they have a bit of a spiciness to it when my lips tingle a bit after consumption.  Would I get this again? Yes, I surely would.

So, I ordered Cinnamon Yogurt Mini Grahams but they ran out before they could ship my box to me so they sent me these Whole Wheat Vanilla Animal Cookies instead.  It was on my list for next box so I guess I'll just swap them both.  It is no longer on their website, probably because new snacks are making their way on the website...assuming some are leaving too.  Hope they come back eventually... these rock!

My review: taste just like normal animal cookies I used to get in my McValue Meals :)  Aside from my colleagues teasing me for eating a kid's snack, these tasted just fine to me and I did enjoy the cute animal shapes included.

I also got some Mini Belgian Waffles just because they look really awesome.  Hopefully they are too! :)  I can see myself having these with some berries as a snack. yum!

My review:  First time I tried these, I found them to be bland...but these somehow grew on me.  I found myself loving these with raspberries and a bit of whipped cream.  I wouldn't mind trying their cocoa counterpart.

Last item I grabbed is Lemon Tea Biscuits.  The cookies themselves are tiny, the size of a nickle, but I'm sure they pack a lot of flavor.

 My review: tastes just like lemon shortbread cookies and honestly one of my favorite cookies in the world.  So, whenever these are available, I won't hesitate to add these to my box.  

Looking forward to try these snacks out and also to keep this subscription alive.  I have been trying so many snacks box but this one wins over all of them in my opinion.  Questions and comments are welcomed and remember to collect your free snacks!

My review:  That's not too bad, 9/10 snacks were a win for me and only one of them was a miss.  Looking forward to trying out another 10 snacks in my next box!

FabFitFun Spring 2016 Unboxing

Last December, I decided to unsubscribe to FabFitFun, just because, when I really think about it, I end up using half the products in the box and the rest of them end up, sadly, forgotten.   I'm not saying the box isn't great though, because, honestly, it really is and I think it would be even greater if I could redeem some of the gift cards without shipping issues...
Wen I got an email last week advising me I had a FabFitFun box on my way I got really confused.  Ends up the box I paid for in December was paying for my Spring 2016 box.  Well I can't complain there, I saw some spoilers and there were a few items in the box that were definitely calling to my style.

For those who are not familiar with FabFitFun, it is a quarterly subscription box (once per season) that is geared towards women who love beauty, fitness and lifestyle items.  They cost 49,99$ per box and easily packs four times the cost with items that vary from skin care, to fitness DVDs, to make-up, etc.  I've inserted my referral link above if you're interested in trying it out.  Prices written down are based on the FABFITFUN booklet and not the websites I am linking.

 Since last season, FabFitFun started changing the look of their boxes as well as the insert.  Now, instead of the insert, we receive a magazine that explains a bit more on the items received in the box.

First item is an Herb Garden by MakersKit (RV 35$).  You receive everything you need to grown some mint, thyme and basil.  So happy basil was included as that is by far the herb I use the most.  Also, Alex was glad to see this in the box as he tends to enjoy gardening.

Next in a Contour Kit by ISH (RV 32$) includes a highlighter, blush, bronzer and contour powder.  I don't personally use these types of products, so that was not a win for me.  But, for reviews of other FFF subscribers, they seem to like this palette.

This item is by far the one I was most excited on getting : Just D'Amour Bath Bomb Trinity (RV 28$).  Anyone who knows me, knows I love bath time products.  The three scents are :eucalyptus/peppermint/lime, lavender/chamomile/ylang ylang, and jasmin/rose/sandalwood.  Since I've been have sinus issues for a while now, I'm going to use the eucalyptus one tonight!

This would be the second item I was super excited to receive: Keratin Gloves & Socks (RV 9.98$) is suposed to help strengthen nails and moisturize hands and feet.  I've had difficulties keeping my hands moisturized this winter; these will hopefully do just the right trick!

This was one of the spoilers this month, Tag necklace by Jook & Nona (RV 65$) is an 18K gold-plated stainless steel necklace with a word engraved on the plate.  Mine rides Love, but other varieties include: Happy, Inspire and Dream.  Personally, not my style, but I know a lot of subscribers were excited to receive this item.

We also got Shaving Emulation Lotion by HelloLegs (RV 19.95$) which is something we can't go wrong with.  It's a combination of shaving cream and lotion. Sure, why not?  The website has yet to launch though so I can't really link the product.

This is third item I was super excited on getting: Argan & Hemp Oil Therapy by Marrakesh (RV 22.99$).  I'm almost out of my hair oil and was thinking on buying myself a new bottle, but looks like this got here just on time.   And quite frankly, this smells fantastic!

Next item is a Yoga Mat Strap by Merrithew (RV 14.99$) and, not to be a party pooper but I won't be using this.  I do most of my workouts at home so I don't have a need to carry a yoga mat.  I could use it for deepening stretches...

I also got a 25$ gift card from 31 Bits and as I have stated earlier, I am not a fan of getting gift cards in a subscription box for various reasons one of which is shipping sucks for Canadians.  I'm sure some subscribers will enjoy it though.  These are handmade, artisan jewelry from Uganda and I have to admit, I like the looks on the site.

Last item is another gift card, so you already know how I feel about this: It's a 30$ gift card for Sterling Forever.  There's more gorgeous pieces of jewelry on this website but I am not tackling gastronomic shipping prices, no thanks!

That is everything in the box and that adds up to a box full of products worth in total 282.91$, pretty amazing!  I will be using half of these products and they more than cover the price of the box.  Hope you enjoyed this review!

Universal Yum Unboxing - Yum Yum Box March 2016

I was thrilled to find out I had three new boxes waiting for me at my door today.  One of them was part of my snack box reviews for Canadians.  This one is called Universal Yum.

 This box sends snacks from around the world, concentrating on one location per box.  This box's location was the Philippines!

I like how they matched the tissue paper to the flag's colors.  Universal Yum comes in two sizes:

Yum Box: 13$/box with 6 snacks per box
Yum Yum Box 25$/box with 12 snacks per box

Shipping is extra for Canadians (6.00$), but it's reasonable.  I figure anything under 10.00$ shipping is good for Canadians.

Let's take a look at what we got:

 Golden Sweet Corn snack is something I'm quite familiar with.  I found these at the local grocery store a few years back and automatically grew addicted to it.  It tastes exactly like corn on the cob but in a cheese-puff snack texture.  Seriously can't go wrong by adding these in this box.

Boy Bawang Cornick Hot Garlic Flavor is another snack we're familiar with.  It's one of Alex's favorites so these automatically went to him.  These are corn nuts in spicy garlic flavor.  They are quite garlicky, so beware, you may be stuck with bad breath for a long while after!

Ribbed Crackling Old Fashioned Salt & Vinegar is a new one for us.  It is suggested to have them with beer but as I'm not a beer fan, I'll likely try these as is.  I love anything salt and Vinegar, so no complaints here. 

Fita is the Philippine version of Ritz according to the pamphlet and these have lemon cream sandwhiched between two crackers.  I bet these are amazing!

Polvorons are shortbread cookies and Universal Yum included two flavors of these intriguing cookies.  These ones are ube-flavored...translated, that means purple yam from the Philippines.

The second flavor is cookies and cream which is sure to be appreciated.  Apparently these taste just like Oreos.

Pinky's Goodies Green Mango Butterscotch Bars sound pretty fantastic!  We have two, so we both can try these out.

Pandan Cake seems a bit strange from the description :pandan is a plant grown in the Philippines that apparently has a sweet, bright and somewhat soapy taste.  This snack is a sponge cake and Universal Yum advises us the cake is green in color, just so we don't think it is moldy (good thinking!)

Left is King Choc Nut (4) and it's a chocolate treat made of 5 ingredients: ground peanuts, milk powder, cocoa, vanilla and sugar and is comparable to M&Ms.

Right is Lipps Mango Candy which not only taste sweet but can also be used to paint the lips the candy's color (hence why it's named Lipps).

Left is Melon Dew Menthol Candy which mixes the flavors of honeydew melon and mint together.  Sounds intriguing.

Right is XO Coffee Candy which is, as you can guess, a coffee-flavored candy.

That concludes the Universal Yum Yum Box for March 2016.  As always, I welcome any comments or questions.

Julep March 2016 Unboxing

My Julep box was a little later than usual this month but it got here safe and sound tonight.  I was personally hoping to receive it before Saint-Patty's Day because I knew I chose greenish hue in my box.   My box was quite wet when it got here due to bad weather but nothing in the box was damaged.

For those of you unfamiliar with Julep, it is a monthly nail polish and beauty product subscription at a reasonable price of 24.99$/month.  If you sign up on the 3-month plan (pay for three months all at once), it costs you 19.99$/month. Subscribers get to pick their choice of beauty product and nail polish on the 20th of every month and get billed on the 27th.  They are also free to skip a month if needed.
Here's a look at what's inside.  As you can see in the lower right corner, the little treat this month was a Watermelon Blow-Pop sucker.

At first glance, I wasn`t really interested in the March colors as they were mostly chrome and I don't really like that look on me.  The two cremes were too similar to other colors I own.  However, when they released Holographic Jelly polishes along with the March collection, that really sounded like something I would be into.

 

On the left is Yiyi (14.00$) which is described as a "pink freesia holographic jelly".  From the picture you can definitely see the rainbow shift, especially in the bottle.  I really think this is gorgeous.  In fact, I am already sporting it on my nails. 

On the right is Cecile (14.00$) which is described as a "Caribbean breeze holographic jelly"  This is the color I want to wear for St-Patrick`s Day.  Like Yiyi, the rainbow shift is quite evident when you look at it.  Quite lovely.

I completed my box with another EyeShadow 101 (18.00$) in the color Slate Shimmer.  It is known that shimmer is great for hazel eyes so I couldn`t resist getting all of their shimmer shadow sticks since I really like the application and formula.  

So that's 46.00$ worth of stuff for 19.95$  Not bad!  Like I always do, I ended up adding some add-ons to my box, just because I can`t resist.

 First thing was these nail decals.  One looks like pearls and the other is black crystals.  They were 3.95$ each and defenitely worth it to add a little something to the manicure.

I went for a mystery polish again this month and the one they sent me was Brandis (14.00$) which is described as a "Taos turquoise creme".  I feel this is quite spring appropriate.

This month, Julep helped me determine which of my polishes was my free gift by wrapping a little note around it to inform me.  This month`s free gift was Nayely (14.00$) which is described as "papaya nectar creme".   I have a Rainbow Honey color similar to this one but this one has a much better formula.  Does not really look that great on my skin tone but I think I could use it for nail art.

I paid 12.85$ extra for my add-ons and just the polish alone is worth that.  In total, I got 81.90$ worth of make-up and nail polish and I will be using every single one of them.  I am quite happy with this month`s selections!