CalmBox October 2016 Unboxing

Ever since I gave Calmbox as a birthday gift to my sister-in-law last year, I've been wanting to follow suit an grab my own box.  Well, that time has come, and let me say, it's never too late to join!  The box itself is very cute!

Calmbox is a monthly subscription box that promises a box full of items to help you in your quest to be more mindful, zen and calm.  Every box includes items to help you unwind and calm down from everyday stress, such as soap, lotions, books, candles, herbal teas, crystals, etc.  It costs 35$ US + shipping (I think it's 10$ for Canadians).  Right now, you can also get 5$ off your first box.

This month's theme is The Winds of Autumn, which is appropriate for this time of year; and let me tell you, the scents that greeted me when I opened this box did remind me of exactly that!  While reading the description card, I became aware that Calmbox send a portion of proceeds from subscriptions to an organization of choice.  This month, it was water.org, an organization that helps  people around the world access safe and clean water.  Pretty awesome if you ask me!  I was also informed with another little card that the packaging is Eco-friendly in their effort to support sustainability.  Awesome!

First item is Grateful People Gratitude Journal (RV 16$).  "Experience a cute dose of mindfulness with the Grateful Peoples' beautifully designed gratitude journal, created to inspire positive thinking and change the way we think about health and happiness.  Gratitude is one of the most powerful happiness-evoking and stress-reducing habits there is - take a moment every day to write down a thought or two about something that you're grateful for - no matter how small and watch as positivity and peace enters your life more with every passing day".  So this is a great addition to this box, especially so close to Thanksgiving (for us Canadians).  Writing in a journal is a habit I wanted to start getting into ever since I started getting my iPenbox subscription.  This gratitude journal will be perfect for this.

Next item is The Grandpa Soap Co. in Witch Hazel and Lavender (RV 4.19$). "Gently rejuvenate your hands and face with The Grandpa Soap Co's delightfully scented Witch Hazel soap, crafted with pure organic relaxing lavender and witch hazel flowers and essential oils, softly working together to leave your skin feeling reinvigorated.  No sulfates, parabens, artificial fragrances or colors - just all-natural goodness".  Now this is one of the scents that wafted out of the box when I opened it and it smells awesome!  I'm a big fan of lavender scents lately and I find that it is just that much more lovely when blended with witch hazel flowers.  I also am a big fan of anything that doesn't have sulfates and parabens.  This will be appreciated by, both, myself and my hubby.

Next item is Shoyeido Kyoto Autumn Leaves Incense (RV 2.95$) & Triloka Lotus Incense Holder (RV 5.95$?)  I can't find the exact same Lotus Incense Holder but I linked one that was similar. "Meditate with Shoyeido's wonderfully fragrant Kyoto Autumn Leaves incense, created more than 30 years ago to evoke the autumn wonders of Kyoto, Japan's Arashiyama district.  A poetic blend of high-quality sandalwood and cinnamon perfectly captures the mood and feeling of a fall day and leaves you feeling calm.  We've included a pretty lotus flower incense holder from Triloka to help safely light and enjoy the Autumn Leaves incense."  This was the other scent that greeted me when I opened the box and let me tell you, this is very lovely!  It's too bad I'm allergic to smoke, so I can't actually burn these incense sticks.  That said, I will be giving these to my brother and sister-in-law, where I know they will be greatly enjoyed!

Next item is Badger Tea Tree and Lemon Balm Herbal Lip Care (RV 2.99$). "Soothe and protect your lips from the elements with Badger's nourishing lip balm, made with certified organic tea tree and lemon balm oils providing incredible herbal support, along with peppermint and menthol crystals leaving you feeling cooled and refreshed.  Rich in vitamin E, enzymes and antioxidants, and no parabens or unhealthy chemicals inside."  We can never go wrong with lip balm; I probably have a lip balm in every room in this house and I apply some regularly.  This one is very good and they definitely aren't kidding when they said it leaves your lips feeling cooled and refreshed.  I love this balm; in fact, I think it is my new favorite one!

Next item is GoOrganic Pomegranate Hard Candy (RV 3.19$).  "Enjoy the organic all-natural sweetness of GoOrganic's Pomegranate hard candies, hand-made and with no high fructose corn syrup, additives, or anything artificial.  A yummy snack, perfect for on-the-go."  I sampled one of these while writing this review and they taste great.  I've been having a scratchy throat lately and it is the time of the year for catching colds, so these will be great to soothe my throat.

Next item is Prince of Peace Ginger Pack - 1 Ginger Honey Crystals Packet (RV 0.45$) and 3 ginger candies (RV?)  I've no idea how many candies are in one bag, so I can't even calculate this.  "Take in the powerful health benefits of ginger with Prince of Peace's ginger honey crystals and candies, both tasty and loaded with nutrients and bioactive antioxidants and natural compounds supporting both your mind and your body." I've had these before and enjoyed them, and let's not forget that it's perfect timing for cold and flu season.  I actually will be sipping on the Ginger Honey tea after I finish this review.

And the last item is 5 packets of Yogi Honey Lavender Stress Relief Tea (RV 1.53$). "Brew a cup of Yogi's delightful Honey Lavender Stress Relief tea, with traditionally relaxing herbs lavender, chamomile and lemon balm combining in a delicious blend to soothe your mind and body through a stressful day or to help you unwind into a restful night."  Calmbox includes herbal tea in each box every month, and believe it or not, this is one of the major reasons I wanted to subscribe.  Herbal tea is just that great at helping me unwind.  And Yogi has the most amazing blends ever.  I'm super thrilled to give these a try.

This concludes this month's Calmbox review.  Total retail value for this month is 37.25$ which is slightly greater than the cost of the box.  This is one of these boxes that are more about the experience than the value though so even if it didn't meet the the cost of the box, I'd still enjoy it.  I love this first box and definitely looking forward to seeing what next box has in store for me.

October 2016 iPenbox Unboxing

I'm always super happy to receive my iPenbox and this month's box could not come any faster.  When I got a sneak peek at the theme for this month, I knew I was in for a "treat"!  Actually, I wasn't sure if the theme was vampires, bats or Halloween but what I did know was that I'd be happy with any of these themes.  And, as always, I was right.

 iPenbox is a monthly subscription box for pen, paper and ink lovers.  The subscription costs 30$ for US subscribers and 40$ for Canadians and International; shipping is included.  They promise 5-10 items geared to spark your intrigue on new, unusual, creative, innovative writing tools.  Every box will include a fountain pen, some paper, 1-2 ink samples, and other tools like rollerball pens, pencils, gel pens, etc. all based on a chosen monthly theme.  As hinted above, the theme for the month of October is Trick or Treat.

 As always, I'll follow the order of the items as listed on the info card.  I always appreciate when one of these is included in a subscription box as it helps me find out more about the products received.  I also want to remind you that I will be posting a writing sample for each writing tool at the end of the post. But before I go through the list, here are a couple of extra goodies.

We have a beautiful Country Road post card.  I love the autumnal colors; Fall is definitely my favorite season, hands down.

And, I also got this small bag of Mike and Ike's Mummy Mix.  These are one of my favorite candies so I'm quite pleased to have these.  In fact, I'm nibbling on them as I write my review.

The first item listed on the card is a Schneider Easy Fountain Pen in Bats (RV 7.97$).  This features a medium nib and a beautiful royal blue ink.  I love the bat designs on the pen and enjoy the fact that it is sparkly.

Next is a Paper Mate InkJoy Pen (RV 0.50$). Subscribers all received a random color; I received a blue pen.  I've written with this kind of pen before, it's a fairly ordinary pen.  I wish I had received any other color...maybe something more funky.  But I guess I can't go wrong with another blue pen at work, especially when signing official documents.

Now this item intrigued me the most; this is a Pentel Arts Brush Pen (RV 8.39$). Black ink is included and the tip is a brush.  While I did my writing sample, I noticed how difficult it is to maneuver with this; I will likely only use this for art.  It is very neat though.

 This is a Fabriano Bouquet Notebook (RV 5.46$). Subscribers received a random color; I received an Orange notebook.  The picture looks a lot more yellow than it really is...I promise, this is more of a bright orange color.  There are 40 pages per notebook  and each page is blank.  The dimension of this little guy is 4" X 5.5".  I'm not exactly sure what "pergamenata" means; I tried googling it without results.

Next item is Caran d'Ache Graphite Pencil in 9B (RV 3.50$?) which promises the blackest of blacks.  I had a hard time finding it on the website so I am basing myself on other pencils of this brand.  Suggested use of this is art. 

This item is an Autopoint Twin Point Pencil (RV 12.95$).  Now this is a neat item; I've never seen a mechanical pencil with two points and I can already see how useful this will be!  This is definitely the star of the box, which surprises me, as I always thought it would be the fountain pen.  This mechanical pencil has black tip on one side and red on the other.  Leads are 0.7mm graphite lead.

The ink sample for this month is Pelikan Dark Green (Dunkelgrun) - 2ml (RV 0.71$).  This is a beautiful emerald green color.  I'm really looking forward to transferring this to one of my pens; since they are all quite full, I guess I'll have to wait a bit.

We also got this Coin Trick from Oriental Trading Company (RV 0.33$).  I'm giving this to Alex since it seems he wants to play tricks on people ;)  This is a cute addition.

And here are my writing samples.  As you can see, it was very hard to control the Brush pen, but at least it is still readable.  The red lead of the Autopoint Twin Point Pencil is quite light in color...maybe I didn't press hard enough?  They all write quite well and I definitely love the ink sample this month (so gorgeous!!)

This concludes this month's box.  It's a tad lower in value compared the previous months (39.81$ without counting post card and candies) but I'll enjoy every item nonetheless.  The sneak peak for next month is this picture (Japan? Red?).  What are your thoughts?

Little Life Box October 2016 Unboxing

Lately, it seems like a subscribe and unsubscribe from boxes so often it is hard to keep track.  And now, this time, after unsubscribing from the last snack box, I decided I needed to try something I've been eyeing for the last year or so:  Little Life Box. 

Little Life Box promises up to a dozen health products to discover every month at a low cost of 19$ (+ 6$ shipping).  There's guaranteed to be a mix of snacks, beauty items, supplements and more.  You can also expect some full-sized products with your samples in every box.  Because I subscribed in mid-September, I was sent an extra box full of snacks, which I will also quickly review at the end of this post. 
They have a different special on right now; by entering the coupon code OCTOBER, you can save 5$ on your first month's box.

First glance at the box is impressive!  I can see a variety of items that are intriguing and the box definitely looks full!

First two items are full-sized items.

On the left - Edgy Veggies Crackers in Rosemary Roasted Butternut Squash.  Wow!  These sound amazing!  I'm a huge fan of squash so I think these will be a great treat!  I can't find retail value of these online but this is a full sized gluten-free product without GMOs and no added sugars.  I found a place in Ottawa that sells them so if I like them, I can go grab some more.

On the right is Clif Kids Organic Z Bar in Chocolate Brownie (RV 5.95$).  This is another full-sized product made from organic ingredients, no hydrogenated oils, no added preservatives, no artificial flavors or high fructose corn syrup.  This will be perfect for the occasional sweet tooth I may get.

On the left: Pür Mints in Spearmint (RV 2.79$).  I've had these before and enjoyed them.  What's neat about these is that they are sugar free and aspartame free (not very common in the mint/gum world).  They are sweetened with xylitol which is known to help fight cavities.  Pretty neat if you ask me.

In the middle: A-Sha Seaweed Snacks (RV 1,25$).  I love seaweed snacks but I know it's a hit and miss for most people.  This snack sandwiches black rice, almonds and sesame seeds between two sheets of seaweed.  Sounds delicious!

On the right: Caboo Bamboo and Sugarcane Facial Tissue (RV 0.62$).  The materials this is made out of is intriguing.  Perfect timing for send these as I'm getting through a sinus infection and just ran out of my tissues in my purse.  

First item on the left: Burt's Bees Wild Cherry Moisturizing Lip Balm (RV 4.89$).  Burt's Bees is my go-to brand for lip balm so this item is definitely right up my aisle.  The taste is great too.

In the middle: Purelygreat Cream Deodorant - Unscented (RV 15$) is another full-sized product.  This little guy provides you with 2-3 months of deodorant protection.  I've been wanting to try a natural deodorant for a long time now so I am super happy to have this included in the box.  Bonus: it's unscented so it will definitely be fine for my work's fragrance-free environment.

On the right: A. Vogel Herbamare (0.28$).  I have to admit, I had no idea what this was.  But looking on the website, this seems to be a table salt substitute.  This includes a mixture of sea salt, herbs, vegetable and spices.  It has no artificial flavors or MSG.  I'm looking forward to trying this out on my eggs tomorrow :)

On the left: SweetSpot Labs on-the go wipettes (RV 1.71$) and I got one in each scent: Neroli Mandarin, Grapefruit Verbena and Vanilla Blossom.  I love these!  And they even included a coupon code for 20% off orders over 20$ on their website.  Just insert promo code SWEETLIFE20.

And on the right, I got two different Clipper teas (0.54$), I got a bag of Indian Chai Tea 
and one of Rise and Shine Herbal Tea  which is a blend of lemongrass and yerba mate.  I am a big fan of lemongrass tea so I am thrilled to have this sample.

That concludes the October 2016 Little Life Box.  Keeping in mind I have no retail value for the Edgy Veggie Crackers, the rest of the products total 33.03$ which means the value of the box is greater than the cost.  I love it when subscription boxes go all out.  Now, as promised, I'll give you a quick run through what was included in my free snack box.

2 bags of Skinny Pop Popcorn (18g each) = RV 1.46$
1 bag of Simply 7 Quinoa Chips in Cheddar (23g) = RV 0.72$
1 bag of Hungry Buddha Coconut Chips in Smokin' Sriracha (40g) = RV 2.79$
1 can of Guru Energy Water in sparkling Grapefruit(355ml) = RV 2.62$
1 bag of Central Roast Energy in Golden Berry Energy Mix (50g) = RV 2.49$
1 bar of Luna in Caramel Walnut Brownie (48g) = RV 1.79$
1 bar of Leclerc Go Pure  in Raspberry & vanilla (35g) = RV 1.04$

Total retail value for this extra snack box is : 12.91$  Not too bad, especially since I got this for free! yay!  I'm absolutely going to enjoy every single thing in here throughout the month.  Thank you Little Life Box!

Julep Maven October 2016 Unboxing

I was happy to see my Julep Maven box greeting me on my front doorstep when I came back home from a fairly busy day at work.  Painting my nails is one of the things I like to do when I do self-care after a trying day and I was really looking forward to some new colors.  So this came in at the right time!

Julep is a monthly nail polish and beauty product subscription at a reasonable price of 24.99$/month.  If you sign up on the 3-month plan (pay for three months all at once), it costs 19.99$/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.  You have the opportunity to add items in your box as well and if you add three, you get a bonus gift.  Also, you ave the opportunity to upgrade the box to get a bigger part of the collection, or the whole collection for a little bit extra.

Surprisingly, this month I did things a bit differently than previous months...the focus of my box was beauty products instead of nail polish...BUT...I got some add-ons with my Jules points so all I ended up paying for the extra items was 4.99$.  Ok, I digress.. let's start the review.

 These first two items were items I chose to be part of my Maven box.

On the left is Night Shift - Deep Sleep Facial Mask (RV 34$).  I got this because it's that time of the year when my skin starts getting dry and patchy and was hoping this may help me keep it under control.  It mentions to use 1-2 times a week while you're sleeping for brighter, smoother and firmer skin.

On the right is What Your Skin Needs - Restorative Facial Milk (RV 38$). I wish I could link you directly to this product page but there's a technical issue on the website that won't allow me to view it...I've been eyeing this product ever since I joined Julep and I'm glad to give it a go; this product received rave reviews.  I'm hoping that this, with the Night Shift Mask, will help me keep my skin moisturized and hydrated.

This month, all subscribers got a bonus item in their box: Desiree (RV 14$).  This is described as a high-gloss holographic topcoat.

The middle polish is the one I picked for this box.  You know how I can't resist holographic nail polish so when I saw Ebony (RV 14$), I knew I had to get it.  This is described as a graphite holographic.

The last polish in the line-up is actually my free gift for getting three add-ons.  Unfortunately, I already have Colton (RV 14$) so I will likely be sharing this with a friend.  This is described as a black iris creme polish.

And here are my add-ons.  Keep in mind I only paid 4.99$ extra for these three since I had some points to redeem.

First up is Scarlett (RV 14$) described as a vibrant red micro-glitter metallic.  Scarlet was my nickname when I was in high school so I thought it would be neat to have this in my collection.  Bonus, it's absolutely stunning!

Middle polish is Blushing (RV 14$) described as a peach tulle sheer cream.  I've been really liking sheer nude colors on nails lately and decided I needed to own more.  This totally fits the bill.

And the last polish is Joss (RV 14$) described as a ripe fig duochrome.  After holographic polishes, duochromes (and multichromes) are the next type of polishes I cannot resist.  Not for any reason I fell in love with this one.  Very beautiful!

And here is a picture of the swatches.  Obviously it's hard to see Desiree and Blushing for obvious reasons and sadly, my picture does not do justice to these beautiful colors.  I will definitely be putting one of these on tonight.

That concludes this month's Julep Maven's unboxing.  Retail value of this box is 156$ and all I paid for it was 19,99$ + 4.99$ for add-ons (approx. 25$).  This subscription packs so much value and I'm always impressed by what I get.  I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Loot Wear September 2016 review

 I received my latest LootWear Subscription in the mail today, and I already knew what was going to be in the package before I opened it (spoilers came early this month; what can I say?)  That said, this may be my last month with this subscription...keep reading if you want to find out why.

LootWear is a subscription that sends you some geeky apparel to you on a monthly basis.  I'll cover the different options for this subscription:

First, there's Loot Socks at 9.99$ (shipping included) where you get two pairs of geeky, comfy stylish socks every month.

Then, there's Loot Tees at 8.99$ (shipping included) which earns you a geeky t-shirt every month.

There's Loot for Her at 14.99 (shipping included) where you can get anything like scarves, jewelry, tote bags, leggins, etc.

And last but not least, there's Loot Wearables at 14.99$ (shipping included) which can include anything from hoodies, lounge pants, polos and long sleeve shirts.

You can also decide to bundle up some of these options for a better price : Loot Wearables + Loot Socks (20.99$),  or Loot for Her+ Loot Tees (19.99$).

They've just recently launched Loot Undies (14.99$).

This month's theme was Speed - hence the Gotta Go Fast saying on the "envelope".

First item is the Loot Wearables -an AutoBots Transformer Soccer T-Shirt.  I like the material of the shirt but, just like baseball t-shirts that were given in previous months, this is really not my style.  Also, the shirt came with a slight stain on it... I was really hoping for a variety of Wearable items... I mean, including a sports shirt once in awhile, that sounds reasonable, but having a sports shirt 3 out of the 4 short months I've been subscribed is quite annoying.  It seems like this category should be categorized Loot SportsWear...I'll be giving this shirt to Alex.

These are Sonic the Hedgehog socks; I love these!  If only they fit my larger calves comfortably.  These are also going to Alex. 

And, last but not least, these are Deadpool socks; not exactly sure how he fits the "speed" theme but whatever.  I love Deadpool.  These, again, are not the most comfortable on larger calves (albeit more so than the Sonic socks).  I'll give these to Alex also.

Verdict: Although I usually love all the socks received, they don't seem to love me and the LootWearables could use a bit of diversity.  Since only one of the items I've received so far was to my complete liking (size and style), I've decided I did not want to keep this subscription going.  So, this will be my last LootWear review...at least for now.