I'm sorry that I haven't had the time to write up a real post. I do have some videos that I haven't posted here though. Bulu Box
Graze Box
Loot Crate vs Nerd Block
I hope that I will have some more stuff for you soon. Until then, enjoy the videos!
Bulu Box - May
Before I get into the review, I'd like to make a bit of an announcement. From this point forward, subscription box reviews will be done in video form instead of written posts. At least for now. If I decide that the videos aren't working, I'll go back to writing the reviews. That means that The Geek Within will have a YouTube channel. The Geek also has a new Facebook page. Like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Then you'll know you're getting the full Geek!
OK! Onto the review. Bulu box is a health, nutrition, and weight loss subscription box. You get 4 or 5 samples in each box. If you review your products on their website, you can get reward points that give you a discount on your next order.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the box. You can see the bright orange box on the Bulu box website. I'm not sure if every box is themed but it looks like this one is A Feel-Good Discovery.
One of the first things I pulled out was a small packet of Ridgecrest Herbals Migraine Relief. There are 6 homeopathic capsules in the packet. I do get migraines occasionally but I don't know that I get then often enough to actually try this out. I forgot to look for an expiration date on the packet. I'll keep them on hand, just in case.
My daughter pulled out the Smarty Pants for Kids gummy vitamins. She absolutely loves gummy vitamins. One of the things I didn't like, though, was that the child takes 4 gummies each day. That is an awful lot. Every other brand we have tried was 2 per day. My daughter was the first to try it. She didn't like it very much. Neither did I. The gummy tastes fine at first, but it has a terrible aftertaste. I couldn't find a flavor listed on the packet so I don't know if we just got a bad flavor or if they all taste like that. Either way, it's a no-go in our house.
There is also an adult vitamin in the box. This one is Vivioptal Women. There are 5 capsules in this pack and you take 1 per day. I haven't tried it yet. Mostly because it kinda scares me. The capsules are blood red and it says "German Formula" across the front of the box. I don't mind taking chances but I don't want to make myself sick either.
A Skratch Labs Hydration Stick came out next. This is a lemon-lime flavored powder that, when mixed with water, is supposed to replace electrolytes after exercising. Sort of like Gatoraid. My daughter had just finished two dance classes so she was ready to try the stuff. It was yet another product that she didn't like. I took of a sip after she made the Yuck face. It tasted a bit like flat Sprite. Maybe we should have added the powder to carbonated water.
The AdvanceMint Happy Hour isn't something I will ever use. It is a hangover prevention supplement. I don't drink alcohol, which is its own hangover prevention. Maybe I can give it to someone else to try.
Another little packet contained NutraWise Youtheory Collagen Advanced Formula. This is supposed to promote active joints, hydrate skin, and reduce wrinkles. It is yet another product that intrigues and scares me at the same time. I should get up the nerve to try it. I don't think this one will kill me.
Finally, BioXGenic Nature's Desire. It is a female "mood enhancer." Supposedly, it increases the female libido using natural ingredients. Hm. I'm sure my husband would like me to take it. But...ehhh....I don't know. Maybe.
I didn't have any expectations when I ordered the 3-month subscription to this box. Based on this one box, I am not impressed. Of the 7 samples we received, 2 of them tasted awful, 2 of them I am unlikely to ever use, and the other 3 scare me slightly. I hope that the products in next month's box are a little more normal.
Beauty Box 5 - May
My Beauty Box 5 box showed up in my mailbox yesterday! I always love when a subscription box shows up. I think I might have an addiction now. That would explain why I am always looking for new ones to subscribe to.
OK. OK. Let's take a look at this month's box. The theme for May is Fresh and Focused. It's all about getting yourself back in the zone instead of daydreaming about the beach. What did they give me to accomplish that?
The first thing I pulled out was a perfume sample. It is Hello by Harvey Prince. It is a very floral scent with a bit of a citrus undertone. Very pretty. I don't usually wear a lot of perfume but I might give this a try.
Next up is the Ban Total Refresh Cooling Body Cloths. The package looks like they are regular wipes. However, it sounds like there is some sort of cooling effect from them. Like, if it is super hot out and you feel gross, wipe yourself down with these and you'll not only feel cleaner, you'll also feel cooler? I'm not sure really. I'll have to figure out a way to try them out.
The next item out of the box was the H20 Plus Aqualibrium Marine Cleansing Gel. My daughter recently got a Clarisonic Mia. It looks like this cleansing gel has sea salt in it to make it exfoliating, which would mean she couldn't use it with the Clarisonic without tearing up her face. I will definitely give this a try though to see how it works. I'm always looking for new cleansers that will clear the gunk out of my pores.
The Cattiva Presicione Eye Liner came out next. Mine came in black. I don't wear makeup on a day-to-day basis. But, much like the cleanser, I'm always on the lookout for eyeliner that doesn't smudge or make me look like a raccoon. I will have to give this a try too!
The final item is one I have been dying to try for awhile. It is a MaskerAid Hydrating Facial Sheet Mask. I love face masks. A lot. I have never had the chance to try out a sheet mask though. I'm always too nervous to spend the money to buy them. What if I hate it? Now I get to try it! Yay!
I am happy with this box. There are a lot of things that I never would have purchased for myself and there isn't anything I wouldn't use at least once. I will try to post some product reviews of the stuff I do try. Keep an eye out!
Julep Maven - May
My new Julep Maven box arrived on Saturday! Julep allows you to choose which package you receive so I already knew three of the colors I was getting. I upgraded to get a fourth mystery color. Julep has recently changed the rules for their Maven boxes though. I don't think you can choose which package gets delivered to you any more. Well, I'll see how it works when next month's box gets ready to ship.
Onto the May colors!
As I said, I received four colors this month. Most of them are spring-like pastel colors. The colors are: Paulette, Bess, Jules, and Iona.
Paulette is a sort of lavender color. Even though the color doesn't seem it, it is actually really shimmery. As a result, it does take a few coats in order to get it to show up well. Two coats worked fine.
Bess is a pretty baby blue shade. This is probably my favorite of the bunch. It covers very well. Only one coat is needed but I found that the second coat makes it pop more. This was the mystery shade I added onto my subscription.
Jules is a peachy pink color. I mainly picked this specific shade because my daughter loves all things pink. Unfortunately, this one is disappointing. One coat barely shows up on a naked nail. Two coats works a little bit better but it is still rather see-through. We tried to do a nail design with the Jules on top of Bess but the blue still shone through unless we really thickly applied the pink. Maybe we'll figure out what to do with it later.
Iona is my second favorite color, just behind Bess. It is a deep purple shade that matches Paulette very well. When I have some time, I might try to do an Iona/Paulette pattern to see what happens. It might be too awesome for words.
I have to admit that I am pretty happy with this month's selection. The Maven subscription is $19.99 and the mystery shade addition was an extra $4.99 so my total this month came to $24.98. The nail polish normally retails at $14 each but Mavens get a 20% discount off of anything in the store plus free shipping. Even though I'm not particularly enamored with Jules, I do like the other colors. I'd have to say this box was a success.
Subscription Box: Loot Crate - April 2013
We received this month's Loot Crate subscription box in the mail yesterday. My daughter always gets so excited when these show up on our doorstep. They come in a fairly plain black box with LOOT CRATE on the top in big, bold letters.
April's theme is DRAGONS. This is the cover of the booklet that comes in every box. The booklet gives a little bit of information about the month's theme and it tells you about the products you received. There is also a small button that features the month's theme in every box but it is difficult to get a good picture of it.
We like opening the figure boxes first. This month's box came with two figures. The first we opened was from Dragon Age Elder Scrolls and the figure we received was The Nord. While I am not familiar with the game, my husband has played it so he was happy we received that one out of the lot. Both the sword and the helmet are removable, though the guy looks a little weird without his helmet.
The second figure we opened was from Game of Thrones. We received Jon Snow's dire wolf, Ghost. I think he is super cute.
Next up were two 20-sided dice. The smaller one is a real die that you could use to play games while the larger one is actually a stress ball. I spent way too much time squeezing the thing. It's fun!
Then there is a Dragon Slayer dog tag necklace. I'm not sure if I'd ever wear it but it is kinda cute.
Finally, there is a bag of dragon jerky. This was made specially for Loot Crate. Now, I am a pretty big fan of jerky. However, I'm not sure if I would eat this. It is actually greenish-colored. While that is kitchy, I'm not sure I want to eat green meat. Maybe I'll make my husband try it :D
I really love Loot Crate. The monthly themes are always something we debate about in my household. As soon as they announce the month's theme, we start discussing what we think will be in the box. We usually get the main pieces (you can't have a dragon theme without Game of Thrones) but there are always surprises that keep us on our toes. We have loved all of the themes so far and we have received some awesome products from them. I can't wait to see what they have coming in the future.
Subscription Box: Graze
I actually received this box about a week ago. However, I wanted to take the time to have everyone in my family try the snacks before I gave an opinion. I know that I can be picky about my food. A second opinion is always helpful in these situations.
This is my first box from Graze, a healthy snack company. The plain brown box is designed very simply. The top just shows the company's URL and catchphrase "Snacking Reinvented." The bottom has the shipping label and helpfully tells you to turn the box over before opening it. This is a nice change from some other boxes.
When you open the box, you find a personalized welcome note. My daughter thought this was amazing. "Mom! It has your name on it!" It definitely makes the box feel like it was made just for you. The note tells you a little bit about the company but the best part is that there is a link where you can rate the food you receive. If there is something you don't like, you won't receive it again. But if there is something you love, you'll get more stuff just like it. There is also a code that you can give to your friends. If your friends join Graze, they get their 1st and 5th boxes for free and you get either $1 off your next box or you can donate that $1 to their charity, the graze school of farming. Finally, you'll find the appropriate nutrition information along with the expiration dates for all of the food in your box on the back of the note.
My box had four snacks. Fruity Mango Chutney with black pepper dippers, Billionaire's Shortbread, Key Lime Pie, and Mississippi BBQ Pistachios. They come individually packaged in sturdy plastic containers. The plastic wrapping tells you exactly what is in each package. All of it is see-through so you know exactly what you are about to put in your mouth.
The first snack we tried was the Fruity Mango Chutney. I knew from the beginning that this would not be my favorite. I don't like mango or pepper. But I still tried it. The pepper dippers had way too much black pepper on it for me. The mango chutney was sweet but not enough to offset the pepper-taste. My husband didn't like it much either.
Second up was the Key Lime Pie, which was actually like a trail mix sort of thing. It contains lime raisins, mini meringues, sponge pieces, and green raisins. Individually, each piece was quite tasty. When you put all of the elements into your mouth, it did taste a lot like key lime pie. Strange but yummy.
Everyone in my family loves pistachios so the Mississippi BBQ Pistachios were next on our list. Once again, they were strangely tasty. The flavoring wasn't like barbecue sauce. Instead, it was like barbecue cooked over a fire pit. The result is a smokey nutty taste. Everyone enjoyed it.
Last, but not least, Billionaires' Shortbread. This is another trail mix-type thing. The ingredients are Belgian milk chocolate, almonds, cranberries, and fudge. My family thought this was the most delicious of the bunch. While the food listing doesn't specifically state what type of fudge it is, it tastes like butterscotch. Everything else is pretty self-explanatory. It was just delicious.
I found the entire box very interesting. We didn't like every single snack but that is OK. It's good to try new things and this allows us to do that. I really like that you can vote on the food you try to make it a little more custom to your tastes. I'd really like to try another box to see what else they have.
Subscription Box: Beauty Box 5
It is time for another subscription box review! Yesterday's mail brought me the Beauty Box 5. BB5 gives you 5 beauty products. Most of them are sample sized but sometimes you get a full-sized product. In my opinion, the cost is very reasonable. If you pay monthly, it costs $12. However, if you choose the quarterly option, it is only $30. The last option is yearly, which is $99. Most women probably pay more than that per month on regular beauty products. Now you get to try new things!
When you first open the box, you are greeted with the month's informational postcard. The front of the card tells you a little bit about that month's theme. Turning the card over, the back gives you a detailed description of each product in the box. You also get a card with five codes that allow your friends to get their first and fifth boxes for free. Update: Sorry, that is a different box that I will be reviewing next week.
Here is the inside of the box I received. Due to the way it was packaged, you can't see all five products in this shot. But there are definitely five products there. Let's go through them one by one.
First up, Blum Naturals All-Purpose Cleansing Wipes in Citrus Scent. The bottle contains 30 wipes with a grapefruit smell. I adore citrus scents so I think this will get a lot of use. If all goes well with it, I would buy the full-sized version for the house.
Next up is the bh cosmetics California Collection eyeshadow palette. The palette has three shades: Hollywood is a deep purple color, San Francisco is a bronzey sort of color, and Malibu is a yellowish gold. These are some awful pictures of the shades but I couldn't get both the purple and the bronze to show up without making the gold look garish. In reality, all three are very nice colors. I would most likely wear San Francisco the most but my favorite color-wise is Hollywood.
The next two products go together so I'll talk about them at the same time. One is NickAK New York Hydro Lipstick in the Gypsy Begonia shade. I love this color. It's like a deep berry color. I really can't wait to try this one out! With it came a Bonne Bell lip definer. Unfortunately, this came with the pencil tip broken off. So I can't tell you much about the shade. It seems to match the lipstick but I can't be positive.
Finally, there is a 3-day Natural Glow moisturizer by Jergens. I believe this is supposed to be similar to spray-on tanners. I've never used fake tan products before. This appears to be a sample sized product so I'm not sure how much coverage you would actually get from it. You might be able to cover your face and your arms but it definitely will not cover your entire body. I doubt that I will personally try this one out but maybe I can find someone to try it for me.
And that is it! I am quite happy with what I received in this month's box. Out of the 5 products, I will definitely use at least three of them. I have two more boxes left in my subscription package so I hope this is a trend that will continue!
Subscription Box: Julep Maven
I've recently decided to start trying out subscription boxes. Subscription boxes are a (generally) monthly box of goods sent from a company for a monthly fee. The first box I'm going to review is Julep Maven.
Julep is a company that specialized in beauty products. Normally, this isn't my "thing" but I've seen a few unboxing videos and it was enough to talk me into trying their monthly subscription box called Maven.
When you first open the purple box, you'll find the obligatory advertisements that come in pretty much every order you've ever made. One of the differences between Maven and other subscription boxes is that you can customize Maven to your own style. When you sign up, you can take a beauty profile quiz that will help direct you toward which type of box you'd like sent to you. While I would have gone with the "Classic" style, I chose the "It Girl" style for my daughter. The "Classic" box would have come with two nail polishes and one beauty product. The "It Girl" comes with three nail polishes, perfect for my brand new nail polish fiend. Other options include "Boho Glam," "Bombshell," and "Modern Beauty."
Here are the three nail polish colors we received. While they were not labeled, I believe the orange squares are nail buffer/file/things. I'm not sure they will get used much. From left to right, the three colors we received are: Angela (a glittery blue-green shade), Hope (a white satin color), and Catrina (a bright yellow polish). My personal favorite is Angela. However, I can see the three of them coming together to make a cute nail design. Keep an eye on my Instagram for upcoming photos of the colors in action!
If you really like nail polish, this is definitely the box for you. Since my daughter loves painting her nails, I will most likely keep the subscription for a few more months. Click the link here to sign up for your own box.