Sparaj December 2013

Sparaj (www.sparaj.com) is a newer Spa subscription service. You need to sign up each month and supplies are limited so you may not get in for the current month you are in. I read about the prelaunch box in November and signed up right away because it looked amazing. Boxes are $40 a month. I typically wouldn't spend this kind of money on a subscription but it looked it was worth it so I went for it. I signed up in the beginning of November  but November was already sold out. I was told I would be getting a December box but that seemed really far away! Finally, I received my box yesterday.

I was immediately impressed with the size of the box:

Much bigger than my other subscription boxes.

Opened the box up and there were several layers of tissue paper.

Under the first layer was the information card explaining that the theme for this month was "Winter season at the Great Wall of China"

The back of the card also wishes their subscribers a Merry Christmas...how very un-PC of them...

Second layer of tissue paper

And it wasn't a box inside a box but a bag...one day two bags! I can always put these to good use...bring them on subscription services!

Out of the box...everything was inside the bag.

First thing: a lollipop diffuser. I've never used one of these but it looks really cute. The idea is that you just take the stopper out of the bottle and stick the lollipops in...the perfume will them go up the sticks to the rope portion of the lollipop.

I wasn't sure if you could tell from the other picture but one of my lollipops was unravelling :( hopefully it is something I can fix easily!

And this is everything else in the bag. A Scent of Bangkok soap. First of all, this smells lovely...you can smell it as soon as you open the box. Secondly, Bangkok is in Thailand...maybe some of the ingredients are from China? What's that you say...French clay? How decidedly un-Chinese. The next thing is a Foot and Nature peeling foot mask. I read about these and they are supposed to be a little gross when they are working/peeling your skin but they are supposed to work wonders. I will definitely use this as I am very tough on my feet. Something else I feel the need to mention is that this product is not from China. I knew this the second I pulled it out of the bag. A Japanese friend once taught me that Japanese and Chinese characters look the same but are pronounced differently but Korean characters look totally different. How so? The characters use circles...lots of circles in these characters. So I flipped it over and ding ding ding. Made in Korea. The last item is a milk calcium nail pack. This is also something I will use for sure. And again...these characters are the same as the foot package so it is from Korea as well.

Final Verdict: I am unsure where the diffuser was made but nothing about it screams "China". The other three items are from different parts of Asia and not China. Why choose a theme and not stick to it? Do they think Americans are ignorant and won't know the difference? Or does the company think China encompasses all of Asia? Wouldn't it be better to have a theme of "winter season in Asia"?  I was expecting something reminiscent of China and didn't get anything. Also, the diffuser was unraveling :( things like this happen but it's still disappointing. Especially when I paid $40 for the box. I don't think I will be purchasing this again.

GlossyBox August 2013

GlossyBox was the second subscription box I received. I was super excited about this box because I had looked up past boxes and it looked like everything this company sent out was full size products and that it was really high quality. Glossybox costs $21 per month if you purchase it month to month but they also have options for a 3, 6 and 12 month subscription with savings for all of these plans. You can find glossybox here: http://www.glossybox.com/ There is a box within a box - the box that the items are in is actually a nice, sturdy box that can be reused and I have an aunt that loves to pack confetti in all of my packages so she will be getting the packing confetti that came in this box! When I took the inner box out of the packing box there was a coupon for Guess, a booklet explaining the products in the box and a cosmetic bag at the bottom of the box!

The first item was Spray Misty For Me Facial Spritz:

I have to admit when I opened the box and saw this item I wasn't impressed. I thought it looked a little cheap, and maybe like a product out of the 90's. A few days after I received this box I had a really late night and was feeling a bit sluggish this next morning. I decided to try this product...and I have to say I am hooked. The smell first of all is lovely and it really does feel like it is refreshing you when spritz your face with it. I was pleasantly surprised - I use this almost every day and plan on buying more when it runs out! The next item I saw was the Novex - Brazilian Keratin Hair Care Treatment Cream - I knew this would come to good use as I use keratin in my hair.

Next was the Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush - I was not a fan of the color at all, which I thought was way too bright for me! I do have a cousin that is very much into fashion and is a little more adventurous than me - I gave her this as a gift and she loved it!

Next was the Pandora's Makeup Box Nail Polish - I got white...always can use a white nail polish. No complaints here, just not overly excited by it either.

The last thing in my box was the Sue Devitt Triple C-Weed Pressed Powder. At first look I was very disappointed. I live in Florida and have a tan - this color is much too light for me. I began to play with it a bit and realized that unfortunately because of wearing sunglasses I don't always have an allover same tone and applying a layer of this under my bronzer helps me to have an even tone. I use it every morning now! I break out from some products as well and haven't had a problem with this product - it is high quality - love it!

I must say that I was disappointed at first in this box but I really did enjoy playing with the products and using them and even gifting the things that wouldn't work for me. Can't wait to see what I get next month!