Posts Tagged ‘soaps’

Escape Monthly August: Napa Valley Box Review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Woo hoo! I got the very first Escape Monthly box last week and it turned out great. When I heard the destination for this box would be Napa, I was a bit concerned it might be too focused on wine. Since I don’t drink, that wouldn’t make a very fun box for me. Luckily, it had a great mix of food, skincare, relaxation products, and travel info. I had to rush off before I could get proper pictures of all the products, but here’s an idea of what it all looked like:

blue escape monthly box with white lettering

Escape Monthly is just under $40 per box (with code for 20% off your subscription – see end of post) and comes with a variety of food, home, skincare items themed around a city. Each box comes with a Moon Handbooks guide for that region. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a lovely recurring referral commission program.

first look at inside of escape monthly box with blue and white chevron pattern and welcome sheet

look at inside of escape monthly august napa valley box with info card and products showing

escape monthly august napa valley info card listing products with prices(click to enlarge and read full messaging)

I love that they really took the time to write out messaging that fits with their theme and explain how each product can contribute to your experience of this destination. The variety is great, though I think another snack item might have been nice since the products were rather spa-heavy. Still, I liked that there were bath items, skincare items, household items, a food item, a drink item, and of course a tour book of the region. I definitely feel a lot more prepared for what Napa Valley has to offer and I am definitely set for creating a relaxing experience in the comfort of my own home!

Here’s what came in the box:

Moon Handbooks guide to Napa & Sonoma – A very handy thing to have when preparing a trip to the region!
Napa Valley Wine Soap – How cool is this? Made with grapeseed oil and local products – perfectly incorporating relaxation with the wineries.
all natural loofah bath sponge – I’ve wanted to have one of these for ages and kept telling myself I’d grow them, but now I don’t have to!
deluxe floating bath candles (set of 2) – Pretty little flower candles in my favorite color… you know I’ll be making good use of them. I feel so motivated to take a bath.
100% Pure Juicy Sugar Body Scrub – Yes, yes yes! I love trying out this brand and I can’t get enough of scrubs.
Cookie Zen Cookie & Cork Pairing – Well, I’ll skip the wine part and jump straight to the munching on cookies part!
7th Heaven natural face masks – Another brand I’ve been interested in so I can’t wait to use this mask. I’ve been meaning to use masks more!
Mixture Luscious lip balm – I’m looking forward to smelling what scent this is. Lip balms are always useful and I’ll probably throw this in a purse or car so I can have it handy.
mystery soap – So when I get back to my box, I will check on the brand, but there was actually another soap in this box. It was a smaller bar of soap and might be the bonus item mentioned in the info card.
Suki lotion sample – This is a brand I learned about through Yuzen and I’m always happy to try their products. Adding this to my samples baggie that I’m working through!
$50 NakedWines.com gift card – Here’s the wine portion of the theme! I won’t be using it but for those looking to create that Napa experience this would certainly help. If you’d like the code let me know and I can share it with you. Terms do apply so I’ll let you know about those if you’re interested.

My favorite product is the 100% Pure Juicy Sugar Body Scrub, which combines my love of scrubs with my fascination with 100% Pure, which I’ve received sample lotions of before. I can’t wait to try it out when I get a chance! I’m also really happy that there was a loofah included since that’s just the type of bonus accessory item I was hoping for. I’ve gotten tons of food and beauty products from subscriptions and I always appreciate when I get an item that works well with them but is more of a tool. It allows me to enjoy my products that much more!

Did you get an Escape Monthly box? What do you think of their introductory Napa Valley destination box? If you’re interested in signing up, they’re still offering 20% off for the lifetime of your subscription with code ESCAPENOW. Oh! And each month some lucky subscriber wins a trip to the destination!! How amazing is that?? 🙂

 

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Blissmobox: Skin Essentials

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Ok, so I’ve been holding off on reviewing this box because I couldn’t find pictures for it… and then a few weeks ago I realized I don’t remember receiving it at all. Oy! It just so happened at around this time I had gotten two other blissmoboxes and then I lost track of how many I was supposed to receive. Then I went home, where I had this box sent and I had a bunch of mail to go through and somehow this one fell through the cracks. Luckily, my mom was able to hunt it down for me! So here we go…

the choices for february's blissmobox: snack favorites (deluxe value), skin essentials, and baking & pantry favorites (deluxe value)

The three choices for the February blissmobox.

blissmobox is just under $25 per month with shipping (or as discounted as just under $120 for 6 months) and comes with eco-friendly products in themes like beauty, snacks, home, pets, and more. Each month you choose from two or three themes, or skip if none of them appeal to you. They do not offer a referral program.

This was the February box and I chose the Skin Essentials one because I was really in the mood for some pampering skincare products. I started to move away from the food selections once I really got into trying all types of cleansers and washes and creams and lotions.

opened blissmobox february 2013 with contents displayed

collage of weleda wild rose smoothing facial lotionWeleda, Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Lotion – I’m so happy I got this! I have been wishing for some Weleda to try out. I saw a really cool sample pack they sell at Whole Foods and ever since I’ve been curious about this brand. This all-natural product has no synthetic preservatives, fragrances, or chemicals. I can definitely feel good about putting this on my face. I’m not a huge fan of rose-scented skincare, but I do like how this feels so I’m going to have to try out their other products. It absorbs really well and is really refreshing to apply. This particular one helps target fine lines, but I don’t have that issue yet so I think their Iris Hydrating Facial Lotion might be a better fit for me.

collage of episencial soothing creamEpisencial, Soothing Cream – This is perfect for me and all my skin issues lately even though it appears to be a baby-focused brand. I’m going to try this on my burn that still itches a bit at times. I love how gentle it is so you can use it on babies too (lol it actually says for ages 0-150!). Seems like a great thing for diaper rash and other such conditions. It’s even got probiotics, which I’ve never seen in a cream before. I don’t want to open it just yet since I have a few other products for similar uses, but I’m looking forward to testing it. With calendula, I’m sure that it will be plenty effective for healing and soothing. It’s vegan, phthatlate-free, petrochemical-free, paraben-free, gluten-free, and cruelty-free.

collage of fisika ash-bay laurel soapFisika, Ash-Bay Laurel soap – This looks so fascinating, with its unique gray shade and ingredients like ash and laurel. Those aren’t ones I commonly see and I really look forward to sampling this soap. It will help exfoliate your skin so it’s perfect for rough patches. The ash softens water, the laurel essential oil fights premature aging, and the lavender is antiseptic. Seems like this is great for cleaning not just your body! It’s also paraben-, petrochemical-, and phthalate-free.

collage of nature's gate grape seed targeted eye treatment eye creamNature’s Gate, Grape Seed Eye Cream – I’ll be saving this for future use as well, though I did try a little bit. Feels great and I couldn’t smell anything so it should be good for those sensitive to fragrances. I really like the packaging – it just feels good to use. It has amazing ingredients like white tea, olive, aloe, argan, flaxseed, blackberry, and of course grape seed oil. It’s free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, fragrances (ah I was right about that!), PEDs, petrolatum, and animal byproducts.

collage of nature's gate biotin strengthening shampoo, biotin strengthening conditioner, and acai velvet moisture body wash samplesNature’s Gate, Biotin Strengthening Shampoo + Biotin Strengthening Conditioner + Velvet Moisture Açai Body Wash samples – These are some nice samples. I’m not going to use them just yet since they’d be perfect on the road and I currently have a ton of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash to use up. They’re all sulfate free, which is a big thing these days. In addition, they are free of parabens, phthalates, and cruelty (among other things). What they do have is a whole lot of oils that are great for your hair and skin and a bunch of vitamins for boosting the health of your hair and skin. I’m still a huge fan of solid shampoo, conditioner, and soap, so I’ll just use these up but probably won’t buy them.

I liked this box a lot since I get to try plenty of cool brands that I’d be interested in learning more about and it covers all your skin needs, ranging from body to face. The products cover a wide range of skin needs as well, with everything from new skin to aging skin. What do you think about this box?

If you’d like more info on these brands, you can click below to enlarge the photo and read more.

blissmobox skin essentials info sheet

Blissmobox: Indulge…

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Yikes, I’ve got quite some catching up to do with blissmo! I’m nearly done with my subscription and I’ve only reviewed half the boxes. So this was the January box and I chose the “Indulge…” one because I wasn’t feeling the snacks and this one sounded so luxurious!

blissmobox is just under $25 per month with shipping (or as discounted as just under $120 for 6 months) and comes with eco-friendly products in themes like beauty, snacks, home, pets, and more. Each month you choose from two or three themes, or skip if none of them appeal to you. They do not offer a referral program.

the choices for january's blissmobox: indulge..., good morning!, and feel good snacks

The three choices for the January blissmobox.

I’m glad I chose this one because it included some cool products that I’m happy to have discovered.

opened blissmobox january 2013 with contents displayed

collage of stash tea bags in lavender tulsiStash Tea, Lavender Tulsi – I tried one bag of this and it was nice, but nothing I’d crave. Good to have in my stash (haha pun was unintended) but I’m not sure I’d get more since I have so much tea. However, when I do want a more relaxing variety, I will definitely pull these out. They strike me as the sort of thing that you’d drink when you need some calm, are trying to unwind, or are slightly sick. I just get the impression it’s kind of like chamomile tea, perhaps because of the lavender component.

divine crunchy milk chocolate barDivine Chocolate, Crunchy Milk Chocolate – A very well-chosen name! They certainly didn’t lie; this chocolate is absolutely divine. This particular flavor doesn’t appear to be sold on their site, but they have a great selection. This was THE smoothest chocolate I have ever indulged in. So creamy and fragrant and wonderful I couldn’t stop myself from gobbling it up. I definitely want to get more! YUM

collage of bambeco olive oil soap in peppermintbambeco, peppermint olive oil soap – Oooo this smells refreshing! I am generally sensitive to peppermint products, whether mints, lotions, or soaps so I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to use this or trade it off. I do love the branding, packaging, and overall look and feel, but I might want to try one of their other scents. Then again, my skin probably isn’t as sensitive to peppermint as my stomach is to it, right? Applying it to skin and consuming it in food/beverages may be different, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be sensitive to this too. I’m really on the fence with this one!

collage of kallari chocolate bar 85% cacaoKallari, 85% dark chocolate – This is a great dark chocolate! Very well-crafted and it’s not that bitter. It definitely feels exotic and exclusive. For some reason it makes me think of Amazonians… must be the name, not that I have a clue what it means or where it came from! I like that they package it in a sealed foil pouch to really preserve the freshness and it breaks off into bite-size squares. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen these at Whole Foods, and I would pick it up again.

collage of somersaults dutch cocoa sunflower snacksSomersaults, dutch cocoa – Oh, Somersaults… I first learned of you back when my friend was graduating and his mom shared some with me. I want to like you and I do enjoy your shape and super crunchy texture, but why don’t I like your taste? I can enjoy sunflower seeds on their own, so why not pressed into little cracker cookies? I don’t understand it and try as I have, I just don’t like you enough. 🙁 However, of all the flavors I tried, this is the one that I’d actually consider getting. Go chocolate!

100% pure body cream samples in honey almond and vanilla bean100% Pure, honey almond & vanilla bean nourishing body cream – I have a ton of lotions to use right now so I’m saving these to use a little later. I plan on keeping them for times when I need ultra portability and can’t or won’t bring a deluxe size lotion around. Say, when I’m going on a hike or otherwise planning on being out for a long time, for example. I haven’t been all that active lately so I probably won’t need to break into these for some time!

collage of tisano nibbles cacao nibsTisano Nibbles, Dark Chocolate Cacao Nibs – These are strangely addicting. It kind of feels like I”m eating coffee grinds that weren’t ground up so well, but gosh who knew I could love that? I enjoy dark chocolate, but sometimes the bitterness is hard to swallow. In this tiny form, popping a few is easy as pie and before I know it, I’ve consumed the whole thing. I love that it’s crunchy with those nibs and that I don’t feel like I’m eating a candy, even though they resemble Nerds.

If you’d like more info on these brands, you can click below to enlarge the photo and read more.

blissmobox indulge... info sheet

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...