I subscribe to a random smattering of newsletters and daily deal sites, one of which is blissmo.  Earlier in the week, I got an email with a special offer that piqued my interest – sign up for a blissmobox membership and get a special edition box free!  I’ve been aware of these subscription-based programs that offer a box of curated goods each month, but I had never gotten into them.  However, after looking into blissmoboxes, I felt that for $19/box (or just $17.54 if you count the bonus one too) it was worth a shot.  After all, I’m a sucker for trying new products and what better way than to let the people of blissmo pick out some eco-friendly ones for me?

This experience got me thinking about this whole “curated” trend that’s been going around.  From daily deals that are curated by experts to monthly themed boxes curated by the team at a company, options are popping up everywhere.  You can go for environmentally-friendly products like I did, or choose from food only, beauty products, fashion, and countless other angles.  I won’t talk about daily deals today, since this whole monthly box thing is my newest interest.  I love the idea because you get introduced to a bunch of cool new products without having to scour the aisles yourself.  Plus, who doesn’t enjoy receiving a package?

While looking into what the latest blissmobox contained, I discovered a blogger who reviewed a bunch of these services.  I’m pretty baffled by how many she subscribes to, but if you cut out shopping in stores and buying snacks yourself, I can see how it wouldn’t cost too much more to exclusively use these subscriptions.  There’s definitely a strong appeal to getting on this trend, whether it’s purely because you like to receive packages or you’re actually looking to sample a variety of products to help you choose what to use in your daily life.  In fact, I almost convinced myself that it wouldn’t be so bad if I subscribed to just one more…

I remember when I got a mystery gift bag from Burt’s Bees; it was really exciting to open it up and discover what they had put in there for me.  Similarly, one of the perks of being involved with Opportunity Green is the chance to score some pretty awesome swag.  It’s just so satisfying to get a bag of stuff!  Emotionally, it can be very satisfying to sign up for one these curated boxes.  On the other hand, to a certain extent it can make sense practically as well, since you often see products that you aren’t sure about and wish you could try.  This way, you get a bunch that have been test driven by people at the company providing the boxes, so generally you can expect a pretty good product. You can then test them out yourself to figure out if it’s something you’d continue to use.  There’s also the fun factor of not knowing what you’ll get.  Most people enjoy a little bit of mystery and surprise to spice things up!

I personally can’t wait to get my first blissmobox and start experiencing this craze.  I’ll be sure to post up what I get in each box as they come!