April's Conscious Box Review x 2 !

Here is a review on my most recent (and final) Conscious Box. I decided to cancel because I wasn't overly enamored with the last few months and I wanted to free up some of my spending money. I'm not horribly dissatisfied with the box. In fact there's a good chance I will re-subscribe later down the road. But for now, this is the right decision for me.

 

April is Earth Day month so the box has an eco-friendly theme which is pretty much the Conscious Box theme anyway. I subscribe to the Vegan version of the box so was very surprised to open it and find a bag of 100% grass-fed beef jerky. To be honest my first reaction was, "Oh, look! Vegan jerky!" Thank goodness I've trained myself to check labels! This was no vegan jerky. This was the real deal. I'd heard of people accidentally getting dairy products in the vegan box before but never meat products! I wasn't really sure if I got the wrong box or the wrong product was added to my vegan box. I sent an e-mail to customer service and was relieved to get aquick response from the staff. They said they would send out the correct box and a week later I got my truly vegan Conscious Box. So here is my review on both boxes.

Contents of first box:

The infamous Jerky - enough said

Essential Living Foods Palm Flower Nectar Coconut Sugar - This stuff is cool! It's low-glycemic and yummy. The flavor reminds me a bit of caramel and yes I've been eating spoonfuls out of the box. I think this would work really great in baking...or straight out of the box :)

KonaRed Hawaiian Superfruit Antioxidant Shot - Think I will like this much more than the wheatgrass shot of last month (yuck!) Might try this one day instead of my V-8 + Energy drink. It says it contains 27 mg of caffeine.

GFM Beyond Natural Balancing Facial Serum - Been hearing a lot about facial serums lately but not entirely sure what all the hype is. I think it's supposed to be nourishing. This serum contains pomegranate seed oil, hazelnut oil, borage oil, kukui nut oil, seabuckthorn oil, and vitamin E oil, among others. This is why I like these subscription boxes because it gives me the opportunity to try stuff without buying a huge bottle.

Seventh Generation Mandarin Refreshing Facial Cleansing Cloths - Seventh Generation has branched out into skin care/hygiene. I actually bought some of these in the lavender scent and tried my first one last night. It wasn't bad. Mandarin scent sounds like it would be really refreshing. Product is free from parabens, phthalates and synthetic fragrances.

Qspeed CoQ10 - Never heard of this before. It's a supplement that is supposed to support heart health, enhance cellular energy production, and support exercise performance. I will add this to my little drawer of exercise supplements for when I start exercising (ha, right!)

Totlogic Body Lotion - This is a large sample of lotion free of sulfates, phthalates, and parabens. It says it has a natural and light scent so not entirely sure what it will smell like.

Splash Citrus Lovers Artisan Soap by Amathia Soapworks - This is a vegan friendly shea butter soap made in Kansas. It smells really great (essential oils of bergamot, ylang ylang, orange, lemon, tangerine, pink grapefruit, and may chang.)

Dapple Baby Bottle and Dish Liquid - Nice little sample of dish soap. Not tested on animals so I will definitely give it a shot.

Natural Veggie Wash - I've always wanted to try one of these. Supposedly cleans off waxes and chemicals better than water. I'll let you know what I think.

Contents of Second Box:

Beanfields Bean and Rice Chips in Nacho flavor - Yes, please! Vegan chips in nacho flavor. Woo! Obvious love.

Alternative Baking Company Cinnamon Burst Cookie - I already love this company. Have had many of their delicious cookies. This one is gluten-free. Oddly enough I don't see cinnamon in the ingredients but it sounds yummy.

Butcher's Bunches Handcrafted Preserves - Yes, after the last box, the name gave me pause, but it turned out alright. The flavor is Dirty Diana and contains Montmorency Cherries, Pectin, Passion Fruit Rum, Nutmeg, Lime Juice, and Citric Acid. Intriguing. Not a huge preserves fan but will give it a shot.

Seventh Generation Mandarin Cleansing Cloth - same as first box

Qspeed CoQ10 - same as first box

Totlogic Body Lotion - same as first box

Naturally It's Clean by Enzyme Fresh Home Floors - This is a floor cleaner which we've been needing so very happy to get this sample. Looks like it will have a citrus smell.

Everly Thrive Drink Mix in Pomegranate Maqui Berry - I like to get drink mixes because they encourage me to drink water. This one contains Stevia which I'm not nuts about flavor-wise but I will try it.

Citrus Magic Natural Odor Eliminating Air Freshener in Tropical Citrus Blend - Good size sample that I'm sure I will find a use for. It smells very citrusy and the bottle is non-aerosol. Another good sample to try.

In summary I got a lot of great products and was very pleased with Conscious Box's customer service. As I said earlier this is my last box for now but probably not forever (I also had great customer service when I cancelled with no fuss and a quick response.)

Review of White Rabbity Beauty

I recently placed my second order with WhiteRabbityBeauty.com and felt compelled to write a blog about it. White Rabbit Beauty is a website that sells cruelty free makeup and beauty products (mostly hard to find brands.) Shipping is free on all make-up and affordable for everything else.

My first order a few months ago was two small foundation samples from ZuZu Luxe. (That's another great thing about White Rabbit Beauty. You can get samples of some of the products without committing to what can be a pricey purchase.) It was a very small order but arrived wrapped in a beautiful bag with gold stars on it and a hand written note wishing me luck that the samples would work. I thought this was very sweet.

My second order was two more foundation samples (this time from Gabriel Cosmetics) and a Deep Steep moisture stick in Grapefruit Bergamot. Again it's a relatively small order but came wrapped in the same beautiful bag with another hand written note. This time she wished me luck hoping these samples would work better and included an extra sample in an additional shade. This is such great customer service! I was really, really impressed with this site. Plus the whole Alice in Wonderland/Cruelty Free mash-up is pretty cool.

Check them out and see if they have something you are looking for. Be sure to check out the sale list too!

www.whiterabbitbeauty.com

Best Subscription Box Samples

Now that I've received three or more months of both the Eco Emi box and Conscious box I thought it would be fun to do a quick blog/review of some of my favorite products that I got to try through these boxes. Now if I don't mention something in this blog, it doesn't necessarily mean I didn't like it. There are still quite a few samples I haven't tried yet. But here's some that I have tried and loved:

Vitacare Gum in Cool Mint and Key Lime - Liked these when I first tried them, now half way through the pack and love them. I looked for them at Whole Foods and couldn't find them, but was glad to see that they are on available at Vitacost!! The flavor doesn't last incredibly long or anything but they are really refreshing and good for your teeth to boot!

Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser - I wasn't overly impressed when I saw this sample in my Eco Emi box but I was so off on that impression! This stuff was amazing and I was sad the sample wasn't larger. It smells very refreshing and leaves your skin feeling so soft. Probably the best exfoliater I've ever used. I checked out the Suki website and the cost of this is way out of my price range but it was nice to try!

 

St. Claire's Organics Ginger Pastilles - Disclaimer: These do not taste that great unless you like to eat spicy ginger. However, they do exactly what I'd hoped, help curb nausea. This tin should last me quite a while and I will probably repurchase. Tins are $2.99 on their website or you can buy a 4 pack on Vitacost for $10.

 

Hugo Naturals Volumizing Shampoo in Vanilla and Sweet Orange - Excited when I got this sample and loved it when I finished the small bottle. I think I managed to get 3-4 washes out of the sample so feel like I really tested this one. The smell was ok but what I really loved is how clean my hair felt after washing. It definitely volumizes too. I have very thick hair so maybe didn't need that level of volume. I haven't repurchased yet and am not sure I would purchase this same type, but will definitely plan on getting the Hugo Naturals brand when I do.

Vapour Organic Beauty Black Eyeliner (picture shows Truffle) - This eyeliner turned out to be my favorite for several months (only reason I'm not using it now is I've gotten back into liquid liner for the moment.) It was gentle and did not irritate my eyes. It was easy to apply and had good color payoff. I also liked that it had a smudge tool on the opposite side of the pencil. Only complaint might be that it needs frequent sharpening.