Vegan Cuts Beauty Box August Review!

My Vegan Cuts Beauty Box arrived less than a week from my Eco Emi (just took me a while to get the review up.) I was hoping the boxes would be farther apart so I'd always have a box to look forward to but it was a good way to compare them. The Beauty Box is $20 per month and this is the second box they've done. I was a bit disappointed in the first box so a lot was riding on this box for me.

Last month the goodies were packaged in a small USPS box. This month the box was bigger which got my hopes up. This is what I found inside the box:

Kind of looks like a lot of filler... Let's remove the packaging.

 

 

Kind of looks like a lot of nothing. Now a large factor here is that we have a big box with a smattering of small items. Use a smaller box and it looks like much more. Here's a much better picture that had me feeling better about the box.

 



Here's what the box contained:

Sunology Sunscreen - two small packets of natural sunscreen for face and body. Actually I think both packets are the same (appeared to be same ingredients) but one was marketed as face and one as body. As pale as I am I'm not currently in the market for a new kind of sunscreen but these will be useful on a trip to the beach.

Schmidt's Deodorant - small jar of natural deodorant. Now I'm a huge fan of Crystal deodorant but I'm willing to try others. It's smells great (the scent is bergamot and lime.) And I love the name. I keep imagining Schmidt from the TV show New Girl. I did take this product on a test run for two days and while it didn't keep me feeling dry, it did keep all odor away quite effectively. However, I had an allergic reaction to it so it's a no go for me. Also didn't like that I had to apply it with my fingers. Ew.

Relogy - this is a full size acne spot treatment roll on. It contains seaweed extract. It seems to work pretty well so far from what I've seen. I like that it's a full size item ($14.95 value!)

Lip Glosserie - this is a good size sample of green tea and cucumber body lotion. It smells ok and moisturizes ok. Normally I like cucumber scent but this one kind of gives me a headache. I'm not in love with it but will definitely use it up.

NCLA - packet of 20 nail wraps. The pattern on these nail wraps is a navy blue stripe. I've never tried nail wraps before but this pattern is more my style than the animal print ones I got from my Influenster Vox Box (and vegan!) Still a tad loud though.

Perennial Soaps - this is a small artisan tea tree peppermint facial bar. This was a win for me because after getting a totally non-vegan soap from Eco Emi, it felt like righting a wrong. I checked out Perennial Soaps Etsy site and they have some great scents like Mint Mojito, Ginger Ale, and Beer Soap! Haven't tried mine yet but am hoping I like it.

Fanciful Fox - this is a peach tinted lip balm. At first I was really psyched about this. I like the concept of subtly tinted lip balm. What I've found though is that the formula is very dry and difficult to apply. I've really been struggling with getting the color to apply at all, let alone moisturize.

So I guess my overall review of this second box is mixed. While the box seemed empty initially, there were actually quite a few good size samples here. However, a lot of the items I thought would be hits have been near misses. We'll see if third times the charm!

August Eco Emi Review!

I got my August Eco Emi box this week (surprisingly even before my Vegan Cuts box got here.) No leaks this time! :)

The packaging was inspired by picnics and had pale yellow and blue tissue paper. This box contained:

Carrot, Grapefruit, and Egyptian Geranium Rose Body Lotion by Valenti Organics - This is a small foil packet sample of lotion. The scent sounds intriguing.

Café Machiatto Body Oil by Valenti Organics - Body oil that smells like coffee?!? Yes, please. Kind of excited about this one!

Natural Lemongrass Soap with French Yellow Clay by Craftsmansoap - Such a disappointment. This was a very nice smelling, decent sized soap packaged nicely that also happens to contain tallow. What?!? Yes, tallow. So not only not vegan, but not even vegetarian. And how is this cruelty free? I know I'm not the only one seriously offended by this product choice. I've read some comments on Eco Emi's Facebook page. Not good.

Edible Green Tea by Eat Green Tea - This was a little foil pack of edible green tea. I added it to my smoothie yesterday and it is literally tea. While it mostly broke up in the blender there were still specks in my smoothie that made it a little crunchy but it didn't taste bad. Apparently you get more of the antioxidants by consuming green tea this way.

Raw Organic Walnut Butter by Artisana - I'm looking forward to trying this. I've had other nut butters before but never walnut. It's a good amount too, probably enough for two servings.

Gluten Free Double Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies by Home Free Treat - I've had these before and they are really good! Kind of like mini Chips Ahoy cookies. I promised my husband I'd split the bag with him. Why did I do that??

Wooden Spoons by Bakers Confections - These confused me to no end. It's a cute little wooden spoon and spatula spoon made of lightwood wood. But it's too small to be useful for anything except maybe ice cream. I think I've found a good use for them (they might make a nice tool for my sugar scrubs), but I still think it was a bit of a bizarre choice.

Natural Eye Shadow in Run Metal Gray by Gourmet Body Treat - I really like getting eye shadows in these boxes and gray is a color I don't have. I'm disappointed in the size though. Usually samples still contain a decent amount of shadow but this one is barely enough for one or two uses.

Tiffany Color Nail Polish by Coco LacQuer - I liked this tiffany blue sample because it's a color I don't have and the size is really small. It's enough to color your nails multiple times but smaller than a full size bottle which might go to waste. The polish dries really fast but also tends to chip more quickly too. It's a fun color to have on hand.

So there are definitely a few items I am happy about but as a whole this has been my least favorite Eco Emi box. The soap was a major factor in my disappointment. Coming soon - my Vegan Cuts August review. Let's hope it's better than July's!

TCBY Silk Almond Milk Fro-Yo!

So I recently heard that TCBY was offering a chocolate fro-yo made from Silk almond milk and I had to try it! I am so sick of going to fro-yo shops and having only one choice which is usually pink lemonade sorbet or some close relative. I want chocolate people! So this news was super exciting to me.

My husband and I ventured out to our local TCBY to try some this weekend. First, I've got to say I was very impressed by the décor. It had a really fun, colorful vibe. It was self-serve which is not how I remember TCBY, but, hey it's been a while! They had two size cups and we opted for the smaller size which was still pretty big. The guy asked if we wanted to try a sample and I told him "No, I know exactly what I'm getting" and made a bee-line for the Silk. The consistency was pretty much what I expected from these type of soft serve machines. Kinda difficult to get it into the cup like they show it in the picture. But who cares? It's not staying in the cup for long anyhow.

The toppings were varied in selection which was great. They had fruit, nuts, sprinkles, Oreos, liquid toppings, even Nerds! I chose crushed nuts and Oreos on mine (yes, Oreos are vegan!) Our total surprised me a little (about $11) but we did fill our cups pretty full. My eyes were way bigger than my stomach and knowing how far away the store was I didn't know if this would be my only chance to try this new flavor.

It was soooo good. Cold and creamy and most importantly chocolaty! It had a really rich chocolate flavor and the toppings added a nice texture. I don't know what the calories are like but I was able to eat the whole cup (a lot of fro-yo!) and didn't even feel all that full afterwards (or guilty, yay!) Supposedly TCBY is going to offer this new flavor for something like 70 days and I'm really hoping the concept takes off. Think of all the other great flavors they could have! Strawberry, Cheesecake, and Peanut Butter come to mind (separate flavors not combined)! I'm also really thrilled this was an almond milk formula instead of soy. I know there is a lot of concern about the consumption of too much soy and it's great that we have alternatives now.

Hopefully, we make it round one more time before it's gone. If you have a TCBY in your area, I highly recommend trying it!

July Eco Emi Review

I love my Eco Emi boxes! This month I had a bit of a disappointment but despite that I'm still a fan. Eco Emi gives the most value and presentation than I've seen in any box subscription so far and it's about $5 cheaper than most boxes at $15 a month.

I knew this month we would be getting a lip scrub in the box and it might be runny on arrival. It was recommended to place it in the fridge right away. I should have put two and two together when I saw the package. It had a small water mark on the top. I just assumed this was from rain. When I went to open the box the moisture had spread and I had an idea of what was going on. This is what I opened up to:

 

The lip scrub was packaged in a cute green mesh bag with some other products. The tiny jar must have not been screwed on very well because it was empty. All the oils had soaked through the tissue paper, the box, and the paper materials enclosed. Not only was it a mess but I had no lip scrub! Still...one unlucky disappointment (it didn't happen to many subscribers) doesn't mean the box was a total loss. Not at all! Just check out the pretty packaging:

 

 

I was able to salvage the green mesh bag and kept the little piece of burlap for my own gift wrapping purposes. If it weren't for the stain it would have been a very pretty box!

 

 

Here's what July's box included:

 

Rose Cleansing Scrub by French Girl Organics - You can't tell very well from the picture but this was a really pretty item. It's a lavender colored dry facial scrub that you can mix with any liquid. You can also use it as a masque. This is one of those neat items it's fun to have on hand when you want a spa day.

 

Stress Relief Bath Soak by Eartha Essentials - I never seem to find time to take a bath but I can't wait to use this! It's a liquid you add to your bath and smells very nice and relaxing.

 

Lushfull Lips Lip Scrub by Eartha Essentials - This is the item that leaked so I didn't get to try it. I really like lip scrubs but the jar didn't smell amazing so probably not a huge loss. I've been using my $1 E.L.F. lip exfoliator recently and am not really looking for a different product.

 

Body Spritzer "Tangelo Twist" by Aubrey - This was a nice sample to include. It's nice to have a scent you can spritz on and carry in your purse. It doesn't really linger and Mike and the cats weren't huge fans so probably won't repurchase. Still it was fun to try.

 

Amend Facial Solar Repair Anti-Aging Serum by Blissoma - This is a very small bottle but I'm assuming a little goes a long way. I've tried one other Blissoma product and am not a huge fan but am willing to try it.

 

Whipped Cream Body Butter by Fortune Cookie Soap - Didn't love the smell of this one and the color is kinda green; however, fans were raving about this on Facebook so I'll give it a try. Although I might wait until winter when dry skin is more of an issue.

 

Cucumber Mint Green Tea by Tea Forte - This sounds really good but had a lot of oil from the lip scrub absorb into it. The lip scrub was probably food safe, but still...

 

Sleep Mask by Limitless Skies - This was a really cute addition and looks like it would be comfortable. It's nice to get a non-perishable beauty item every once in a while. I don't know that I'll have a use for it but it might be good to bring along when I travel.

 

So it wasn't really the best box I've ever gotten but compared to my Vegan Cuts box so far, even with flaws it is still by far my favorite and I have no thoughts of cancelling. On the topic of Vegan Cuts I noticed they have not charged me yet for August so I'm not really sure if I'll be getting an August box or not. If not, I'll probably let it go and will just have an Eco Emi review later this month.