AND YET ANOTHER POST. Have I lost my mind? It's entirely possible. I'm also planning on doing a history of St. Patrick's Day post for you as well, so put that in your pipe and smoke it! This here is my March 2014 Birchbox. I've been subscribing for 13 months now. It has had it's ups and downs, but what keeps me coming back is the awesome points system in the shop. I have saved lots of money on full sized items by leaving reviews of things I got in my Birchbox. 

Here we have:

• Coola Tinted Matte SPF for face
• DDF Ultra lite oil free moisturizing dew
• Gilchrist and Soames London Collection Body Lotion
• English Laundry No. 7 For Her Perfume
• Ghirardelli Intense Dark Cherry Tango chocolate bar
• Ojon Damage reverse Restorative Hair treatment plus

I was a bit disappointed with this box. I was really hoping for the Inika green eyeliner and the stila lip glosses that some people got this month. ESPECIALLY the green eyeliner. It was full sized and valued at $20. The body lotion made no difference to my sad dry hands and kinda smelled medicine-y/heavy floral. I didn't care for the smell at all. The chocolate was good, but not as good as my favorite chocolate bar that also has dried cherries in it. The Coola was okay and I'll probably use it at the beach, but it may as well not have been tinted because it provided zero coverage. Perfume. Ugh. I wish they'd stop sending me perfume. I have their "less than six a year" option chosen, but I am seriously picky when it comes to fragrances and loathe most everything that's out there. This was bad too. It smelled old. Like heavy and overly flowery...just not something a younger person would choose to wear. I like something that's more light and fresh. I wear Philosophy Falling in Love and I adore it and would never change or use ANYTHING else. Sending me perfume samples is a waste of a sample. There's a 99.9% chance I'm going to absolutely hate it. I haven't cracked into the Ojon yet, but even though I color my hair I use a lot of other products to keep it healthy, so I really don't have a need for a damage repair treatment. I also haven't checked out the ingredients list, but you can bet if there's sulfates in it that it's going in the garbage. This one is getting mixed reviews, but I'll try it out and see how it goes. I did like the DDF and it was an EXCELLENT sample size. It was 1 oz and the full size is 1.7 oz for $42. There are 30 mL in an ounce, so there's about 50 mL in 1.7 ounces. That's 50 mL for $42, so 30 mL had a value of $35. Not too shabby. I like the way it feels on my skin and I can always use extra moisturizing even if there isn't an SPF in it. If I hated everything else, the value of this one product makes my $10 well spent. I am probably going to purchase the eyeliner since I have some points to spend and a coupon for being with the company for over a year. Here's hoping for a better April.

Why I'll stick with Birchbox

So, I did an experiment this month. There was an awesome deal in which new subscribers were getting free points to use in the Birchbox shop. PLUS this was a big collaboration month with US Weekly that promised to deliver better boxes. SO I referred myself another subscription. Why? Well the free points mean dollars off of full size purchases, so that was worth it alone. What I REALLY did it for was to see if I got a box I liked better from this other subscription. I wanted to see what kinds of different items I got if I filled out a profile another way. Would I like this other box better? I got my first box, the one from my original subscription and even though there were only four items in it, the samples were all a good size and stuff I really wanted, so I was pretty pleased. I also had put in an order for other full sized items and saved $30 through points from reviews, past purchases and referring myself a new subscription. The savings I get in the shop is worth a disappointing box or two in my mind. I'm really happy with the full size shop purchases I got in the mail and this shop has been the main place I'm getting my beauty products from. Where else am I going to be able to buy a $65 eye cream for $29? And do I LOVE that eye cream.

This is my first of the two boxes this month. I received Benefit fakeup, OPI pink tinted top coat, Dr. Brandt Pores No More and Agave hair oil. There is a tiny sample of the new Benefit CC cream as well. I will use everything in this box. I much prefer this box to last months. I bought the full size Fakeup. It's an under eye concealer with added moisturizer. Divine.

Disgruntled and Disappointed.

Hello again world. I've been thinking...

I had a dream last night in which the reciept Stitch Fix sent me for my items was incorrect and when I received the box it was full of stuff I actually liked at reasonable prices. When I woke up I was super disappointed. 

That was kind of weird. I guess I'm more annoyed than I realized. So I made a decision. I decided that instead of waiting for the box of stuff I'm not going to buy to get here that I would ask Stitch Fix directly, what the hell is up? So I sent this message to their customer service department:

A request I had made for this fix and price preferences.: 

Hello,
I have a couple questions. One, I had requested pants for this most recent fix and I can see by my receipt that there are no pants in my fix. I'm curious as to why, since I don't feel like this is such a specific request that it couldn't be accommodated. I'm a very common size, so it wouldn't be hard to find a pair that fit me.

My second question is this, I have done my research and follow a lot of blogs in which people are consistently getting multiple pieces in each box that are $20 and $30 dollars cheaper than what I'm being sent. I have the cheaper the better selected as my preference for all pieces and yet in this box I'm being sent a $78 shirt. The total with the discount is $225 again. I had this issue with my first box. I complained about the prices then. There's just absolutely no way I would ever pay $78 for a top that isn't a sweater or a jacket. I'm curious as to why my price preferences are not being acknowledged when I know that you stock pieces that are in my preferential price range that I also find attractive. Especially when I see that a significant number of other people are receiving those pieces. Thank you.

The way I see it, I'm paying money for this service no matter what. You get my $20 whether or not I buy something. Why on earth wouldn't you accommodate the items I put forth in my survey? ESPECIALLY the price points. You do want me to buy things, yes? NOW, if I have asked for something ridiculous, like a bejeweled silk blazer for under $40, then fine, tell me I'm crazy. I just feel like it's not too much to ask to send me a pair of dressy pants for under $60. I'm super fucking disappointed that there are no Goddamn pants in this fix. It is what I requested, it is what I wanted. I have a hard time believing that they have none of those in a size 6 or 8. I'm not asking for a miracle here. I am VERY interested in seeing what they have to say in response.

I also decided that I'm going to ask Birchbox why some people got this months "find" and others didn't. They did say once that everyone would get a find. We'll see....the internet is a glorious thing, isn't it? Businesses can't dupe you when other people are sharing their experiences with the world. 

Online Subscription Box BONANZA!!!!

Hey there denizens of the interwebs.
How you doin'?

So, I may have an addiction to subscription boxes. Sad, but true. I can't help myself. They're just so SHINY and SURPRISING. And they're mail that isn't bills. I like mail that isn't bills. I thought I'd share my thoughts on the things I signed up for and received and the things I'm anxiously awaiting.

SO much information!!!!

#1 Birchbox
I've been subscribing to Birchbox since March of last year. It's $10 a month. Initially I REALLY liked it. Recently, though, I feel their boxes are sliding downhill. For instance, in my last box the samples were:
1. A sample size organic mascara: Nice! Definitely like this and using it
2. Three bags of tea: Ok....I like tea, but this is supposed to be a beauty box. Also, pretty cheap.
3. A shampoo that is not intended for color treated hair (which I have)
4. and it's matching conditioner ALSO not intended for color treated hair: Hunh. I mean, my profile says I color treat and that my hair is red. ANY beauty professional knows that sulfates and alcohol will strip my insanely expensive dye job from my head in no time flat. Uh....hello?! WTF Birchbox? Stuff I can't use. Grrrreat.
5. The TINIEST little one use pod of body butter. .....o_O......wtf is going on here? I DEFINITELY did not get $10 worth of stuff in this box.
ALSO, SOME people got a Birchbox "find" in their box. I was under the impression that when they find something that's awesome they add it to every box. Or so they said. Apparently this is no longer true. I did not get the find this month. Don't they know that ladies on the internet talk?

I have my profile set to say that I want make-up, make-up and more make-up. I HAVE NOT been getting make up for the most part. I even slimmed down the stuff I want in my box in the hope that saying NO to things I might be okay trying would put more make-up in my box. No dice. Well, I made the decision to futz with my profile ONE MORE TIME and try ONE MORE BOX to see if it makes a difference. If not, Adios Birchbox. After I spend my points and get money off of a purchase in the shop, that is.

#2 I've decided to try Petit Vour. They are a vegan beauty subscription box for $15 a month. I've read quite a few reviews and they seem to have a tendency to send full size items and large samples. I'd rather be using vegan beauty anyway, so we'll see how this one goes. I'm familiar with some of the brands they stock, so I'm excited to see what they send me. 


#3 I Have Stitch Fix #4 shipped and judging by the receipt, I'm already disappointed. I asked for pants. No pants. 4 tops and a maxi skirt. The research I did shows that the maxi skirt is very similar to one I already own, so forget that. One of the tops is sleeveless. I can't even THINK about sleeveless tops right now.It was a whopping nine degrees out today. Hell to the no. One shirt looks to have a hideous blue and orange geometric pattern of ugliness. Yet another top is $78. Eff that. So, it looks like if I decide to keep anything at all, I have but one option. They will be hearing from me. What REALLY grinds my gears is that I see reviews from people all over the internet getting cute pieces I like that are 20 and 30 dollars cheaper than what I'm being sent. I TELL them this. I pin these things to my Pinterest board so they can see EXACTLY what things I mean. How is it that they don't have any dress pants in my size? I'm a really common size (6/8). Are beautiful wool pants out of fashion? Has the whole world converted to skinny jeans?!?!?!?! I LOATHE skinny jeans. On the subject of skinny jeans I signed up for another service called Cypress and 5th. You pay no money up front and they put a closet together for you. You pick 3 pieces for $75. A top, a bottom and an accessory. OR you can choose a dress and an accessory. When I got my first closet I was WAY bummed. ONE top I liked, I liked zero dresses, I liked zero skirts and there were ONLY SKINNY JEANS for bottoms. WTF?!?!?! When I contacted them about putting together a different selection they told me for pants that THEY ONLY HAD SKINNY JEANS IN STOCK. Dude. What is this world coming to?! I am now vehemently anti-skinny jeans. I won't wear them out of spite. Eff you skinny jeans!!!

4. I am super pleased with Julep. They are mostly nail polishes, but this month they are featuring some LOVELY cream eyeshadows. I chose the make-up box instead of the nail polish boxes and am getting a gel eyeliner and brush as well as an eyeshadow and a polish.  They are $19.99 a month for the basic box and you can add on. Their discounted add-on prices are super great deals. $4.99 for a nail polish instead of the $14 they normally charge. And they LAST.

5. I decided to try Plated. Plated is a fresh food/dinner prep delivery service. They send you everything you need to make an awesome dinner for 2 or more people. The ingredients are all fresh. No chemicals, no instant items. Fresh meat, vegetables, dairy, herbs, spices....you get the idea. They send you the food and instructions. You supply salt, pepper, water and the kitchenware. They have a great deal going on right now where you pay only shipping and get 4 meals for free. You even get the monthly subscription fee waived, which will get me discounts later on if I decided to continue. The menus are AWESOME. They create a menu of 6 dinners a week in the vegetarian, fish and land categories. Some are vegan. Some are gluten free. It tells you exactly what they're sending and what you will need, so you know ahead of time if you'd need to buy anything else or if you'd need to choose a different meal because of food allergies/sensitivities. They tell you the cooking difficulty, how long it will take and the calorie count as well. I'm STOKED that I caught such an awesome deal. I ordered 2 different meals for 2 people. Generally, it's $12 per plate as a member. $15 for non members. Becoming a member is a monthly charge of $10. Of course, if you commit to a year the membership charge is $8 a month. They do the math for you on the website to let you know how much you're saving if you keep up the subscription. You have to order at least 2 meals for 2 people in order for them to ship an order to you. It's not really worth it for them, otherwise. You never HAVE to get an order, but you DO have to specify NO ORDER each week if you decide you don't want one. $12 a plate sounds like kind of a lot and I don't know if I will keep up the subscription. I paid $20 for the 4 meals I ordered this time around, so at $5 a plate, this one order was SUPER worth it. They also have an ongoing %50 off your first order coupon floating around. To give you an idea of what they send you I will outline what I'm getting from one of the meals. It's skirt steak with cilantro chimichurri and carrot-citrus hash. They are sending: the steak, a yellow onion, garlic, honey, cayenne pepper, oranges, carrots, fresh cilantro, apple cider vinegar and a lemon. I'm super intrigued, so we'll see how it goes. If I like it and the roomie is willing to pay for his half of the foods, I may decided to keep it up.

6. And I hope you made it this far because I am OVER THE MOON about The Honest Company. They provide organic products for home, body and baby. I received a 40% off coupon when I signed up and didn't order anything, so I decided to use it to purchase one of their "Essentials" bundles. The great thing about this is that you can choose whatever 5 products you want in your bundle. You can add on 3 more products at %25 off each AND you can change the products in your bundle from month to month if you want. I ordered laundry detergent, dish soap, all purpose cleaning spray, Healing balm and body oil for my first bundle. I used the body oil after a shower last night and it is AMAZING. I wasn't at all greasy and my skin just soaked it all up. It had virtually no scent. All that's in it is sunflower seed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba, avocado oil, grapefruit peel oil, chamomile oil, tamanu oil, and two flower oils, calendula and matricaria. I understood every ingredient. They're all certified organic. It's made in the USA and they donate a portion of every purchase to needy families. Everything is free of petrochemicals, mineral oil, gluten, parabens, pthalates, fragrances and dyes. I am VERY allergic to dyes and fragrances. I can't use any laundry detergent or dryer sheet with fragrances or dyes. My skin turns into a giant itchy rash. I am SO PLEASED with all the products I bought from them and I would encourage anyone to check them out. I would up paying $27 and change for this bundle. Quite an excellent price. I also like the variety of home cleaning things and bath and body items that they sell. I have a box of different items set to be delivered next month. I may need more healing balm, though. I am addicted. My poor hands are chapped beyond recognition.

I will include my referral links in case anything I said has inspired you. I'm really taking a liking to the whole subscription box world. There are new deals popping up all the time, so it can be incredibly cheap to try something new and 98% of the boxes give you products that add up to much more value than you paid for them. And you don't have to deal with crowds or obnoxious people like you do when you venture out of your house. That is major bonus points to me.

Plated (yummy food stuffs)
Apparently you have to e-mail Petit Vour and tell them I'm great if you want to use a referral: contact@petitvour.com
Stitch Fix
The Honest Company
Julep
Birchbox

I should probably get to reading my O Chem....

Happiness Rule #1: You work hard. Treat yourself.

One of the things I've been doing to keep up my happiness quotient is giving myself little treats here and there. I work full time and I'm a part time student, so I frequently feel like I don't get to have any fun and that I'm missing out because I'm always freaking working or studying. I get a birchbox every month and I recently subscribed to Stitch Fix. If you're unfamiliar with either of these things, Birchbox, for $10 a month sends deluxe high end beauty samples that you can tailor to your preferences. They also give you the opportunity to earn money off of items you buy from their site. For instance, I fell in love with an eye cream they sent in one of my boxes. It was $65. Yikes. However I got a 30% off code and then collected enough points to get another $10 off. It cost me $29. SO HAPPY. I FREAKING LOVE BIRCHBOX. Seriously. I highly recommend to anyone who is feeling in a beauty rut or just wants to give themselves a little monthly gift to check it out. Stitch Fix is an online personal stylist/shopper. For $20 a stylist picks out clothing that he/she thinks will suit you based on a seriously thorough questionnaire you fill out on their site. You can specify items you want, colors, patterns, amount of money you want to spend, etc. I'm getting my first box in the mail this week. They include a prepaid envelope so you can return anything you don't buy and you have three days to decide whether or not you're keeping the items. I will post photos as soon as it gets here, so if you're interested you can check it out. I'm a little concerned because since it shipped, I can now see the prices of each of the pieces they selected although I can't see the actual pieces. I had specified the cheaper the better. Yeah. There's some $88 jeans in there. I would NEVER spend that much on jeans. I usually get them @ The Gap and those are around $50. That's about my max price. The $20 styling fee does get applied as a credit to this fix and they DO offer 25% the whole shebang if you buy all the pieces, but still. Zowie. If I bought the whole box I'd be paying another $205 on top of the $20 I already spent. I will be expressing my disappointment over the price in my comments about the fix and giving them another shot. I did some research through other customer reviews, so I KNOW they have pieces that don't cost as much that are still cute. I plan to buy at least one of the pieces because I don't want to lose that $20, but I would have been happier if I could have afforded to keep more of them. Harumph. We'll see. I'm also guessing that I will love the $88 and be super sad about having to return them. Most of the reviewers kept at least one piece. I have yet to see anyone that sent them all back. So they must be doing something right. 

Tonight I'm seeing Phish (SQUEE!!!!) and before then I'm doing some Halloween/Samhain baking. In fact, all I have is GF flour in the house and it's too beany for the cakes I'm making, so I have to pop out and grab some gluten-y flour. I'll post the Soul Cake recipe (and an explanation as to what they are) and the GF pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes recipe I made for breakfast this morning later on today.

Here's My Birchbox referral link if you're interested: http://birch.ly/1aLYFF6

I'll post the Stitch Fix link when I post the photos. :)

Cheers

~J