Fancy Pants Food Box November 2013

This is a new box for me. I got a coupon code for a free box, and...hey, free is free, right? I had to try it out. Fancy Pants Food is $10 a month.

First Look

Snapz Zucchini Crunch I don't really like zucchini, and I definitely don't like it in chip form, so I had a friend try this out. She said it was "kind of like fruit leather." Um, ew.

Oats Granola in Toasted Coconut This was very tasty! It had pieces of toasted coconut throughout but the coconut flavor was nice and understated.

Lord Nut Levington Peanuts I am not a fan of tomato flavors, so I passed the bloody mary bag onto a friend, but I tried the jalapeno cheddar and I really enjoyed them! Definitely unique for a peanut, but not outside my comfort zone.

Hunt Mint in Citrus Ginger I haven't tried these yet, but I am curious about the citrus ginger flavor. I think these mints fit the "fancy pants" category perfectly. I love the packaging! I am totally throwing them in my purse when my current mints run out.

Cocomels I have had these before, I think maybe in Love with Food? They were good, though! Basically picture coconut milk mixed into caramel. The texture of these is great, and I enjoyed the taste too, but I don't think I would purchase them just because the coconut would get to be a bit much.

Kelapo Coconut Oil This product seems to be marketed to be used in place of oil or butter for frying, but I am totally going to use it as a deep conditioner on my hair instead. You can't tell me what to do, coconut oil!

There you have it, folks! I would say this box is worth the $10 price tag. You get quite a few goodies for that cost! My only criticism is that they included three coconut products out of six products total. Luckily I like coconut, but I could see this being an issue for those that don't.

Love with Food November 2013

Love with Food is pretty much always half "love it" items and half "hate it" items. This month's box is no exception.

The theme this month is Flavors of Fall, and it is curated by Chef Ryan Scott. See that little PopChips logo? I did, in fact, get one of their products this month! They must be a sponsor?

Sweet Potato PopChips I am really not a fan of sweet potato, and I think PopChips are just okay, so these went to a friend immediately. They are quite appropriate for this time of year, though.

Sweet Corn Crunch Dried Snack Hmm. This seems like a really, really weird snack item. BUT I love corn on the cob so I will give this a chance.

Laura Secord Maple Fudge I was really excited to try this, but it was a really awful texture. Really, really gooey and sugarey, more like a sugar paste than anything. I wasn't a fan, even though I wanted to badly to love it.

Dancing Deer Savory Shortbread in Rosemary & Sea Salt I was kind of scared of this one, so I gave it to a friend. She said it was delicious, but that it was both sweet and salty. Interesting!

Mighty Leaf Tea in Ginger Twist I love this tea bag! It's so cool that you can actually see the tea leaves. For some reason that excites me. I don't really like much tea (unless it is minty or cider-like), so I gave this to a friend.

Arora Creations Chicken Tikka Masala Seasoning I'm pretty sure this would be good on fries or popcorn if you're not interested in making the tikka masala recipe that's included.

Eat Natural Apricot & Almond Bar I love having granola bars to pack in lunches, take to work as snacks, etc. so this is a great item for me!

 Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate I love that they gave me two bars so that I can enjoy them on two separate occasions. I tried one already and it was good quality dark chocolate, though there was nothing super special about it. I also like the little pouch they included. I'm totally going to repurpose it to gift jewelry, or maybe to store rings (I always end up having them everywhere and then losing them which is no good).

All in all, kind of a mixed bag this month, but it's always fun to see what I get.

Use the code HOLIDAY2013 to save $5 off a gift subscription, and click this link if you are willing to use my referral link! Love with Food is $10/month and they donate a meal to a food bank for every box you purchase, so it's a subscription you can feel good about.

Little Black Bag Review November 2013

I had my eye on this London Fog bag for a long time. I didn't own a black bag, and Little Black Bag seemed like a pretty good place to find one

London Fog Blake Tote ($175) My picture doesn't do it justice, so I'm adding the Little Black Bag picture as well. This bag is slim, professional, and classic. It's also part of the "Weather or Not" line which means I can use it in the rain without worrying about water damage. The only things I don't like are its lack of outside pockets and the gaps around the zippers (i.e. if I had something small in my bag and the bag was upside down, there's a chance it could slip out even when zipped).

Nume Ionic Hair Dryer ($225) I honestly never use hair dryers, so I have no use for this. I'm going to try to sell it online for far less, but it might end up being part of a gift. Either way, it's a good high value item and I'm sure someone can use it. I think the zebra print is pretty cute too!

Xela Citrus Candle ($30) I love candles, and although citrus scents aren't my favorite I do like them. I ended up gifting this, but I easily could have used it myself. I hate buying candles since they get used up so quickly, so I love getting them in boxes.

Timi Lace Panties ($13) These are admittedly kind of a weird item. But I love getting new undies, and these are one size fits all, so I'm totally okay with it. At least I can use them (unlike some of the awful jewelry Little Black Bag sends out)!

Dye Ties ($12) I gave one set (the set on the left) to a friend. These are basically Twistbands. I like them, but honestly I like "regular" hair ties just as well and they cost an awful lot less. These look a lot prettier on the wrist, though!

I love my bag, and I got some pretty amazing extras this time around, too! I paid $95.90 and got $455 worth of stuff. I definitely can't splurge like this all the time, but this is a great value for my money since I wanted a nice black bag anyway.

If you haven't heard about Little Black Bag, here's the premise: you pick one "main" item, then Little Black Bag surprises you with several other "surprise" items. If you don't like your surprise items, you can trade them with other members for up to a week. If you're happy with your selections before then, you can lock them in and have them send out your bag right away. I love that I can trade items I dislike for items I can actually use. There's still a surprise element but also some utility.

Little Black Bag has free item promos fairly often (the dye ties were an extra promotional item), so I recommend waiting until they have one of those to order. When you do, use this link to purchase and it will take 25% off your first bag on top of the extra item. Happy shopping!

Ipsy Review November 2013 ("Glam It Up")

A few weeks ago, Ipsy announced that everyone would be receiving six products this month instead of the usual five, and that the bonus item would be from Michelle Phan's new Em line. I was so excited to hear about this that I couldn't help but stay subscribed for another month, and I'm so glad I did!

The Bag ($1?) I actually kind of like this bag! The picture turned out a little weird (sorry), but I think it's one of their nicer ones. The liner is pink and the bag is gold. Maybe it's a little trashy, but I think it's cute!

Pixi Bronzer in Subtly Suntouched ($5.50 minus the kabuki applicator included in the full size) I have never actually tried bronzer because I'm so pale, but I think it is time to finally try some contouring. This shade is not too dark so it will be perfect for some experimenting!

BH Cosmetics Galaxy Chic Baked Eyeshadow in Asteroid (.83) Isn't this the coolest eyeshadow ever?? I love the texture! On the lid it's a nice brown with a slightly coppery sheen. Love it!

Nailtini Nail Polish in Champagne ($13) I ended up gifting this to a friend, but I think this is a gorgeous color!

Em Mascara in Brown Dramatic Volume Mascara ($20) Well, it's not like I don't have enough mascara, but that's not Ipsy's fault and I do use it every day. I'm excited to try the Em formula once I get through the current stockpile (it could be awhile).

Starlooks Gem Eye Pencil in Topaz ($14) The color name of this is Topaz, but it definitely is silver. No blue whatsoever. I'm okay with it though. I've been using it on my waterline and it really brightens my eyes up. I never would have tried it without Ipsy.

Be a Bombshell Cosmetics Lip Crayon in Shameless ($14) This berry color is gorgeous. It's a little sparkley but not necessarily in a bad way. I find myself wearing this an awful lot lately. It's such a great color for fall and it has some serious staying power.

I have to say, this might be my favorite Ipsy bag ever! I will be able to use every single one of the products, and that's a first. Plus, this month has had way less variations, which I like. I don't mind it with Birchbox, but for some reason variations in Ipsy end up being really unfair for the most part.

I was going to cancel because I'm starting to get way too many beauty supplies...but I don't think I can bear to do it until December is over. This month's bag was worth about $68. For a $10 cost, that's a steal! To sign up using my referral code, click here! Hopefully Ipsy is on a permanent upswing!

FabFitFun Review Fall 2013

I canceled my FabFitFun subscription after the summer box. I liked it, but none of it was stuff that I "needed" and $50/quarter is kind of pricey. Lo and behold, I won an extra box from a blog sweepstakes. Woohoo! I was so freaking excited! Here's my attempt at a full box picture.

Not bad, right? Okay, onto individual item photos.

Let's get these boring box extras out of the way first: Awkward Family Photos game sample, FabFitFun sticker (where would I put this), and Gorjana coupon code ($25 off, but nothing is that cheap at Gorjana). There was also an information card, and an ad for Bliss spas, along with something about breast cancer awareness.

Drinkwel Samples ($2.95) These are supposed to help your body process alcohol better, improve liver function, etc. So, basically these are vitamins for people that drink. I will be happy to try them out. Two sample packets are free on the Drinkwel site, but they charge $2.95 shipping, so I will value these at $2.95 since that's what they would cost me.

Health Warrior Chia Bar in Apple Cinnamon ($1.57) I haven't tried this yet. I'm a little nervous about the chia seeds. Hopefully this is at least edible though!

Standing Slim Barre3 Workout DVD ($19.95) This was a really awkward item to photograph because of the reflective surface of the DVD case. I'm not sure how to take better pictures of this! I haven't tried this yet, but I am super curious about barre workouts so I am thrilled to get this. Some nights it's just too rainy to drag your butt to the gym!

SpaRitual Nail Polish in Can You Dig It? ($12) I have some nude polishes but I don't think I have a truly brown one so this will be nice to test out and add to my collection. I really like the grippiness of the handle too. So comfortable!

Gorjana Canary Scarf ($57) I grabbed this picture from the Gorjana site, so image credit to them. My photography just couldn't do it justice, but you can see my scarf poking out at the back of my full box picture. As you can see, it's a way darker grey in person. What a pretty scarf though! The pink makes it hard to wear, but I will wear it! It is on the lighter side, technically more of a fall or spring scarf but I can see myself wearing it in the wintertime too. A light scarf is still warmer than no scarf at all which is what I usually do!

Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Naturals Classic Butter & Sea Salt Popcorn ($2.99) Is it weird that I am super excited for this? I am curious about the gourmet naturals line and I love those pop-up bowls! They have a garlic flavor too. Yum!

Surface Trinity Protein Cream ($24) I am always game for more stuff to smooth my hair and this has awesome reviews. I can't wait to try it!

Starlooks Palette in St. Tropez ($41) This palette has a really terrifying yellow color, a peach, a rust, and a black. It includes a more neutral cream color but all the others do not look like they'd be flattering. I'll give it a try, but I'm not optimistic about this one.

Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Cleansing Foam ($28) Oh my gosh, I love this! I haven't tried it yet, but I love cleansers and I am thrilled that this is full size. I will use the heck out of this!

This box is about $190 value, and I paid nothing for it since I won it! What a stellar deal for me!! I am so excited about getting the fall box even though I decided not to go for it. It was such a nice surprise and I will use almost everything in the box. Definitely a winner here!

Birchbox Review November 2013 (Box 31)

November is finally here! This month's Birchbox theme was "more good," and this month's boxes included Birchbox's holiday catalog. Hooray, I am so glad the holidays are finally upon us!

Fatty Sundays Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sample in Toffee Crunch This was the first item I noticed. Mostly because a fine layer of pretzel dust was covering everything. For one, this pretzel sample is TINY. It literally is probably 1/8th of a real pretzel rod. Disappointing since other subscribers received full size chocolate bars or chocopods. Birchbox should really consider that sending a pretzel in flimsy packaging with an aerosol can is maybe not the best idea. Not sure how to value this sample, but if you can't tell from the photo, this was also open (the upper left hand corner was ripped). I'm not eating it, and it's so tiny anyway, that I'm not even going to value it at anything. But if I was it would probably be worth maybe twenty five cents.

Laura Mercier Lip Glace ($14.93) Laura Mercier! I have heard so much about her products! I would have loved an eyeshadow from her or something. But a lip gloss? I'm just not a fan of glosses, okay, Birchbox? I wish I didn't get glosses from them and other box companies so very often. If only I could tell them "lipstick and lip stain only." This is a pretty shade but I'm really not a gloss person so it probably won't get used.

Ayers Body Butter in Midnight Tango ($4.15) What a great item! It kept rolling away from me which is why my hand is in this shot. I am actually trading this for a Chella pencil ($18 value...not a bad trade!!) so I didn't crack the seal but it's supposed to be orange and vanilla scented. Sounds good to me, but like I said, not as good as a highlighter pencil! I am happy with this sample though.

Aloxxi Flexible Hairspray ($3) Meh. Hairspray is hairspray. I have tried drugstore brands and I have tried salon brands and they seem to be pretty much the same product no matter what. I will use this eventually but not before I finish all the other hairspray that I have lying around. Note to self: use more hairspray.

Color Club Harlem Lights Collection in Baldwin Blues ($4) I am not usually a big fan of Color Club polishes but this one had great coverage. I only had to use one coat. However, I can only use so much nail polish, so I'm not very excited by this. I have enough nail polish to last a century so I really don't need more (not that Birchbox knows this, so I can't blame them).

My box this month had a $26 value. Since most of the value is in the lip gloss, which I don't use, my pretzel sample was crushed, I have way too much nail polish, and I hardly ever use hairspray...I can't say this box thrills me. That being said, I can't have a great month with Birchbox every month, and with the points system in place these boxes end up being incredibly inexpensive and well worth the small investment. And I'm getting a Chella pencil out of it indirectly--I've wanted one of those forever! If you want to sign up for your own Birchbox using my referral link, click here.

PopSugar Must Have Review November 2013

Finally, the snuggly box I have been waiting for has arrived!

BareFruit Sea Salt Caramel Apple Chips ($2.34) This is the third time I have gotten this brand of apple chips in my subscriptions, and PopSugar just sent out apple chips a couple months back. Send me baking mixes or chocolate, please! That being said, I'll eat these. I'm just not excited by them.

Maison de Monaco Strawberry & Blackcurrant Cream Preserves ($6) I am kind of scared of this. I am not sure what blackcurrant tastes like, and the "cream" aspect worries me as well. I am not even much of a jam person, but I will try this since it was sent. Definitely not something I am thrilled by but maybe it will end up being my new favorite product ever?

Illume Candle in "Nice" ($15.75) I was hoping to get this in the "Naughty" variation, but I like the scent of "Nice." It is supposed to smell kind of coconutty but I just smell a fairly generic vanilla. The coconut may come out more when it's lit.

Lands End Canvas Wine Tote ($14.50) The purpose of a wine tote is to use it to carry bottles of wine into restaurants, as a hostess gift to other people's homes, on a picnic, etc. I am not classy enough for any of these uses, so I'm going to use it to store extra plastic grocery bags for my bathroom garbage can. Hey, at least I can use it for something!

Michael Stars Folk Art Wrap ($42) I love this, except the print is only on one side. It looks extremely awkward tied around your neck. You can even see what I'm talking about if you look at the site images. Disappointing! This is also supposedly dry clean only. I'm not going to abide by that, though...I will try putting it in a lingerie bag on a delicate cycle to wash then hanging it to dry.

Absolute Nail Polish Remover Pads in Spring Fresh ($2) I tried these out, and they only sort of worked. I think that was more due to the fact that I was wearing an OPI Liquid Sand polish though; I will try them out again on a "normal" polish and hopefully they will work better.

The Soap & Paper Factory Shea Butter Soap in Roland Pine ($8) This smells like a Christmas tree, and I love it! I am totally curious about the shea butter in this too. I will definitely put this to good use!

The box also included a $30 CanvasPop "gift card," but the card requires users to spend money and is the same value as other coupons already out there, so I'm not going to count it as an item.

This box is about a $90 value. I'm happy with it, particularly since I have been wanting a candle/soap/scarf box for a long time, but it is on the lower side of the value spectrum for them, particularly with the price increase that just went into effect. I think one more item (or a more expensive food item/scarf) would have really knocked this out of the park for me. Still, I can't wait till next month! To sign up for your own subscription, click here.