THE HAPPY TRUNK March 2013 review

 The Happy Trunk is a monthly craft box sent directly to your child.  They have boxes for kids up to age 12, so that's a nice touch.  My 9 year old usually gets left out of the subscription box world.  Not anymore!  He loves crafts and science so this is right up his alley.  The big kid box only includes two activities since they are more involved.  The boxes are $19.95/month.  I signed up through a plum district special so I received half off a 3 month subscription.  Click HERE to sign up! 

They include a new pair of scissors for signing up!  This is such a cute idea, however my son got pink and he was not thrilled.  Easy fix, I called and they will send us out a new pair!  Great customer service.  

 The first project is "the germinator". They grow seeds inside a papertowel and cd case. I can't wait to do this one with him.  What an appropriate spring activity!

The next project was a coaster made out of sea glass and plaster.  Again, a cute idea.  After seeing what was included, I'm a little bit disappointed at the $20/month price tag.  I think they are charging way too much for this service to only include these two projects.  I would be pretty ticked if I paid full price.  They need maybe a 3rd art project of something that would make this seem worth the heft price tag. I could buy all of these or find them laying around my house for cheaper than $20. 

BLUUM March 2013 Review

 Bluum is a monthly subscription service for babies/toddlers to age 3.  They send lots of goodies based on the theme of your child's developmental stage. This month is "Fine Dining".  The cost is $24.95/month and was a great deal last month.  So far March is looking good!  Click HERE to sign up and automatically get 15 bonus points!

 Lots of goodies this month as well!!!! 

 Petite Frites Bib.  I love this brand and have another bib from them, however, my son is a BOY and I got a pink bib!  Fail! Retail $10.

Boogie wipes are always good to have around.  $4.00.

Baby Ecos Laundry detergent travel size.  I've never used this brand, but again, you can always use laundry detergent!  I'll have to do some research to see if it can be used on cloth.  

Sippigrip 2 pack.  $12. These are nice to have.  I've never used a sippy leash before, but I guess I'll start now!

Crocodile Creek Placemat.  This is cute for fine dining, but I can't get it to lay flat for the life of me!  Hopefully, it'll settle into shape soon!   $6.

Fresh baby food pyramid divider plate $8.  This is cute because it shows portions.  I love this idea and hope my little one starts eating solid food soon so I can try it out!

I also received Happy Baby yogis.  These are similar to the gerber yogurt melts, but organic.  I love the Happy brand and so does my son!

Overall, good value compared to what you paid for the month.  $45 isn't bad!  I did like all of the items and will use them. I will gift the pink bib to my niece again. She keeps getting my leftovers :-)

BLUUM February 2013

Bluum used to be a 0-12 month box of deluxe samples, but recently they made the move to include full size products and baby/toddler items for ages 0-3.  They sort of follow the Citrus Lane and Stork Stack model now.  The boxes are themed based on your child's stage.  This box was "Cuddle Time".  Bluum is $24.95/month.  Click HERE to sign up today.  I know that they are now doing and invite instead of direct sign up, so they must be getting a lot of traffic!

The box was jam packed full of items!  I was pleasantly surprised.  This box was for February, but wasn't delivered until March.  Yikes!  I already received my March box, so it looks like they've gotten things back on track.  I received BabySoy socks in green, Dapple dishsoap travel size, a board book that teaches sign language, A Melissa and Doug grapple toy, and the items pictured below.  I initially wondered what "cuddle Time" had to do with a 17 month old that wants nothing to do with sitting still. 

Totlogic is a great company with good smelling baby products.  This will definitely get used! Retail $15

Baby Soy socks in green.  Retail $3.50.  Socks are socks in my opinion as I'm not huge on the soy bandwagon, but they seem good quality. 

Melissa and Doug Grasping toy.  Retail $8.  This is a fun toy that my toddler seems to like. Nice and colorful and fun to twist.  

 Dapple dish soap and a natural flu remedy.  These products are a plus.  I like the dapple dish soap and although I already have a ton, its nice to get this product out to the public as its something anyone could use.  The flu remedy is also a plus because the whole family can use it. Retail $7.50 and $3.50.

I love Babyganics products.  I already have this lip balm, but with summer coming up, I could use another! $1.50.

This is such a cute book.  It teaches the signs a long with the words so its a fun teaching tool as well.   $5.00.

A few little extras.  A coupon for totlogic and a sample as well as a coupon for Boiron. 

This little guy had me stumped since the box was for an older child.  I already have this same one from another subscription box sent when he was 4 months old (more appropriate). However, I gifted this to my niece so everyone wins!  Retail, $12.

Overall, this box was such a great value.  A total of $56 in products!  It was definitely worth the wait and I will look forward for more to come!

CITRUS LANE March 2013

Citrus Lane is a baby-toddler subscription service that sends out 4-6 baby friendly items each month.  The boxes start at $25/month with shipping included.  Click here to sign up and receive $10 off your first order!  The items are curated based on your child's age.  They anticipate what will be coming up next to make sure that you have what you need!  They used to do Theme's, but starting this month, they are not doing them anymore. This box is based on my son's age, 17 months. 

The Box usually has bright yellow tissue paper, but this month's was so full that it didn't need it!  

I was so happy to see this Cloud B scented pillow!  It has a lavender pouch to help little one's get to sleep!

Cloud B has great products.  This retails for $26, but you can buy it on Amazon for $12.  

This puzzle is so cute and easy for toddler fingers.  Retails for $7.

Also included was $20 off justfab.com, nurture me packets, and tattoos from wee gallery.  I was impressed with the value until I saw that the pillow is 50% off. 

LOVE WITH FOOD March 2013

Love With Food is a monthly subscription box that sends you unique and new food samples each month.  The cost is $10 with $2 shipping for a total of $12/month.  Also, for every box they send, they donate a meal to a person in need.  I love this philanthropic twist!  Click here to join!  Use code FUNNYFACECRAN to get your first box FREE! ($2 shipping).

 I was pleasantly surprised to see that the box (although smallish) was filled to the brim!  There were so many goodies that I couldn't take it all in at one glance.  Each item I pulled out was better than the last!

 The card included was very informative!

The sample on top is for orange chocolate green tea.  I haven't tried this yet, but I'm sure it will be a different taste and that's something to look forward to.  

 Chocwasabi, chocolate covered Wasabi Peas!  This is for sure a twist.  I'm not sure if this is my thing, because Wasabi is just too spicy for me.  I tried to get my husband to eat them, but no go! 

The Pretzels were delicious and its a plus that they're gluten free.  The Ola Granola was also good and I ate it in place of my usual granola in the morning.  

This is my favorite item!  So delicious!  Consistency of Pirate's Booty popcorn, but flavored perfectly!  

My son drank this and said it was just lemonade. haha.  I don't know what he was expecting. 

Another kid friendly item that my son ate.  He loves fruit and sweet things so this was right up his alley.  

Overall, I loved this box!  Every item was good and will be eaten (as soon as I can talk hubby into chocolate covered wasabi peas)  There was also a Chocolate covered fortune cookie, but I'm not sure where the picture is.  It was delicious as well.  A fortune cookie covered in dark chocolate!  For the price and the value, this box can't be beat. Plus, knowing that your purchase goes to helping others is food for the conscience. 

SPICY SUBSCRIPTIONS March 2013

***This is a PG review of an adult subscription box.  The content is not lewd, but the products are for adult purposes.***

This is my first Spicy box and I have been looking forward to this box all month!  Its an adult themed box and comes in two different levels.  Premium is $24.95/month and the Deluxe is $34.95/month.

Click here to join! Please enter seductive1815 for 5% off!! 

This box upon first look looks great!

And then, I dig deeper.   This crazy girl spray looks promising.  Its a pheremone spray that is supposed to enhance attraction.  The smell is a little too fragrant for me, and my husband sneezed the first time he smelled it.  So much for pheremones! This retails for $20.

 Again, there is more product.  This one is a shimmery dust that retails for $15.  If I were to dress up this might be something I use, but probably not enough to where I'd buy it for myself so this is nice to have. 

Ok, again, here's me getting lippy.  This is supposed to be my DELUXE product?!?  I pay more for my box to get the deluxe and I get a chintzy product that feels so cheap I wouldn't want to use it anywhere on me.  SO completely LAME!!!  This retails on amazon for $10 bucks.

Samples.

This is a tongue attachment.  I think you can get the hint.  This is around $2.50 on amazon.  Again, LAME!!!!

Overall, I am very very unhappy with my DELUXE box.  Keep in mind, this is supposed to be better than the premium, yet I keep getting crap.  I have written to them, but I have yet to receive a response and they didn't even put in a product card for me to see if maybe they forgot something.  I don't think so, I think this is what they call DELUXE.  So weird that I can almost guarantee that except for maybe a full size product, this will be EXACTLY what they get in the cheaper, premium box. I am unhappy and no one can help me.  The retail of this box is only carried by the nasty smelling pheremone spray.  So, I paid $35 for a DELUXE box and received very very cheap products.  I think if the bullet would have been better quality then I would have been happier.  It barely even works.  I would cancel and go with luvmybox if I didn't already pay for 4 months.  Save your money and go with a company that doesn't give you cheap products. 

POPSUGAR Must Have March 2013

POPSUGAR Must Have is a monthly subscription service that sends out at least $100 in items for $35/month with shipping included.  The idea is to send a must have for fashion, fitness, home, beauty and food.  Although not all of these categories are included every month.  This is my third box with them and I absolutely love them. Click here to join! Enter code SAVE5PSMH to save $5! 

 

The New Black nail polish duo in "Pardon my French".  I love these colors!  Very much something I would wear so I was pleased.  Retail $10.

I was happy that I got the delicate wash as others have gotten cashmere and I don't own any.  this is something I will definitely use, but would never buy myself.  $19.

Sweater saver.  Such a great product to include.  I never knew that had something like this and I will totally use this.  $6.

This Corkatoo is freaking awesome.  I absolutely love it and will make sure this is my new go to piece for company.  $15.

Buxom mascara.  This is the new sculpting lash mascara.  I love Buxom, so I will for sure use this.  Phew, so far so good, PS!!!  $19.00  There's also a coupon for a free deluxe sample of their Buxom lip gloss for Sephora.  A nice little bonus!

Heather Belle Necklace.  Many have commented on various boards that they don't like the style of this, but I love it.  It is a long necklace and I believe it was specially made for PopSugar.  Having something unique is always a plus.  I love that PS does this!  $75-85.  

I am so happy with this months box.  I didn't get the fashion tape that others got and I think this was just left out.  I won't complain this month since I complained last month (still unresolved).  its not a big deal! 

LALAALU Box #2

LaLaaLu is a new company that gears their boxes more toward city parents.  They are based in NYC and their products are definitely only for this group. The boxes don't go by month, but by number.  So, you always will get box #1 even if you sign up now.  I don't think this is a great marketing strategy because you can shop ahead and see what items were in the box and decide if you want those specific items instead of being surprised.  For example, I received boxes #1 and #2, but canceled before I got #3 because I thought it was terrible.  They are a brand new company and I'm sure they will iron out the kinks.  I will say that the boxes come loaded with stuff.  Not just one sample, but jam packed.  They also have boxes for babies, toddlers and big kids.  Big kids boxes go through age 6 and this is one demographic that usually misses out on the sub boxes.  Click here to sign up!

 

 They always include a nice write up of the items in the boxes.  This is so helpful!

  

See what I mean about jam packed!  There are 6 plum pouches in here in three different varieties.  

 

These Wexy lunch bags are super cute, but in a weird shape so you can't fit a sandwich, but larger than the average snack bag.  This is a full box of these, not just a sample!

Hyland's teething tablets are always needed with babies and toddlers.  Can't go wrong there. 

6 Mish Mash plum tots.

Ok, this is where I get lippy.  My box is for toddlers 1-3.  This item is a beginner sippy cup for kids 6m+.  I get that I am still in the + range with a 1 1/2 year old, but by this age its recommended to stop using the sippies and start using straw cups for oral motor development.  I really don't see a three year old using a freaking beginner sippy cup.  I wrote them an email to let them know of my dissatisfaction, as mOmma makes a straw cup they could have included instead. They got all elitist on my saying that "city moms and dads thought this was still appropriate".  Ummm, no, its not.  end rant.  

I guess lice is running rampant in NYC so this licelogic shampoo/conditioner was included.  I like the idea of it, its all natural so its not just for lice prevention.

Overall, I thought the box was so-so.  I canceled because I saw that next month had more lice logic stuff and a nasopure as their big items.  I have an item similar to the nasopure and it didn't really seem to have a lot of value, so I canceled.   This is where their chronological ideology has problems.