PopSugar Must Have - March 2015

I signed up for PopSugar Must Have box in early March when the March box was originally sold out so my first box was suppose to be the upcoming April box (which is also currently sold out).  When I started seeing reviews for the March box, I was glad I wasn't going to be getting it because I wasn't impressed but unfortunately I got an email saying extra March boxes were available and that my subscription would be starting with this box.  Disappointed but it's my fault because I forgot to go back and uncheck the "waitlist" option on my account when I signed up.  The theme of the March box was: renewal, citrus, fresh, and traveling.

Here's what was included in the box:

Bliss Micromagic Microdermabrasion Treatment ($48 for 3oz)

 

Greenmarket Purveying Co. The Archivist Diffuser Kit ($20)

Samudra Pink Piña Zip Pouch ($40, exclusively made for PopSugar)

Wet Brush The Squirt ($5)

Knock Knock What to Pack Pad ($7)

Halfpops Halfpopped Popcorn ($1.69)

Benefit Cosmetics Roller Lash Mascara and Porefessional (Free Bonus)

Cost of Box:  $34.95 (with $5 discount, Regular price $39.95 per month)
Total Box Value:  $121.69 + Free Bonus
Impressions:  The highest value item in the box, the Bliss microdermabrasion treatment, is one I can't use because it will be to abrasive on my skin and it contains 5 different parabens (preservatives).  Some researchers believe parabens are linked to tumors and cancers.  I haven't come across any articles that have been able to definitively associate the two, but I think I'll still pass on knowingly rubbing that many preservatives into my face.  I do like the smell of the cucumber and lemon diffuser, so I will be using that.  I find the $40 value they placed on the plastic hot pink pineapple pouch that looks like something out of the dollar bins in Target to be quite humorous!  And I have a hard time imagining any adult woman wanting to use this pouch for travel or otherwise so trading or selling it will likely be difficult.  I may just give it to my little niece to use as a pencil/crayon case for school.  As someone with very thick, naturally curly hair, the mini wet brush just isn't going to cut it.  The brush is too small and the bristles too soft for me.  Even the larger, stiffer bristled paddle brushes do nothing but pull out and break my hair because they get tangled in my coily wet hair or they cause a lot of frizzy volume when my hair is dry.  The "what to pack" pad is something I have no use for.  I travel a little but I'm never so scatter-brained or overwhelmed in preparing for an upcoming trip that I need a checklist as basic as this to help me pack.  I ate the popcorn to make me feel better about my disappointment in this box!  And only ended up disappointed with it too.  It was a little too buttery for me and I don't get the concept of half popping popcorn.  Why would you want to eat a bag of hard half popped popcorn kernels?  Since I don't wear makeup, the Benefit mini set is lost on me.  A lot of people on the subscription box community boards I check out have mentioned that these samples are given out for free at places like Sephora so I'm glad they didn't try to add a monetary "value" to this set.

Overall, I am not impressed with this month's box.  I do think the featured items go along with the theme of the box but for the most part it just looks like they ran to Walgreen's or Target and bought a bunch of ordinary and cheap looking stuff.  there was nothing that wowed me.  The diffuser is the only thing I liked out of this box.   Everything else I will be trading or selling because I don't like it, can't use it, or have no use for it.  This is why mystery subscription boxes can be one of those "you win some, you lose some" type things.  This month's box was a loss for me, because the value I paid far outweighs the use I'll actually get out of it.  Although, I've read some other subscriber's reviews that raved about how much they loved the entire box and plan to use everything.  Everyone's taste is different and most subscription box services don't have enough personnel or have way too many members to be able to effectively and efficiently cater to everyone's likes and dislikes each month.

On another note, the FedEx shipping PopSugar uses for this box is probably the slowest and most nonsensical delivery I've ever experienced with any box service.  I don't recall a box service ever taking more than 5 to 7 days to reach me.  This PopSugar box took 10 days.  It went from California to Georgia in 3 days then sat idle for 3 days before being transferred past South Carolina, where I live, to North Carolina to sit idle for another 2 days.  Then, for some odd reason, it took another 2 days to ship only a few hours drive from North Carolina back down to South Carolina where FedEx decided to transfer the package for USPS to deliver instead!  The amount of days that FedEx allowed this package to sit idle just didn't seem reasonable or excusable in my opinion, especially since they were not weekend or holidays. 

Although I was disappointed with the contents of this box and the frustrating delays in shipping, I'm not turned off enough to cancel yet.  I like to give a box a few tries before calling it quits.  I'm hoping April will be a better experience!