subscription boxes – Rich Hot Blog

September 23, 2018 No Comments

Subscription boxes are everywhere these days – there’s one for every niche interest you could imagine, including plenty of subscription boxes touting locally made goodies. Discover Lifestyle FV is one such subscription box which sources only the best health and wellness goods from, you guessed it, the Fraser Valley! I was so excited to get my hands on the fall sampler box to review for you guys!

What Is It?

The Discover Lifestyle FV Subscription Box is, at its core, a box to connect you with locally and ethically made goods, that not only support local artisans, but are also truly beautiful and unique. The creator, Christina, started making the Discover Lifestyle FV box because she wanted to share these stunning finds with like-minded people who might not be lucky enough to have such great products easily available to them. When a brand is truly passionate about their mission – to share beautiful, ethical, natural goods with everyone – it really shows. This subscription box is carefully curated so that each product goes beautifully together.

With these niche boxes, it’s less hit or miss when you receive a box where you don’t get a say in what’s inside – you know that you’ll love everything because they’re all great, locally sourced lifestyle goods. The boxes are valued at $140 CAD each with the seasonal subscription price ringing in at $89.95 or an annual subscription price of $319.80 for four boxes sent out seasonally. Locally made goods at a discount, who doesn’t love that?

What’s Inside?

Let’s take a closer look at what’s inside! If I was to describe the vibe of this box I would call it “quintessentially cosy” which is perfect with fall rolling in. As soon as it’s September, all I want to do is bundle up and drink hot tea. This box features the perfect essentials for enjoying a cosy autumn.

My personal favorite items are the Harvest Blend Herbal Tea made with 100% organic herbs from New Moon Tea Co. and the super cute knit toque from Strings & Things, made locally in Abbotsford BC. Toques are one of my autumn and winter staple pieces – you’ll rarely find me with a bare head between October and March – and I just love the chunky knit and fluffy pom pom on this one! Plus there’s the cutest knit bookmark made by Knot Your Granny’s Stitches to coordinate with the toque(if you check out their Instagram page you might just find the cutest crochet pumpkins too). Perfection!

The box also includes a candle from The 6th Scent Candle which is absolutely divine. These soy candles are like little tins full of yummy-smelling joy – no over powering chemical-y and perfume-y candles here! Plus, burning soy candles (or other alternative wax candles) are so much better for you. The size of this candle is just perfect for burning in your bathroom while you’re getting your pamper on!

There are two pieces of jewelry included in this tester box – a pair of earrings created in Maple Ridge by Sweet Caroline Creative and a lovely bracelet by North Pacific Co. and inspired by the Chief in Squamish BC. I’m not really one for jewelry myself, but I find myself falling for the lovely, dainty floral pattern of these earrings. They’re also nickel free which is really important as my ears are extremely sensitive. The bracelet is a classic beaded bracelet that is honestly perfect for the Lower Mainland’s laid back and outdoorsy vibes. It’s beautiful without trying to hard, with lots of lovely greens and earth tones.

Lastly, we have a couple of bath and body goods for an extra relaxation factor. The lip balm from Dual Peaks Soap Co. is the perfect size to slip into even the tiniest of purses or clutch bags – trust me, you’re gonna be reaching for it all winter long! Also from Dual Peaks is a great little bath bomb (you know I love a good fizzy bath) which smells just divine – seriously, when I opened up this box I couldn’t wait to figure out where the gorgeous berry scent was coming from. And from True Products comes the most gorgeous and ALL NATURAL perfume in a sweet, sunny scent. For me, an all natural perfume means NO SNEEZING and NO ITCHY FACE from whatever chemicals are in traditional perfume. Who knew I was so sensitive?!

Now, I would LOVE to keep all these goodies for myself and shoot endless cute and cosy photos for the coming fall and winter season, but I wanted to give back to all my Canadian followers! So check out my instagram to win this fall sampler box! Good Luck!

Cohorted Beauty Subscription Box Review

Beauty Box subscription boxes – we know them, we love them, and there always seem to be new ones popping up. I’ve always wanted to try a beauty subscription service but with all the choice out there, I didn’t know which one I wanted to test out.

That’s why I was so excited when Cohorted reached out to me to try their luxury beauty box subscription service! And now I want to share that excitement and my thoughts with all of you!

What Is It?

Cohorted Beauty Boxes specialises creating a luxury, hand-crafted experience for you every month. Each step of packing the box is done by hand, right down to the perfectly tied bow. Their packaging is elegant and is made of really luxe materials. The products in each box are carefully selected and curated so you can be sure that they’re going to be beautiful, high quality products. The only drawback is that the boxes are not specifically curated to your particular tastes so you don’t have any say in what you receive. If you love surprises, however, it’s great!

Each box costs £35 or about $60 Canadian and they offer worldwide shipping. I received six products in the June box so each product was about $10 Canadian which is so reasonable for the quality of the products!

The June Box

The June box was a collaboration with the brand Doucce Cosmetics – a French brand that I had never heard anything about until this box showed up at my door. The packaging of the products is really sturdy, well made, and sleek. I received six products total: an eyeshadow palette, a mascara, an eyeliner, an eyebrow pencil, a lipstick, and a lip liner.

The lipstick is really buttery and pigmented – they supplied a pretty neutral shade that would look good on pretty much anyone. I prefer my lipsticks bold but there’s always room for a good nude lipstick.

The lipliner is pretty basic and unfortunately didn’t match the lipstick well – unfortunately, it really missed the mark for me.

Now, I don’t wear eyeshadow a lot so I’m certainly not the expert on reviewing it but I can say I really like the palette provided in the June box. Firstly, it’s such high quality – all the individual pans are stuck to the palette with super strong magnets and they come covered with little individual plastic tops to protect them. I’m kinda obsessed with the highlight shade provided – it’s just the right amount of shimmer to make your cheekbones glow.

The mascara and eyeliner are your basic black, and the brush for the mascara is super fluffy and coats every lash. The formula of both is really nice and the eyeliner applies smoothly.

Last, I was a little let down by the brow pencil – it’s a good shade for me, but definitely not for everyone! It’s also really stiff and that makes it hard to apply precisely. The spoolie is great but on a whole, the brow pencil was a miss from me.

Overall, though, the box was really great value for all the products you receive and the quality of the products. If you’re looking for a little bit of a different beauty box experience than the really popular ones on the market, Cohorted is a great choice, especially if you love surprises! If you like a more curated box that’s made just for you, you may want to look elsewhere.

Leave a comment below telling me what your favorite subscription boxes are or which ones you want to try the most!