POPSUGAR Must Have Unboxing and Review: October 2013

Before I start this review, I just to remind everyone that starting November POPSUGAR is raising their prices. From now on the boxes will cost $39.99, and if you wanted to purchase a subscription, now’s the best time to do it to lock in the current rate. Back to the October box now! Let’s just say, it’s not what I expected and this one is probably my least favorite box in almost a year that I’ve been subscribed, you’ll later see why. I thought that maybe this one would be amazing, to encourage more people subscribe, but I guess I didn’t match the target demographics. I extended my subscription by 6 months to lock in the current rate, and I hope October wasn’t a representation of the boxes to come.

HOW IT WORKS
With POPSUGAR Must Have, you’ll get an exciting monthly box, full of hand-selected items from POPSUGAR editors. Each box will include a variety of full-sized products and premium items worth over $100 (ARV). It costs $39.95/month and you can use the code REFERF5 to get a special one-time $5 discount off your first box.
If you would like to use my referral link please click here to subscribe to PopSugar Must Have. Thank you!

SPECIAL OFFER
Use the code SQUAD10 to get $10 off your 3-month subscription plan.

The Can’t Cook Book: Recipes for the Absolutely Terrified! 
This is a great cookbook with many basic and delicious recipes, cooking tips, and advice on various kitchen utensils. I consider myself to be a pretty good cook, and I’m still going to use this one for simple everyday meals. I briefly browsed through and most of the recipes looked very easy, quick and requiring about 5 ingredients. This is a perfect book for busy life!

Gorjana & Griffin Charity Bali Bead Bracelet
This might look like a piece of jewelry made by a kid, but I think it looks very sleek and especially appropriate for the month of October – the official Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The bracelet is only 7″ long so it might be too small for some people, but it actually fit my wrist quite comfortably with plenty of room to spare. The beads are made with sterling silver and coated with 18K yellow gold, which would explain the high ARV.

Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat and Julep Coco
Coco is a rich opaque oxblood creme, which is one of the trendiest fall colors. It looks absolutely amazing on short nails! Swatches coming up some time later this week. I googled reviews on Freedom top coat, and it seems like Julep Mavens have only good things to say about it. I’m excited to try it out, because it should work especially well with other Julep polishes.

NYX The Smokey Fume Shadow Palette
I’m kind of on the fence about this palette. For seven bucks this is definitely a great deal, because it has all of the trendy Fall/Winter colors to play with, without the guilt of spending too much on something you might never wear again. The palette is rated pretty high on various websites, but when I read bloggers’ reviews, everybody says the color payout is very poor and it takes far too many swipes to get the product to show up on your lids.

NYX Collection Noir Liquid Black Liner
I’m not a huge fan of nailart-esque eyeliner brushes, because I always manage to mess up the lines. Many reviewers agree that when it dries it looks too shiny, and I don’t quite like that effect either. I know there are many ladies who would be thrilled to receive this product, but I prefer my eyeliner as matte as possible, unless it’s a shimmery color liner.

Jane Tran Thin Metallic Bobby Pin Set
I can never have too many bobby pins, because I seriously lose them all the time. It’s like the space around me is a giant black hole that exclusively attracts bobby pins, elastics, chapsticks and sometimes socks. I think the pins are very cute and unique-looking, and the colors are easy to to incorporate into any outfit.

The Wet Brush in Hot Pink
I was VERY skeptical about the effectiveness of this brush, because the only thing that can detangle my hair after the shower is a wide-toothed comb paired with a detangling spray. I was honestly prepared to be disappointed, but what do you know? This thing works like magic, and I didn’t even need to use a detangler. I don’t even remember the last time I was that excited about a hair brush, but it sure feels good 🙂 This is now my Holy Grail hair tool, and once this one breaks I’ll definitely purchase a replacement one.

The Crispery Halloween Sprinkled Crispycake
This cake was way too sweet for me: when I first bit into it I felt like my teeth are all going to fall out, LOL! My husband, however, loved it, but he also agreed that it’s way sweeter than homemade rice krispy treats he used to have as a kid. The Crispery makes these cakes decorated for any occasion, from Christmas and Mother’s day to Baby Shower and Wedding; use the code Popsugar to get 15% off your order.

Stitch Fix Gift Card
Stitch Fix is basically like a personal shopping concierge service. For a $20 fee the stylists curate a box of clothes and accessories for you to try at the comfort of your own home. Take three days to decide what to keep, and return the rest in the pre-paid mailing bag at any USPS mailbox. The $20 credit can be applied towards purchasing any item from your box, and if you choose to keep all items, you will also get a nice 25% discount. I’ll give this one a try since it’s free, but I’m currently on a clothes shopping ban, so it’s unlikely that I will keep anything 🙂 Here are two of my favorite Stitch Fix reviews to give you an idea about the service – Gimme Some Life and The Arena Update.

THE VERDICT
As you can see, the monetary value is definitely there, but I just don’t consider the $7 NYX palette a must have. It’s a nice basic palette for those on a budget, but I just expected a higher end brand from a $35 subscription (soon to be $40/month). Also I’m disappointed that they chose Stitch Fix out of all the monthly services to promote, it’s like February all over again with two “one size fits all” items. We know that one size never fits everyone. Stitch Fix only services people up to size 14, and plus size people usually have bigger wrists, so it’s possible that they wouldn’t be able to use the cute Gorjana bracelet either; that’s two items they won’t be able to use again. Ok, enough ranting, let’s talk about the positives. I loved the cookbook and the detangling brush, and I always welcome more nail polish. I’m so ready for November spoilers now! 🙂

Are you a POPSUGAR MustHave subscriber? What do you think of this month’s box?