August Vegan Cuts Beauty Box Review

Vegan Cuts is one of my favorite subscription services because they send cruelty-free, vegan products in both their food and beauty boxes. I've reviewed their boxes in the past and I've always been impressed by the types of samples they send!

*Disclaimer: This box was sent to See, Shop, Love! in exchange for an honest review.

The Vegan Cuts Beauty Box is a great way to discover cruelty-free brands. They send four to seven deluxe samples and full-sized products ranging from skincare to unique cosmetics. I'm always up for discovering new cruelty-free brands!

There are three subscription length options, priced as follows:

• Monthly: $19.95/month, recurring
• Three Months: $59 one time charge
• Six Months: $115 one time charge
• Yearly: $215 one time charge (with one month free)

Shipping to U.S. addresses is free, to Canada is $8, and all other international addresses is $15.

August's box had five products, three of which were full-sized. I recognized most of the brands upon opening the box but there were a few that were new to me, too.

• One Love Organics Healthy Locks Dry Shampoo Powder ($12 for .6 oz, full-sized) - This has kaolin clay, hyaluronic acid, and silica-rich bamboo extract to soften and strengthen hair. I use dry shampoo a lot so I'm interested to see how this works with my hair. The kaolin clay is promising, since my scalp gets pretty oily.
• Harvey Prince Hello ($26 for 10 mL, full-sized) - I actually already have one of these travel sprays of this scent but I'm glad to have another because it smells wonderful! It's a bright, citrus-y scent that's perfect for summer.

• GlamNatural Hydrating Face Cream (value unknown) - A full-sized jar of this retails for $28 and the sample is 5 grams, but I don't know the weight of the full-sized jar so I can't calculate a value. Anyway, this is made with plant-based oils and feels nice and smooth.
• Kaeng Raeng Detoxfoliant All Natural Body Scrub in Lavender Vanilla ($2.80 for 1 oz) - This is currently on sale at the Kaeng Raeng site for $28, so I used that price when calculating the value. I love a good body scrub but I didn't care for the scent of this one. I also found that the sugar particles didn't hold up for very long before disintegrating, so I didn't think it was super effective at buffing away dead skin.
• Gleam by Melanie Mills Lip Radiance in Uncontrollable ($24 for .176 oz, full-sized) - This is made with natural botanicals and it looks highly pigmented in the tube. I'm unsure about the color though--it's a very vibrant fuschia/purple and I'm not sure that it'll look that great on my skin tone!

Bottom Line: The August Vegan Cuts Beauty Box has an approximate retail value of at least $64.80, not including the GlamNatural face cream. I think that's a great value for a box that costs $19.95! I was also impressed that they sent three full-sized items. Overall the variety was good and I will definitely use a majority of the products featured this month.

August Beauty Box 5 Review

August's Beauty Box 5 has five products and tools to keep you looking gorgeous! This month's assortment spans a good variety of categories with four full-sized products, too.

*Disclaimer: This box was sent to See, Shop, Love! for review purposes.

Beauty Box 5 sends five deluxe samples and full-sized products to your door for $12 per month. Shipping is free to the U.S. and $3 to Canadian addresses. Products range from color cosmetics, skincare, hair care, accessories, and more.

When I got this month's box the first thing I noticed was how heavy it was. Once I opened it I realized it was because of the bright yellow compact.

• Hask Beauty Deep Conditioning Hair Treatment ($2.39 for 1.75 oz, full-sized) - I love Hask's products! I currently use their Keratin line and it's wonderful. I've used the argan mask in the past and it leaves my hair feeling so smooth and shiny!
• Jerome Alexander Hot Stuff Go Pop Compact ($10.99, full-sized) - This came in an assortment of colors, but I think the colors of the cosmetics inside are the same for each one. I really like the shades and I like that the compact itself is so sturdy. It'll be good for travel and I won't have to worry about anything breaking inside during transit.

• Donnamax Printed Nail File with Case ($4.99, full-sized) - This came in an assortment of designs and mine says "Oooh, this deserve a status update." I think the case it came with is a great bonus and makes it perfect for keeping in my purse.
• Starlooks Luxe Longwear Eyeliner Pen in Plum ($19.99, full-sized) - I've never used an eyeliner that wasn't black so I'm excited to try this. I like that it's a liquid liner pen, it has a felt tip that makes it easier to apply.
• Pur-lisse Pur Delicate Gentle Soy Milk Cleanser and Makeup Remover ($10.93 for 1.7 oz) - Pur-lisse makes great products so I'm excited to try this! It smells great and I like that it's made for delicate skin. My skin is oily but also sensitive, so I'm always looking for products that will work with both conditions. Hopefully this won't disappoint!

Bottom Line: The total approximate retail value for this box is $49.29, which is insane for a box that only costs $12! Four out of the five products were full-sized, too.

Cratejoy: A Subscription Box Paradise!

Have you browsed Cratejoy lately? I had known about them for a while but I realized they had a centralized marketplace that lists all of the subscription boxes they power, and more!

*Disclaimer: Post contains affiliate links.

If you've never heard of Cratejoy, they're a subscription box marketplace that curates and manages lists of all the best subscription boxes out there. You can also start your own subscription box using Cratejoy (learn more about that here).

What I love about Cratejoy is there are So. Many. Subscriptions! They're neatly organized by category and there is something for almost any interest you could think of. After browsing for only a few minutes I discovered some that I had never heard of before, like Bare Mane, Very Portland, and Moon Magic Box.

Even better, anyone can review the boxes on the site so you'll get an idea of whether other people enjoyed the subscription or not. Many of the listings also include coupon codes for your first box!

If you're a subscription box lover like me, and I'm assuming you are since you're reading my blog, then you definitely need to head over to Cratejoy and start exploring!

Scent Trunk Review

I used to dislike getting perfume samples from subscription boxes, but then I started focusing on finding scents that I liked and realized there are so many out there that I want to try! Scent Trunk is a great perfume subscription because they send perfumes that aren't so common and are customized to your preferences.

*Disclaimer: This box was purchased by See, Shop, Love!

Scent Trunk costs $18 per month for three perfumes (6 mL each) customized to your scent profile. They have men's and women's options. They currently ship to the U.S. and Canada.

I like woody and spicy scents so I made sure those notes were prominent in my scent profile. When you first sign up you'll take a quiz to determine your preferences, but you can change them at any time by using a sliding scale on your account page. Here's what mine looked like for this box:

I was very happy with all three of the perfumes that Scent Trunk sent me! I love that you can switch up your preferences and based on this box, I think they do a very good job of matching perfumes up to your profile.

How You Love by Jazmin Sarai starts off with a hint of soothing, herbal cardamom and sunny grapefruit, with a heart of Moroccan rose and Indian jasmine. This is my favorite perfume of the bunch. It smelled absolutely amazing once it melded with my skin chemistry. It was the perfect balance of spice and warmth!

Pavane No. 1 by Gwendolyn Marie combines sweet lychee fruit, fig, orange blossom, and fresh cut grass. It's inspired by Gabriel Faure's Pavane in F-sharp minor, Op. 50. At first spritz I wasn't sold, but the middle and base notes are amazing!

I expected Coconut Sugar by Note Fragrances to be my favorite, but it ended up being too sweet. The top notes are kiwi and peach, the middle notes are coconut milk and freesia, and the base is white musk and vanilla bean. I've never cared for freesia, so I think that's why I didn't like this as much as I thought I would.

Bottom Line: I thought my first Scent Trunk box was fantastic. I actually cancelled after this box because I only wanted to try one, but if I had a bigger budget for subscription boxes I would definitely stay subscribed!

August Birchbox Review

This year, Birchbox has been sending boxes with different designs each month. I've really enjoyed them so far but I'm not a fan of the August design. The box itself isn't really that important to me, though, as long as I like what's inside--and this month I did!

*Disclaimer: This box was purchased by See, Shop, Love! Post contains referral links.

August's theme is "Soak it up!" Normally I don't feel that the themes fit the products I receive, but this time around they sent some great summer samples.

My box had six samples, but one was a foil packet so I don't even really count that. I think it was one of the bonus items anyway. Overall I'm pretty happy with what I got; I won't use everything but there was a good variety of items represented.

• R+Co DEATH VALLEY Dry Shampoo ($7.37 for 1.6 oz) - A full-sized bottle of this is way too expensive ($29), but dry shampoos are my best friend so when this was available for sample choice I picked it right away. I haven't tried it yet but I'm sure it will work fine.
• COOLA Environmental Repair Plus Radical Recovery After-Sun Lotion ($2.67 for .5 fl oz) - I think this is for use after you get a sunburn. I don't ever get a sunburn so I don't need this, so I posted it for swap.
• theBalm Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush ($2.61 for .028 oz) - This is a nice matte bronzer, but I've actually been using it as an eyeshadow.

• IPKN Pore Apple Sun Cream ($2.72 for .24 fl oz) - This is infused with apple water extract and natural herbal ingredients and is basically a moisturizer. I'm fairly certain that apple water extract is nonsense and doesn't have any benefits for skin, but it's a nice moisturizer with a high SPF of 40.
• Kérastase Bain Force Architecte - Cleanse ($1.60 for .34 fl oz) - This is a reconstructing shampoo. I don't enjoy hair products in foil packets so I won't use this. I never use all of the product at one time and they're annoying to store.
• dr. brandt Pores No More Cleanser ($2.50 for .25 fl oz) - I've used the Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner and it works pretty well, so I would consider buying a full-sized version of this cleanser. There isn't really enough in the tube to get a good read on how well it works, though.

Bottom Line: My box had a approximate retail value of $19.47, which is kind of low, but overall I liked the selection of products this month!