GAIA Collective MoonBox Review and Coupon

My best friend Linze introduced me to the world of full moon rituals, and when I found out about GAIA Collective's MoonBox I was interested in reviewing it for a number of reasons. If you're not familiar with what full moon rituals are this box is a great way to delve in!

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

GAIA Collective is made up of a group of artists who believe in spreading positive intentions and universal compassion. Their MoonBox is sent out each moon cycle and they also host a Moon Event featuring a full moon ritual and meditation. This box allows you to participate in the event from the comfort of your home!

There are two subscription options. The Moon Gift box costs $12.50 per box with $2 shipping, and the MoonBox (which I am reviewing here) is $29.50 per box with free shipping.

• The Moon Gift box is a small gift set for internal guidance and includes a hand-picked crystal, essential oil blend, tea/soak herb blend, and a mantra.
• The MoonBox comes with three hand-picked crystals, an essential oil blend, tea/soak herb blend, featured item, a moon oracle card, guided meditation, full moon ritual, full moon ritual supplies, and you can add a wearable gem for $10.

GAIA Collective has partnered with Trees for the Future and plants 10 trees for every box sold!

The box is medium sized and came wrapped in brown paper. The actual box is white and has a MoonBox design and other images around the sides.

This box was for the Virgo full moon that occurred on February 22nd. This moon had a lot of significance for me because my moon sign is actually in Virgo. If you're not familiar with astrology, you have your sun sign, which is generally the sign that people refer to. I'm a Capricorn because I was born December 28th, but there are also rising signs (mine is Aries) and moon signs. You can learn more about that with a quick search, but I wanted to explain for anyone who wasn't familiar.

Anyway, Virgo is an Earth sign and is ruled by the planet Mercury. The moon oracle card that was included states that "powerful intentions can be planted and diligently tended to with the divine energy of the Goddess Virgo. Allow this time to be a positive force for motivation." There is more information on the card, but that is the main message.

As you can see, the box is beautifully packaged! I couldn't wait to learn more about all of the items and how to do the full moon ritual.

Here's everything that was inside of the box. Along with a printed version of the full moon ritual, GAIA Collective also emails you a guided meditation and ritual instructions. I received my email on the 21st and my box arrived on the 22nd, just in time for the full moon.

• Crystals - I received peridot, quartz point, and labradorite. Peridot enhances connections with friendliness and relationships with compassion. It is a stone of rebirth, renewal, and repair. Quartz point is an amplifier of all energies and is the time keeper and healer of the world. This is used to magnify your intentions. Labradorite is surrounded in magic and mystery and is the stone of the stars. Use it to connect with the mysterious dream realms.
• Essential Oil - This box's blend contained lemongrass, rosemary, sweet marjoram, thyme, white spruce, black spruce, peppermint, and spearmint, This smells amazing and I pick up on the lemongrass notes the most.
• Herbal Tea - The tea is made of dandelion root, fennel, ginger, hibiscus, holy basil, elderberry, licorice root, and rhodiola root.
• Peridot Gemstone Essence - This is the little stopper bottle in the photo above and is an energetic remedy that was created during the full moon of Imbolc. The instructions say to add five drops in water, topically, or directly by mouth.
• Full Moon Ritual items - A succulent chipping and hexagonal jar with lid were included for the actual ritual.

The ritual instructions say to add a bit of soil to the jar and plant the succulent. Moss from the box lining and your crystals can also be added to the mini terrarium. Think about this ritual as the process of bringing something to life. This succulent represents the intention you wish to bring to life during this full moon, and when it begins to manifest the succulent will grow too big for the jar and will need to be replanted. This is a sign of the beginning of your new journey!

The email contained more detailed instructions on what to do for the ritual, which I have placed at the end of this post for anyone who's interested. The guided meditation was also nice to have to listen to.

• Visit GAIA Collective to subscribe!
• Use coupon code VIRGOLOVE for 20% off your first box. This works for both the Moon Gift box and the MoonBox and expires March 20, 2016.
• Connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram

Bottom Line: I think the GAIA Collective MoonBox community is a wonderful introduction to guided meditations and full moon rituals! The box itself is beautiful and I found the ritual to be very calming. I have been going through some personal things recently (haven't we all?), and being able to center myself and focus on a new intention helped to put things into perspective.

If you're interested in seeing the full ritual, click the "Read More."

February Snakku Review

If you aren't already aware, I am obsessed with Snakku! I've reviewed their boxes before and they're consistently one of the best snack boxes out there, in my opinion. February's box featured snacks for Valentine's Day!

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

Snakku sends authentic Japanese snacks that are only available in Japan! They also include more popular foods like Pocky, but my favorite thing about this box is that it gives me access to things I wouldn't be able to try otherwise.

Boxes cost $38.95 per month, which may seem a little high, but consider the beautiful packaging (as seen above) and the fact that you get authentic snacks that you can't just find in the grocery store, and I think it's well worth the price!

Each box comes with an info card that describes the snacks but also gives background information on Japanese culture and the snacks' significance. February is strawberry season in Japan, and this month's selection featured strawberry-flavored snacks from the snowy city of Kanazawa.

• Chocolate Arare - These are from a rice cracker store in Kyoto and are chocolate-covered mini rice crackers. The two pouches (far right of the photo above) come in two varieties: bitter and sweet. The bitter pack has matcha green tea, dark chocolate, and white chocolate covered crackers, and the sweet has strawberry, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. I tried the sweet pack so far and I love the salty/sweet combo!
• Chocolate Fruit Crunch - These were my favorite snack in the box! They're made by a boutique store in Hakata, an old merchant city in southern Japan. They're made from locally-sourced fruits, cocoa from Madagascar, and cream from Hokkaido. The two flavors included were strawberry and blueberry, and they reminded me of a strawberry/blueberry crunch ice cream pop.
• Pururun Strawberry Mochi - Mochi is kind of difficult to describe to someone who's never tried it before, but I'll do my best: it's a soft snack that kind of looks like a gummy candy on the outside and has filling on the inside. These are also made by Hakata Fuubian and are made with the finest rice in the area and stuffed with strawberries from the island of Kyushu.
• Chocolate Senbei - These adorable senbei are shaped like hearts! They're covered in rich milk chocolate from Hokkaido and were absolutely delicious.
• Gold Okaki - These snacks are so pretty! They're crepe crackers that are baked and then dipped in a ginger emulsion and topped with edible gold foil. They're hand made in Kanazawa, where they've been in production for over 500 years. I found the cracker really hard to bite into, but it had a great ginger taste.

Pururun Strawberry Mochi, Chocolate Senbei, and Gold Okaki

Chocolate Fruit Crunch

This month's box also had a good number of more popular snacks, all of which I loved!

• Strawberry Heart Pocky - Pocky is just so good and I could easily eat an entire box in one sitting! The strawberry flavor is my favorite. If you haven't had these before, they're wafer sticks that are dipped in strawberry cream.
• Umaibo - I love the cartoon on the packaging for these! They're airy corn puff sticks and were the perfect salty snack.
• Ichigo Milk Candy - These have been popular since 1970 and have a multi-layer strawberry and milk filling.
• Senbei - Senbei are rice crackers, and these came in two flavors: plum (the smaller one) and soy seaweed (larger ones).
• Green Tea KitKat - I've always heard that Japan has a bunch of different Kit Kat flavors so I was excited to try these. They had a nice creamy flavor and were very good!

Bottom Line: Snakku is such a good box and I loved February's selection of snacks! The Valentine's Day theme was really cute and I loved all of the strawberry foods.

January Harvey Prince The Story of Perfume Box and Freebie!

I have been a huge fan of Harvey Prince Organics for a while now and when I heard that they were launching a subscription box I was so excited to try it! Now you can get a delivery of luxury fragrances made with natural ingredients that are vegan, cruelty-free, and gluten-free, too!

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

Harvey Prince Organics was founded by two brothers who wanted to create the perfect perfume as a Mother's Day gift to their mother. The result of this endeavor was their first perfume, Ageless. Ever since they've been creating boutique-quality scents that are free from toxic chemicals.

Their new The Story of Perfume Box comes with two private blend Harvey Prince perfumes available only from the box! The exclusive fragrances are made with the finest essential oils and high quality natural ingredients and come in a 7 mL rollerball. Each box also contains two samples from Harvey Prince's best-selling bath, hair, and body lines, which will range in size from 15 to 30 mL. And again, all of their products are vegan, gluten-, and cruelty-free!

The box launched in January 2016 (with this box that I am reviewing) and is available in one, three, six, and 12 month options. Each box costs $22 per month regardless of the length of your subscription (so, for example, a three month subscription costs $66 every three months). The boxes ship worldwide, and your shipping costs will depend on where you live. I think this is an amazing price, especially considering you're getting exclusive perfumes!

The first thing I noticed about this box is how beautiful the packaging is! The box itself is sturdy and embossed with the Harvey Prince logo on the top, and inside there was the prettiest tissue paper.

The big ticket items here are the mini rollerballs. I absolutely love both scents!

• D'Amore - This perfume is inspired by a woman exploring Venice, Italy and smells like the perfect balance of spicy and sweet to me. The top notes include Italian bergamot, Cypress oil, and sweet pink grapefruit. Next come lily, jasmine, cyclamen, and deep blond woods as well as vanilla, patchouli, vetiver, tonka bean, sandalwood, and clean musk. No wonder I love this so much; it has so many fragrance notes that I love! I wore this today and it smelled so amazing on my skin, and it lasted for at least six hours. This is definitely a new favorite!
• Baciami - This perfume is inspired by Rome, Italy and smells like a spicy floral to me. The name means "kiss me" in Italian, how cute! The notes include lemon, cassis, pineapple, calla lily, jasmine, brown sugar, sandalwood, vanilla, and musk. This didn't last as long on my skin as D'Amore, maybe two or three hours, but I think it smells wonderful and I still love it.

The two body care samples were in a scent I have tried before, Hello. I've actually tried both of these products before, too, thanks to other subscription boxes.

• Hello Liquid Loofah Exfoliating Shower Gel - The Liquid Loofah gel doesn't require a sponge and is meant to be applied directly to the skin. It leaves skin feeling soft, smooth, and hydrated. The Hello scent is a blend of Sicilian lemon, Spanish mandarin, and plumeria.
• Hello Body Cream - This contains shea butter, citrus botanicals, and sweet almond oil to keep skin feeling soft and hydrated.

The box also contained two spray vials that were 1.5 mL in size.

• Bailando - Another new perfume to love! This is another spicy/sweet combo (can you tell that that's my favorite?) with notes of Spanish mandarin, Moroccan rose, Japanese orange flower, Indian jasmine, Australian sandalwood, Madagascar vanilla, clean musk, and dry woods.
• Perfumista - This is the one scent that I didn't fall head over heels in love with, but don't take that as a reflection on its quality. It is just very floral, which is not my personal favorite. It has notes of South African freesia, Japanese orange flower, Moroccan rose, and hints of Indonesian clove bud and Australian sandalwood.

I can't believe this box only costs $22! Considering that a Harvey Prince 8.8 mL rollerball retails for $23, I'd say that's an amazing deal. I know that the mini rollerballs are smaller than that, but the box also contained four other samples. 

Now, remember how I said that the mini rollerballs are exclusive to the box? If you missed out on this box you can still purchase one of the minis individually for $30 on the Harvey Prince website, OR, you can use the promo code that Harvey Prince has so generously provided for my readers to get one for free! You do have to pay shipping (which will vary depending on your location), but that won't cost anywhere near the $30 retail price!

• Use promo code SWEETHP to get either a Baciami or D'Amore mini roller ball free, just pay shipping! Limit one per transaction.
• Visit Harvey Prince Organics to browse their full line of products
• Connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram

Bottom Line: If you're a perfume lover you must give this box a try! I think it's very fairly priced and, in my experience, Harvey Prince Organics perfumes are high quality. They're also vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and made with natural ingredients! What's not to love?

February Birchbox Review

February's Birchbox featured samples to help create "not-quite-everyday" looks. It wasn't my favorite box ever, but there were a few samples that I'll get good use out of.

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

I don't really see the theme reflected in the samples I got, because everything seems pretty everday to me. I've said it before, but I feel like Birchbox's themes are never really on point.

• ARROW Boost Color Enhancing Lip Balm - This is what I picked for sample choice and it ended up being my favorite sample in the box. ARROW is Birchbox's new brand that's vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, and gluten-free (do lip balms normally contain gluten?), and I wanted to try this balm because I love lip balms. This one is fun because it reacts with the pH of your skin to bring out the natural color of your lips, and it really works! I'm glad I got it in the box because, even though I like it, I wouldn't pay $14 for it.
• Not Soap, Radio Body Wash - I've never been a huge fan of Not Soap, Radio products and I'm not really sure why. They just seemed kind of cheap to me. Anyway, I got the scent "Liquid Freud," which is coconut milk and mango scented. I posted it for swap.
• Obliphica Professional Seaberry Serum, Medium to Coarse - I love getting hair serums because I heat style every day and these are great at revitalizing and smoothing my hair. This one smells wonderful and left my hair feeling silky and soft.
• Whish Revitalizing Cleansing Oil - Is it just me, or do Whish samples hardly ever contain enough product? I didn't use this, but I feel like there's hardly any product in the tube. I already have a cleansing oil from Badger Balm that I really like, so I probably won't use this.
• Color Club That's My Jam - I love nail polish and Color Club, but I have so many red polishes! I posted this for swap.

Bottom Line: Overall, not my favorite box, but I do really like the ARROW balm and the Obliphica serum. They can't all be winners, and hopefully I'll be more excited about next month's box!

February Beauty Box 5 Review

Happy 4th birthday, Beauty Box 5! I've been reviewing their boxes for quite some time now (maybe two years, maybe more?) and they get better and better with each month. February was no exception!

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

Beauty Box 5 sends five deluxe samples and full-sized products for only $12 a month! In my experience, usually at least half of items are full-sized. Shipping is free to U.S. addresses and $3 to Canadian ones.

In honor of their fourth birthday, February's box was filled with items to help you sparkle on! One item was even custom made for BB5.

• Hemp Nation Kiwi-Mango Body Wash ($7.99 for 2 fl oz) - The info card has this listed as a full-sized item, but I think that might be a misprint. It appears that a full-sized bottle is 8 oz. Anyway, this smells delicious! Kiwi and mango are two of my favorite scents.
• Manna Kadar Beauty 3 in 1 in Fantasy ($19, full-sized) - This is definitely a full-sized item and I love it! I've used a few other Manna Kadar products and they're good quality. The shade goes on lighter than I expected it to (see swatch photo at the end of this post), but it's a great highlighter.
• Epic Blend Hemp Premium Lip Balm ($3.49 for .15 oz, full-sized) - I received the "Raspberry Pomegranate" flavor. I don't remember the last time I had to purchase a lip balm because I get so many from subscription boxes, but I am not complaining! This one is non-GMO, gluten-free, and made with natural ingredients.
• Elizabeth Mott Thank Me Later Eye Shadow Primer ($9.71 for .17 oz) - I'm almost out of eye primer so I'm excited to give this one a try. It has a waterproof formula to help shadow stay all day long.
• Starlooks Custom Lip Liner in Sultry Sangria ($16, full-sized) - BB5 teamed up with Starlooks to create this exclusive shade just for the box! It's a pretty mauve/pink that will work well with a lot of lipsticks that I have.

Bottom Line: Without accounting for the Hemp Nation body wash, this month's box had an approximate retail value of $48.20! That's an amazing deal for only $12. I can't wait to see what else Beauty Box 5 has in store for their fourth year!