POPSUGAR Must Have Box- September

I freaking love this box! If you have not signed up yet, click here and don't miss out on next month's. Seriously, this box is worth the $35 a month :)

Since we are heading into Fall, this box's focus was on staying chic as the temps drop, still enjoying your Summer tan, the "back to school" mind set, and something sweet.

The approximate value for this month's box was around $220. This does take into account the gift certificates and "try it free" offers the box included. Let me get started!

I did not include this adorable little coin purse in the total value of the box, but who doesn't love a cute little coin purse?? The booklet that comes with the box says "the material won't stretch or get damaged by water" so you have to love that! This is going to go right into my back pack with some lip gloss and some mints :)

Yes to Cucumbers Hypoallergenic Towelettes- valued at around $3 for this 10 towelette travel pack. I have seen this brand at Target before but have never purchased any thing. It says they are 98% natural and made from organic cucumbers and aloe vera. These have a refreshing cucumber smell and they did not dry my face out, but they did not do very well at getting make up off. I still had to follow up with make up remover and toner to get everything off. I think I prefer the Burt's Bees towelettes to these, but if I can't get those these would be my next choice.

Becky's Blissful Bakery Caramels- valued at $10.49 for the 4 oz of caramels included in the box. Holy shit! That is a lot of money for three pieces. Don't get me wrong, I thought they tasted amazing (my mother on the other hand said she thought they didn't taste like caramel at all) and was a bit sad that I shared one of them. They are soft, chewy, the sweet and salty mingle together and make your mouth water and they last quite a while. I can not justify paying that much for the delicious little guys, although on their website they have flavors like chai tea, margarita and sangria caramels.....sounds amazing! If there had been a discount code included for this item, I totally would have ordered each of those and hoarded them all to myself. But alas, Becky's Blissful bits of over priced goodness, we may never meet again.

Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato chips- did not include this in the value of the box. Again, this is a brand I have seen around but have not yet tried until now. I love sweet potato so I was excited for these and they didn't disappoint! They were just a bit sweet from the potato and salty like a chip. They were crisp but not too hard and very satisfying. I may have to pick these up on the next trip to the store. They are a bit heavy on the calories, as 1.5 oz is 210 calories, but if I am craving chips and I grab these instead of Lay's greasy goodness, I think my butt will appreciate that.

Kitsch Hair ties in "Swan Lake"-  valued at $9.99 on their website. I received one of these little hair ties (by a different brand) in my September Birchbox and while it was cute it started unraveling at the end on the first day. I used this one all day while volunteering and not only did it not unravel but it kept its shape even though I put it in and out of my hair about 30 times. I did not notice any creasing in my hair, but it is a habit for me to take it down often so it doesn't do that. I am still not convinced I need to pay almost $10 for some hair ties when the black, "ouchless" Goodys have been treating me well for years. But I have to admit after looking at them on the website, the packs of "Berry Bling" and "The Roxy" with the little skulls are really making me want to order some! I really like how these hair ties can kind of double as a bracelet.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky- book valued at about $10. Who doesn't love getting a book? This seems like it will be a quick read because it is a pretty thin book compared to what I am used to reading. I am very interested in reading this because when I saw the trailer for the movie it looked really cute. Not only did Pop Sugar include the book..........

......but they included a voucher for 2 tickets to see the movie that are redeemable on Fandango.com! Awesome! I did not include this in the value of the box, but in my area 2 movie tickets are about $40. I will also need to drive to a theater about 30 minutes North of where I live to see this since it is not playing in my area, but that $40 I am saving on tickets could be applied to a nice dinner before the movie :)

Tracie Martyn Skin Care- $25 gift certificate included in the value of the box. This is kind of a disappointment as I loved the free Postagrams in last month's box. I logged onto the Tracie Martyn website and it is riddled with "proof" that people on the red carpet use her product. The website is less than professional however. Then I looked up one product, the enzyme exfoliant, and it had no listing of the size of the tub it came in but it did have directions on how to use it. Sounded intriguing (I like to exfoliate so why not try it with enzymes) and so I clicked the little button to buy.....and it is a whopping $90. I don't know about you, but if I have never tested a product, had it used on me at a salon or even known anyone who has used it (and no, red carpet actresses and such do not count) then I am not paying almost $100 for a product. I will stick to my Murad and take my trips to Sephora. While I appreciate Pop Sugar including this, it just didn't add to the value of the box for me.

Rifle Paper Co.'s Lined Notepad- valued at $8 from their website. I am in college and I actually have not seen real notebook paper until just the other day when I had to dig some out of a notebook...from high school...which for me was 10 years ago. I am changing my career path and that means suffering through more professors lecturing on things I will never use as a radiology tech....but anyways! I laughed a little when I saw this note book pad just because it brought back memories of being in school, wearing my plaid skirt and white button down shirt and passing notes to my friends that were folded in weird shapes and had crap doodled all over it. You just can't get away with being almost 30 and trying to do that while your professor lectures about Statistics and people are typing away on their lap tops and iPads. Maybe with this note pad I will pass a note to the hot guy in the back of the classroom for old time's sake......maybe ;)

Pop Up Pantry Dinners- did not include the value of the cookie (although it was freaking delicious!) but the card is for dinner for 2 which is about $34. I have never tried anything like this before and it is very intriguing. I wish my brother was here to try this out with me since he is going to school to be a chef, but I guess I could always send him a gift if I try it and like it. I logged onto the website, registered and started looking at dinners and they had some really yummy stuff like grilled Cuban spiced chicken, stuffed peppers, and turkey meat loaf sliders.....but everything was listed as "sold out"! So that was a little disheartening. I was sent an email after I joined the site letting me know when meals were back in so I quickly ordered the turkey meat loaf sliders with tomato bisque and pear and berry crostada. Click HERE for my review on Pop Up Pantry!

 

Benefit Cabana Glama- valued at $36 but since it is after Summer you may be able to find this on sale. This was an AWESOME addition to the box! I am a huge Benefit Cosmetic lover and this just made my heart pitter-patter LOL. It includes the bronzing powder "hoola" with a little brush, a small tube of Posie Tint which is one of my favorites since it is a fun pink color for your cheeks and lips, Some Kind of Gorgeous foundation in medium, and a tri-color eye shadow palette with applicator brush (which will be going in the trash because they don't do nice things for blending eye make up). I used just this box to do my make up one day while volunteering and everyone kept telling me how gorgeous my face was (where as usually they talk about how great my make-up looks) and I think it is because this looks so natural. Just like all my other Benefit products, this will be getting some serious usage!

Using only the Cabana Glama and the Benefit Bad Gal lash, I did a very fresh faced look and I got a ton of compliments. I followed the instructional booklet that came with the make up and even did my eye shadow with the dark on the inner corners of my eyes and I was surprised at what that little change did to the over all appearance of my make up!

 

Brokedown Scarf- valued at $84 from the Brokedown Clothing website. This was an amazing addition to the box. I know, I know, its just a grey scarf and you can get one anywhere....but this one is soft, and huge, and feels wonderful and is not just straight grey but has gradients of grey all over it so it really looks like an accessory. The first thing I thought was "I wish it was cold enough here for me to wear it today" and the next thing I thought was "this is going to look so hot with my skinny jeans and my dark grey Micheal Kors pea-coat!". I am not a clothing snob at all, and my friends know I usually shop at Target and I am a TJ Maxx-inista so a great quality find is always appreciated. After browsing the website I realized this would be the only thing on there that would be my style. I have to say, Pop Sugar really nailed it on the head for Fall with this scarf!

I wore my new scarf out with a white tank and white cardigan and (don't judge me) some grey, white and cranberry pajama pants and got a bunch of compliments at the mall. I am so glad the temperature finally dropped here in VA so I could wear this! I am practically wearing it with everything I can think of :)

 

 

Yet another very satisfying experience with Pop Sugar this month. This is my second box and I am just in love. Makes me wish I knew about it for the premier box in July! I can not wait to see what is in store for October!

 

Jenn