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Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review – October 2015

Ragan Buckley
ByRagan BuckleyOct 25, 2015 | 6 comments

Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review October 2015 - outerbox

Burke Decor’s spa box is a selection of 3-4 favorites from the Burke Decor editors and curated to your spa profile. Choose from Cool + Fresh, Warm + Earthy, or Floral + Fruit. This is a review of the Warm + Earthy box.

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review October 2015 - box

Here’s the inner custom box. If you’re wondering why the outer box looks like it’s been opened in the first photo, it’s because I wanted to make sure nothing was broken before I bothered getting my camera out and my lights set up. (There’s a reason for this that I’ll get to in a moment.)

Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review October 2015 - items

Here’s a look at the items I received. The box didn’t contain an information card.

The Subscription Box: Burke Decor Spa Box

The Cost: $45 per month with an additional $6 charge for shipping (the shipping charge is not obvious on the site).

The Products: Full sized spa items selected by the Burke Decor editors.

Ships to: US

Check out lots of great beauty and spa boxes in the Beauty Subscription Box Directory!

Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review October 2015 - candle

Oakmoss Candle by Apotheke – Value $32

This contains notes of jasmine, gardenia, oakmoss, and vanilla. It’s a little floral for something that’s supposed to be “warm and earthy,” but there is something a little earthy about it, too. And the floral part is not overwhelming. I’ve put it in my basement yoga/exercise room and I have been lighting it while I’m doing yoga. It’s 100% soy wax with a cotton wick that’s been dipped in beeswax.

Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review October 2015 - soap

Charcoal Bar Soap by Apotheke – Value $8

This soap is made with bamboo charcoal powder and coconut, olive, and organic palm oils. I love a good charcoal soap and I appreciate getting one that’s premade. Because I tried making charcoal soap last weekend and it was messy. (Tip: don’t ever make charcoal soap in a *white* kitchen sink…you will be scouring for a long while to get it all out.)

Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review October 2015 - lotion

Moroccan Amber Hand Lotion by Nest Fragrances – Value $19.20

This was originally going to be an all Apotheke box (see below), but this hand lotion was substituted. I actually really like this. It absorbs into the skin quickly and the fragrance is well-suited to my tastes (and fits the Warm + Earthy profile quite well, I think). I’ve taken it to work and put it on my desk and it looks a whole lot classier than the obnoxious purple tube of hand cream from Bath and Body Works that I kept there before.

Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review October 2015 - broken

So I have made some references in this review to breakage and substitutions. My original Burke Spa box was received several weeks ago. Above is a picture of the inside. A glass bottle containing Apotheke liquid charcoal soap broke and got EVERYWHERE. It soaked into the charcoal bar soap and even the candle glass was broken.

Burke Decor did replace the whole box for me. But it was not easy to get them to do so. I was asked to provide pictures (which is a reasonable request, and which I promptly responded to). After that, though, I had a hard time getting a response. I finally called and that helped more than emailing did. More time passed and I hadn’t gotten a shipping notice, so I contacted them again. Apparently the liquid charcoal soap (I didn’t even realize that’s what it was at the time, I didn’t turn over the label because it was covered in black goo and shards of glass) was not going to be in stock for two more weeks. I was offered two choices: wait some more, or accept a substitute item of equal value. I opted for the substitute item, which was the hand lotion (they told me in advance).

I want to make it clear that Burke Decor did replace the entire box after proof of breakage/damage was provided. But it was somewhat difficult to get responses from their customer service and the replacement took a few weeks. The second box was packaged MUCH better than the first one, for what it’s worth.

Verdict: I calculated a value of approximately $59.20 for the October 2015 Burke Spa box. (The hand lotion price is a sale price; at non-sale prices, the value would be about $64.) This is somewhat above the cost of the box plus shipping, although the final value was not as outrageously high as with other boxes containing beauty items. I will use every single item and I think they fit the warm + earthy scent profile fairly well. If you are a bargain hunter, though, it is my understanding that Burke Decor regularly offers % off coupons and you may get better prices on individual items through their store by using one of those.

What do you think of the Burke Decor Spa Box for October 2015? Do you get the Cool + Fresh or Floral + Fruit box? If so, be sure to tell us in the comments what you received!

Ragan Buckley
Ragan Buckley
Ragan stumbled across My Subscription Addiction in late 2013 and immediately subscribed to way too many beauty boxes. She's now focused on boxes for her cats and dog, vegan/vegetarian food boxes, and craft subscriptions (and she didn't give up beauty boxes entirely).

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6 comments

Andrea at Am2cents

I had the similar experience with their customer service. Twice I received products that were passed their experience date. I had to stalk them on Facebook leave them phone calls until I got annoyed and called my bank to do a reversal on payment and left them a message saying that’s what I was doing…then I got a response. It took about two weeks before I received only one replacement product…and the other one …well they never acknowledged it.

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nursermk

Ragan, of all the things to break in a box, charcoal soap with all the black liquid is one of the worst I can think of! Once you sent the picture, a kind word and the next steps to provide a replacement would have made such a difference with your experience. It doesn’t matter if you are paying $10 per box or $50 and above, the satisfactory common denominator is good CUSTOMER SERVICE and communication. Thank you for your honest review and experience to inform the rest of us.

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Vanessa

Not impressed with this box. I wondered if there would be any decor items but I guess not. $45 plus shipping for three bathroom items isn’t a good deal to me.

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Ragan

Well this is a review of the Spa Box, so there would only be spa-type items in it. They have a separate “home” box that Liz has done some reviews of (search “Burke” in the search box at the top of the page to find those).

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WendyinCA

Wow! I’ve never seen such an obliterated box. I wonder if the packing materials were better in the second box? Thanks for spelling out the customer service stuff.

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Ragan

The second box was MUCH better packaged. Also the Nest lotion is in a plastic bottle instead of glass, so there was a much lower likelihood of breakage in the first place.

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