essentialsBOXX Subscription Box Review – February 2016

EssentialsBOXX is a new subscription service dedicated to delivering skin care and hair care products from small-owned and black-owned businesses. Their goal is to bring all natural and handmade products to subscribers looking to discover brands and products that may be unknown to many consumers or unavailable in stores.

This box was sent to us for review purposes. Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.

The Subscription Box:EssentialsBOXX

The Cost: $25 per month (save more with 3 and 6 month subscriptions)

The Products: Natural and Handmade Skin and Hair Care products

Ships to: US and Canada

Check out the Beauty Subscription Box Directory for more skin & hair care boxes!

Good to Know:  At this time, the EssentialsBOXX does not include an product/curation card, so I was left to explore this brand new box on my own.  I hope they have a card coming in the near future.

Scrub Fusions – Sleep Tight Lavender Body & Face Scrub – 4oz – Value: $5.00

I am obsessed with this brand new to me face and body scrub.  I have a ton of body exfoliants and I can never get enough of them (shout out to Ragan).  But I’m very picky with face scrubs and I have a few favorites that I allow myself to purchase every blue moon because of their cost.  I love the way this one makes my face so soft and smooth after application.  The hard cane sugar and oils are a perfect match.  I also love that the fragrance is subtle.  I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that this brand also makes small batches of face and body scrubs like Citrus Burst, Pumpkin Spice, Strawberries & Champagne and more!!

TGIN – Butter Cream Daily Moisturizer – 12oz – Value: $14.99

I’m happy to see more products from TGIN, but we weren’t really impressed with this hair cream.  It’s very thick and sticky and I just didn’t not care for the way it sat on our curls instead of absorbing into our curls.  It’s said to reduce frizzy hair and prevent hair loss.  

TGIN- Organic Shea Butter in Lavender – 8oz – Value: $12.99

TGIN also offers shea butter in other fragrances like Mango, Pomegranate and Sugar Pear.  I’m seeing a pattern of products with lavender, I wonder if everyone received the same box or if the fragrances were different.  Anyway, I can definitely say this was our favorite item in the box.  I love body oils in liquid and solid forms.  As a whole, our family has already cleared a third of this container.  William and Abigail love it.  John surprisingly likes it as well.  I think he’s starting to come around to liking body oils more and more.  Personally, I’m in love with it too.  It’s silky and melts in your hands so quickly.  The lavender fragrance is on the heavy side, if you don’t like lavender, but we like it.  And I feel like the kiddos have slept better the nights that this butter was applied right before bed.  You can use shea butter for all sorts of skin care needs if you didn’t know.  You can moisturize your lips, treat eczema, rashes and dry skin as an overnight treatment.

TGIN – Natural Soap in Lavender Fields – 4oz – Value: $4.99

There are very few bars of soap that I enjoy and unfortunately we did not enjoy this.  John and I both agree that this soap strips the skin raw of it’s natural oils and left us feeling very uncomfortable.  It’s said that this soap is great for those that suffer from eczema and other skin conditions.  But, I’m hesitant to use this on our son who has eczema.  If you have eczema and have tried this, please tell us your thoughts below.

Vee+Company – Happy+ Lips Lip Butter in Mandarin Ginger – .5oz – Value: $6.00

I really enjoy this little tin of butter.  It smells amazing and it’s very comfortable on my lips.  I love that after swirling my finger in the tin for a little bit, it warms up the fragrance and I can smell it before it even hits my lips.  It’s very comforting.  Plus they included a “Happy” sticker!  I already stuck it to the bottom of my lip tin.  Why not, it makes me happy!   After visiting the Vee+Co website, I see that this lip butter is available in other scents like Mint Chocolate, Jasmine Lemon and Lavender Vanilla!!…I feel like I was suppose to have the Lavender Vanilla in my box, but I’m not complaining! (hugs lip butter tin)

Verdict: EssentialsBOXX had an estimated retail value of $44.00!  I’d say that’s a good value for a brand new subscription service.  There are some things that I really enjoyed and others that I didn’t care for about this box.  A few concerns,  I had some issues navigating to the EssentialsBOXX website on my own, I think it’s the spelling that throws search engines off.  I also hope that they include a product card soon.  I’d really like to know if boxes are generally the same or if some items vary, and what item substitutions could be.  What I really like about this box is discovering new brands!  Scrub Fusions and Vee+Co may be small, but I have high hopes for both companies and would love to see more from them in future boxes from this subscription and others!  In a sense, I feel the box was a miniature TGIN takeover.  If this box had more deluxe or full sized items from the other two brands and less items from TGIN, I wouldn’t feel this way.  I hope that EssentialsBOXX continues to bring smaller businesses to subscribers and more of them in each box.  I believe this is what makes this box unique from other subscriptions already available.  I added myself to the mailing list in hopes that they possibly send an electronic version of what subscribers should expect each month.    

What did you think of the first of many boxes fromEssentialsBOXX?  Tell us below, Do you enjoy discovering small brands in subscriptions or rather receive new products from brands you already know and trust?