Brown Sugar Box is a monthly woman of color lifestyle subscription box offering tees, accessories, and lifestyle products designed by and made for Women of Color.
Each Brown Sugar Box includes a graphic tee and 4-5 additional full-size products ranging from drinkware, accessories, bags, jewelry, makeup, housewares, and stationery. All items are from black-owned businesses.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About Brown Sugar Box
The Subscription Box: Brown Sugar Box
The Cost: $39.95 per month + $4.95 shipping
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Use code FIRSTTIME20 to save 20% off your first box!
The Products: 1 graphic tee plus 4-5 additional full-size lifestyle products
Ships to: US for $4.95 and International for $12.95
Good to Know: Boxes are shipped around the 15th of each month. When purchasing a subscription, you have the opportunity to select your t-shirt size and fit preference.
Brown Sugar Box “Old Hollywood Glam” Review
Each Brown Sugar Box includes a mini magazine that highlights the theme of the box, list the products included and offers interesting and inspiring articles. This month’s box is all about celebrating the women of Old Hollywood, like Earth Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, and Diahann Carroll who were breaking barriers and setting trends all while looking absolutely fabulous.
This article describes the theme of this month’s box which is perfect for Women’s History Month. The opposite page lists all of the items included in this month’s box to help you glam up any occasion.
This article highlights five fashion trends inspired by old Hollywood icons. I am here for all of them especially the belted jumpsuit!
Featured are women who have dedicated their lives to fight for fairness and rights for women. I’m inspired by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and I’ve read a number her books. I highly recommend Americanah.
This article describes the beauty standards and lists some beauty tips from the 1950s. Honestly, I prefer my modern-day skin routine. No cold cream or tea bags for me!
Featured are quotes from Hollywood greats. My favorite is Cicely Tyson's "Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew." Style Guides were introduced last month and I love this addition to the mini magazine. The cutest suggestion is pairing the brooch in this month's box with the faux fur collar from the December box.
Brown Sugar Babes are invited to share pictures of themselves on social media for a chance to win a free box. Highlighted are pictures from last month’s box.
This Old Hollywood Playlist sounds like the perfect background music for a super chill day of writing, relaxing and cooking the perfect dinner for two. There's also a page with Brown Sugar Box FAQs.
The back cover of the magazine has a picture of a beautiful black woman on the perfect spring day and invites you to join the Izzy & Liv members-only lounge on Facebook.
“Timeless Women” Tribute Tee – Listed Retail Value $28
In honor of Women's History Month, this t-shirt was meant to honor the beautiful black women of old Hollywood. Instead, it fell short of this mission. First, the names of multiple women on the tee were misspelled. This is such a huge mistake! In an email to subscribers, the Izzy & Liv team spoke to the error and are reprinting and shipping corrected replacement shirts. Although they have not provided a definite timeline, I appreciate that they acknowledged the error and are correcting this mistake. But, still!
Secondly, I always love the t-shirts but this looks more like a mass-produced family reunion tee than what I’ve come to expect from Izzy & Liv. In a box all about glam, why choose such a plain looking tee? I expected glitter and gold, sprinkle, and a little pizzazz - all of which I’ve seen in past shirts. Ignoring the spelling errors, this t-shirt still isn’t a hit.
Handheld – Listed Retail Value $12
How cute! Of the three options, this mirror depiction of a 1950’s beauty is the one I loved the best! It can be used in hand or handless by folding the handle back to prop it up. The picture of this mirror in the mini magazine shows a gold finish but the one I received has a silver finish. I actually like it better this way. Of course, Izzy & Liv branded the mirror but in this case, it's done tastefully so I don't mind.
Party Clutch – Listed Retail Value $21
This shimmery clutch comes in gold, silver, pink and black. I received the pink and it’s my favorite of the four! It’s really quite cute with the gold chain and gold faux diamond clasp. This is probably the best and most well-made clutch, purse or bag included in the Brown Sugar Box. I’m definitely using this!
Classic Brooch – Listed Retail Value $10
Bummer! I really wanted the Bumblebee design of the four available styles. But, I did get my favorite mirror and clutch so, I really can't complain. While not my favorite, this classic brooch with a gold stem, leaves, and pink flowers is charming.
5 Piece Makeup Brush Set – Listed Retail Value $18
I don't wear makeup every day so I'm rarely applying flawless foundation or the perfect smoky eye but I do appreciate a good brush on the occasion that I'm getting glammed up for the evening. I also love that the brushes have sayings like "you are beautiful", "you better work", and "slay!".
Reverse Collar Necklace – Listed Retail Value $22
I don’t think that I’ve seen a reverse collar necklace before but I like it. It’s different and not too overwhelming or costumey. I will need to try to stretch it out a bit because it’s not very comfortable but I can totally see myself rocking this!
Verdict: This was almost an A+ box! I’ve been a Brown Sugar Box subscriber from the very beginning so I’ve seen every box. It’s no secret that it’s one of my favorites and a brand with a mission that I love to support. This box is honestly one of the nicest boxes I've seen in a very long time.
There are two standout things about this box for me. First, this is the first box I've received where I didn't like the tee shirt. It's usually my favorite item in every box. It's still quite unbelievable that they misspelled some of the names. But, hey, mistakes happen, they owned it, and they’re fixing it. That’s usually all that I expect. However, I do wish that they would just scrape and redo this whole t-shirt. It needs to be glamorous!
Secondly, there was a drastic increase in quality in this month’s box. I feel like lately, I've been lamenting about the quality of the items in the box. So many of them appeared cheaply made. But, it's not the case in this box. The mirror, brooch, and necklace are sturdy, there are no hanging strings or messy stitching with the clutch, and no shedding bristles on the brushes. The quality definitely took a huge step in the right direction.
Overall, this Hollywood glam box is top notch. I can’t wait to see what Izzy & Liv has in store for us next month!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, but sign up today to receive next month's box.
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Use code FIRSTTIME20 to save 20% off your first box!
Value Breakdown: The listed retail value of this box is $111. At $44.90 a box, here’s what you are paying approximately per item:
- “Timeless Women” Tribute Tee – $11.32
- Handheld Mirror – $4.86
- Party Clutch – $8.49
- Classic Brooch – $4.06
- 5 Piece Makeup Brush Set – $7.29
- Reverse Collar Necklace – $8.90
Check out all of our Brown Sugar Box reviews and more women of color subscription boxes, along with the best women's subscription boxes of 2019!
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What do you think of this month’s Brown Sugar Box?
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