Christmas in July 2013 Dottiebox Review

I was really excited when Dottiebox sent out an email letting us know that they had a special Christmas in July box for sale. They had some extra inventory from previous boxes and you could get a box for only $10 plus shipping (a typical monthly Dottiebox is $20 plus shipping for 5-6 handmade items from various businesses/artists)! They even said we could make requests for certain items and if they had it, they'd do their best to make sure we'd get one. I thought that was pretty cool! I had seen a few items I thought looked pretty cool in the past, so I requested 2 of them in the hopes one would still be available. Quickly, my box was shipped and here!

Opening the box

Looking over the box quickly, I noticed I got BOTH of the items I had requested!! Yay!! The first item was a crochet coffee cozy from Baby Off the Hook ($6). It's so cute!! I get a Starbucks coffee of some sort almost every week at Target and I'm so bringing this with me next time! I love it!

Crochet coffy cozy by Baby off the Hook

The second item I requested, because I'm a makeup junkie, was an Overall Beauty mineral eye shadow, which I got in the color Swiss Miss ($5.50). It's described as "simple chocolate brown", but in different lights, it's really much prettier than something I'd call simple. It was actually pretty hard to photograph accurately, which I apologize for, but in the light (indoor - I took these at night), you can see some delicate shimmer and a lighter taupe color, but in shadows, it becomes darker and almost purpley, which I love! In fact, I loved it so much, I went and ordered a bunch of smaller sample size colors from them today with the included coupon code!

Overall Beauty mineral eye shadow in Swiss Miss

Swiss Miss in indoor lighting

Swiss Miss in shadow

Next up was a sample pack of different colored hair chalks by ShareeBoutique ($5.50)! The funny thing is that I thought this looked really cool in a review I read, but I didn't request it for this box because I had already requested 2 things. But, I'm so excited I got it! I'm really hoping it shows up as well on dark hair as light - it does look like one of the models she pictures has darker hair, but mine is black now (I dyed it last week!), so we shall see. I think Chris read something somewhere about hair chalks being a bit dangerous both for inhalation and skin contact, but this seller says hers are made from cosmetic grade ingredients and are safe, so hopefully that's true! Either way, I may not use these on Emily, just on me.

ShareeBoutique hair chalks

My next item was an adorable pair of green stripe earrings from Atomic Lace ($12). These are simple, but soo cute!! I'm not sure how I overlooked these when looking through the previous boxes. I love the color and the stripes!

Atomic Lace earrings

My last item was a twist-band style headband from Mommy & Me Boutique (I think - it looks like the item in the sample box pictured on the Dottiebox site was a set of small hair ties). I couldn't find a listing that sold this style headband alone or in a set, so based on the closest looking item (headbands with loops instead of knots), this seems to have a value of $1.65. Ok. So, this is my only dud. Not that they could possibly know, but I HATE twistbands. They just don't hold my hair up (hair ties) or stay on my head (headbands). With this kind of headband, I look up and it practically slingshots off the back of my head. <shrug> Oh well. Plus, and I realize I may have gotten an awesome deal at the time (~2 years ago, before the twistband craze), but back when my daughter had very little hair and I kept her in this style headband (with the little loop, instead of the knot, to attach a bow), I got a pack of 43 in various colors for less than $20. Alas, that seller isn't open anymore (heck, maybe she was selling them too cheap. Or maybe she closed up for other reasons.) and Emily doesn't keep these on her head anymore anyway. But, really, one dud in a box of awesome is so not a big deal.

Mommy & Me Boutique (maybe) headband

Christmas in July Dottiebox

Overall, I was thrilled with my box. I got both items I requested as well as 2 other pretty cool things. This was an awesome deal for someone like me, who just joined up, but has been oogling past boxes for a few months in others' reviews. And, although this box isn't about getting a huge value in your box as much as it is discovering new artists and businesses, it certainly doesn't hurt that my box had a value of $30.65! I'm super happy with my box and can't wait till next month!

The Christmas in July boxes are sold out now, but if you'd like to sign up, head over to the Dottiebox site! If you got a Christmas in July box, what did you get in yours?

(And just a disclaimer: I bought this box myself and was not compensated for this review in any way. All opinions are my own.)