Citrus Lane July 2013 review

As we're still comparing Citrus Lane and Stork Stack, Emily just got her July Citrus Lane box! For $25 a month (or $21 a month if you sign up for a 6 month subscription – I’ll do this if Citrus Lane wins my comparison), you get 4+ items selected for your child’s age (they offer boxes up to 5 years old). You usually get a mixture of useful things (like toothpaste, sunscreen, food items, etc) and toys or books. There didn't seem to be a theme this month, but the info card said that this month's items would be good for playtime and picnics. I don't think I remembered to mention it in my last Citrus Lane post, but this is for a 31 month old girl.

Opening the box

Info sheet. (I'm sorry it's a bit blurry, I didn't even notice until I uploaded it)

Emily's first item, a toy, is the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace pets kit ($9.99). We actually already have the farm set, which I was holding onto until she turned 3, since this says 3 and up, but Emily wanted to open the pet set right away and give it a try. She actually did pretty well! She needed a bit of direction, but once she learned what to do, she seemed to enjoy it. But it didn't quite hold her attention for a whole animal. She got about halfway through the bunny and kept wanting to start new ones. Which is fine. However she'd like to play with them is fine by me. My only small complaint about this toy is that the holes aren't terribly smooth, so they're not always easy to pull the string through and it seems to be fraying the laces just a little bit. The laces do have plastic bits at the end though, so at least they won't ever become too frayed to fit into the hole.

Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Pets

Emily lacing the bunny. (Bunnies are her favorite)

Next up was the Goodbyn Bynto food container ($9.50). Emily's not in school yet, but we could probably use this on a picnic (maybe if we ever get a slightly cooler day!). I do think it's a cute idea to put lunch into and I actually just picked up a PlumDistrict (referral link) deal - $8 for $16 to spend at BentoUSA - so I can pick up a few cute animal shaped sandwich and veggie/meat cutters to make some cute lunches for Emily. I think she'd get a kick out of that! The Bynto also came with a set of Goodbyn Dishwasher Safe Stickers ($3.50) to decorate the box with. They're not my favorite, but Emily wanted to decorate her box, so she did (I gave her a little help when she asked).

Goodbyn Bynto food container

Goodbyn dishwasher-safe stickers

In the "useful" area, we got 2 products: a 2-pack Me4Kidz Cool It Buddy instant cold pack ($2.99) and a sample of Episencial Mighty Shield bug repelling lotion (in a size that is proof that Episencial does in fact make smaller bottles, like I complained about in my last CL post) ($1.76). I like the instant cold packs. Emily is a toddler - she falls occasionally, runs into other kids occasionally, etc. I'm sure these'll come in handy, so into my purse they go. I'm a little less excited about the bug lotion. We surprisingly don't have that many mosquitos in our neighborhood, so we haven't had any trouble yet with bites. While I like that this is kid friendly, the scent is really unappealing. The site describes it as "invigorating, like a jungle breeze", which doesn't tell you anything. In reality, I smell strong lemon and tea tree oil and something else I can't put my finger on. It just smells bad to me. I smelled it before I even opened the box. Mind you, the sample had a foil seal on it - it hadn't spilled - it's just that strong smelling. I don't want really want to use it. On the upside, unlike the poorly packaged sunscreen sample, this sample is full.

Me4Kidz Cool it Buddy instant cold packs

Episencial Mighty Shield bug lotion

Not pictured, our final "product", was a code for 10 free Postagrams ($9.90 value). I'm actually pretty excited for this. My parents and sister would love to get a Postagram from Emily! They don't get to see her as often as they'd like, living in NJ, so I'll definitely use these.

July 2013 Citrus Lane box

I'm pretty happy with this box. The Lace and Trace toy was a hit with Emily, in spite of being for a slightly older kid (so hopefully, these will last a while!) and I think the Bynto box, cool packs, and Postagrams will be useful. The only item I didn't like is the sample, so I'm not too disappointed. Overall, this box had a value of $34.14, almost $10 over the price of the box!

What did your kids get in their boxes? I know I saw some Zoli Snack holders, which I think look awesome! If you’d like to sign up, here’s my personal invite link – if you sign up using that link, it will give you $10 off your order as well as giving me a $10 credit (and I’d be oh, so grateful!!)!

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