Phone Case of the Month January 2014 Review

Phone Case of the Month is a subscription for iPhone 4, 4s, 5, 5s, and Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4 phones. For $10 a month (which is a pretty great deal for a phone case! Most places you have to spend at least $25!), you get a new limited edition case (only 200 of each print are made) - they are hard cases "made of Poly Carbonate and ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) with a silicone coating for a soft to the touch feel". 

Well, in my mini review for December's Phone Case of the Month, I had said I was probably only going to give them one more month to give me a case I liked a bit more than "sort of". I really wanted something a bit girlier (although they do state on their website that they strive for gender neutral). Lo and behold:

Flying High case

Adorable!! I LOVE it! Definitely girlier and I love the muted colors! I love the birds! And the balloon! I just really like this one a lot. It's just so pretty! This one definitely has convinced me to stay at least a couple more months.

Close up

If you'd like to sign up for this fun subscription, go sign up! If you use my link, you'll get $5 off your first month! Please just let me know if you have any trouble with that.

(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.)

December 2013 Summary Part 1

Well, I decided on the summary route. I'll post the "display" picture for each box with a little summary of what's in it/my reaction. And I want to point out, I don't plan to do it this way again. It's just because I'm feeling really sick and I'm so behind. Next month will resume normal posts.

Wantable

This included:

• Starlooks shadow (Frosting - a sparkly light pink)
• Starlooks Eye Pencil (Exit to Eden - sparkly light green, though a bit darker and less sparkly than their Gem Eye Pencil in Fancy)
• Girlactik Glam Eye Powder (Nude Glam - a sparkly taupey color)
• La Bella Donna Liquid Eyeliner Pen (Black)
• Bonus item - Victoria anolin-Agg-Tval soap

Overall, I mostly liked what I got. When the sent out the email saying that Starlooks was a featured brand this month, I didn't initially want any, since I already get their subscription and I worried there would be possible dupes. Luckily, I didn't get anything I already had. I'm not a huge fan of the eye pencil because it's not a hugely flattering color, but the shadow makes a good base color. The Girlactik shadow is awesome, just like the shimmer powder I got last month. The La Bella Donna eyeliner pen seems pretty good. I'm kind of overloaded on black liners though. I switched up my profile a bit for next month to try to avoid getting more. The bonus item isn't a bad size, but kind of reminds me of hotel soap. The value of this box was $66. More than the box cost, but a tad low. I did only get 4 full size items though. I still like Wantable though.

Julep Monthly Box

I upgraded to the full collection which included 9 polishes (I added on one more), the Neutral Eye Palette, their Blank Canvas Mattifying Eye Primer, and a set of Twistband hair ties as the bonus (bah). I really like most of the polishes (that's why I upgraded!), but I think my favorites are Joelle and Shoshanna because of the holographic glitters. I think they look better with at least 3 coats though - Julep's swatches don't do them justice. The eye primer isn't bad and I was super happy with the palette. The colors are really soft, almost creamy (even though they're pressed powder), and nicely pigmented. I hope they make more palettes! I was very happy with my box.

Julep Naughty and Nice Mystery Box

Just to note, I added on the mystery add on (I think it was the Kajal liner and 3 of the polishes) and also bought their Eyes All Aglow set (I had a 40% off coupon - I figured why not? I got everything for only $31!) They just all came in the same box, so I took a picture of everything. The Eyes All Aglow set is fantastic. Mini liners, but I love, love the colors. Sparkly and very soft and smooth!
Of the polishes, 4 were new to me (first set of swatches) - I like Aviva and Brenda, but I'm not so sure about the other 2. The other 5 are dupes and are now in my swap list. Those are in the second swatch picture. The Kajal liner, part of the mystery add-on, was a dupe, but I love it, so I'm keeping it (swatched on the bottom of the last picture)! The mystery box also included a tube of their lip gloss in Timeless (keep), a 1 oz Rock Star Hand Cream (dupe and I just arranged a trade for it!), a 1 oz Blank Canvas Face Primer (keep), a set of Green Tea Blotting Papers (dupe), 2 foil packets of Luxe Repair (dupe), and 2 foil packets of Luxe Care hand cream (keep). A mixed box, but not bad for $31.

Square Hue

I tried to resist, but in the end caved and got Square Hue this month. It came with a glossy red, a pearlescent white, and a GORGEOUS silver holo! The holo makes it worth it! Love it.

Phone Case of the Month

This is a cute case and I like it better than last month's for sure, but I still kinda would prefer something a bit girlier. I guess it's easier to make everything gender neutral if they have a big subscription base and don't have time to see if the subscriber is a man or woman, but I've seen some very pretty cases. I think I'm giving them one more month.

Glossybox

My MIL gifted me a 6 month subscription to Glossybox, which was very sweet! This month we got:

• Anatomicals You Need a Blooming Shower shower gel ($3.39) - huge product! I'm not a huge rose scent lover though. Probably trading this.
• Michael Todd Pumpkin Mask ($10) - I got one of these from Ipsy, which I haven't gotten to try yet. Whether I like that one or not decides whether this stays or goes.
• Ardency Inn Liquid Eyeliner ($19) - Full size! As I said above, I like black liquid eyeliner, but I have soo many. I'll keep this, but I really don't need any more!
• Nails Inc Victoria Polish ($9.50) - Unlike earlier this year, when we got a mini Nails Inc from Glossybox, this one is full size! Unfortunately, it looks a lot like Julep's Coco, so I don't think I'm going to keep it. I didn't swatch it to be sure, but the pictures online look pretty similar.
• Naobay Oxygenating Cream ($26.14) - Absorbs quickly and smells nice. Definitely a keeper. I kinda wish we got the original packaging though! Cute!

Overall value $68.03! Not bad! I'm pretty happy with the variety, too! My only complaint for Glossybox is that I can't merge this gift subscription with my old account or move my Glossydots over so that I don't lose those Glossydots!

Well, I'm spent for now. I'll continue with the other 6 tomorrow. I do technically have 2 others (Citrus Lane and Kiwi Crate) that aren't even open yet, but they're Emily's and she's a bit overloaded from Christmas, so I'm saving them for next month. I may or may not review those 2 since they'll be old news by then, haha.  
 
(And just a disclaimer: I bought these boxes myself and was not compensated for these reviews in any way. All opinions are my own. I have included referral links.)

Phone Case of the Month November 2013 Review

I recently learned about Phone Case of the Month, a subscription for iPhone users (4, 4s, 5, and 5s). I've been using the same case for almost a year now (a Tardis case), so I decided it was time to mix things up! For $10 a month (which is a pretty great deal for a phone case! Most places you have to spend at least $25!), you get a new limited edition case (only 200 of each print are made) - they are hard cases "made of Poly Carbonate and ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) with a silicone coating for a soft to the touch feel".

Welcome note and case in a case!

I'm not sure if they all come with the little carry bag, but it's cute. Reminds me a lot of Stunner of the Month's bag. I wonder if they're operated by the same people...Anyway, upon opening my bag, I found:

It's a Nerd Life case

It's an interesting case. Emily thinks it's cute! If the robots didn't look so clownish, I think I'd like it a bit better, but it's still fun! I like the colors and how the case feels. I do still kind of wish it wrapped around the front of the iPhone - that just feels like it protects the front glass much better to me - but I'll still try this out. I'd bet if they upgraded to the type that wraps around the front, it would have to increase prices slightly. I suppose we'll see if they ever offer any different options. Anyway, I also found a little Phone Case of the Month button in the bag. Another cute little bonus.

October 2013 Phone Case of the Month

I think I may stick around another month or 2 just to get a feel for their variety (it's cheap enough that I don't think it's necessarily affecting the holiday budget!). I do like some of the cases shown in the front page of the site, like most of the light blue ones I see there), so hopefully I'll like next month's a bit better. I do find it a bit odd that a) not everyone who gets this sub got the same case this month and b) both of the cases I've seen as possibilities this month were on the front page of the site. Everyone not getting the same case makes sense if they have a huge membership base (anything over 200), but sending cases that are displayed on their advertising page makes it look like the opposite - that this sub is just very new and they're still at low membership numbers while still working through the initial batch of cases they made for the sub (those pictured on the front page). Otherwise, I'd question the 200 case limited edition bit. Based on the quick customer service though, my guess is that this is probably new and/or not hugely popular yet. That's not to say they won't be, though!

If you'd like to sign up for this fun subscription, go sign up! If you use my link, you'll get $5 off your first month! Please just let me know if you have any trouble with that.

(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.)