Cakestyle Fashion Subscription Box - Review & Photos

For something a little different but still in keeping with my subscription box craze, I have for you a review of my recent experiences with Cakestyle! For those who haven't heard of this company yet, Cakestyle pairs clients with an online stylist. Clients fill out a style questionnaire (questions ask, among other things, about your typical daily outfit, clothing styles you stay away from, and your current favorite brands) as well as a detailed survey of sizes and measurements. Following this, your stylist pulls items of clothing and jewelry she thinks you would enjoy and ships them to your address. You have 10 days from delivery to try on the clothes and send back what you don't want. I'm not sure what the penalty is for not sending the box back within the 10 days, but the shipping manifest states that the client will be charged for the full box if it is not received within 30 days (eek!). What you keep is tracked so that your stylist may be better discern your style. Shipping is free and a return label is included. 

My stylist is Kait Hunter. I got an email from her right after I submitted my box request, and it seemed she was open to answering questions, addressing concerns, or just chatting about fashion (I feel I was quite detailed in my initial questionnaire, so I never contacted her further). About 2.5 weeks later I received a message from Kait that she was about to start pulling items for my box (this is within the timeframe mentioned at the time of my box request) and she wanted to double-check my measurements, which I appreciated. Because I'm fairly close to their brick-and-mortar, I got the box the next day! (Note: a signature is required upon delivery). Besides the style pieces, I got instructions for return, a return label, a thank-you note, and a detailed invoice of all items included. I also got a card with a personalized link to a video with styling suggestions for the specific items in my box, but for whatever reason this link was, and still is, broken. Hrm.

Anyway, this is the box I received -

Everything is well-packed and more or less segregated by outfit -

And now, the exciting part - the contents of my box!!

 Alexis Skirt by Elie Tahari ($248). Very cute! I love the heavy, rich fabric and the colors in the weave. I really like this piece, but ultimately have to consider budget and the fact that I fairly rarely wear skirts. I'm definitely tempted to keep this, though!

Sloane Crew by Equipment ($268). This sweater is super soft and warm, and goes spectacularly well with the Catherine Malandrino pants below. It's a little big and a tad baggy, though, and with all the lovely items I received that's enough to relegate it to the 'send back' pile.

Catherine Malandrino Favorite Skinny pant ($195), and my dog casting a curious eye on the proceedings ;) I LOVE these! The length and shape is perfect on me! These are keepers.

Trina Turk Zantop Pant ($284), Patterson J. Kincaid Rickey Leather Vest ($304), and Tees by Tina Solid Smooth Thin Strap Cami ($30). The fit on the pants is pretty perfect! The qualm I have is with the fabric, however; not a big fan of the polyester/acetate blend. 

The vest is very nice and I love the loose, drape-y fit. I don't know that I'd wear this piece enough to justify purchasing it, though. 

The black cami is classic and fits quite well. My instinct was to keep this, especially because of the price, but do I need another black cami? I think I'd rather put the $30 towards a more unique piece.

 Patterson J. Kincaid Jardin Tank ($172). I don't wear patterns really, but this is interesting and abstract enough that I actually do like it. I tried this top on with jeans and the leather vest from above, and I preferred that look to the black cami (which was lost with the black vest). So will I keep this? Hm, probably not - it's just a smidgen too delicate and feminine for me ;)

 J Brand Mid Rise Slim Boot jeans ($202). Wah, the fit at the waist and bum is so, so PERFECT!!! I love how I look in these jeans! There's only one problem - they're about 7-8" too long for my 5'2" frame 8D I'd hem them, but I just don't know if I want to take that risk on such an expensive pair in case the shape is lost. I'm torn :/

 Nordstrom Signature Blouse (on sale for $174.40). This was the only dud in terms of style. To me this reads as something for an older woman, which is fine, but isn't something I'd ever wear. Return!

 Trina Turk Crew Jumper Dress ($294). This is something I would probably never pick if I saw it in a store, but once I tried it on I was in love. It provides shape in all the right places and is overall a very fun design, perfect for spring and summer. I have some tough choices to make!

 Chaiken Mesh Mix Sweater ($285). This is so me and the exact sort of thing I wear. Love love love. I may ask for a smaller size, though, as it's a little more baggy than I like.

 Boundary & Co Darby dress ($232). Ugh, so. Much. Love. Love this so, so much! I love the mix of black and white, I love the mix of silk and leather, and I love how this dress looks utilitarian but still beautiful. These are exactly the type of clothes I like to wear! I was dubious about the waist, but it actually looks nice on me. Overall, gorgeous and almost a definite keeper. BUT WAIT. Here's the money shot -

Beautiful leather weave at the back hsiehq98544uishflkdjahl. LOVELOVELOVE <3

Onto the jewelry! Each piece comes in a separate velvet pouch - 

 Two pyramid bracelets by Cara ($32 and $28). I really like both of these together! I'd buy either both or none, and I don't know that I want them enough to spend the $60...

 Cara Stud earrings ($34). Again, this is exactly my style! Very elegant and expensive-looking. However, I have really sensitive ears and usually have to stick with silver and gold backings. I think I want to take a chance with these, and if they bother my ear, it looks fairly easy to replace the posts.

 Cara Courtney Necklace ($78). Love the mix of gold and neon lime. Don't know that I'd wear this all that often, especially since the length and dangly-ness proves a health hazard at my work.

Fox Traders Janice Stone Earrings ($36). Pretty, but not really my thing.

Aside from a couple of pieces I think my fashion consultant, Kait, got my style bang on! It was a lot of fun to get a mystery box of clothing and accessories, and I'm happy to have been introduced to a couple of brands I was previously unaware of but are now firmly on my radar (Chaiken, Boundary & Co, Cara). I would not have picked some of these pieces myself, so I was pleasantly surprised that some actually suited me.

The total value of my box was $2896.40. Cakestyle offer a 10% discount if you purchase your entire box.

Do I recommend Cakestyle? Sure! It's free unless you keep something so there's nothing to lose, really! You can find more info at the Cakestyle site.

I ended up keeping the Catherine Malandrino pant, Boundary & Co dress, and Cara ball stud earrings. :)

What do you think? Have you tried Cakestyle?

Wantable Subscription Box - Review, Photos, Swatches

You may or may not be aware of my obsession with subscription boxes; this is not limited to beauty boxes, either - lifestyle, food, fitness... you name it, I'll try it! Today I have a have a review of my very first Wantable box. The cool thing is that Wantable tries to send products according to your preferences, based on a fairly thorough questionnaire that the customer is asked to fill out prior to purchase. Wantable promises to never send you products you mark as a 'dislike'. For example, if you indicate that you don't wear liquid eyeliner, don't expect to receive it; likewise, if you say you aren't fond of nude lipsticks, you won't be sent any in that color family. I automatically went through my survey to 'dislike' all skincare products offered as I've got enough of those from my now defunct Birchbox subscription. Overall I tried to guide my box to include a large amount of colorful makeup products, especially lip products, nail polish, and eyeshadow and liner. Each box costs $40. So what did I get? Let's take a look!

The items come directly inside the shipping packaging, with no second inner box:

Here are all the items included in my box, unwrapped:

The items you see are: Color Club nail polish, Be A Bombshell eye shadow, Be A Bombshell eye liner, 29 Reserves lipstick, Benecos eye shadow, Cailyn lipstick, and Milu Amber Sugar Scrub. Everything is full-size apart from the scrub (which I believe is a bonus item).

Here are the eye products:

Left to right: Be A Bombshell eyeliner marker in Provocateur (deep blue), Benecos Natural Baked Colours in Amazing (shimmery teal), Be A Bombshell Eye Shadow in Tease (shimmery teal).

I'm familiar with the BaB eyeliner marker as I've gotten the black one in an Ipsy (I believe) box some months back and have used it often for its precision and staying-power. I think the color included in this Wantable package is a very pretty one, and I've no doubt I will be using it with some regularity. I'm mostly pleased to have gotten this! Now let's move on to the painted elephant in the room, shall we? Tease and Amazing are very, very similar hues. Tease is a bit more intense, more pigmented, and softer in texture. Like some baked eyeshadows, the Amazing cake is hard and a tad difficult to get into with a brush. Besides that, it's on the sheer and powdery side, definitely not as smooth as Tease. I do like teals, though, and I expect to reach for Tease when the mood arises; I am, however, miffed that I got two shadows that are, for all intents and purposes, the same color! :/ Boo, it's disappointing.

Moving on to the lipstick:

Left to right, we have 29 Reserves Moisturizing Lipstick in Expressive Rose, and Cailyn Mineral Lipstick in #1 Lovely in Pink. 29R is a bright raspberry and Cailyn is a light peachy pink with fine, sparse glitter. I've yet to wear either of the shades, but I can tell you that these colors are right up my alley and I'm excited to try them. Wantable was pretty bang-on with this one!

Finally, I received a nail polish from Color Club's recent Fiesta Collection - Flamingo, an uber-bright neon pink:

Hmm... I suppose I'll take it! I do like Color Club polishes, generally, though I don't wear pink all that often. I am a sucker for neons, though, and this vibrant color will fit in well with the summer weather, if it ever decides to show its face (my area is having an unreasonably chilly late March, so far!).

Total value of my box -

Cailyn Mineral Lipstick - $15
29 Reserves Moisturizing Lipstick - $25
Be a Bombshell Eyeliner Marker - $14
Be a Bombshell Eye Shadow - $14
Color Club Nail Polish - $8
Benecos Natural Baked Eyeshadow - $12.99
(I'm not including the Milu Amber Sugar Scrub, both because I believe it's a 'bonus' item and because I've no idea how much product was included in my sample; for reference, however, a 250g jar is listed at $43.72.)

Total, excluding the Milu scrub: $88.99. Not bad, eh?

To summarize:

Yes, Wantable is more expensive at $40 than other beauty box services such as Ipsy, Birchbox, Glossybox, Beauty Allure, and Beauty Army; however, the biggest distinguishing feature is the ability to fairly thoroughly customize your package, short of choosing the exact items. I felt my products were as a whole decent and fit with what I expected from my questionnaire answers. Additionally, the value of the box was more than twice the price tag. The big, glaring negative is, of course, getting basically two of the same eyeshadow colors! I assume the samples were pulled randomly without any check. Still a bummer, though.

I'd be willing to try another box, and I do recommend checking Wantable out if you love these kinds of subscription services. It's a pretty neat service!

You can sign up for Wantable here! What do you think/what have been your experiences with Wantable?

July 2012 Allure Beauty Bar Sample Society Box - Review, Photos, Swatches

I love the concept of monthly beauty packages, mostly for the surprise element and not out of any particular need to test products to fill holes in my daily routine (I'm happy with my regular products, but always willing to give new samples a shot!). Embarrassingly enough, my current subscription number stands at 5! In an attempt to streamline and cut out unnecessary/uninspiring/not cost-effective subscriptions, I'm hoping to review some of my monthly boxes.

Today I have July's Allure Beauty Bar Sample Society box, which arrived at my doorstep this past Friday!

Clockwise from top: Vincent Longo Duo Lip Pencil in Sangria and White Glimmer, Sisley Paris Intense Anti-Aging Hydration, Borghese Body Creme, jouer Illuminizing Moisture Tint in Pearl

The packaging is a sleek black heavy cardboard, with the samples nestled in standard black crinkly paper shreds. Also included but not pictured is a booklet of beauty tips and tricks. These are actually pretty neat as they aren't specific to the products in the box, so you can carry the tips to your own stash. The downside is that there is no written list of products in the box; while many of the samples are self-explanatory, it would perhaps be useful to have a description of the Sisley cream (is it undereye? Is it for your face?).

Swatches of the lip liner and jouer tint:

L to R: Lip liner in White Glimmer, Sangria; jouer tint in Pearl blended out

The lip liner seems nice - it applied smoothly with no tugging and was quite pigmented. I don't often wear lip liners but I'll gladly keep this in my stash for a special night out, and from what I know Vincent Longo is a solid brand. The jouer tint is a pretty good match for my skin tone and, as a bonus, has SPF 20. I love the fresh, glowy tinge it has to it, and I'm excited to try it out! I'll probably keep the Borghese cream in my bag or at work, and I'm sure I'll eventually use it up - I love getting these travel-sized moisturizers to keep around. The Sisley anti-aging cream I'm not too interested in and will most likely give to my mother. Still, a decent variety of samples were included in this box.

Also included is a $15 off gift code when you spend at least $50 on the Beauty Bar website, BUT you have to be purchasing at least one item from one of the BRANDS in your box (it doesn't have to be exact item in your box, though).

Here is a list of this month's products, along with size and value:
Sisley Paris Hydra-Global Intense Anti-Aging Hydration: Full-size 1.4 oz. sells for $250.00; the sample contains 0.14 oz, making it worth $25.00.

Vincent Longo Duo Lip Pencil in Sangria and White Glimmer: This is a full-size product at 0.06 oz., which retails for $26.00.

Borghese Tono Body Creme: Full size is 7 oz. and retails for about $46.50. The sample is 1 oz. and worth $6.64.

jouer Illuminizing moisture tint in Pearl: The full size is 1.7 oz. at $38.00. The sample is 0.17 oz., which is worth $3.80.

Total value: $61.44

This is a pretty good selection and value for the $15 per month cost. I'm trying to get rid of some of my subscriptions, however, and while this Allure box is good, I'm not wholly convinced to subscribe long term. I will probably give this box another two months before making any decisions, but I don't regret my purchase and will definitely try most of the samples I received!

The Allure Beauty Bar Sample Society box costs $15 per month and may be purchased here.

What do you think? Have you gone subscription box crazy like I have?