April 2014 Conscious Box Review

Phew! Finally a Conscious Box that isn't terrible. This still isn't super great for the $19.95 price tag, but supposedly they are changing to "Conscious Box Plus" next month, which will include more full-sized products. I'll still have a box coming for the next couple of months, so we'll see how that turns out.

Still the traditional look for this month, although that's changing too!

I could already tell from the first look that this month was better than the last one.

At first I thought they must have really been listening to my reviews, because this was the flavor I selected that I wanted to try. And it was much better than the plain sea salt ones from last month. Turns out everyone got this flavor, but nonetheless...

I've never really consumed energy drinks in my life, but I thought I'd give this a try. Let me share with you a log of my thoughts:

• First sip: Mm, not bad! Kind of tastes like Nerds.
• Second gulp: Okay, this isn't that great after all. Tastes kind of like leaves. I can still taste the Nerds but they're icky now.
• Halfway through the can: Ugh, I am not energetic and this stuff is gross. Why do people drink energy drinks? I guess I'm awake, but I probably would have been any way. I don't seem to be working any faster.
• An hour after drink: Ow. Why is my side hurting so badly? Also my chest. My groin. OW! Is this from the drink?
• Three hours after drink: The stabbings are over, except the constant one in my chest. 
• Four hours after drink: All better! Not even going to try the drink that came in my KLUTCHclub box. I'm not meant for these things.

So yeah, this is not the time or activity level in my life to start drinking energy drinks, or so I seem to have learned.

This is a baby food. I am not a baby. But I do have some child-like tendencies. I ate most of this stuff out of the bag and pretended it was freeze-dried apple. It was pretty good, although I could feel it turning into baby food in my mouth.

My mother always stressed to me the importance of iron in a vegetarian diet. Iodized salt and that. I guess I'll try this at some point, but it's not something I've ever thought to need (never been anaemic or anything).

Tea! I will almost certainly love this.

Another of these sets to try. I promise I will.

I bought a different flavor of these a day or two before I got the box. Pressed fruit strips are pretty interchangeable, but usually appreciated.

Only one this month, but dang! Conscious Box must own stock in Via Nature, I swear...

Coupons in the coupon envelope! Hooray!

Conscious Box is improving, that's for sure. This has been my favorite box so far out of three. I'm excited to see what the new "plus" boxes will be like! Or for the lesser price, I might end up trying the "taster" box.

What do you think? Have you tried this box? Do you think the plus box will be better?

-E.S.

March 2014 Conscious Box Review

Well, Conscious Box rears its head yet again. Conscious Box is $19.95 with free shipping. This is the vegan box, but they also have regular and gluten-free boxes.

Conscious box ships in very cute inner and outer boxes. They ship with DHL and it takes a while to arrive.

Wow, so many sample sizes.

 

These have been in lots of boxes lately. I'm pretty sure Love With Food had a bag too.These chips aren't bad at all, and the texture is a nice change from potato chips. I don't think they sell them anywhere near me though.

I'm getting pretty backed up on skin products and the like that I need to try, particularly ones that I can't reseal.

I still haven't tried the greenery supplement from last month's box, but this one is totally different. Truth be told, I'm new to supplements in general.

At first, I thought this was like hummus, but I guess it's a sweet thing. I was going to try it tonight, before the review, but I've been grazing the last couple of hours, and I may as well hold back a little. 

Tried this one last night. It's got a great, minty flavor, but I've never seen a tea before with doctor warnings printed on the package. Yikes.

More Via Nature lotion. Swiss apple sounds promising, but can I just point out that there was already a moisturizer in this bunch? In a set, but still. I'm at least glad these are different from the types and scents included last month.

More of these, which I still haven't tried from last month. They'll be pretty good for camping I guess, so it doesn't hurt to have a supply.

Not only did I get some of this in last month's box, but I bought a bra on Ebay, and ended up with some from there too! When I finally try it, I'll see if it's worth all the promotion.

I happened to spot some of this at the grocery store today. It's $7.99 a box! I'm excited to try these, they all look like interesting flavors.

An actual coupon in this month's "conscious coupons"! Also a coupon for mineral makeup that I will not use because I don't use foundation.

And finally, a very cute "thank you" card from Smock, pressed on bamboo paper.

I've ended up with another three months of this box, and I really wish I could say I'll enjoy it. Truth of the matter is though, there were no full-size products in this box, all samples, and it still costs $19.95. I wouldn't even value this box at $8. 

What do you think of this box? What kind of value would you put on it? Did you like this month's box? Maybe it's just me.

-E.S.

February 2014 Vegan Conscious Box Review

I recently got my very first Conscious Box, and so I figured I'd do a little review of it.

Conscious Box is regularly $19.95 with free shipping, but I found a coupon code somewhere, which made it $9.95. Since I'm a non-egg vegetarian and always trying to make choices that create the least amount of animal suffering, I chose to go with the "vegan" box, but they also have regular and gluten-free boxes.

Conscious Box ships in very cute inner and outer boxes (When asked if this is really conscious, they explain that it's to ensure the safety of the items. Plus they use veggie ink and recycled paper.). I ordered February 8th and received my box February 26th. I don't know if that's a typical wait time, or if I missed the usual ship date, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, since I was just billed for my second month.

First and first and a half-th look.

This box has a lot of stuff in it, but almost all sample sizes this month.

One of the only full-sized products was this Farmer's Market organic pumpkin (retail value somewhere around $2.50?). I don't bake a whole lot, so I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I was thinking maybe soup, or there's a recipe on their website for chilli, pumpkin style, which I think could be interesting. The information sheet from Conscious box also suggests use in pancakes, oatmeal, and even lattes! I'm also not a coffee drinker though, so maybe cocoa?

The next product I pulled out confused me for a minute. While I still eat honey in my diet, I was confused as to why they would include honey in a vegan box, but upon actually looking at the item, it's Bee Free Honee! And to top that off, it's mint flavor. It was pretty good. I guess this company makes their honey with apples instead of using bees, but it tastes pretty much the same. It gets easier to be vegan every day! I might actually buy some of this if their website gave pricing or ordering info. The location search doesn't work either, but I might look for it at Whole Foods next time I go.

I haven't tried this Traditional Medicinal chamomile tea yet because (to be brutally honest) chamomile is my period tea. But considering I do enjoy tea, this will probably be a winner at some point.

Aw and thanks for reminding me I'm shy, guys. On to the next item!

Another sample size, and I'm probably glad about that. Even my dark chocolate-loving mother didn't like these, although they're starting to grow on me. I guess if you pretend they aren't really chocolate (which I guess they aren't), and act instead like they're nuts or something that taste like chocolate, you can get over how incredibly bitter they are.

I haven't tried the lavender eucalyptus yet, but the vanilla coconut is pretty nice, although I thought it smelled like cinnamon and my mom thought it smelled like cocoa butter, so I think there's a slightly "eh" nature to it actually smelling like what it's supposed to. It seems to moisturize pretty well though, but it does have that slightly gritty texture that natural lotions seem to have. Overall cool though, the second product in the box that I might actually buy.

This is something I definitely should need, given the amount of time I spend in front of the old internet-box. I'm not sure I'll end up using it though, because I'm having trouble understanding the difference between this and like...a normal eye drop that isn't individually packaged, but that comes in a big, handy bottle and can also be used as contact solution. But what do I know?

I've actually been curious about "natural" deodorant for a while now, but I'd probably prefer a stick deodorant sample. I can't think of too many uses for a "towelette," or at least not any that I would share more freely than my feelings on the Blossom Organic product.

Both looking forward to and fearing testing this product. I think I'll do it as my breakfast replacement some day when breakfast is looking like a scary monster to me, but until then, I must simply wonder what dose of veggies that taste like berries could possibly taste like in water.

I don't like the way this sample looks like a spam email, but I'm definitely prepared to try, especially with the whole "cherry scented" thing happening. Not that I'm worried about wrinkles, although I think that's the product's real endgame: to make me think about my mortality (I'm on to you, wrinkle cream).

Although it says you're free to enjoy these straight from the bag, I think that's a little too messy and time-consuming for me. They taste really good though, so I'm totally putting them on something. Once I do that, I'll determine whether or not they're a thing I should buy.

Protip: don't call them coupons when they're just pamphlets. This might make people upset, conscious box. It might make people...ANGRY. Nah, I'm fine, but you owe me for the shirt I destroyed when I turned green and got all buff for five minutes.

Overall, I was not super pleased with this box. The packaging is cool, and it has potential, but there was what, one full-sized product? I mean, come on, for twenty bucks, I should be getting at least a couple. And the samples had a lot of variety, but dang, they're still samples! I'm obviously going to get a slightly more diverse view of the boxes next month, but if that one fails me, I'm out! How has your experience with Conscious Box been? Let me know in the comments, and stay tuned for the next one!

-E.S.