FabFitFun Review – Spring 2013

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Spring fabfitfun VIP Box

My highly anticipated fabfitfun box arrived today and like with most of the boxes I receive, I tore right into it. In case you don’t know, fabfitfun is a quarterly monthly subscription box that includes hand-selected items (the “hottest of the season”) in beauty, fashion, fitness, and wellness from Giuliana and the fabfitfun team. Also, they promise to send “super-fab bonus gifts” to randomly selected subscribers in between boxes. I heard we’re talking like designer shoes and iPads, but I have no idea how many they send, when they send them, etc. fabfitfun is $49.99/quarter, however, they had some codes when they launched so I only paid $39.99.

I have mentioned a few times on here, but I wasn’t overly excited about (what I thought were) the contents. Let me explain. When I (and tons of other people) ordered this box, we had seen a few blog reviews (like this one) and were under the impression that all of our boxes would include the same items. As it turned out when people started receiving their boxes, that was NOT the case. Some items were considered “bonus” items and not everyone got everything in the so-called “blogger boxes”.

The Box

The box was just a long flat plain brown box. I kinda expected it to be bigger and more PopSugar like? But as we all know, what’s on the outside does not mean as much as what’s on the inside.

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The Box in the Box

Inside the brown box was a cute smaller fabfitfun box (along with some packing paper since it was about half the size of the brown box). Things were already looking up!

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First Look

I was THRILLED when I saw the GoSmile in my box! It was the one item in the box that I was most looking forward too and it turns out it was one of the *bonus* items. I have no idea how I was so lucky to get it. And don’t say it’s because I have a blog because the fabfitfun people have zero clue who I am.  Not that they should, but you know what I mean.

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The Information Card

The fabfitfun information cards includes details on what everyone received in their boxes, which I will start with. The card says that everyone got at least one bonus gift (different than the “super-fab” ones I discussed previously) and some people got more.

Standard Items:
~Moroccanoil Treatment ($43): I cannot wait to give this a try. I have heard it makes your hair AMAZING and I am so excited about trying this tomorrow. Other argan oils don’t do much for me, so I am very interested to see how this stacks up.

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Moroccanoil Treatment

~Zoya Nail Polish (fabfitfun fushia – signature color) ($8): Love this color! How can you go wrong with a shimmery pink polish for summer? You really. Also, if you didn’t know, Zoya is a “5-free” polish, which I know a lot of people look for these days!

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Zoya Nail Polish

~thinkThin Protein Bar ($1.99): I love thinkThin bars. I got some in a PopSugar box a while back and this is my favorite flavor. This will for sure get eaten!

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thinkThin Protein Bar

~Jouer Lip Gloss (glisten) ($9.57): I thought this sample was kind of small, but it turns out it’s about half the size of a full size Jouer gloss, so it’s actually a pretty decent size. I love the color and I may even end up buying a full size.

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Jouer Lip Gloss

~JewelMint Jewels ($29.99/each or $59.98 total): It pains me to even value these at $29.99/each, because it’d be a cold day before I paid anything near that (or anything at all) for either of these pieces. And I can assure you, these weren’t even the close to the worse pieces of JewelMint from these fabfitfun boxes that I have seen. Something tells me that JewelMint had some overstock from many seasons ago and fabfitfun snatched them up for a steal. Here’s where the trouble starts with the fabfitfun box, I was lucky enough to only get two pieces of JewelMint, however some people got three and only one *bonus* item. The super lucky people only got one and got all three *bonus* items! If these are this seasons “hottest items” I am moving. To the 80’s. Also, if you are going to send out rings and earrings wouldn’t it be important to 1) find out people’s ring sizes and 2) find out if people even have pierced ears?

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JewelMint Earrings
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JewelMint Ring

**Bonus** Items:
~butter London Nail Polish(Yummy Mummy) ($14): I have never tried anything from butter London, although I have heard good things. This isn’t a color I’d buy for myself, but I will certainly use it. And you know, with a little glitter on top, it might be perfect.

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butter London Nail Polish

~GoSmile On The Go Teeth Whitening Pen($22): I am so excited to try this I can’t stand it! It works anytime, anywhere and is suppose to take the time, hassle and expense out of the whitening process. I think I am going to feature this in my I’m Totally Trying It – April Edition. Minus the before and after pictures of my teeth of course. Because teeth kinda freak me out.

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GoSmile On The Go Teeth Whitening Pen

All totaled (and including the JewelMint), my box had a value of $148.97. Minus the JewelMint it was $88.99, which is well over the $39.99 I paid, so I am pleased! I got two of the three *bonus* items (the third big bonus item was a Josie Maran Lip & Cheeck Stain valued at $19) and am VERY happy. However, people like my Sister In-Law got three JewelMint pieces and her *bonus* item was a sample sized dried out Perfekt Per-fect Brow Gel. Here’s a picture of her box:

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That jewelry?  Come on.

It appears that fabfitfun understands everyone’s frustrations and is trying to make up for it. I have heard of many people who will be receiving the Summer box free since they weren’t happy with their Spring boxes. Others are getting a $25 credit towards the next month. And yet others, like my SIL, will be receiving a *gift* – I will let you know what that is for sure. I totally applaud them for trying to make it right. I think if NO “preview” boxes or even a variety of preview boxes were sent out, none of this would have happened. Also, one piece of JewelMint is enough. There is no way these are the hottest seasonal items. NO WAY. I was happy with my box, so I will not be contacting fabfitfun, but if you aren’t happy, I would totally encourage you to get in touch with them! They will make it right!

Did you receive a Spring fabfitfun box? What’d you get? Where you pleased? And if you didn’t get one and want to subscribe to the summer box or learn more, click here.  You know I’ll be getting the summer one!

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Jennifer

Jennifer is the author and founder of Subscription Box Ramblings. She first discovered subscription boxes in 2012 and has been addicted since. Current favorites include CAUSEBOX, Boxycharm and Beachly!

This Post Has 35 Comments

  1. Kate!

    I already commented on Makeup Talk, but I got the same box your SIL got… super disappointed. I had send them an email about it, I just had to. NO WAY would I pay $50 for this. I’m really hoping they pull it together for the next box, because I like the idea of another box like Pop Sugar. Or maybe at least next season I might get one of the better versions!

  2. Aimee

    So if everyone was supposed to get a bonus item… what was my bonus item? The child size string bracelet? Or the fugly earings? I definately got the short end of the stick on this one!

  3. Julie

    I got the same earring as you. I agree they’re not anything I would pick for myself, but I think they can work with the right outfit. It also crossed my mind that they were overstocked or rejected jewelry pieces because my dangling turquoise beads are attached backwards! My ring is different, and I love it! It’s a small starburst made of clear & black crystals. I would have liked the Josie Maran lipstain, too, but am still really happy with this subscription and can’t wait for the next one!

  4. Carly

    Moroccan Oil is amazing and super expensive at my salon, so that is awesome you got a full size bottle. And I am totally intrigued/weirded out by the teeth whitening pen. It is like a marker. For your teeth. Crazy pants.

  5. Courtney

    Love that box (minus the earrings.) I can’t really tell how bad the ring is from the picture though. I use something similar to the GoSmile whitening pen called Prime Time Smile Dual Action Pen. I got it from WalMart and I LOVE THEM! They give me way better results than the crest strips and are way easier and less of a mess!

  6. Jill

    I haven’t received my box yet but given the weight and dimensions, I think I’m getting one of the less desireable boxes. I was definitely expecting what the bloggers got but I would be happy with your box too. I’m trying to hold off on making any judgments until I have my box in hand…which due to their shipping methods isn’t until April 6! 🙁

    1. Jennifer

      If it makes you feel better the dimensions on my box were 8x8x8 and it as 1.8lbs per the tracking online.

  7. brandy

    I think the little shamrock ring is cute. missed the mark by a couple weeks, but you can save it for next year! Your SIL got the short end, for sure.

    Brandy
    MommySplurge

  8. jennifer frank-lopez

    I can totally sympathize with your sister in law. I too got one of the fabfitflop boxes 🙁 I had 2 jewelmint pieces and the dried up brow gel but I contacted their customer service and they are sending me next seasons box free of charge. hopefully they learn from this fiasco and they will wow us all next season. And if your sister in laws “gift” is not enough to make up for the terrible box you should have her contact them again because the 3 jewelmint boxes did qualify for a free box next season.

  9. Patty

    Ha! That jewelry is hilarious!! When I saw your earrings I thought, “Uh-oh” but then I saw your sister-in-law’s earrings, and now yours don’t look half bad. 🙂

  10. Kim

    I got the same box as your sis in law! That jewelry…awful! So that piece of string with a clasp is supposed to be a bracelet?? I was very disappointed especially for 40$! I don’t need brow gel and the jewelry is hideous. And as much as I love Zoya and that color is pretty, it’s not too exciting since I have similar colors and tons of Zoyas and other polishes.

  11. Gyps

    I think I bought the same earrings 3 years ago when I went to Tijuana with my grandparents. No joke they looked exactly the same. Needless to say I did not wear them once. Because they were ugly. Impulse buy for sure.

  12. Ashley

    I haven’t received mine yet either, I ordered my box March 10th. I have yet to get a shipping notification, so I may need to contact them. I will at least get the summer box before canceling just to give it a fair try 🙂

  13. Alexia561

    Would definitely be disappointed with this box, especially with the jewelry! And you’re right about not everyone having pierced ears or the same ring size. Major mistake on their part, but at least they’re trying to make it right. Hope your SIL’s gift is a good one!

  14. Jenny

    WOW I’m pretty glad I didn’t get these boxes. They all look pretty nasty to me. 🙁 Based on what people are saying it sounds like customer service is trying to listen and see whats wrong so hopefully they get better as it goes along.

  15. Alicia

    Do you plan on getting their next box? I love the idea of another popsugar type box as well since it’s my fave! Popsugar definitely has it a little more together than this one though…I would’ve been upset to get that jewelery. I looked into subscribing to jewel mint about a year ago but thought it was too pricey for what it was.

  16. Sue

    I got the same box as your SIL. The dried up brow gel as a bonus gift and ugly jewelry?!? Horrible! I was totally disappointed as I expected so much more. 🙁

  17. Jamie

    Ok so I already said how un amazing my box was I too recived the ugly three pieces of jewel mint I had no idea what the string was until reading the comments here who on earth could fit that string on their wrist happy to hear they are attempting to make it right I already cxld not taking the risk on another bad box

  18. Ashley

    I honestly emailed them to just give some feedback. Idc if they reimburse me or try to make anything right…Just seems they are really open to customer feedback & are looking to grow, successfully, as a subscription box. I told them that I love them & didn’t mean any of my commentary in a rude manner 🙂

  19. Angela

    The box seems GOOD to me lol that moroccan oil is LIFE!

  20. Erica G.

    I just put my post up about my box and I only really liked one of the pieces of jewelry that I got! One of the pairs of earrings that I got look like weird octopuses, and the metal feels really cheap. Almost like the type of earrings that I could buy from Claire’s. Not really my favorite box.

  21. Sandra

    I considered ordering this box. But by the time I looked at the website, they already sold out. Now I’m relieved.

    It’s good to hear that the customer service is trying appease the disappointed subscribers. However I’m concerned about the thought process behind the organizers of this box. The Moroccan oil and Zoya polish were good choices. But, really, they thought that people would love multiple, outdated, cheap-looking, possibly non-fitting (ring) pieces from Jewelmint? Plus the preview boxes were misleading. People who make errors like that will probably misjudge their audience again in the future.

    I doubt that Giuliana Rancic participated in selecting the items. But I would hope that she had to at least sign off on it. This is terrible publicity for Rancic (and Jewelmint too).

  22. Lori

    I got the same box as you. My ring was different and my Butter London polish was the other color. My ring is hideous. It has a huge fake pearl on it and it doesn’t even fit. Why send rings that are not one size fits most when you don’t have ring sizes. I did email and complain about the ring not fitting and they asked for my ring size and said they would send me a few pieces and hopefully I would find one I like. We will see.

  23. Katie

    The jewellery your SIL got is even worse than yours, how awful!

  24. Janaya

    I’ve been debating signing up for FFF since I first heard about it. I completley agree with you on the jewlery! But everything esle seemes pretty good! Do you think the summer boxes will be better? Do you know fo any promo codes?

  25. Sophia

    i will not get this box. i will not get this box. I already subscribed to the Jungle Stand and Elizabeth & Clark because of you!

  26. Emily KG

    The earrings don’t look so bad, but maybe they’re uglier in person. I don’t wear earrings much anyway tho.

    I always love nail polish, but no thrilled with the pink. The butter shade is nice. I still prefer to pick my own

  27. Whitney

    Arm & Hammer has this tube of gel that you squeeze on top of your strip of tooth paste before brushing your teeth. Ive been using it for less than 2 weeks and there is a BIG difference in my teeth and I think its only like $8. I highly reccomend it.

  28. Kirby Forte

    i’m so disappointed with thisbox. first of all i’m college student and i have a really bad addiction to these boxes. so i had to have the first box no matter the price. i got the WORST box ever. i got the zoya nail polish, the peanut butter protein bar- but i’m allergic to peanut butter, the hair oil- which is the only thing i’m happy about, the same tiny lipgloss sample that you got, and then the worst part..i got 2 sets of the most hideous pair of dangling earrings and a child like bow ring. i complained to fabfitfun and told them what i have received and they did not offer me a discount a free box or anything. i’m extremely pissed. 🙁

    1. Kirby Forte

      @Kirby Forte:

      so after you have encouraged me to contact them again about my awful experience a few days ago. they have not responded back to me. i think they are ignoring me? i means its been exactly 48 hours.

  29. Edwin Avril

    Whitening toothpastes have been criticised for containing abrasive particles which can wear tooth enamel away, and some researchers say that hydrogen peroxide, the most commonly used bleachingagent, may be carcinogenic and weaken teeth.”`.’

    Until next time <http://www.healthmedicine.co/

  30. sharon

    How do you return a box to them? I’m trying to contact their customer service but they take forever to reply back.

  31. Evelina Chamness

    Useful article – Incidentally , if anyone are requiring to merge some PDF files , my family encountered a service here http://goo.gl/3TfFSj

  32. Mellissa

    I happened to be checking to see how long I’ve been a member of FFF and came across this review. Wow-how far they have come! I would have been TICKED if I received your sister’s box. Love your site!

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