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Escape Monthly
Cost: $49.95/month (Full Size). $24.95/month (Escape Mini)
Ships To: United States and its territories.
Coupon Code: Use the coupon code “MYESCAPE” to score 20% off not only your first box, but all full-size boxes for the life of your subscription.
My November 2014 Escape Monthly appeared today and I was anxious to check it out! They had promised this to be the “most valuable” Escape Monthly yet so I wanted to see what they did with it.
If you aren’t familiar with them, Escape Monthly, which is $49.95/month, is a monthly vacation in a box. Each month you will discover products from a different location. Products consist of local and destination-inspired foods, relaxation and beauty essentials, and the highest quality products that bring the life of the destination right to you. They also offer an “Escape Mini” ($24.95/month) which contains 4 to 5 luxury, locally-made products and a travel brochure.
Escape Monthly ships via USPS Priority Mail. They generally ship on the 20th of the month, but this month shipped a few days earlier.
The first look wasn’t overly impressive. I didn’t open it up and feel like I was in Hawaii which I think is the goal.
The November 2014 Escape Monthly destination was Hawaii and included the following luxurious products to help you take a break and lose yourself in Hawaii as the winter months close in:
~Moon Hawaii Travel Guide ($13.32): I have actually never been to Hawaii (it’s on my list of places I want to visit for sure) so this book is fun. It gives me a little taste of what I am missing out on.
~Honey Girl Organics Face & Eye Cream (Per Information Card: $32.99, Per My Calculation: $7.54) and Night Creme (Per Information Card: $7, Per My Calculation: ~$1): I believe that this Face & Eye Cream also arrived in the first Escape Monthly Hawaii box. I didn’t subscribe back them so it’s not a duplicate for me. I’ll give both of these a go after I finish up my Lancer face cream from the Neiman Marcus box! ETA: Prices on these were originally obtained from the information card. No sizes were listed on the containers themselves so I ended up weighing the Face & Eye Cream to see what size it actually was. The full jar weighed 2.1oz while the empty jar weighed 1.7oz, meaning that the cream itself weighed 0.4oz. According to my calculations, that gives it a value of $7.54 which is far less than the information card value of $32.99.
~Personal Paradise Noni Papaya Pineapple Body Wash and Lotion ($3.75): These actually remind me of a hotel / spa line. That’s not a bad thing, that’s just what I thought of when I saw this. These smell great and I will certainly use them, but I do wish we would have gotten a conditioner instead of (or in addition to) the body lotion. I like to be able to try a shampoo and conditioner together!
~Kona Glazed Macadamia Nut Bag ($5.31): These are going to be a B item. I don’t really love macadamia nuts so I wouldn’t be a good judge of these. I do think of Hawaii when I think of them though, so they are a good fit for this box.
~Royal Hawaiian Orchards Kona Coffee Banana Macadamia Crunch ($4.15): I know I just said I didn’t like macadamia nuts, but I do like these. I guess I just don’t like them alone?
~Hawaiian Rainforest Naturals – Stress Relief Bath Crystals ($2.80): These bath crystals smell good and I think I would be less stressed if I actually did take a long bath with them!
~Bonus: Seashell Lei (~$1): The information card says that these retail for $10, but that seems super high. These are totally Hawaii though and I also think these were a good fit for the box.
All totaled I came up with a value of $38.87 (that’s after my revised calculation on the creams) $70.32 for the November 2014 Escape Monthly. Escape Monthly had originally promised a value of $113.95 for this box, which was later revised to $89.95 (their math still seems to be off). According to Escape Monthly, the variance in their numbers was the result of an error in the size of one of the products included. They originally had thought it would be full-sized, but it turned out to be a sample size. I think they should have noted the reason for the decrease in the value of the box with an e-mail or Facebook post, but instead I had to e-mail them to find out what happened. While I liked this box better than the last few months, I decided to take a little break for a while. I didn’t like the switch up in the value and just haven’t been wow’ed by them lately.
What do you think of Escape Monthly this month? If you are interested in subscribing or just want to learn more, click here. You can use the code “MYESCAPE” to score 20% off not only your first box, but all your other boxes for the life of your subscription. That gets you a discount of $10/month on the regular box (it doesn’t work on the Escape Mini)! The December destination is “Europe” and promises a “Luxury European Christmas”.
Hmm yea not impressed. I just e-mailed to cancel my sub.
Hmm…interesting. I live in Hawaii and haven’t heard of any of those brands except for the food ones! And I’m 99% sure the necklace is not worth $10…you can find them around here for under $2 apiece. I’m sorry the box didn’t make it feel like a vacation, but hopefully it didn’t turn you off from visiting one day!
Oh nothing is going to stop me from wanting to visit Hawaii!
I have subscribed for the past 3 months and none of these boxes have been worth it to me. But what disturbs me more is the shady fals advertising. Not only have the prices been extremely inflated. I had cancelled my subscription and then found the islandescape code..when it was entered it took off $25 and also said it renews at $25. I took a screen shot and sent to Rebecca rainbow to have them honor this price (the reason I didn’t put the order through is because I did not want 2 boxes and it showed my account still active) she told me that it was wrong and I could not get that price. Again more false advertising. When a bill says you will be charged a specific amount it should be honored. I will never do business with this company again and would not recommend anyone else to either…here is what I saw at checkout
Escape Monthly Checkout
Escape Monthly is a destination-inspired monthly delivery of luxury products to help you relax, renew and escape!
Purchase Summary:
$49.95 Recurring Fee (every 1 month)
Coupon Savings: $25.00
Today’s Total: $24.95 (then $24.95 at first renewal on 12/19/2014)
Shipping Information:
Yeah, that is NOT right. It says you will be billed $24.94 on the 19th, so how could they charge you more???
The only reason I continued my subscription for this Hawaii box was because I thought customer service was good AND when I tried to cancel after last month I was told the gift set itself was worth $50 so the value would be there. I still have that email. After reading more comments I am just going to file with the BBB. The false advertising and lies are just wrong. I love subscription boxes and get many..and love your blog, Jennifer!!! But this experience has soured me. Even more than popsugars issues last month.
They said that the gift set was worth $50?? I am going to weigh mine today. I am dying to see how much it weighs and if it’s 1.7oz…
I had the same issue. When they first came out they offered a code to get the life of your subscription for I think 29.99 and then after one box started charging me 49.99. I emailed them and they said they’d change it to to 39 a month but that the promotion I was referencing didn’t exist! I didn’t have a screen shot of it but I wish I did. They made me feel like I was trying to scam them, even though I read the fine print and know I was correct. Their boxes were never impressive anyway, glad I got rid of them.
Oh I feel like I have that e-mail still. I remember that! Let me look.
Okay, I looked. I got an e-mail that gives a code and says it will work for 30% off for life. But it was just sent in November, so it may not have been the one you got??
Mine said the same thing! I emailed about it because the first page had said 34.95, then the second page showed 49.95 and then 24.95. She told me that I would not get the 24.95 price, that it would renew at 34.95. I cancelled.
There are plenty of other boxes with a much better value that cost even less. This box has never been worth the $39.95 that I have paid the last 3 months…they do a great job roping people in, but it is with false advertising. Just wrong!
I’ve gotten this box through LS/Groupon vouchers. The last one I have will be used up in December, then I’ll cancel this box. I love the idea behind it, but the curation has never been there for me. It’s definitely not worth $40 per month.
I am in Maui right now and definitely could have used the guide book! I agree that the last few boxes have not been amazing and as much as I would love the Europe box I don’t want to be disappointed again 🙁
Funny I actually brought home a bunch of those “personal paradise” minis from the Hilton in Waikiki. I treasure them because they remind me of vacation!
Ha! I would have taken them from the hotel too!
Did you check the sizes for the Honey Girl organics. The 30 dollar price is for 1.7 ounces. Their is no way the sample I got is 1.7 ounces. They were both travel size products and worth way less. A travel size kit with the smaller Honey Girl Organics, the Night Cr?me, and a full size lip balm retails for 26 dollars on the Honey Girl website….this was complete false advertising.
I couldn’t see a size on the packaging (trust me I looked). I don’t know how else to measure. Actually, I guess I could weigh it somehow?
I work in a pharmacy and work with cremes and lotions and have to measure amounts all the time. I am about 99% sure about this. Also on the website the full sizes all have amounts written on the packaging and the sample sizes do not have amounts on them. Their are also pictures of the sample sizes on the website and they do not have the weight listed on them and look closer to what we received when comparing them to the night cr?me sample.
Hmm, that travel set would have a value of just over $20 without the full size lip balm. Which puts the retail value on this box at $50.
What I really wonder now is what happened…. The original explanation I heard was that someone miscalculated the total ‘value’ of this box by using a full size product price when it was just a trial size – to get the $114 value. But they are using full size pricing on this cream which is a travel size, and the cost of the box is $89 with their math. (They said that the price of the box would be $89 when using the ‘deluxe sample size’ prize on that product.) THAT seems even shadier to me, where in this box could something be given as a larger size and gain the $25 that is missing??? Am I making sense???
See I kind of thought that they were thinking that the night creme would be full sized and then when it came in they realized that it was a sample? And then they are still calling the other one full sized? Either way, the math is not good!!
You are totally right. I am going to weigh this on my food scale in a few!
I lived in Hawaii for 3 years and they basically give those shell leis away for free,we have at least 50 of them. Saying that they are worth 10 bucks is a total lie.
I get the mini box (don’t have a review up yet) but here is what it contained
Bubble Shack Hawaii Juicy Pineapple Loofah Soap (smells awesome) $5.99
Noni Papaya Shampoo and Body Lotion the small sizes like you got, (My shampoo is busted at the top)
Hawaiin Host glazed with kona Coffee (5.99)
and the cheap shell necklace thing
Not even worth the mini in my opinion 🙁
I think yours sounds worse!
That is a terrible representation of Hawaii. The bath products are the same ones found in several Waikiki hotel rooms. The lei is given away as a complimentary gift when you go to certain tourist stores. The creams are highly overvalued. I would put the value closer to $35. I live in a Hawaii and am embarrassed by what they chose to include as a representation of my state.
Yes, there is no way that the lei is worth $10. I would probably agree with your valuation. I am weighing the cream today!
I live in Hawaii and am also so disappointed by what they chose to represent us! I have been mentally making my own version of a Hawaii box which would be WAY cooler. This is like, a cheap welcome gift at a hotel. Jennifer good for you for putting a positive spin on it!
They definitely could have at least included some Aloha Spreads PB and maybe some local coffee or something. This box was just awful.
This company needs to find a new curator. The idea of “escaping monthly” to a new place is brilliant, unfortunately I have not been even slightly impressed with one box. I was a subscriber for a few months and reluctantly had to cancel. I felt bad because the customer service was really good, very easy to cancel with no hassle. I keep hoping they will get their groove on so I can subscribe again. This box does not look like they have achieved that sadly. Here’s hoping for a better year in 2015.
I hope they can step it up!
The concept of this sub is so great but the curation is terrible. I’m so happy I cancelled.
I was in love with this subscription. However. And i posted this on msa (Brief side note it felt extremely awkward when the escape monthly customer service rep replied with all kinds of fluffy promises and cheery disputes to most complaint comments left). I think if you make promises of some values and not only are you delivering more cheap souveniers and miniscule beauty samples we can get online else where but then stating the value is much higher than reality, its shady. I have purchased boxes that cost more based on lovely curation not value (mantry for instance. I love. Its pricey. But the curation is awesome! Worth the money!) But. The boxes are maybe good for $20-30. $50 coupon or not, the contents do not in any way substantiate the charge not even on a curation level. I am so so so disappointed too because next month looks like germany or austria and it may be good. But id rather wait for a trend of much better quality and a feel of the destination. Not a holiday inn bathroom at that destination!!!
I have been hoping every month that they step up the curation and they just haven’t. It’s such a great idea, but they could be going SO much more.
I got married in Hawaii last month and was looking forward to this box, but after the London box (which I was also really excited for because I got engaged in London) was a failure I emailed Escape to cancel. They sent me the Hawaii box as a last ditch effort to keep me and I still cancelled my subscription. It’s been going downhill for me since the Las Vegas box.
If you’ve been to Hawaii, this box is exactly them walking into an ABC convenience story and buying the entire contents for about $10.
It’s too bad because the concept is so neat. Hopefully they turn things around.
I live in Hawaii and for real, my first thought was that this looked like someone just grabbed everything from the front rack at an ABC. In which case, they missed a great opportunity to share Hawaiian Hello Kitty trinkets with the world. If you go to a farmer’s market or conference there are SO many neat things produced here that would be really fun to share. Kava tea, koa wood anything, lilikoi butter, Manoa chocolate, a Heather Brown print or postcard…such a missed opportunity!
You should curate a Hawaii box!
I didn’t even get a Night Creme in mine! There was a plastic wrapping with pink turtles on it, but that was empty. Is that what the lei was supposed to be in? Because it was just loose in the box when I opened it. It seemed like there was so much extra space in the box. The snacks were good, but everything else was so tiny. :/
No, my lei was just lose in the box. My night creme and face lotion were in that little bag.
Wow. I live in California and spend a week+ in Maui every year and this is such a disappointment of a box. I loved Escape a long time ago but quit them earlier this year (I think after Mexico) and their boxes have been steadily declining in value monetarily and in sheer desirability. There is SO much that they could have done with Maui and this is just so empty. They seriously need to ditch this guidebook business and actually start filling the boxes with items of value and reach out to local vendors. The Honey Girl products look interesting, but really, where are the coconut chips, banana bread, Mai Tai something, flower something or other, there are so many little flip flop related items that could have been included, something with sand, a lava rock pumice stone, etc. This box is just lacking sooooo bad. However, I feel that way about each of these boxes – the overall idea has great potential but each box just falls so short. I blame the guidebooks.
I think its crazy that they assign a $19.99 value to the guidebook! I would say maybe $7.99 would be a better estimate. I can’t even give away my California book from a few months ago!
I think they assign the suggested retail price on their stuff. I always use the actual going rate prices on amazon!
I signed up after seeing a few months of great boxes and I just didn’t get any super super WOW ones!
London was my first box and unlike many others I loved it. I was looking forward to this box because I’m going to Hawaii in May. I wasn’t just disappointed by this box I was angry. What a ripoff! And after their buildup about the value I feel scammed.
The Honey Girl cream smelled awful and I could wash the smell off. Was there supposed to be the papaya-lime crunch listed on the card? I didn’t get one. And $10 for the shell lei????? You get those free just for walking many tourist shops!
I better stop because I’m getting mad again.
Mine was just a different flavor than listed on the card.
I would love to know about that $10 value on the lei!
I’m really glad to see that you are discontinuing your subscription, because then less attention will be paid to them. I think the old reviews are enough that people can figure out how awful they are.
As a side not, Birchbox lists “full size $$” next to each of their items on their info cards. It makes it look like items have higher value, because sometimes there are full size items. Maybe this box was trying for something similar?
I don’t even know? Because they did say that the value would be like $89 and that’s what it all adds up to if you use their prices on the card?
The way most people look at box value is they search online, find the lowest price from a reputable company, and us that amount (assuming the items aren’t unique to the box). I wonder if they’re doing the opposite- search for the item, find the highest possible price to buy it at, and then list that price.
There are a lot of things they could do to make this box better, not all of which are adding more expensive items. Including color guide books would provide a more engaging window into their end destination. They could even just slip in prints of some color pictures taken in the area- that would make the guidebook much better. A postcard could be included from that destination- those are cheap, can be quite beautiful, and are very vacationy. Local products, rather than made in China, don’t have to cost more, and are much, much better. Ensure products will be fresh on arrival, not expire as they arrive. And really, they should be putting items worth more into their boxes, as well as higher quality items. Trying to save every last penny now is going to ultimately end their business.
I cancelled my subscription after the disappointing London box and the oils spilled over everything, and then they sent a full replacement box and the oils STILL leaked. Seriously!! Puerto Rico and London were bad, and I’m glad I didn’t receive this one, ti would have incensed me. I loved EM when it first started – the Napa Valley and Oregon boxes were my favorites, by far. But they have definitely been going downhill, and I think the company itself even notices that. When you go to their website, they haven’t updated the “Recent Boxes” page in months, because I think they know showing us PR, London or Hawaii won’t bring any new fans. http://escapemonthly.com/past-boxes/ I can’t get over how they are lying to people about the prices – the guidebook inflation has always annoyed me, but really, its not that hard to do some internet searches and see what things are going for. Such a shame, because this could be (and was) such a great product.
The lotion one really got me this month!
Did you see what was in the December Europe box? Holy crap — it was terrible!! I’m SO glad I canceled my subscription. I was tempted to resubscribe when they had another Living Social deal, but I resisted and I’m really happy about it.