The Box: French Box
The Cost: $36 bi-monthly with Free Priority Mail shipping
What's in the box: A minimum of 5 French products in fashion, cosmetics, gourmet, accessories and other surprises. The products in the box are usually either produced, distributed or designed in France. They can also be from a French brand, popular in France or part of the French culture.
The theme for their May 2015 relaunch box is Cannes Film Festival.
French Box always includes a custom postcard in each of their monthly boxes and since this month's theme is Cannes, it's only fitting that their quote is from Harry Winston.
Institut Karite Paris Lip Gloss in Passion, Full Size 15ml - 12 Euros (around $13)
I always appreciate when subscription boxes include lip products. The Passion color is a bright coral pink, but it goes on pretty sheer. This is truly a lip gloss though, so it has that bright shine, which I'm not too fond of. I prefer more matte. The texture is not sticky, so at least I'm happy with that.
Fab & Co Soap in Honey Almond, Full Size $8
The fragrances in FAB&CO soaps have been developed in Grasse, south of France, by well-known perfumers. Each soap combines 2 perfumes in an elegant and unique two colored shape. The scents have been carefully selected and associated to create a perfect combination.
Each soap is handmade by soap makers in provence in the respect of the tradition, craftsmanship and century old expertise. Enriched with organic shea butter and essential oils, our triple milled soaps will leave your skin with a luxurious and smooth feeling while lasting you longer.
This soap is HUGE, I love it! It smells amazing and after reading about their process in their soap production, it has me loving it even more. It's 100% organic with natural scents, so I feel safe in using this soap.
Marilou Bio Creme Visage Nuit Night Cream, Full Size 30ml - 4.95 Euros (around $5.5)
Nourishing night treatment. Night after night, your skin regains its suppleness and balance. Brimming with plant oils, the texture of Marilou Bio Night Cream ensures repairing action throughout the night.
I'm happy to discover that Marilou Bio is a French brand of organic cosmetics and they are also not tested on animals. It's strange how their full size is pretty small, but I guess it's travel friendly.
Payot Gommage Amande body scrub, Travel size 25ml - $3
Payot doesn't sell their products directly so I based the price from Amazon which I found to be the cheapest.
This scrub smells sweet and nutty, just as they described -a body scrub with pistachio and sweet almond extracts. I prefer more of a fresh scent for my bath and body products, but it's a good travel size so I'll toss it in my gym bag and I'm sure I'll make use of it.
Book Friends Golden Palm Tree 18K Gold Plated Bookmark, $2.7?
I'm not sure how this relates to France (it's made in Korea), but since the Golden Palm Tree is a symbol of Happiness and Riches, I can see the connection to their Cannes theme. Unfortunately I don't read physical books anymore thanks to my Kindle, so I will be passing this along to my mother.
A vintage postcard of Cote D'Azure
Since this postcard is vintage, I'm not sure what value to put so I'll leave it blank. I have mixed feelings about receiving this in my box. It is in line with their theme as the postcard shows the Cote D'Azur which is where Cannes is, so I'll give them that.
Keychain with a 35mm film insert
This is another item where I can't put a price on it, so I'll leave it blank again.
Each keychain has a 35mm film that was shown in French classrooms between the 1940s and 1960. You can learn more about the film you received by clicking here. I received film number 36.
VERDICT: This box was a miss for me since the only product I loved was the soap. The total value is around $32, not counting the keychain and vintage postcard. For a $36 subscription box, I expected more. I know they recently went through some restructuring and raised their price to do that, but this new box doesn't seem any different than what they did before. I'm not sure I'll continue to subscribe or if I should give them one more chance. I guess I have a few weeks to decide.