I recently had the opportunity to try out Her Fashion Box, a monthly subscription that delivers a beautifully-wrapped package of fashion and beauty products right to your door—and all the way from Australia!
Having only ever subscribed to Birchbox, which focuses solely on beauty products, I was eager to try something a little different! Here’s what Her Fashion Box’s website says:
“Every month, you’ll receive a beautifully packaged Her Fashion Box to your home or office! Inside will be on-trend fashion accessories tailored to your style profile, as well as a number of carefully selected beauty products or deluxe size samples from high-end, boutique and cult brands from around the world. Each month will be a different mix of beauty products, ranging from makeup, skincare, fragrances, body, hair, and nail. In addition to your fashion accessory and beauty products or samples, Her Fashion Box will bring you products, samples or offers from premium lifestyle brands that could include things such as gorgeous stationery, luxury candles, beauty or spa services, hair and make-up tools, gourmet food or wine tasters, cute home wares, online products, entertainment and more.”
Sounds fabulous, right? I wasn’t disappointed when I picked up the cheery bright pink package from the post office...unfortunately, I was let down once I dug into my Her Fashion Box. Behind some seriously high-quality packaging were some seriously low-quality products.
Lets open Her up, shall we?
Here’s what I found inside:
High Voltage Clutch - $29.95 / Elixir Scarf - $24.95 / The Brando ID Bracelet - $29.95 / Wrapped in Chains Bracelet - $24.95 / Eyelash Curler / Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream - $15.95/ Ulta3 Lipstick in Cherry Wine - $3.95/ Urban Rituelle Frangipani Soothing Body Balm - $6.50
If I had to pick, I’d say the two bracelets were the best quality—specifically the Brando ID Bracelet, which is pictured on top. This felt quite heavy and solid, not like it would fall apart after a few wears. Although the Wrapped in Chains bracelet looked really pretty when laid out flat, those sweet gold chain-scallops disappeared on my wrist. This one was significantly cheaper looking than the Brando ID bracelet, though still feels and looks like it would hold up pretty well. I hopped on Her Fashion Box’s website to try to figure out if this bracelet was real leather or not, but the materials weren’t listed. Personally, if I was going to pay over $20 for a bracelet, knowing exactly what I’m getting and what it's made out of is a deal-breaker. If I really loved the bracelet but it IS faux leather, I’d rather save my money and go with this lookalike from Forever 21.
The Elixir scarf would definitely be good for summer—its light and airy and incredibly soft (made from 100% polyester). Unfortunately the craftsmanship just isn’t that great. The side seams, while small, are a bit messy and uneven, and there were a few pulls of the thread. Again, you could find a scarf of similar quality/pattern from Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe, or even Mashall’s/Tj Maxx for a fraction of the cost. Here’s one I found from Forever with a similar look but priced at a much more sensible $10.80 versus the Elixir’s $24.95.
The product that disappointed me the most happened to be the one that first caught my eye: The High Voltage Clutch. With a see-through bottom and a holographic panel at the top, this little guy is right on trend. The material was very thin and flimsy, not at all what I’d expect for just under $30. The whole thing looked rather cheap up close, sadly—I’d say comparable to those kids’ pencil pouches from the dollar section at Target. On eBay you can get the same look (HERE) for nearly half the price—and that gold zipper looks way more chic!
Now on to the beauty products!
Her Fashion Box sent me a lipstick, BB Cream, lotion, and eyelash curler. Before I get into the individual products, I do have to say that I really liked the variety! All these together add up to the perfect easy and light summer makeup look. It’s a whole face in one bag!
I can't say much about the eyelash curler because I’ve never owned one myself, so I can’t really comment on the quality or effectiveness. The little red sponge absolutely refuses to stay in the little groove, though, and pops off every time I unclamp it.
To help with the other products, here are some swatches.
You can’t really go wrong with lotion, and this one had a really lovely smell! So this one gets a plus.
The Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream isn’t one we have available in the States, so I was excited to try it. Even though this shade was too dark for my vampire-in-the-snow pale skin, the Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream seems like a great product, especially for summer. It's quite pigmented for a BB Cream, which is nice, but also super smooth and light on the skin. On the downside, it looks like it only comes in three shades—light, medium, and dark—so you might have to mix it with a bit of your foundation to concoct a color that works seamlessly with your skin.
Now the lipstick. In the tube it looks like a vibrant, matte red—right up my alley. But as you can see in the swatch picture, it goes on very sheer. On the lower left, I applied it heavily—that stripe is five layers of lipstick, and its still not fully opaque. For this one it really depends on what you’re looking for—a true opaque lipstick it is not, but if you’re looking for sheer-to-medium coverage, you’ve got a winner.
So, that’s everything. After I went through the box, my first thought was that it was better suited for a younger audience, like girls in their early teens, rather than 20-something-plus women, due to the quality, colors, and styles included. I was all set to recommend this for your nieces or daughters or cousins, but then I had another look at the price tag-- $39.95 a month! For that much money I’d expect much more in terms of quality. All of the things in this box could be purchased at places like Forever 21, which would save you quite a bit of money.
Do you subscribe to Her Fashion Box, or any other accessory and beauty box programs? What do you think?
Molly X
The items were the poorest quality of any I've ever received in a subscription box (and I subscribe to lots of them.) The items are definitely skewed toward adolescents. But even then, the jewelry I got had metal scraping off it. Many items I received had no tags. It was like they just grabbed whatever junk they had around and put it in a box. I threw about a third of what I received directly in the garbage? Out of the 4 boxes I received, I did not keep one single item. Gave most of it to my friend for her little girls and swapped the makeup on a swap board.
I'm definitely on the same page as you as far as quality goes- really, really surprised by how poor everything was. I, too, dumped everything into my donation bag and trashed the makeup. Let me know if you find a similar box you like!
But now I am probably not going to subscribe to this - thanks for the review and comments.
Late last year I subscribed to a subscription fashion box service - for $39.95 per month I was promised to receive a monthly box of fashion accessories and beauty products. And that's where the fun began.
No boxes turned up. Contact to the company is either ignored or a generic "your box is currently being packed and will be posted at the end of this week" email- it was never posted. I cancelled my subscription and still got charged. Enquiries to their facebook page are hidden or deleted.
I'm still trying to get my money back, but more importantly I don't want anyone else to fall prey to their unscrupulous business practices. As such I have set up the facebook page below. If you have had any dealings with Her Fashion Box please go to the page and comment.
https://www.facebook.com/herfashionboxdonotsubscribe/
Had problems with Her Fashion Box? Not received paid for boxes? Charged for a subscription that you cancelled? Have your enquiries to the company been ignore or you have received the “your boxes are being packed and will be sent at the end of the week” line? Have your comments been deleted or hidden? Please go to https://www.facebook.com/herfashionboxdonotsubscribe/ a page that we have set up to collate all the issues that customers have had with HFB, to pass on to the ACCC and Consumer Affairs to prevent future customers losing money also.