My Review of the September 2012 POPSUGAR MUST HAVE Box

I'll be honest - I have two other subscription boxes that arrived before this one that I still need to review, but I'm so excited about this PopSugar box, I wanted to share it with you now!  This is my review of the September 2012 POPSUGAR Must Have Box.

The stats:  $35 + tax/mo with free shipping
You get (per their website):  
• Hand-selected items in beauty, fashion, home, fitness, and food

• Full-size products and premium items worth over $100

Here's what the September POPSUGAR Box looked like:

1st impression - "The box is smaller than last month".  Then I opened it and was THRILLED with what I found inside!!

Ooooh!  What's in the black bag?

This box included:

Brokedown Scarf - RV $84

The Perks of Being A Wallflower - 2 Movie Tickets & Paperback Book - RV $38

Rifle Paper Co's Lined Notepad - RV $8

Benefit Cabana Glama Combination Set - RV $36

Becky's Blissful Bakery Caramels - 3 count - estimated at RV $3.99 (their 2 piece boxes sell for $2.99 and their 4 piece boxes cost $4.99).

Pop-Up Pantry Dinners - 1 cinnamon sugar cookie and a flyer for 1 free dinner ($32 value)

Yes to Cucumbers Hypoallergenic Towelettes - 10 count - RV $1.99

Kitsch Hair Ties - 4 count - RV $7.99

Tracie Martyn Skin Care Line - $25 gift certificate (considering the items on the website range in price from $38 to $435, I'm not assessing a value to this certificate because I don't plan on using it)

Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips - 1.5 oz bag - RV $ .86

POPSUGAR Must Have Pouch - RV unk. ($1 million dollars, just like last month's coasters) :]

TOTAL ESTIMATED VALUE:  $212.83 (plus the million dollar pouch & not including the Tracie Martyn Gift Certificate)

MY COST: $37.36

A closer look at these items.....

Fashion:

1.  PopSugar Pouch - (3 stars) - I'm neutral on this one.  It's a cute bag and it's really soft/well made.  However, I have about 15 make-up bags in my closet, so I really don't need this one.  Plus, there's no graphics on it - just a logo.  Not sure if I'll keep this or not.

2.  Kitsch Hair Ties - 4 pack - (5 stars) - I LOVE these things!  I have similar ones from another brand and I wear them all the time.  They're great because they don't leave band lines in your hair!  The 2 neutral-colored ones will match the scarf well too!

3.  The Brokedown Scarf - (5 glowing, flashing, fabulous stars!!) - I am IN LOVE with this scarf!!  It's very Jennifer Aniston-ish and EXACTLY what I've been seeking for years now and haven't been able to find.  It's a lovely taupe color (which is so versatile) and retails for $84.  It's sooo soft and is long and wide enough to use as a wrap, a scarf, to tie your hair back, as a swimsuit cover-up, etc.  It's perfect! This alone made the box worth it!!  It deserves it's own picture, so here you go:

Beauty Items:

4.  Tracie Martyn Skin Care Salon - (1 star) - As I mentioned above, the items on her site retail for $38-$435 (for a 5-piece gift set), which is insane to me.  I'm all about trying out new products, but even with the $25 gift certificate, I'd still be spending a pretty penny.  PASS!!

5.  Yes to Cucumber Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Towelettes - 10 ct - (4 stars) - The towelettes are very soft and refreshing.  I love the cucumber smell too!  They leave my face feeling clean and not gummy.

6.  Benefit CABANA GLAMA make-up set - (5 stars) - I was going to buy this set after I saw it on Listia and it went for gobs of points.  I am SO HAPPY it is in this month's box!  I will definitely use this!

Home/Misc. Items:

7.  Rifle Paper Co Notepad - 85 Sheets - (4 stars) - This is cute and I'll use it, but honestly, who needs more paper?  It is a full-sized product though and something different than what's been in the other subscription boxes.

8. & 9.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower Paperback book and 2 Movie Tickets - (3 stars) - This is a great product and value.  However, the target audience for this is adolescents and I don't have any kids.  Off to Listia this goes!

Food Items:

10.  Becky's Blissful Bakery Organic Sea Salt Caramels - 3 ct. - (4.5 stars) - These are so yummy! They're big, creamy, individually wrapped caramels.  The sea salt had already dissolved into the caramel, but it didn't matter.  They're the perfect blend of sweet and salty!  They're good, but I don't eat caramels enough to buy them.  Still, a nice treat though!

11.  Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips - 1.5 oz - (3 stars) - This is a nice sample size.  However, I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes.  Still, I'll try them since they're in the box.

12.  Pop Up Pantry - 1 Sugar Cookie and a promo code card for 1 free meal - (3 stars) - The cookie is OK.  It's a cinnamon-flavored sugar cookie.  It's kind of dry, but it's been packaged for who knows how long, and, well, it is a cookie.  I haven't met too many cookies I haven't liked.  I'm neutral on the promo code too.  I logged on to their website and did find a meal for two people that looked pretty good (a 3-course meal featuring grilled Cuban spiced chicken).  I entered the promo code on the card and voila, it was free (a $32 value).  The only thing I don't like is that it's a subscription service and even though you get the meal free, it still asks you to enter your credit card information.  I'm subscribed to so many subscription boxes already that I really don't feel like adding one more to the list.  

The final verdict:  4.75 stars!!  I really love this month's box!  The scarf is definitely my favorite item from the box.  It is something I will wear frequently.  I also love the hair ties and the Benefit make-up kit.  The caramels were yummy too!   The rest of the items were nice too, but I consider them fun "perks" of the box compared to the first 3 I mentioned.  Again, I LOVED trying all these products (12 items/products in all) and it was worth the money - $212.83 worth of products for $37.36!  This has quickly become my favorite subscription box!  I would definitely recommend it to everyone!!