Hey hey, it’s MJ, 

            So I feel like first of all I need to address the elephant in the room, I don’t know when this post was going up, it might be going up just after Christmas or closer to New Year who knows at this point with the shipping of this box.

            Okay so this season is for sure absolutely insane with shipping and believe me I completely and totally understand because this usually is the largest shipping season of the year and this year I can imagine it has increased tenfold because of people wanting to send gifts to family members they can’t see and just all of the COVID restrictions that are in place and to that end I am going to say everyone is doing what they can to help everyone get their things shipped and delivered. So let me say my piece and that will be that from me on the issue.

            I got an email on December 1^st saying that my box had shipped, well at least the label was created, it did not leave the shipping facility in California, (from a company I have never heard of until this instance) until the 15^th. It went to Texas and that was on the 19^th, I got no updates until the 22^nd and it was still in Texas just finally accepted by the USPS. As of this moment of my writing this section of my post I have no idea when it will actually make it here because Christmas is in just a few days. 

            Normally I don’t complain but when it is something that I pay for an have never had a problem with in the past, including two other boxes that have shipped during the lockdown, it does get a little frustrating when there are few to no updates on something that I look forward to getting. 

            I have seen a lot of others in this same boat because of a variety of reasons all with similar and some more heightened frustrations, I didn’t order anything for anyone else for Christmas with this box, I wanted it to do my unboxing but I don’t have it yet. I look forward to getting these boxes every season and this year has made me want these treat myself instances because they make me feel like things are normal even though we are so far from normal and we are learning a new normal so I’m just a little frustrated by this situation. That however is all I am going to say about it, there isn’t anything I can do besides wait and that’s just what I am going to have to do.

            Well we are on the Monday after Christmas and my box has finally arrived and I have some thoughts before I talk about what I got which there are for sure some hits and misses with this box and for the most part I am not too jazzed about the box as a whole which makes me sad. The choices this time felt limited and while some of them were really nice some of them just felt cheap. My box only contained two large items and both of those were customizations, there was no packaging in the box like the little paper stuffing so things were moving around and I know that is in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint which I applaud them for but to that end I was afraid things would be broken when I opened the box. 

            All of these opinions are my own because I need to get this out because or me this box missed the mark and quality that I have come to expect from fabfitfun since I subscribed in 2018. I know there is a pandemic on and getting products is difficult so I cannot fault them for that but this box felt thrown together and not in a good way.

            Normally at the end of each section I would say what the other options were but in the last few boxes the choices have gone up so much that it just becomes an annoyingly long list at the end of each paragraph. I know I am sounding bitter about this but the box has changed over the last year and I’m not sure if it’s for the better, especially with this box. 

UnHide Lil’ Marshmallow Blanket

            So this was something that I chose because I didn’t want anything else from the first category and it’s my favorite thing in the box, I am already wrapped up in it as I am writing this post. It’s really soft and just a little heavy which I am not upset about. I like the fact that it is faux fur and that it’s a really nice neutral grey that will go well on my couch or the chair in my office or somewhere in my apartment. It’s a nice lap blanket size so curling up in it will cover your legs but it is not a full sized blanket. There were six other options in this category ranging from Vera Bradley to Summer & Rose, to Mobile White. 

Impressions Vanity Company LED Vanity Mirror

            I wanted this one, this is something that I need in my life, a vanity mirror because I am a glasses human and using a regular mirror means that I am far away from my face and I can’t see anything. I do have some issues with this product however, the arm on the back that allows the mirror to be adjustable is loose and that means that the mirror doesn’t stay in place where you put it unless it as at the very top or the very bottom of its swing. The batteries that were sent with the box don’t work, that might be because they got so cold but I put them in the mirror and got nothing, I plugged it into the USB on my computer and it finally lit up but why send batteries that don’t work? Other than that I like it, I will make it work but it should work out of the box. There were five other options in this ranging from Tula to Lilly Pulitzer, and Murad.

Dr. brandt skincare pores no more Pore Purifying Cleanser

            I love Dr. Brandt skincare and I have the pore no more primer and it’s pretty great, this was the other choice that I made because the other options didn’t fit my normal preferences. It’s a cleanser and I will be starting to use it soon because I am almost out of my regular cleanser so this came at a good time. I like the ingredients including tea tree, white willow, and salicylic acid which is pretty potent when it comes to skin care. I also just really enjoy the packaging, blue to white ombre is always cool. Other options in this category ranged from more dr. brandt and Laura Geller with five other options in total.

            From here on out the products were picked for me.

Kate Spade New York Workout Socks

            I love a good no show sock, these are barre socks and I have never owned barre socks, they are pretty comfortable, I put one on to see the fit. I will probably use these for yoga socks but I can’t imagine wearing them in shoes because they have grippy dots on the bottom of all of the choices these would have been my choice if I was an annual member. You get two pairs which is nice and they have a nice embroidered spade on each sock. There were four other options in this category and they ranged from Tula to Muk Luks.

Beautaniq Beauty Guardian Angel Revitalizing Eye Gels (set of four)

            They look like angel wings according to the magazine picture. Who doesn’t like a good under eye mask, I have many of them though and through no fault of the companies that are featured in this box this is where is starts to go downhill for me. I will be able to throw these in with my travel stuff when I eventually get to leave my house again but for now they will sit in the fridge with the rest of my skin care that’s waiting to be moved into rotation. 

Paradox Lucky Stars Blemish Patches

            It’s a sheet of star stickers that help with blemishes? I think? I honestly don’t know. They are cute and apparently help with break outs but I am not going to Coachella or a music festival and I am an adult so I can’t just walk around with star stickers on my face and that feels weird to put stickers on the face because knowing my luck I would end up being allergic to it and having a star irritated into my cheek. 

Daily Concepts Daily Facial Dry Brush

            Another facial care product that’s three in a row now. I do not dry brush my skin because I think that it would be too harsh for me. I will give it a shot when I have a chance but this product felt unmatched to a lot of the other product in this category which was a set of scrunchies, this whole category felt really thrown in at the last minute. Again not at fault of the company that produced it. 

Londontown Get Well Nail Recovery

            I don’t use a lot of nail products anymore and the outer plastic top came cracked so I had to be really careful when I opened it to not crack it further. It’s a nail strengthener which is great for people who do a lot more with their nails, I worked in a nail salon in high school and during that time this would have been great but now as an adult who takes hair, skin, and nail vitamins it’s different. Also anymore the smell of nail polish gives me a headache and this stuff really smells. 

            So overall, did it feel worth the price tag? Not really. Did it feel worth the almost month wait I had to get it? Not really. I won’t be unsubscribing, I am not that kind of person unless a number of boxes disappoint me, this year has been hard for a lot of companies and subscription services I have seen such an uptick in angry comments on social media and that’s what 2020 has been though, a dumpster fire and as I am writing my last post of 2020 I am allowed to say that. 

            I am hoping that the spring box not only comes in a more timely manner, the shipping timeframe on this one was crazy but also has more quality instead of the thrown together feeling I have right now with this box.

            This post is super long because I had some things that I needed to get out and say, I try really hard to not complain on the internet, I just complain on the phone to my mom but this was one of those things that did bother me because there was like 15 days where the box sat in a warehouse and I know I’m not the only one who’s been dealing with that. There is no reason for so many people to have products and packages lost through however they were shipped but here we are. 

            If you want to see what else I got this year you can! Spring, Summer, and Fall. 

            Well I will be back in 2021 with new posts and I hope everyone has a happy, safe, and socially distanced New Year’s Eve and Day! 

            -MJ