Winter Box Turned Out to be a Winter Blah

UPDATE (12/18/22) – As of 12/14/22 I’ve received a replacement item, and I’m satisfied my concern has been addressed.

---

I just wanted to get this out of the way: I was already underwhelmed with the choices for this box. But 2 categories had items I wanted, and I wanted to get Christmas gifts from the Add-ons.

If it wasn’t for two items and Christmas gifts, I probably would’ve skipped the Winter box as well, after already skipping Fall. With this box came mixed feelings, but mostly I’m not impressed.

Upon opening my Winter box, I quickly realized something had spilled inside.

I’ve since contacted customer support and it’s pretty much resolved at the time of writing this post (other than waiting for a replacement item to ship). But I still think it’s important that I mention the fact that it spilled, for those who only read the blog – those who watch my videos would have seen my reaction for themselves.

Though to be fair, I’m glad that customer support was willing to fix the main problem I had about the spill.

---

Category 1, Winter Box 2022

The texture is as amazing as I imagined it to be, and I do have a tape measure so the size didn’t surprise me. But what did surprise me was how, well… limp it felt. I’m sure that’s great for being vacuum-sealed and transported, but it feels extremely flimsy and sad to cuddle.

I mean still cute and I’m glad it matches my blanket, but I definitely don’t think this is worth paying full price for. Unlike UnHide’s blankets, which if they came out with a royal purple or even lavender, I would seriously consider purchasing full price.

Overall, I still think this was the best option for me in this category, but I do not recommend buying this full price. Nor would I recommend getting the Winter box just for this pillow.

Category 2, Winter Box 2022

I’ve been thinking about getting a fabric shaver for ages. But it’s never been a priority, so I never did. Along came this little fabric shaver in the spoilers, plus a need for an Unhide blanket or 2 from the add-on sale, and here I am with a video + blog post review.

As of writing this post, I’ve had the chance to use it on a few items and I realized a couple of things:

• I don’t have a lot of clothes with pilling – so either I take better care than most, or I’ve already donated my shabbiest clothes. I’m not entirely sure, since it’s not something I had to keep track of before.
• Cleaning out the fluff and/or lint is equally fascinating and horrifying. Because now I wonder how a shaved area looks under a microscope versus a non-shaved area.
• There are potentially some shenanigans with some other reviews because while I saw a difference, I would not say it gives all clothes a “brand new” look.

So while it’s not as useful as I imagined, I’m still glad I chose this for Category 2. As long as it doesn’t break on me any time soon, it’s something I can hold on to for a while. Unlike the other consumable options in the Winter box (looking at the abundance of skincare options).

Category 3, Winter Box 2022

They are comfy and soft enough, I suppose. But I also know I can find slippers of similar quality on sale somewhere else. So I really wouldn’t have gone for this item if I was excited about something else, either for myself or as a gift for someone else.

They are comfy enough, so I appreciate that. But otherwise, they’re not remarkable, and I certainly wouldn’t consider it a huge selling point for the Winter box (or any other FabFitFun box for that matter). If my previous slippers weren’t already falling apart, I would’ve just used this as a gift.

The nice part about it being unremarkable is that it would make a great gift so I wished that FabFitFun offered more options like this. But as it sits, most of their options are skincare.

Category 4, Winter Box 2022

But then I went out of town and seemed to have misplaced my vitamin organizer, so I went ahead and chose this as my primary (& only) item for this category.

I suppose it’s nicer that it can store up to 2 weeks’ worth of vitamins, so they’re great for traveling. Other than that though, I mean…it’s a vitamin organizer. I only picked it since I didn’t need anything else from this category, either for myself or as a gift.

Category 5, Winter Box 2022 (only annual members can customize)

I also mainly got this for the First Aid Beauty moisturizer, as I already have the KP eraser as an exfoliant. At the time of writing this post, I’m still on the fence about who might benefit from an exfoliant as a gift.

It’s tricky, as I don’t want to be responsible for a friend’s skin getting irritated if the ingredients don’t agree with their skin type. It’s one thing for me to take that risk, and another to burden someone with a bad product or having to awkwardly reject a gift if they have a sensitivity I wasn’t aware of.

I understand having an abundance of skincare options for the Winter box (the dry winter skin is real). But FabFitFun’s recent selection has been heavy on the skincare options for a while now. I know I’m not alone in this since I generally lurk in the forums during spoiler weeks.

UPDATE: The ESPA exfoliant was fine, but otherwise not remarkable. The First Aid Beauty moisturizer was about what I expected from the brand: Great while it applies, and after it dries. It doesn’t leave a sticky residue like other moisturizers.

Category 6, Winter Box 2022 (only annual members can customize)

I’ve yet to use the shampoo or the scalp massager, but mainly because I haven’t had the time to dedicate to a detox + hair mask routine. So at the time of writing, I’m not yet sure what I think about the shampoo, other than they need to make sure the top is screwed on tight before shipping.

UPDATE: I have since used it and I’m not sure how much of a difference the detox shampoo has made. On the other hand, the included scalp massager is great! It doesn’t tangle my hair like my previous scalp massager did.

Add-ons

I got both blankets as a gift, and thankfully, the beige bear shipped separately from my Winter box, as the OUAI detox shampoo may or may not have gotten on the navy blue UnHide. 

While it was covered in plastic, that packaging does have tiny punched holes the shampoo could have gotten into. Unfortunately, it’s not a fact I can confirm one way or another without ripping it open, which I’d rather not do since again, it was meant to be a gift.

I planned on giving this as a gift, though for whom, I haven’t figured out yet. I just know that I’m not keeping it since it’s not my style at all. Honestly, if I could’ve just bought the UnHide (Beige Bear) blanket on its own, I would’ve. But as it is, they only had the Navy on its own.

The best-packaged item I’ve seen in this whole box. I liked the smell a lot, though it didn’t have a strong throw (scent distribution). So when it didn’t make much of an impact in our dining room, I moved it to the bathroom and it worked out fine.

I do wish this had a better throw, as I wouldn’t mind choosing this as an actual box item. It certainly worked out better than the last candle I got from FabFitFun. It honestly would’ve made more sense in the Fall box though, instead of the Winter box.

This came free with a $15 purchase, so I figured why not? I was worried that this would spill during shipping, but boy was I wrong. 

Also, if I have never eaten a passionfruit or a mango in my life, I would assume those fruits taste absolutely disgusting, just like this water. 

It tasted as if someone tried to turn those fruits into perfume, failed, and sprayed the result into a bottle of water and called it a day. Thank goodness I didn’t spend money on this item specifically.

This made me think about my upcoming subscriptions

I’m glad I got this box, BUT I don’t recommend it.

Here’s why: Even though I’ve only got 4 boxes so far, I feel like the quality took a dip in that timeframe. Not to mention, I feel like it’s oversaturated with skincare and beauty products.

I remember that from last year’s spoilers, I was having a hard time trying to pick only 1 item per category. Contrast that with this year, where I only had 2 out of 6 categories figured out. I honestly didn’t finalize my list of things to pick for all 6 categories until the night before, and I mainly chose most items because I could either try to use them or I hated them the least.

Even the sales now – I don’t know if the prices are different, but it almost feels like I’m not getting that good of a deal anymore. Or it could just be me – maybe my shopping habits have re-adjusted to other priorities.

Either way, the sales just fell flat for me this year.

They recently had the option of being able to lock in the current annual price before it goes up next year, and I ended up signing up for it. I did before receiving this box because a part of me is hoping they’ll come out with better items next year.

But now? I do regret it a little bit.

Hopefully, they’ll prove me wrong. If they do, then you have 4 more unboxing videos (or blogs!) to be excited about.

Watch it on YouTube