Topbox Review: Remember Gumby? He's back! In nail polish form.

So...have you heard of this recent phenomenon called a "box subscription"? It's that thing where you pay a monthly fee to a marketing company, and they send you a box of assorted items once a month. Ideally, you love the sample products soooo much that you cannot resist purchasing regular-size versions of them from the company's website, thereby providing another revenue stream for the company in question. You can subscribe to such a wide variety of types of boxes, from pet toys or treats, to gourmet cooking items, to beauty samples. Subscription boxes combine your love of small samples with the excitement of getting mail. They will make you feel like somebody really cares.

This is my first month receiving a package from Topbox, a beauty products subscription service. It costs $12/package, and is billed monthly to my credit card. Ostensibly, the products you receive are a stunning value, representing far more than the meagre $12 you invest. This point is debatable at best, which I'll discuss below. Despite my reservations about the actual value of the box I received, I will continue to subscribe for at least a few more months, as it gives me something to blog about. And getting mail makes me feel like somebody really cares.

I would also like to point out that Topbox holds a unique position in the subscription box market. At $12 ($13.56 incl tax), it is one of the cheaper options. Also, the company has a set number of subscribers, so you have to go on a waiting list for about 2 months before you are even allowed to subscribe. I suspect this creates a psychological effect of scarcity and exclusivity for some people, wherein they feel special and privileged to be "accepted" into the Topbox circle. I know I was pretty happy to have made it off the wait list. I am starting to feel like somebody really cares.

I am going to show you what came in my July 2013 Topbox, with approximate values and initial impressions.

You're kinda tiny, Tiny

"This 8[!?] in 1 multi-tasking beauty balm will provide all day hydration while brightening to instantly lift [my] look."

Tried it this morning. Seems okay, not much different than the literally hundreds of other moisturizers beauty balms you can buy.

Full size = $49/50mL
I'm generously guessing this is 2mL?
Sooo...value = $2.04

Imma little scared of this one.

"Thickening sprayable gel/provides up to 70% more volume and heat protection."

Both? or 35% of each? or maybe a 30/40 split? Hmmmm...

Haven't tried this one yet, and I'm kind of terrified what 70% more volume on my head might look like. For once, I'm hoping that the beauty claims are highly exaggerated, which they always are.

Full size = $16.70/200 mL
Value = $2.51

This product should be satirical.

"Pure 24k Gold [sic] flakes as well as Pearl Protein help..." Wait! What?
Effing gold flakes??

Well, that just makes me feel like an a$$hole.

Ugh. Yes, apparently gold and pearl have the little-known and miraculous ability to "stimulate blood flow, build up Amino Acids [sic] and add a healthy glow to the skin for Summer [sic]."

They don't know the difference between proper and common nouns, and they want me to believe that gold will improve my complexion.


If you have 6 minutes and free wi-fi, do check out what David Cross has to say about the gold leaf:

David Cross: Tasteless, Odorless


Full size = $60/60mL
2mL here? Value = $2.00
(Putting gold on your face = priceless)

Okay Mom, I'm ready for my drive to the mall. Moooommmm...let's gooooo!!!

The 4th and final item in my July 2013 Topbox is China Glaze "Keepin it Teal" jelly polish, from their Summer 2013 jelly collection.




Ehhh, it's okay. I googled it, and the polish reviewers are all losing their sh*t about how great it is (maybe girls be pimpin' for some free product?) I'm not a fan of the jelly finish, and this polish is decidedly Gumby-coloured, once you apply the 6 coats needed for opacity. In fact, I decided to put that evaluation to the test, and did a Gumby and Pokey mani:

OMG I used to love Gumby and Pokey so much. <3

If you're going to wear a colour that's fit for tweens, you might as well go all-out cartoon on it, amirite?

Whatevs. I like nail art, so I'll gladly add whatever they send to my nail wall. (Ignoring the little voice in my head that's lecturing about how jellies are too thin for nail art. Shut up, Little Voice. I want to feel like I got a bargain here.)

Ah, Little Voice might be right. The Topbox insert insists that this polish is worth $10-12, (minus some off if you allow for the fact that you didn't get to pick the colour ~10% seems about right), but if you pay that much, YOU ARE BAD AT SHOPPING!

Here it is for $6.95 at the first place I checked.

So...

Real value = $6.95 (Let's be magnanimous and call it $7.98 including tax)

Sooo...

Moisturizer Beauty Balm:                $2.04
Volumizer that scares me:                $2.51
Gold leaf jerk cream:                       $2.00
Gumby tween polish:                       $7.98

TOTAL:                                           $14.53 (I paid $13.56)

Sooo...not bad I guess, but none of these products is an awesome, spectacular deal, and I suspect that the cream samples (or their equivalents) can easily be had for free at Sephora, The Bay, Shoppers, Sears, etc...

I do also like getting mail, so there's that.

I'll keep up with Topbox for a couple of months, but at a yearly cost of $144 ($165.60 incl tax), I am hesitant. I just don't like getting mail that much.

Do you subscribe to any boxes? What are your opinions of them? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!! xoxo

Book Reviews! Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy

Okay, this won't really be a review, but more like a reaction...I hate spoilers sooo much that I don't think I can write a real review, as that would require me to give away plot and character details. Plus, obviously these are "good" books: both are American classics.

When I read a book or pick a movie to watch, I aim to know as absolutely little about it as possible. I never read the back or watch trailers if I can help it. Basically, if it's by an author I like, a genre I enjoy, and maybe the setting appeals to me, I'm ALL IN.

So...that brings me to Theodore Dreiser.

Careful, Theodore! I think that room you're in
might be haunted!!

Dreiser was an American fella who wrote throughout the early 20th Century. He lived from 1871-1945.

His novels are part of realist/naturalist movement. In a nutshell, that means that you can expect ideas about environment and heredity affecting characters, their ambitions and place in society. Naturalism exists kind of in contrast to other movements from around the same time, such as Surrealism or Romanticism.

These are my favourite kinds of novels!! They can be a little pessimistic and depressing, but I'm just really interested in what happens to characters when they chase their ambitions in different environments. Also, for some reason, I just love stories set in oldie-times America or Europe. I also really like stories that show class differences and what happens when oldie-times people try to move between classes. I think it's because Annie was one of my first and most beloved movies ever. Got bit by the bug, I guess...

This pic is so cool. I would get a poster of it if I could...

So, I've spent the past three weeks or so reading these two novels. I started with Sister Carrie because I heard a podcast where they said I should read it, and I agreed with that assessment. It was written in 1900, but is set in 1890: my kind of book!

Without spoiling too much, it is really, really good if you like books about people and environments. Otherwise, you will probably find it boring.

I LOVED it!

Sister Carrie is a teen-aged girl (before that was really a thing), who leaves the farm to seek...something...in Chicago. The book opens on her train journey towards a new life, and that's all the spoiling you'll get from me!!

There are several characters who get the unlimited omniscient treatment, which is something I always enjoy. Good things happen, bad things happen, and I kept reading and reading and reading. Highly recommend!

Would you trust this man?

I liked Sister Carrie soooo much that I was disappointed when it ended - not by the ending, but that there was no more book left to read. And also a little bit by the ending. Thus, I opened up the Kindle store and bought An American Tragedy, hoping to keep the good times rolling. ("Good times" really in no way relating to the content of the stories.) It was like $6 because it's super-old...nobody wants to read it anymore? Sad...

The downside of e-reading: no page numbers! Boooo. Your progress through the novel is represented in a percentage that you can tap on the bottom of the screen to see. Due to my aforementioned hatred of spoilers, even those that relate to book length, I never look at the percentage read display. However, I suppose there is some subconscious security that I get from a paperback book, where I know approximately where I am in the progression of the story. This only bothers me in longer novels, and holy smokes this novel is LOOOONNNGGGG! The mass market paperback offered on Amazon shows it at 896 pages. I just kept thinking it was almost over, then...more book! It's actually 3 books in one, and each really is a stand-alone story in the main character's life, building on what came before it.

I totally enjoyed this novel, and would recommend it to readers who have a lot of time to devote to it. You spend so long reading it, it's like you will miss it when it's over...lots of good and bad things happen. Dreiser is especially good at creating a sort-of anti-hero: a character who does some horrible things, but you kind of understand his mind and background, and maybe root for him a little bit. You end up feeling sympathy, empathy, disgust, horror, love, sadness...what a ride! This book also gave me lots to think about regarding the title. What is the nature of tragedy? In what myriad ways is this book tragic? Why is this specifically an "American" tragedy? Well done, Mr. Dreiser!

This is the Green-Davidson Hotel in Kansas City, where Clyde gets his first
taste of the good life.

BTW - fair warning - this is *not* a feel-good story. But I guess you could probably guess that from the title.

One thing I think is interesting about this novel (written in 1925) compared to Sister Carrie (1900) is how much more explicitly Dreiser is able to portray the romantic relationships. I mean, it's not exactly 50 Shades of Gray or anything (which, my grandmother, Rainy, gleefully declares to be "absolutely filthy!"), but in the earlier novel, while "inappropriate" adult relationships are apparent, they are never directly described or addressed. Here, they are not only alluded to, but also "explicitly" described in the most artful and subtle way. Surprisingly (or not) it was banned in Boston in 1927 for being obscene.

Ain't no bellhops here.

This is interesting, also, when compared to the reaction to D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. An American Tragedy is not even close to as, um, "romantically detailed" as Lady Chatterley's Lover, which was written only three years later, and is waaay more explicit. Lawrence's novel was published in an edited form in 1930 the US, and eventually published unabridged in the UK in 1958. Penguin Publishing faced an obscenity lawsuit for publishing it, but was eventually found not guilty of publishing obscene material.  Contrastingly, with An American Tragedy, an assistant editor to the publisher was actually convicted for "selling an obscene, indecent or impure book", a conviction that was later upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Is it possible that Americans were more conservative than Europeans back then? (Hmmm...)

Anyway, don't seek out this novel if you're looking for juicy affairs or anything: check out 50 Shades or one of its hundreds of knock-offs for that. However, if you want a compelling and interesting plot, insanely developed character study, and a book that will consume many, many hours of your life, An American Tragedy is the book for you!

What are you reading this summer? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!! xoxo