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One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2017 – Meal 7

 

This one was actually made on June 12th, but lazy blogger is lazy (there’s a theme around here).  I decided to go wild and make my own pasta when I realized that my basil planters were getting out of control and needed to be thinned out anyway.  I already had mushrooms in the fridge, and went and added sauteed broccoli rabe and roasted beets onto the plate to add a little more vegetable to the carbs.  Pasta is actually pretty easy to make – my go-to recipe involves 1 cup of flour to 1/4th cup of liquid which can be anything from pureed roasted beets to plain old water or an egg.  Having the fancy Kitchen-Aid pasta attachment means there’s no kneading either, just fold, process through, refold, repeat until you get the right springy consistency.  It probably takes me all of 5 or 10 minutes to be honest!  The clean-up can be a little bit more involved since flour goes ev-ery-where (I’m the tazmanian devil in the kitchen, really), but it’s just so much better than the boxed stuff, even if it is more work.  For the pesto sauce, I used basil, a little bit of olive oil, water, garlic scapes, and some clover cheese from the Collective Creamery Cheese CSA delivery, all pureed with the stick blender.  The mushrooms and broccoli were sauteed together in a pan with olive oil, garlic, and a little splash of homemade vinegar.  The beets were roasted with olive oil and salt.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t go back to the tray of beets and polish them off later because it’s really easy to finish three beets when they’ve roasted down to sweet, delicious little bite-sized snacks.

Ingredients:
Flour –  Mill at Anselma
Basil – My Garden
Garlic Scapes –  Jack’s Farm
Beets –  Jack’s Farm
Broccolo Rabe –  North Star Orchard
Mushrooms –  Oley Valley Mushrooms
Garlic –  Charlestown Farm
Cheese – Valley Milkhouse
Non Local – homemade vinegar, olive oil, salt

Subscription Boxes

Beautycon Summer 2017

 

I think this is my last Beautycon box on my year-long subscription, and I’ll admit that I was thinking about unsubscribing since this subscription has been a bit more miss than hit since it seems to cater to a younger demographic.  This box though?  Pretty freaking amazing.  There are a bunch of cruelty free companies I know and love in here, sheet masks, lip colors that are PERFECT, and blue eyeliner?  It’s like I put the box together myself.  If they keep on this track, I’ll totally stick around for a quarterly box that looks like this!  It’s a bit of a smaller box, but I feel like the quality of the items is much higher than past boxes that contained cheap drug store or dollar store items.  There were two box ambassadors this time, Kim Thai and Aidette Cancino, both of whom I’ve never heard of before and weren’t even mentioned on the box insert.

  • Deco Miami Cuticle Oil – 6 mL / $12.50 – (Product is full size)  The scent is “Lemon Blossom” and it does smell sweet and lemony without smelling like a kitchen dish soap.  It’s also vegan and cruelty free and is a company I know and love already, so it’s great to get cuticle oil from this company!
  • Deco Miami Crystal Nail File – 1 file / $10.50 – (Product is full size)  More Deco Miami, and again, a great inclusion to go along with the oil.  The crystal nail file is pink (eew) but it’s a nail file, so, the color isn’t as much of a deal breaker, but I’d still have preferred any of the pretty blue colors they have on their website.
  • Feel Brilliant Sheet Mask – 4 masks / $35 – (2 masks included, value of $17.50)  The mask is meant to be a detoxifying mask, removing oil and minimizing pores.  I just don’t believe the detoxifying bit, but if it helps keep breakouts away, I’m here for it.  Plus, sheet masks are just a fun pampering sort of thing to do when you need some me-time.
  • Dirty Little Secret Eyeshadow Crayon – 3 g / $14 – (Product is full size)  The color is “Gold Plated” and is a perfectly neutral shimmery gold color.  I love this sort of color for summer, and the formula goes on smoothly and blends out easily.
  • ColourPop  Ultra Satin Lip – 3.2 g / $6 – (Product is full size)  The color is “London Fog” and is this gorgeous, perfect red.  It does take a little while to dry, but once it does, it feels like the color will easily last hours and hours.  It’s also matte without feeling too drying, and I seriously love that color.
  • Jonteblu Eyeliner Pencil – 1.2 g / $5 – (Product is full size)  The color is “Electric Bleu” and is a metallic blue color.  I tend to go for blue eyeliner since it makes the greens in my eyes pop, so this is definitely going to be used right away!
  • Makeup Drop Silicone Makeup Applicator – 1 applicator / $20 – (Product is full size)  What a neat idea!  I’ve used beauty blender sponges before, but the idea with this is that you waste less product because the silicone applicator won’t absorb makeup, and the non porous surface allows for a more even application.  It can be used for foundation, blush, highlighers, concealers, moisturizers, and primers, so I’ll have to give this a whirl and report back, but I love the idea.
  • Doucce Lush Lip Gloss – 1 tube / $22 – (Product is full size)  The color is “Glistening Petals” which is a neutralish shimmery pink.  For a gloss, it goes on creamy and smooth, not sticky at all, and is rather well pigmented.  The color is very tame and really rather lovely as an everyday wear sort of shade.
  • Freeman Cucumber Peel-Off Gel Mask – 6 oz / $4.29 – (Product is .5 oz, value of $.36)  Peel off masks are so much fun, and this is going to be great to use after an icky hot summer day out.  It is a second mask product in the box, but it’s not a sheet mask, so I’m okay with a sort-of duplicate item since it is different enough.
  • Manna Kadar Flutter Mascara – 10 mL / $29 – (Product is full size)  The color is “Jet Black” and is from a company I already know and love.  I haven’t yet tried this mascara, but I’ll have to report back once I do.  The ingredient list is short and simple, most of them being silicones and waxes, so it looks like this will be okay for my sensitive eyes.

All in all, the box value comes to $136.86.  Historically, the boxes have ranged between a $100 and $150 value, so this is right around average.  My monthly cost is only $26.79 including shipping since I caught a great special a year ago, but the regular price is $35.99 a box which still makes this a great value.  It’s pretty much on par with cost to value ratio as the Benevolent Beauty Box and this month it was completely cruelty free as well, so that’s an extra big win in my book!  If they can commit to delivering cruelty free products in these quarterly boxes, I will DEFINITELY be staying on for more.  The big winners for me in this box were the ColourPop lip color, and the Jonteblu eyeliner for sure, but I honestly love and will use absolutely everything in this box.  SO SO glad to see all these wonderful cruelty free items!

Subscription Boxes

Benevolent Beauty Box June 2017

 

This month’s Benevolent Beauty Box arrived over a week ago, but I’m still catching up!  I have to admit that the first thing I saw was that pink nail polish and I was a little disappointed since I haaaate pink, so that meant one item that I’d be trading or giving away right off the bat.  The rest of the box is pretty great though (as usual), I’m just bummed about the nail polish color.  My nails are barely ever naked, so nail polish is always welcome, but ..  pink?  No.  Any other color though!

  • Law Beauty Essentials Nail Polish – .37 oz – $9 – (Product is full size)  The color is “A Lot of Spice” which is this coralish pink, and personally, I think it’s probably the worst nail polish color ever.  I can at least respect a bolder fuchsia pink for being wild (even if I’d still never wear it, because pink), but a weak, light coral pink like this?  Ugh.  I just don’t like pink, so this is going to go to someone who does, and I’m going to sit here wishing it was a bright red or ocean blue instead.
  • Palmetto Derma Essential Moisturizing Cream – 2 oz / $48 – (Product is full size)  WHOA!  A super high value product, and one that I’m sure will last me a good long while!  The tiniest bit goes a long way, and the ingredient list is pretty amazing.  It dispenses out of the pump bottle as a thick cream and dries to a soft, matte finish.  I gave it a quick try, and I like how the formula works into my skin.  This is going to be great for both summer and winter since it feels so nice and light, but also feels like it’s crazy moisturizing too.
  • Ardency Inn Modster Light-Catching Eye Powder – .052 oz / $32 – (Product is full size)  This is pretty spendy for a mineral eyeshadow, but the color, “Purple Hearts,” is so right up my alley.  It’s a dark, rich purple with a lovely shimmery glitter in it, and I can’t wait to use this on a night out!
  • LARITZY Lip Pencil – 1 pencil / $18 – (Product is full size)  I don’t really use lip pencils much, but this is a solid, nice neutral color that would go well under a tinted gloss.  I just wish it was a softer lip crayon instead of a pencil since it is a little too hard of a formula to put all over your lips , but works out as a liner rather well.  The color just about perfectly matches my natural lip color too, so it would work well as an ‘invisible’ lip liner to keep feathery lipstick in place.
  • IDUNN Minerals Lip Gloss – 6 mL / $15 – (Product is full size)  The color I received is “Astrid” which is a shimmery pinky color.  The color doesn’t show up as much as the shimmer does, but it looks great over the LARITZY lip pencil and isn’t too sticky of a gloss either.  It would probably go really well over some bolder lip colors to give them a bit of shimmer too.

Overall the box value comes to $122 which is incredible for a box that costs $29.95 on a month-to-month basis!  The only miss this month was the nail polish, but I’m definitely keeping and using the other four items, and I do love how well the lip pencil and gloss play together.  The value on this box is always amazing, and I feel like it’s probably the best fit out of all the boxes I get in terms of the products I want to see in boxes (mostly makeup, a little skincare, everything cruelty free).  Looking forward to the next one!

Subscription Boxes

Vegan Cuts June 2017

 

June’s Vegan Cuts Beauty Box arrived over a week ago, but I’m finally posting it now!  June’s theme was, “Uplifting Beauty,” so I expected aromatherapy sort of products, and it definitely delivered!  There is a repeat company from last month, Little Moon, but it’s a different product in a different scent, so that’s totally fine with me.  There are two items that are misses (the lip product and body cream), but everything else is great!

  • Little Moon Mineral Bath – 382 g / $16 – (Product is 28 g, value of $1.17 by volume)  The scent for this bath salt is “Beach All You Want” and was the scent I was interested in after looking at the company last month.  It almost smells a bit like Tang, but the sandalwood and coconut make it just a bit more interesting than just plain citrus.  The product card mentions that this can be used as a shower scrub as well which is something I hadn’t thought about doing with bath salts like this!  I’m not really into baths, so that’s a great way to repurpose these scrubs.  Looks like I can add the salt mixture to coconut oil to make a really nice scrub too!
  • Jing Ai Lip & Cheek Glo – .15 oz / $10 – (Product is full size)  The color is “Pink Chiffon.”  I was SO excited about this until I put it on and it looked like I had colored my lips with pale pastel pink chalk.  The formula is so great, but the color is a COMPLETE miss.  It’s lightly lemon-lime scented, and I seriously do love the formula, but the color.. ugh.  It’s unwearable.  I may be able to use it to layer over darker reds to bring them up a little or add a pearly pink shimmer, but as-is?  It’s a nope.  I’m just too pale to be able to pull off such a chalky pink color.
  • Sade Baron Body Cream – 2 oz / $9.00 – (Product is full size)  The scent is “Jasmine” which is my all-time most-disliked scent.  I did give it a quick try in the spirit of fairness, and I do like the formula, but the jasmine scent is a total deal breaker.  I really loathe smelly florals like this.  It’s a shame, because the company does have other scents available (Lavandin!!) and even an unscented version, but this scent is a complete pass for me.
  • Clarisea Powder Exfoliant – 5 oz / $14 – (Product is 1 oz, value of $2.80)  The scent is “Lavender” and this smells SO good – it’s an herbal lavender instead of a sweet, soapy lavender.  The idea is that you add a little to your regular face cleanser to add an exfoliating boost.  The scrub is finer than a coarse sugar or salt scrub, so it’s a little gentler on your skin.  I did give this a try already, added to my usual cleanser, and it was just the right level of scrub without being too harsh.
  • Adoratherapy Mood Boost Spray – 10 mL / $30 – (Product is 8 mL, value of $24 by volume)  What cute packaging!  This came in a neat little slide box with the spray nestled inside a foam insert.  The scent I received is “Awake” which is a blend of  organic lavender, frankincense, patchouli, rosewood, tulsi, neroli and cinnamon.  This is a really fun scent!  Cinnamon can sometimes overpower everything, and you can tell the cinnamon is there up front, but it’s tempered by the other ingredients and blends into something that really does smell energizing.  I totally dig it.
  • Earthly Body Miracle Oil – 1 oz / $11.99 – (Product is .34 oz, value of $4.08 by volume)  It’s a blend of soybean, avocado, hemp, apricot, jojoba, tea tree, eucalyptus, and rosemary oils meant to be used anywhere your skin needs a little boost.  Some of the suggestions include dry feet/heels, nails and cuticles, stretch marks, etc.  It mostly smells like tea tree oil, but that’s pretty pungent stuff, so it’s going to take over wherever it’s used.  A wee little drop does go a long way, and this will be great to stash away for dry winter skin.

Overall the value comes to $51.05 which is great for a box that costs $22.95 on a month-to-month basis!  I’m a little bummed that the two full size products were misses for me, but that still leaves me with my cost covered, and I do really love that Adoratherapy spray scent.  I’m glad that they suggested the mineral bath can be used as a scrub because I’m definitely going to do that.  Even with the two misses, this was a pretty good box, and there was a nice variety of products!  Looking forward to next month!

Subscription Boxes

Geek Chic Monthly – June 2017

 

This one is a new one for me, Geek Chic Monthly!  Each monthly box contains four items around a theme, and June’s theme was  Stranger Things.  I’m probably the only person in the world who really wasn’t that into the series – it was too long by about 6.5 hours (it should’ve been a 1.5 hr movie, and you could tell there was superfluous fluff added to fill space and make it a series), the plot premise was nothing new, and the only leg it had left to stand on was all the awesome 80’s kitsch which is cool and all, but not enough substance to make the series truly something good.  It left me more than a little disappointed.  Still though, the theme of friendship and all the great call backs to my childhood made it worth watching, but it doesn’t get a place in my top-10 favorites.  On to the box!  The box itself has artwork on the outside which is a neat touch and so fun to see inside the mailbox, and I love that each box is customized for the theme.

  • Eleven’s Waffles Earrings – A cute set of earrings from Malyn’s Handmade as a nod to Eleven’s favorite food.  Super cute and realistic looking, these are going to be fun to wear just because!
  • Friends Don’t Lie Bracelet – It’s an ID tag style bracelet on a satin cord with an adjustable slider that has “011” printed on it.  The face of the bracelet says, “Friends Don’t Lie,” which is a quote from the series.
  • Barb “I’m Chill” Sunglasses – Pink sunglasses with a little image of Barb and “I’m Chill” written on the side.  This is the only thing I’ll be passing on to a friend since I hate pink, and I wear prescription glasses, so non-prescription sunglasses are useless for me.  I mean, it’s a cute idea, and I love seeing Barb getting a shout out in the box, but they’re just something I can’t use (contacts aren’t really an option for me anymore, total bummer).
  • Upside Down Necklace – This is so neat!  It’s Upside Down, upside down (and backwards in the photo, oops!).  The material is a laser cut acrylic and the chain is just the right length.  This is going to be so much fun to wear.

As far as a value goes, the box costs $15 per month plus shipping.  I signed on for the 6 month plan, so my total cost per month is $16.  Each item would have to be worth $4 to make the value exceed the cost, and I think that’s definitely been done here!  Similar earrings on Etsy from the same shop go for $10.99, so we’re already pretty close to covering the cost right there.  Even if the sunglasses weren’t a good fit for me, everything was such a great fit to the theme, and the box worked well as a whole.  I am SUPER psyched for next month’s theme which is Star Trek and Alien!

Subscription Boxes

Sephora Play! June 2017

 

This month’s Sephora Play! arrived last week on June 10th, but I’m running a little behind this month!  I think this is the earliest I’ve ever received a Play box and it completely surprised me since I hadn’t even received the shipping email (the email came after the box had arrived).  My box variant this month was #042 and the theme was, “Your Summer Starters.”  Again, not really much of a theme – there’s nothing with SPF or anything that really says summer to me, but these themes are always kind of nebulous and not really followed with the product selection.  The bag design is back to that awful cartoonish design that I’m just not into.

  • Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick – 6.6 mL / $20 – (Product is 3 mL, value of $9.09 by volume)  The color I received is “K-Dub” which is described as a bold fuchsia.  I absolutely love Kat Von D, but this color is completely unwearable.  Between this and that awful brown lip crayon from last month.. Sephora, are you drunk?!  They keep sending the world’s most unwearable colors!  This shows up as a neon hot pink on me, and it’s awful.  I’m not sure anyone could hear me over that lip color, it’s so loud and awful.  I tried layering other colored glosses on top, but it’s just such a bizarre shade and doesn’t play well with others.  The formula is great – velvety and smooth without being too drying –  but the color makes it a garbage toss.
  • Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium – 1.6 oz / $91 – (Product is .04 oz, value of $2.28 by volume)  The scent is described as having notes of coffee, orange blossom, cedarwood, and patchouli which is FINALLY a win for the type of scents I like.  It’s not at all floral, but musky and rich, and I really dig this.  Again, probably not enough to buy the full size since YSL tests on animals, but enough to use up the sample here in short order.
  • Ouai Rose Hair & Body Oil – 3 oz / $32 – (Product is .28 oz, value of $2.99 by volume)  Wow.  A hair oil that actually contains oils, no silicones, and a product from Ouai that isn’t incredibly over-scented!  The first ingredient is Sunflower seed oil, followed by a bunch of other oils, but there is still one troubling ingredient,  Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, which was shown in a study this year to potentially damage human DNA and cause genome mutations, so that kind of ruins the product for me since I don’t need a UV-B blocker in my hair products anyway, and especially not one that can potentially cause cancer.  The company is cruelty free, but apparently that doesn’t extend to using dangerous, damaging ingredients.
  • Benefit The POREfessional Face Primer – .75 oz / $31 – (Product is .1 oz, value of $4.13 by volume)  It’s a silicone based primer.  Ehh.  It’s really expensive for a silicone primer that’s like all the other silicone primers, and I’m just not into them since I don’t really use primers or foundation basically ever.  I also don’t have a problem with large pores, so this is a miss for me.  Also, the company engages in animal testing since they sell in China, so I refuse to buy anything from this company.
  • IGK Rich Kid Coconut Oil Gel – 5 oz / $27 – (Product is .5 oz, value of $2.70 by volume)  I was so excited about this at first since this is a cruelty free company and coconut hair oil gel?  Sounds like me!  Unfortunately, the product list contains a bunch of silicones and acrylates in between the excellent oils, so this is a pass since I don’t use silicones on my hair (I do a low/no shampoo routine and since silicones and acrylates build up in your hair and I don’t use products with SLS/ALS to scour them out, I can’t use silicones either).  I’m completely bummed – this product would’ve been spot on perfect without the silicones or acrylates, but, as it is, it’s a pass for me.
  • First Aid Beauty Coconut Skin Smoothie Priming Moisturizer – 1.7 oz / $28 – (Product is .34 oz, value of $5.60 by volume)  It’s another silicone based primer, but this one has more fruit extracts in it.  So, two primers in this box.  Yay?  This one is a little better of a match since it’s a moisturizer/primer in one, but the company changed their policy recently and are now not really cruelty free, so it’s not something I’d buy (the company refuses to certify that their ingredients aren’t tested on animals, but the end product isn’t tested on animals, so it’s a grey area).

The total value for this month came to $26.79 which is definitely the lowest value box I’ve ever received from Sephora.  I mean, the cost is only $10.60 per month including tax, so the value of the products still exceeds the cost, but personally, this box was very nearly a complete waste this month.  Another awful, unwearable lip color, TWO hair products I can’t use, TWO boring primers, and the only thing I think I’m keeping and using is the perfume.  The duplicate products are getting annoying too – it would be great if we could even things out and have a variety of products in each box instead of two primers or three highlighters in the same month.  This is also my 12th month of Sephora Play! and I have to admit that the last three boxes (this one included) have been terrible misses for what I’m interested in, and even worse misses according to my profile for this box.  Sephora, I want you to do better.  I know you can.  Otherwise, I’m going to have to call it quits.

Subscription Boxes

Vegan Cuts Cosmic Beauty Haul

 

Vegan Cuts has had some neat specials recently and one of them was this Cosmic Beauty Haul featuring 17 beauty items for $45 which was a really great value.  It’s not part of the regular monthly subscription, but is a special one-off promotion.  There may be some available still if you click the link here.  I’m just going to list the items and values here without reviews since there are a lot of items and it’s too much to try them all right away and report back with honest impressions of them all.

  • Yes to Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal Facial Wipes – 30 wipes / $5.99 – (Full Size Product)
  • NCLA Nail Wraps – 1 set / $16 – (Full Size Product)
  • Briogeo Rosarco Milk – 1.75 oz / $9.00 – (Travel Size Product)
  • Eden Peppermint Tea Tree Shampoo – 8 oz / $8.99 – (Product is 2 oz, value of $2.25 by volume)
  • DermOrganic Intensive Hair Repair Masque – 3 oz / $6.99 – (Product is 2 oz, value of $4.66 by volume)
  • The All Natural Face Lip Gloss – .43 oz / $4.60 – (Full Size Product) Color is “Frosted Berries”
  • Nubian Heritage Patchouli & Buriti Soap – 5 oz / $4.99 – (Full Size Product)
  • Goddess Garden Bright Eyes – .5 oz / $17.99 – (Full Size Product)
  • Herbal Transdermal Deep Pore Mineral Toner – 8 oz / $15 – (Product is 2 oz, value of $3.75)
  • Gleam Lip Radiance – 5 g / $12 – (Full Size Product) Color is, “Uncontrollable”
  • DeVita Soft Lines – 1 pencil / $14.95 – (Full Size Product) Color is, “Absolute Obsidian”
  • Clarisea Deep Pore Detox Activated Charcoal Exfoliating Mask – 2 oz / $14 – (Product is 1 oz, value of $7 by volume)
  • Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Day Cream – 1.7 oz / $24.95 – (Product is .4 oz, value of $5.87 by volume)
  • Terre Mere Large Angled Contour Brush – 1 brush / $32 – (Full Size Product)
  • Modish Polish – .45 oz / $12 – (Full Size Product)  Color is, “Control Freak”
  • The Ariel Company Cupid Lip Scrub – .3 oz / $9 – (Full Size Product)
  • Vegan Cuts Cosmic Beauty Bag – $10?

The total value comes out to $172.05 by my calculations.  The advertised value was over $190, so it’s a little bit off, but still an incredible deal for the $45 cost.  I wasn’t sure how to account for the value of the bag, so I may be a little low on that, plus the Gleam Lip Radiance was on sale at half off since it’s a discontinued/clearance item, so  depending on how you count those (full retail vs current price), you’d get closer to the $190 advertised value.  Either way, the value comes out to almost 4 times the cost, and that bag is pretty cute, so it’s totally worth it in my book!  The big winners for me are the hair masque since it looks like it’s perfect for my curly hair, the nail polish, bag, and Briogeo Rosarco Milk (already a favorite!).  I love these special one-off boxes as a neat treat-yourself sort of thing, and it’s nice to get a selection of products without subscribing to a regular monthly box.  While I do subscribe to Vegan Cuts Beauty Box, these are products I hadn’t yet seen since I’ve only gotten one box from them so far, so this was great since it had old favorites and brands that were new to me.

Subscription Boxes

Stitch Fix June 2017

 

This is now my fourth Stitch Fix!  I did put in a request this month for a summery maxi dress and cardigan, and of course, Lana delivered.  As usual, she wrote me a little note about the pieces included.

Hi Melissa!  Hope you had a great holiday weekend.  The way you paired that yellow skirt with that denim shirt looks so fabulous on you.  I see you are looking for a summer maxi dress, and I know you like polka dots, so I chose for you the Gilli Knit Maxi Dress which also has that empire waist you love.  Layer it with the white crochet cardigan and pair with your favorite sandals for a stylish look perfect for your next summer event.  I spotted the Beauport Off The Shoulder dress on your Pinterest board, so I also included it today.  It has that vintage vibe you can rock with a fun colored head scarf and some wedges.  I also chose the Brixon Ivy lace overlay blouse for you which you can pair with your black Makers skinny jeans for a night out with your husband.  Enjoy and please let me know if you have any summer requests next time!  XO Lana

LOL it’s always good to know you’re on the right track with styling ideas when your Stitch Fix stylist compliments you on your pairing choices!  I didn’t mention it last month, but the fact that these clothes come to my door and I can dig through my closet for things to pair them with is probably one of the greatest things about the service.  Say you go out shopping.  You find a few tops you think might work with pants or skirts you have at home.  You bring them home, find out that they just don’t jive with the colors and pieces you already have, and after you have them on again at home, you end up going all the way back to the store to return them.  It’s a hassle and wastes gas and time.  With Stitch Fix, I get to play around with the clothes I have in my closet and the only gas I’m using is a stop at the  post office while I’m out running other errands anyway.  I’m much more certain of the pieces I keep from Stitch Fix than I have ever been with brick-and-mortar store-bought clothes!

Okay, so this month’s fix.  When I opened the box and saw what was inside, I thought uh oh, this is going to be another 5-piece-winner box, because everything looked so perfect.  And, it is all perfect in theory, but there are some fit issues, and I’m having trouble justifying keeping everything when the fit isn’t that great.  I’d love to say, oh sure, I’ll just hem or alter these pieces to make them work, but knowing how busy things are getting, it’s not going to happen in time to wear them before the end of summer, so I need to be a little more picky about fit this time around.  Photos are inside again since it’s raining .. AGAIN.  Or STILL.  I’m not quite sure which one it is anymore!

Item: Brixon Ivy Willard Lace Overlay Blouse
Cost: $54
Paired With:  Makers Lianne Skinny Jean (last month’s Fix), sandals  (mine), cardigan  (mine)
BLUE!  Blue is my favorite color, and this is such a pretty shade of blue.  The top is sleeveless so adjusting my preferences worked to get me sleeveless tops.  I’m still going to toss a cardigan over them since I don’t like my arms, but it’s nice to have the flexibility to go either way.  This really does go nicely with the jeans from last month, and the lace detail at the top is really cute.  I honestly don’t have too many nice tops like this – during the summer, I find it’s easier to throw on a dress and cardi, so it’s nice to fill in that style gap in my wardrobe with tops that can really be worn any season.  It is a little sheer so I do have a cami on underneath.  The fabric is polyester in the front with a black rayon/spandex blend for the back and is made in China.  This is definitely a keeper.

Item: 41Hawthorn Carla Crochet Detail Blouse
Cost: $58
Paired With:  Makers Lianne Skinny Jean (last month’s Fix), sandals  (mine), cardigan  (mine)
I think we have another winner of a top!  This pretty green top is really sheer so I do have a cami on underneath.  This top is sleeveless as well and the crochet detail runs around the outside edge of the arm openings to the back.  I paired this with a cardigan again because, cardigan.  It fits nicely and drapes well too.  The fabric is 100% polyester and is made in China.  This one is a keeper too.

Item: Gilli Grace Knit Maxi Dress
Cost: $74
Paired With:  Michel Studio Calantha Crochet Detail Cardigan (this month’s fix), wedges (mine)
Oh boy.  I LOVE the idea of this dress, and I did ask for a maxi dress this month.  The polka dots, neckline, empire waist – it’s all perfect.  But.. once I put it on?  It just doesn’t work for me.  For the photo, I dragged out the 4″ high ankle-breaker wedges, and you can’t even see them because the dress is so long (or I’m so short).  The top is HUGE and gapes at the arm openings around the bust, but then it’s just a little too snug through the lower abdomen.  Usually dresses with an empire waist open up so that the hip sizing is free and open, but this was pretty fitted straight down to the top of my thighs where the skirt finally started to open up.  If I sized up so I had more room through the middle, it would be MUCH too large in the bust.  The fabric is problematic too – it’s a polyester/spandex knit with a viscose/spandex lining that only goes to about knee-length.  It’s one of those stretchy, jumpy, bouncy fabric blends that doesn’t drape nicely and shows off every last lump and bump, especially the ones in my midsection (you can’t tell in a straight-on photo, but the side view, even with shapewear, just .. no).  It kills me because this is GORGEOUS, but I’m awful with crazy high heels like that, and it’s just a little too form fitting through the middle for me to feel comfortable.  I might have been able to take up the skirt at the empire waist, but  the lining is sewn to  the dress at the waist seam which would mean separating the two so that I don’t shorten the lining too far, and it’s just too much work.  I would’ve absolutely kept this if it was a cotton blend and if it wasn’t as fitted through the middle, but with the fabric and fit issues, I’m going to have to pass.  It’s really a shame because this is spot on a great dress and the style idea is a match to what I like to wear, but the fabric and fit issues make it a return, unfortunately!

Item: Michel Studio Calantha Crochet Detail Cardigan
Cost: $54
Paired With:  Jeans, flats, black top (all mine)
I did ask for a cardigan, and Lana delivered!  I didn’t quite like this paired with the dress, so I tried something different, and I’m still not sure I like the sleeves.  The crochet detail at the edge of the sleeves is super cute, but the sleeves are way too wide and a weird inbetween length.  The sleeves don’t taper down along the arm but stay the same width the whole way, and the length falls between 3/4 and full length.  The crop length of the body is perfect (Hi, I’m short), but overall I think this may be a little too big.  I could probably exchange for a size smaller, but .. those sleeves just aren’t doing it for me.. the extra sleeve fabric doesn’t hang nicely and there’s so much extra fabric on the arms that I don’t think it looks terribly flattering either.  There’s a seam that runs under the arm and down the side, so it would be fairly easy to take that in to a shape I like, but for $54, I’m not feeling like doing so much extra work to dramatically alter a cardigan.  The fabric is a visocose/polyester/spandex blend, made in Cambodia.  I’m kind of 50/50 on this right now, but probably leaning just a little to the return side of things.

Item: Beauport Isabell Off The Shoulder Dress
Cost: $78
Paired With:  Flats (mine)
I did have this on my Pinterest board!  That big buffalo check seems to be everywhere this season, and I just love it.  The dress is a nice weight woven rayon with a polyester lining, made in the  Philippines.  I included that second picture because man this is sized SO big that you might be able to fit a second me inside the dress.  The waist is elastic, but when I had it on, the elastic wasn’t even stretched at all around my waist – it was just hanging loose.  This is a 2x, and I think going down to the 1x wouldn’t be enough (it was REALLY loose in the top/waist), but it’s not available in standard sizing, or at least, the website is showing those sizes as out of stock.  I really wish they posted size charts for the different brands online because that would make it so much easier to tell if the smaller size would fit or not.  I may try  the exchange anyway though because I do like the dress between the print and fabric, and did I mention it has POCKETS?!  I’m a sucker for pockets on a dress.  The verdict is still out – I may try to email support to see if they can tell me the waist measurement on the 1x before making my final decision.  (also, say hello to my weird tan lines [hi, weird tan lines!] – some  dummy forgot sunblock earlier in the season and got a little sun-roasted  wearing something with a different neckline.  oops!)

The total cost of all five items comes to $318.  If I kept all five, the 25% discount brings the box down to $218.50 after taking off the styling fee credit.  I’m definitely keeping those two tops, but the maxi dress is going back, and the cardigan and other dress may be going back too, but I’m going to take a day to confer with friends (and probably Instagram) and think on it.  It’s nice that I get a few days to think it over and decide whether or not I want to keep the pieces I’m not sure about.  For the record, too, all the pieces were the same size, but none of them fit at all the same – the last dress was about two sizes too big and the maxi dress was probably just a size too small in the bottom half.  Both tops were a good fit, but  then the cardigan was too big.  I feel like Goldilocks and the three dresses with clothes sometimes – I could pull three dresses the same size from different brands, but one is too big, one is too small, and every once in a while, one is just right.  I’ll be sure to update the post once I do decide, and if you have any thoughts about any of the pieces, I’d love to hear from you!  In case you’re thinking about trying Stitch Fix and want to give me a little love, here’s my referral link!

EDIT 13 June 2017: I contacted customer service regarding that last dress.  They didn’t have the exact measurements on that specific dress, but they were able to tell me that generally, sizing runs about 4″ different in the waist on plus sizes, and if the exchange didn’t work out, they could email me a return label to return the dress at no cost to me.  That’s a really generous exchange/return policy, so I went for the exchange.  The smaller size actually fits rather well!  It’s still a little big in the top, but not so much that it looks like it’s hanging off me like the size I was originally sent.  Clothes sizing, how does it even work?!  It still boggles my mind how wildly different clothes sizes can be across manufacturers and even within ‘fit’ styles for a single manufacturer (one company makes 5 different ‘fits’ of jeans all with slightly different waist/hip/rise ratios).  *sigh*