Jennifer Love Hewitt Fancy Box: December 2013 “Welcome Box”

For info on Fancy subscriptions and a coupon code, jump down below.

If you’re still with me, let’s move on to the review of the December 2013 Jennifer Love Hewitt Fancy Box.

It seems this is the month that Fancy decided to test my blogging abilities.  First, there are no little cards to tell me about the products, but perhaps that’s not necessary since this box looks surprisingly familiar.  Why is it familiar?  Because it’s nearly identical to the very first Jennifer Love Hewitt Fancy box that was sent out in May.   Let’s discuss.

Cake Unisex Beanie in Black (Fancy Retail: $40.00)
Verdict:  Miss
A fluorescent orange beanie went out in the JLH May box, so technically this black one is a huge improvement.  While I like knit hats, I don’t really do logos and this is pretty boring as far as hats go.  (I like a little flair with my headgear).  Fancy is supposed to be about the fun cool stuff you might not think to buy.  I can get these hats at any street corner in NYC for about $5.  To its credit, the beanie is well made and seems durable.  It would probably be a pretty nice gift for a guy who doesn’t mind wearing logos.

Katie Dean Bad to the Bone Bracelet (Fancy Retail: $18.00)
Verdict:  Complete Miss
This exact bracelet was included in the May box.  From a fashion standpoint, I like the idea of mixing whimsical little skulls with a metallic bead.  From an execution standpoint this item fails.  If you’re going to string one strand of beads on an elastic cord, those beads need to be fabulous in order for your jewelry not to look cheap.  These beads are not fabulous, heck the gold ones are basically just pony beads.  It’s an incredibly cheap looking bracelet and looks more suited to middle-schoolers than a grown woman.  This would cost you at most $3.00 to make yourself (and I’m being generous).  I find this item to be the biggest disappointment in the whole box.

Urban Beats Headphones in Pink (Fancy Retail:$40.00; Amazon Retail: $32.50)
Verdict:  Hit!
These headphones were included in the May box but in mint instead of pink.  I would have loved the mint as that shade is more my speed, but I’ve been looking for this style of headphone to use on cold days (I figure they can double as earmuffs).  The pink is fun even if it’s not what I would have chosen.

The Fancy Wayfarer(Fancy Retail:$30.00)
Verdict:  Like

The May box included the basic black wayfarers (shown in the link) while this one had a patterned pair.  I could always use an extra pair of sunglasses and I like the print and shape of these, however it seems an odd addition for this time of year.  They seem way better suited for that earlier box.  I do prefer this print to the solid black they sent out before.

Overall

With a Fancy discount coupon and a couple of referral dollars I was charged $25.30 which I used my gift card to cover.  The Fancy retail of this box was $128.00 and the retail with the lower Amazon price was $120.50.    Unfortunately I think both the beanie and the bracelet are far over-valued for what they are.

 Thankfully, the headphones coupled with my discount made this box worthwhile, because at full price I would have been hugely disappointed.  Even putting aside the fact that this box is pretty much a duplicate of a previous one and didn’t include any cards, it still doesn’t measure up. The bracelet is cheap, the beanie is boring and they could have done so much more interesting stuff for the holiday season.

I wasn’t subscribed at the time of the May box, so thankfully this box isn’t a duplicate for me.  I’m interested to see what happens for currently subscribed folks that received that May box already.   Will they be getting something different or a redux of that same box?

I have to say that if there is a totally different December Jennifer Love Hewitt box that other subscribers receive, I will be uber disappointed and probably put in a complaint to Fancy.  While the original subscription is different per customer, the celebrity ones are supposed to be the same for all the subscribers and I feel like I’ve gotten the leftovers instead of a brand, spanking new celebrity box.

So the question for you dear readers is: even if you hadn’t received the box before, would you be upset to receive a duplicate of an older celebrity box instead of the current one?

UPDATE!!!
I contacted Fancy about recieving an older box instead of the current one and got a very quick response. It is as follows: “Whenever a Fancy Box subscription is cancelled, and re-subscribed, the latest one is always treated as a new subscription. It just so happens the Jennifer Love Hewitt Subscription has a welcome box of her favorite items; when a new subscription comes in, that would be the box sent…This is only exclusive to that specific subscription.”

I had canceled and resubscribed in order to use a coupon code so that it what caused me to receive the “Welcome box” from May.  Fancy was gracious in their response and also gave me a $15 giftcard.  If you had a smiliar situation to mine, I’d suggest dropping them a line.  I’m not sure which other subscriptions are affected by this type of problem, but I was told the original Fancy box is not.

This “welcome box” issue is going to be extremely problematic for people that like to experiment by trying out different Fancy boxes thus canceling and resubscribing frequently.  So currently, if you are interested in the Jennifer Love Hewitt Fancy box and decide to subscribe today you will recieve this “Welcome Box” and not whatever the current box is.  After your welcome box, your subscription should just pick up with whatever is current. 

I strongly hope that Fancy rethinks how they’ve set up this subscription because if someone hates this box, they will still need to purchase it in order to get access to a Jennifer Love Hewitt subscription.  They are going to run into a lot of people just opting for a different subscription at Fancy or going to one of its competitors.  There will also be quite a few confused and angry subscribers who will read blogs like mine and wonder why they are getting a different box than everyone else.   Please fix this Fancy before the small problem becomes a big one.

 

THE BACKSTORY
Now is a fabulous time to try out Fancy.  For the Holidays they have 20% off everything on their site:  Just use the code HOLIDAY at Checkout!

Fancy Box is a monthly subscription service that curates items that are popular on the Fancy website.  There are a few different subscription options.  They all cost $39 plus shipping (an additional $7.95).

#1 –Fancy box (Original)
This box features a collection of some of the most fancy’d items, curated by the fancy community. Each box includes $80.00+ of products in the categories of your choice.
The categories you can choose from include: Men’s, Women’s, Kid’s, Home, Gadgets & Media.  It also lets you customize your Tshirt size and your cell phone type.

#2 Fancy Food Box
Each Fancy Food Box includes five or more food products – anything from cookies and chocolates to teas and sauces – along with a selection of tasty recipes and pairing suggestions.

#3 Celebrity Curated Fancy Box
There are seven celebrity curated boxes to choose from.  Each box includes $80.00+ of products.  Most boxes are geared toward men or women though they do include unisex items.

They include:

• Verbal Fancy Box  (This box is more geared towards Men)
• Cocha Rocha Fancy Box (This box is more geared towards Women)
• Tyler Florence Box  (This box focuses on home, kitchen & cooking items)
• Pink Fancy Box (This box is more geared towards Women)
• Jennifer Love Hewitt Box:(This box is more geared towards Women)
• Ashton Kusher Fancy Box: (This box is more geared towards Men)
• Kelly Rowland Fancy Box:  Brand New! (This box is more geared towards Women)

 

COUPON CODE:  FOLLOWUP10 to Save 10%