Original Fancy Box: February 2014

So last month’s original Fancy box was so awesome that it made up for all the screw-ups and let downs I had with Fancy last year.  I crossed my fingers that Fancy had turned a corner and now their boxes would be more better and more consistent. 

This month we got a new sized Fancy box.  Instead of our usual square, this mysterious rectangle appeared.
Closed Box
Open Box

Something to keep in mind is that the original Fancy let’s you choose the categories you  want to receive items from.  I have “Women’s”, “Gadgets”, and “Home” selected with “Men”  and “Media” unselected.

Book
Style Book II – Pattern & Print
(Amazon Retail: $20.91)
Verdict:  Miss
So this is one of coffee table books that focuses on Fashion and in particular patterns and prints.  To be honest, I don’t own many coffee table books because I have a small apartment and I prefer to fill up the space with things that are more useful.  I love fashion but I utilize Pinterest to keep photos of my favorite looks.  I also purposely have the “media” category unchecked and since their fashion magazines fall under that category, I believe this item would as well. 

Tie Bands
Twistband Hair Tie Sets
(Fancy Retail: $7.00)
Verdict:
  Like
Every subscription box that is remotely related to women will at some point send you twistbands.  I have a few and I like them so I have no problem picking up a few more colors.  Not exciting, but at least useful. 


Tights
Gipsy Contrast Heart Tights
(Fancy Retail: $16.00)
Verdict: On the Fence
And these tights contained the biggest lie ever perpetrated in fashion: “one size fits all”.  The design is cute, but I am *extremely* skeptical that these will fit me right or anyone else for that matter.   I could see this item in one of the celebrity curated boxes, but I just don’t quite feel it for the original Fancy subscription. 

Iron
EVA NYC Galaxy Ceramic Styling Iron
(Fancy Retail:$80.00; Amazon Retail: $55.00 )
Verdict: Miss
So is there a woman out there that can afford a $46+ subscription box, wants a styling iron and doesn’t already have one?  Anyone?  As far as I can tell this iron isn’t some special brand and the only unique thing about it is the fun galaxy design.  If this iron had some type of super cool feature that would make it an upgrade from a run of the mill version I would have been excited, but it doesn’t.  You can pick up styling irons like this one at TJ Maxx and Marshalls for a steal and I can’t see anyone buying it on Fancy for $80.  Maybe this brand is more special than my google-fu shows?  I’m just not feeling it.  This will most likely be gifted, sold or swapped.

 

Full Box
Overall:
Super Disappointed

Oh Fancy, how you like to break my heart so much.

First of all, this box was clearly a women’s box and I would have been much more understanding if this was the Jennifer Love Hewitt, Cocha Rocha or Kelly Rowland boxes, but it’s not.  I expect items from the various categories and I don’t think an overpriced, mediocre styling iron counts as a “gadget” or a picture book of fashion photos counts as “home”.
Cards 

With the lower Amazon price of the iron, the estimated retail “value” of this box was $98.91.  Somehow I ended up paying nothing for it. I know some of it came from referral credits (thanks folks!) but I had a Fancy gift card and refunds so I’m really not sure of the breakdown because Fancy’s credit and billing system is as confusing as John Travolta’s introductions.  I guess I lucked out with this free box since the only item I liked was the twistbands.

So do you guys like the styling iron?  Are you familiar with this brand and is it really worth $80?

Do you subscribe to the original Fancy?  If so what categories did you choose and what items did you get?

THE BACKSTORY

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:

 

COUPON CODE:  FOLLOWUP10 to Save 10%

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Original Fancy Box – January 2014

So as you know lately I haven’t been fancying Fancy all that much.  There have been a lot of mix-ups and lackluster boxes and just general lack of thought and oversight.  So this is a redemption box.  Fancy needs to impress me if they want to keep me subscribing to two of their boxes.  So let’s dive in and see if they managed to pull it off.
BoxPacked Open

Tshirt
Just Do You Tee(Fancy Retail: $28.00)
Verdict:  Hit
So I looked at this shirt and the “Just do me” emblazoned on the chest and my mind wandered to really inappropriate things. Thankfully, this one had a card with the following description, “New Year’s resolutions never seem to last the entire year, but this tee shirt sets a simple and yet awesome goal –Just Do You and everything will work out for the better.”  Okay, well that makes more sense, but I’m still not gonna be walking around the street with a shirt that says “Just Do Me.”  Now, the positives:  for the first time ever Fancy actually managed to include a Tshirt in the correct size I listed on my profile.  That’s one point on the redemption checklist.  The color is nice, the fabric isn’t too sheer and the neckline is on the higher side.  I can use this for working out and lounging around the house writing these blog posts, so I’m going to chalk this one up as a hit.

Rings Rings 2
Wrap Arrow Ring
& Athena Wrap Around Ring by Katie Dean Jewelry (Fancy Retail: $45.00 & $55.00)
Verdict:  Love!
You remember that cheap skull bracelet that Fancy kept sending me over and over again in the Jennifer Love Hewitt boxes?  Well believe it or not this is the same designer, but I would never have guessed it.  These two rings are gold plate over sterling silver and I adore them.  They are completely adjustable so you can work that knuckle ring trend when you want and then just turn them into regular rings when you’re not feeling it.  They’re adorable paired together, on their own, or mixed with other rings.  They’re a little bit dainty and a little bit edgy and a whole lot of fun.  This one adds at least 4 points to Fancy’s redemption score.

Book
Mini People Book(Fancy Retail: $15.00)
Verdict: Miss
You remember that itty bitty crate of even more itty bitty people that Fancy sent out a few months back?  It was part of contest where people could take photos, post them on Instagram and the best photo would win a gift card. Fancy made a little book out the winning photos.  I don’t mind the book, but it should not have a value and instead be a freebie bonus item. This thing is flimsier than the instruction booklet that comes with your blender.  If you’re willing to pay $15 for this thing, I have some property to sell you in Florida.  Minus one on the road to Fancy’s redemption.

Mug
Don’t F’king Procrastinate Mug
(Fancy Retail:$16.00)
Verdict: Miss
So this month, this is the item missing a description card.  But it’s really just a mug with some cursing on the front.  I like swearing, believe you me, but I’m just not quite feeling this mug.  I think the people that can use it are somewhat limited since you can’t take it to most jobs and people with kids probably don’t want them to see the kitchenware cursing at people.  Not sure this is the best thing to include in the regular Fancy subscription.  Another point taken away.

Cable
Crosslink Cable (
Fancy Retail: $18.00)
Verdict: LOVE!

So this is where we throw the redemption checklist out the window.  I LOVE this thing.  Every weekday (on a good day) it takes me 1 hour and ten minutes to go the whole 8 miles to work.  (You don’t want to know how long it takes on a bad day.)  Because of this, I carry around a bunch of gadgets – an iphone 5, an ipod touch and an old keyboard style kindle.  They each have their own charging cable.  So if I don’t want to run out of juice at the office I need to carry around 3 different cables.  This bad boy just replaced all of those.  Now I have one cable I can keep in my bag and use at work to charge all the gadgets that distract me from the epic quest that is my journey to and from work.  I showed this to my coworkers and they all plan to buy one.  This box could have been filled with just ten of those mini people books and this one cable and I would have still loved the box.

Full Box
Overall

So Fancy did replace the missing item from my last box (eyelash curler) so we are already square on that front.  According to Fancy, the value on this box is $177, removing the book that really should have no value, brings us to $162.  I had some credit from Fancy’s customer service which came to $34.95 being charged against the Fancy gift card I already had. This box was more than worth that to me.  I consider the mini book a bonus item and the mug will be given to my boyfriend who can use it around the house.  I’ll get use out of the t-shirt and I adore the rings.  And there just aren’t words for how much I am in love with that little cable.

Honestly, I was expecting this box to be pretty awful.  Between the past screw-ups and the lack of interesting items I just wasn’t feeling like Fancy was putting much effort into their boxes.  But this box actually, impossibly managed to redeem them.  So hat’s off to you Fancy.  Now let’s see how you do with the Jennifer Love Hewitt box.

Did you think this box redeemed Fancy or would you need more?

THE BACKSTORY

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:

 

COUPON CODE:  FOLLOWUP10 to Save 10%

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