✜ Umba Box Review: Two Sweet Surprises to Start 2013
Umba Box is a weird box for two reasons:
① You never really know what's in there. The deal is that you get "handmade goods" every day. It can be jewelry, accessories, stationery or bath products.
② There aren't that many products in the box. Like 2, 3 products. So it's really like ordering a surprise.
I wasn't super-impressed by their last package, but I liked my January box.
I like hand-made little objects because:
☊ If it's cosmetics, then I'm learning things about the products that people decide to use when they make it themselves, and I'm discovering new brands that help me take care of my skin and stop using chemicals.
☋ If it's food, then I eat it and it makes me happy. Tout simplement. Home made food means: more candies, less guilt. Love that. There's a trend of putting home-made caramels in subscription boxes these days, that's a great idea. I suspect it is because caramels are very easy to make, so any one who is willing to find good quality products can make home-made organic caramels. And then I will eat them.
☊ If it is stationary, then it is wonderful. I love stationary. I love to write notes, to send cards, to scribble on notebooks. Home made stationary is very cool, and usually extremely expensive, so it's a good surprise to receive some in a box.
☋ If it is an other random little object, then it is either a good surprise for me or for someone else. I keep them for a friend who is having a bay day, or for a birthday, a congratulations present, etc. It is actually surprisingly helpful to have little presents at home, ready for when the occasion presents itself.
In the January box, I got:
✄ A 2013 Letterpress coaster calendar, by Sugarcube Press. Which is absolutely very lovely. It's on my night table as I am writing. Pictures will do a better job at explaining this one than words:
✄ A hand-made lip balm from Live Beautifully. Flavor is "warm pear cobbler", and it's cold out there, my lips are chapped, texture is comfortable, so it's cool. All ingredients are listed, and they're all natural stuff that make sense to put in a lip balm, so that's a good news too.
Price of the Umba Box: $25
- - BOX JURY - -
✎ Cooleness of the products: 8/10. The letterpress calendar is really awesome. I used it for myself, but it would have been a great present too.
✎ Value for money: 6/10. I still think that $25 is a little expensive. I've looked up the online price of the calendar, and it's $23,95. The lip balm is $3.
✎ Contextual Information: 10/10. The Umba comes with a little card that includes pictures of the people who actually made the products you receive. You have their names and their story, it's fun to read, and it's also the point of hand-made stuff: you want to know who is behind it, why they made that, etc. For that, Umba box rocks. Now when I look at my calendar, I know it was made by Kelsie & Elizabeth, who are devoted to using eco-friendly and sustainable products and who love to craft with their children.
WEBSITES: Umba Box, Live Beautifully, SugarCube Press.
