Thursday, February 28, 2013

February Loot Crate Review- Doctor

Loot crate is a monthly subscription service targeted to geeks and gamers. This is the only subscription box I know of that fits in that category, and I have a feeling it will inspire more boxes like it since loot crate has been so successful.

Sometimes I feel that I am not geeky enough for this crate. Last month I received a dice set, and I was thinking "what am I going to do with these." Yeah some items are a bit too geeky for me, but they make awesome presents.

This is what Loot Crate says on their about us page:
Loot Crate is the monthly gear and swag club for those that live and embrace the geek and gaming lifestyle. Loot Crate is a product discovery box, connecting our subscribers, known as Looters, with the best new and emerging companies producing gear, snacks, toys, hardware, art, and other goodies for the geek and gaming market. Each month, Loot Crate handpicks 6-8 new items to include in the box, which are kept secret until the boxes are delivered!

In the short time since Loot Crate's launch, the Looter community has grown rapidly. We have an awesome and engaged group of members across LootCrate.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube!


Loot Crate costs $13.37 (Internet slang for leet) plus $7 shipping. Personally, I think 19.37 plus free shipping sounds better, because someone may think "ooh it's 13 dollars, I'll subscribe, oh not seven dollar shipping, nope not subbing." But that is a fairly minor issue.

I have been subscribed to loot crate for four months and it has easily become one of my favorite subscription boxes. It's just so unique! This month the loot came in a new fancy black box (pics below), and it looks pretty awesome. It even has a new inside!

If you would like to subscribe to loot crate, please use my referral code here:
http://mbsy.co/8WV

The contents of the February loot crate with retail values:

TARDIS Prime Shirt ($15)- Sadly, I am not a whovian/Doctor Who Fan. I know a couple people who are, and this will make an epic gift! The shirt has an interesting design and seems pretty high quality. Side Note: When loot crate sent out their first shirt, they emailed everyone a shirt size survey so people can get their size. And they keep that size for future shirts until you change. How awesome is that!

MegaMan Air Freshener ($2.99)- This is pretty interesting. I usually don't use air fresheners like this but I'll give it a try. I did like megaman when I was younger.

Caffeinated Brain Bits ($1.95)- This is basically caffeinated nerds. Harcos labs seems to make normal things but add weird names to them. I'll eat these for sure though.

Shark Drinks Cooler (???)- This was made by loot crate, so I do not know the value. I don't usually use drink coolers, but I'll keep this around. It has an interesting design with a shark shooting a laser beam lol. I'm pretty sure this is a reference to something that I don't know of. Just figured it out, Dr Evil, duh.

Bacon Lip Balm ($3.99)- Ha, I have always wanted to try this, but never bought it. I am a big fan of bacon so I was excited about this. It smelled A LOT like bacon, but didn't really taste like anything. And it did an adequate job of lip moisturizing. But now my lips smell like bacon ha.

Tetris Wall Heart ($7.50)- I love the design of this a lot. Tetris is an awesome game and Walls360 is an awesome brand. This is awesome.

Bonus item for upgrading from a 1 to 3 month, 3 to 6 month, or already having a 6 month subscription: Dr who coaster- I'll also be giving this away since I am not a fan as previously stated.

The total value of this box is about $32.43. This is a pretty awesome value. Most of the things in this crate were specialty items and that makes the value higher in my book. I think Loot crate would be one of the best gifts to give to a geek or gamer!

Verdict: Loot Crate is super awesome!













Wednesday, February 27, 2013

February BarkBox Review

If you didn't already know (you probably didn't), I have an 11 year old dog named Frosty. He is a mix of a Lab and a Husky, so as you can guess, he is pretty darn big. He weighs about 95 pounds.

I recently saw a groupon for a three month subscription to BarkBox for 39$ and I thought I should at least try it for the three months. This groupon comes up for sale quite often, so if your bummed out since you missed it, just keep an eye out for it again.

BarkBox costs $29 a month and can get as low as $18 dollars when you purchase a six mon subscription. This I'd a pretty major discount, even for subscription boxes. You select your dog size, and receive different items according to the size. I obviously selected the biggest option. But I fear that I will cancel after my three month groupon, and you'll see why.

If you would like to subscribe to BarkBox, please use my referral code:
https://barkbox.com/r/FsQ5vMzWB5/

The contents of my February BarkBox with retail values:

Agave Pear Treats by Wet Noses ($1.99)- This package was pretty small, but also pretty cheap-ish. Frosty seemed to love the treats though. When I opened the package, he just started obsessively sniffing them. I may purchase these again, they seem good for training. Frosty still isn't trained fully yet and he's almost 11, kinda sad, I know.

Cheddar Treats by Wet Noses ($1.99)- Frosty seemed to like these just as much ad the agave pear ones.

Get Naked Dental Sticks ($7.99)- OMG Frosty absolutely lost it for these. He seemed to love them. I like that they have healthy ingredients like chia seeds infused in the sticks. The dental cleaning is a nice touch. Probably, my favorite thing in the box.

Fetch n' Floss by Pet Qwerks ($9.99)- At first Frosty had no idea what to do with this. He isn't used to soft or rubber toys since he is such a big dog. When I came home from class one day I little parts of this toy completely shredded up. I don't think this was meant for big dogs.

P:ECO the Penguin by Sprocket ($14.99)- The box said it was durable, and I made the unfortunate decision to trust that. At first, frosty was confused. On the same day as the fetch in floss, when I came home there was fluff scattered everywhere. Not meant for big dogs. (pics below).

The total value of this box is $36.95. This would be a great value, however the two top value items were completely wasted. I was disappointed because of that. We have to buy expensive nylon bones that take frosty awhile to destroy. I think BarkBox should make another box for even bigger dogs like frosty containing no soft toys. I'm gonna email them about that.

Update 2/28/13: When I emailed barkbox about the heavy duty box this is what they said:

Hi!

I am so excited you asked! We are currently making a list of those who are interest in a “heavy chewers” BarkBox and we hope to be launching that very soon. :D Please send me your first and last name as well as the email you’d like to use and I would be more then happy to add you to this list.

Please let know if you need anything else, we are always here to help.

All the best,

How awesome is that?

Lindsay

Verdict: this box would be super awesome for smaller dogs who don't destroy toys.









Friday, February 22, 2013

February Graze Box Review

Graze box is a food/snack subscription box that I stumbled upon online. It is similar to GoBites because they both send little punnets of snacks to your doorstep. The size of the punnets are the same as GoBites.

The price of this subscription is $5 per box. You can choose to have your boxes delivered weekly, every fortnight (bi-weekly), monthly. When they first launched, you could only have weekly, but you could push back your delivery a week, and I made it so I would get it every other week by pushing it back the next delivery every week I got a delivery, which was kind of annoying. So now, I don't have to do that, I can just let the boxes come every other week.

This is my 3rd box from graze so far and I have been loving them! The snacks have great variety and most of them are unique with a few exceptions. Graze also offers a unique rating system that almost guarantees that you will get snacks that you like. You can browse through all of their snacks, and mark each one as "love" (send regularly), "like" (send occasionally), "try" (happy to try), or "trash" (never send me this). You can even set your preferences for graze to send you mostly products you like and love, a good mix of like, love, and try, or mostly items you marked as try. I really like how customizable graze is without you knowing completely what you are getting in your next box!

The price of this box is also very good. Each punnet comes out to be $1.25 each. GoBites is $1.99 each, so the value of graze is pretty great. If you would like to subscribe to Graze, I have one invitation code left to give out, so the first person to comment saying they would like to subscribe will get my last invite/referral code!

The snacks in my box this week:

Bonnie Wee Oat-bakes- This contained cheese and chive Oat-bakes with a caramelized onion marmalade. I'll admit, at first, I thought this sounded disgusting. I guess the thought of a savory marmalade just steered me away from it. Actually, this snack was super delicious! The oatcakes had a pretty subtle flavor, but you could still taste the cheese and chive combo, and the texture was pretty good. The red onion marmalade was amazing, it had sweet, sour, onion, and even a
vinegar flavor to it. When you combined the oatcakes with the marmalade, it was like heaven, soooo good. I marked this as "love," I would really want to get it again.

Hot Cross Yum- This snack was a mix of orange infused raisins, sponge pieces, and cinnamon honey almonds. I thought the sponge pieces were interesting tasting. The orange raisins are really good actually because they don't have that raising flavor that I don't like, but taste somewhat like orange jelly. The almonds are pretty good also. I was surprised on how much it tasted like a hot-cross bun when you had all the ingredients together! I marked this as like, as I wouldn't mind receiving it again.

Strawberry Milkshake- This snack was a mix of baby strawberries, banana coins, and white chocolate dots. I was expecting the banana to be really dry like a banana chip, bit it was surprisingly soft-ish! Again, when you tasted everything together, it really did taste like a strawberry milkshake! I marked this as "like," because I would like to receive it again.

Bakewell Tart- This snack was a mix of almonds, cherry-infused raisins, and cranberries. I did not expect to like this one very much, but the cherry raisins were just too dang good! Again, it didn't have that raisin-y flavor to it, and it had the good tartness that actual cherries have. I have no idea what a bakewell tart is, but this mix did taste like "real food" I guess. I marked this as "like" because I want to get it again.

I really have been enjoying my graze boxes.

Verdict: Subscribe Right NOW

*I am not paid to write reviews for graze, I paid for these boxes myself.






Thursday, February 21, 2013

February Bulu Box Review

Bulu Box is a health and wellness box that costs 10 dollars a month. This is on the cheaper side of subscription boxes especially health and wellness ones.

This is what Bulu Box says on their About us page:
"Bulu Box is the first vitamin, supplement and general health subscription sample box designed to help you feel your best. Every month, you'll get a box filled with 4 to 5 premium, curated samples from top brands. Look forward to a new mix of products for both women and men, including vitamins, weight loss, sports nutrition, protein, diet, energy, detox, digestion, sexual health, herbs, natural remedies, endurance and more. We'll make sure you get enough to decide if the product is right for you. No shipping or shady fees. Depending on your plan, you can cancel anytime. Get ready for a healthy discovery!"

If you would like to subscribe to Bulu Box, please us my referral link and get your first box free (you can cancel anytime).
http://curebit.com/x/wZ6rv

I would also like to recognize Bulu box's awesome customer support. Once my box was missing an item, so then I contacted them and they sent me a box with the missing product and a bunch of other bonus products to try out. They even included a handwritten card apologizing. Another time, a product was leaking all over the place (C-spray), and I contacted them about this also. Then they sent me a box with 3 BOTTLES of the C-Spray! That's like $60 in value. I am a big fan of their customer support.

The contents of my February box with approximated retail values:

Gouch! Dietary Supplement, 2 vegetarian tablets ($4)- These tablets are supposed to provide antioxidants, encourage healthy inflammatory response, and promote healthy uric acid levels
This product seems interesting, but also a little pricey at 2 dollars per tablet. Good thing I get to try it before purchasing a full size.

C3 Stress Supplement Drink, 1 packet ($1.50)- I've been getting a lot of stress drinks recently. They seem to be mostly placebos but maybe this one will be different.

Biocell Collagen Connective Tissue Support, 2 capsules (67 cents)- I am not having problems with collagen levels or my connective tissues, but I'll try this when I get a sore joint or something similar to that.

Neo-Carb Bloc, 2 tablets ($3)- Bulu box sent perfect blocs last month, maybe this one is better. I did like the one sent last month.

Eruption, 1 packet ($1)- This is supposed to help with energy and hydration. I might try this on a morning that I slept through my alarm and need some quick energy.

The total value of this box is about $10. I got about what I payed for, but other Bulu boxes have been better. This isn't a bad box by any stretch of the imagination, so I would still recommend subscribing.

Verdict- I really like Bulu boxes. I would recommend subscribing.

* I was not paid to write this review by Bulu box or anyone else. I purchased this subscription myself


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Super Hexagon Review

The first word that pops in my head when I think of this game is addiction. Super Hexagon seems to posses mystical powers that just make you cave in to playing it. Many addicting games grow tiresome and even frustrating after a while, but this game lacks that quality, making it one of the most addicting games of all time. In fact, It has taken over my life for the past couple months.

This game is currently offered at the low price of $2.99 and is available on iOS, Android and Steam (PC). I got this game for .99 cents on my iPad during the holidays when it was on sale. I do not believe that this game was a waste of money in the slightest, I assume I have spent at least, over ten hours with it in total. 3 bucks for 10 hours of entertainment is a pretty good deal in my opinion.

Super Hexagon does not have any complicated game mechanics, in fact it is pretty simple. You control a small arrow with your touch screen or two keys on your keypad. You move it right by tapping or holding the right side of the screen or the right arrow key, and move it left by tapping or holding the left side of the screen or left arrow key. To play this game, you maneuver the arrow between lines and shapes and try not to have the point of the arrow touch the shapes or lines. It may sound easy, but it is incredibly difficult. There are six levels in the game in total (I've beaten them all), and you need to "survive" 60 seconds on each level to beat the game. Super hexagon is not a complicated game by any stretch of the imagination.

The soundtrack of Super Hexagon may play a lead role in why this game is so addicting, the soundtrack is just too damn catchy. The soundtracks is an original techno music mix that possesses many addictive beats and tones. I swear sometimes I played this game just to listen to the soundtrack!

Super Hexagon is one of the best games of 2012 in my opinion and definitely the best iOS one.

Verdict: I highly recommend purchasing this game for any platform.
P.S it's also an indie game

*I was not paid for this review, nor did I receive compensation to write it.

Influenster: The Taste Review

A new cooking show just recently started. It is called the taste, and is kinda a spinoff of the Voice, but with cooking. From my understanding, judges taste some contestants food blindly, like the voice, and they form teams. If you're a foodie at all, I think you should watch this.I know I will be! It is on Tuesdays @ 8/7 C on ABC. It features famous judges such as Anthony Bourdain. I am a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain and his show, so I'll probably root for him. See you guys later bye!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Peckish Box Review

I just recently heard about a new snack box called Peckish box and I decided to check it out at least for one time. I would compare this box to something like gobites, or graze because they send their very own snack mixes to you, they don't send snacks from other companies. They send three mixes per box, but the portions are about 4-5 times larger than graze or go bites. I figured I should at least try this once. You can choose to have your box delivered weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
This box costs 15$ regularly, but your first box is discounted to 10. This is about the same price as graze considering the portions, so it is an okay value. By using a 50% coupon code, I got this box for only 5$! What a steal! But the contents of this box did not make me want to subscribe, and you'll see why.

The mixes I received in my box:

Cranberry Walnut Granola- This was probably my favorite thing out of the whole box, but that isn't saying much. This mix basically contained, some oats, walnuts, and walnuts, yeah basically the only things in the title. It tasted pretty ok, but I found the balance of the ingredients to be a bit off. The whole bag was about 90% oats with subtle hints of walnut and cranberry. I ended up eating the whole thing, but it wasn't THAT good at all.

Tropical Island- This was ok also. it was basically shredded coconut with dried mango and pin apple. Basically the same mix as the graze piƱa colada. The balance of this mix was also a little bit wonky. It very few pieces of mango and pineapple, I'm talking like 3 pieces of each. The bag was mostly shredded coconut. I wasn't impressed.

Peanocolate- This was exactly what it sounded like. Just peanuts and chocolate. I mean come on, JUST peanuts and chocolate. This was by far my least favorite thing in the box. It was completely unoriginal and was not interesting at ALL. I was very disappointed with this item in the box.

Verdict- This box didn't really hit it for me. I would not recommend subscribing. Graze is much better in my opinion because they offer a wide selection of mixes, most of them being unique. This box definitely has potential, but it needs to take a step up to compete with other subscription services.

*I am not paid to do reviews by Peckish, nor did I receive this box for free, I purchased it myself.



Welcome to my Blog!

Hello, I am just an average everyday student. I am Asian, obviously, and will review almost anything sent to me.  I own many subscription boxes, video games, products that will be writing a review for in the near future.  Hopefully this post will eventually be drowned out by many other reviews, but if it is not by a couple weeks, I guess this was a failed project. Although I am pretty determined at the moment to keep up with this reviewing hobby. See you all in the near future with more posts.  Bye!