Maple Vox Box

So, after over two years on the site, Influenster has finally decided to include their Canadian users in the fun, with the Maple Vox Box!

If you don’t know about Influenster, what it is, is you basically answer questions and fulfill tasks in areas that you are interested in, or that apply to you, and influenster tries to figure out how important you are. The more influential, the more likely you are to get more boxes. The boxes are free, and usually full of full sized samples, though I think sometimes they are small samples. If you don’t know anything about them, you should check them out. Send me a message on Twitter or in the comments below if you’d like an invite link.

Let’s move onto the box:

Just like Glymm box used to, this box comes with a product card with discriptions and prices:

Skinny Cow Milk Chocolate Flavour Heavenly Crisp:

Retail Price: $1.29/bar, or $4.29/4-pack

This bar was really tasty; it’s light and sweet, and didn’t taste cheap or particularly healthy. Which makes sense, since the only reason this is really “skinny” is because it’s a small portion. I personally don’t think I’d pay $1.29 for this, when you can usually get a bigger, richer chocolate bar for the same or less, but it may be a good option for someone trying to cut calories who has a sweet tooth that needs satisfying. That said, 6 grams of this 19 gram bar were fats, and 3.5 grams of that 6 were saturated fats.

While I enjoyed this product, I don’t think I would ever repurchase.

Skinny Cow Milk Chocolate Dreamy Clusters:

Retail Price: $1.29/bag, or $4.29/4-pack

These are basically little clusters of rice crispies, caramel, and chocolate, and they’re actually really good. Unfortunately I lost the packaging for this one, but I can only imagine the fat content in these is even a bit higher than in the bar mentioned above. You get 4 pieces in a bag, and they’re delicious, but 4 is a very unsatisfying number. I know it would defeat the purpose, but a few more pieces would make this seem a lot more worth the price.

As it is, I don’t think I would repurchase this product either.

Broadway Nails imPRESS Press-On Manicure:

Retail Price: $8.99-10.99

Although I haven’t yet tried out this package, you may remember that I tried out another version of this product a while back. If you want to read that review, just click here. This set is a lot shorter than those, and the pattern is much more exciting. However, the different coloured nails make it a little more difficult to pick the right nail for each finger. For example, I think it would look a bit odd if you had three yellow nails in a row and one purple and one orange nail. I will, however, post another short review when I get around to trying these out.

I have considered purchasing these in the past, and may again in the future, though they always seem so expensive.

Ice Breakers DUO:

Retail Price: $1.99

These are a very weird concept to me. I mean, I like raspberries, and I like mint… but I’m usually not a big fan of fruit+mint flavours. That said these aren’t bad. The mint isn’t too strong and overpowering, so these don’t end up tasting like a cough drop, and the raspberry is pleasantly sweet despite the fact that these are sugar-free. One weird thing to note, that really has no bearing on my opinion of these, is that I think my package was put together wrong; as you see in the picture, there is a “One” side and a “many” side, but my package has a huge opening for the “one” flap, and a tiny hole for the “many” one. Weird. I will point out that these are full of fake sweeteners, so if you have any dislike for or react badly to products like Sorbitol, Aspartame, Maltodextrine, or Malitol, you should know that those are some of the main ingredients.

I’ll probably finish the package, but I don’t think these would be the first mints I’d repurchase, as I’d much rather have a straight mint.

Montagne Jeunesse Red Earth Clay Spa:

Retail Price: $2.49

This is a one-use face mask, and they always come in these foil pouches. I’ve never tried one, but I have seen this brand plenty of times in-store. I haven’t tried this one yet, but it is a sheet mask infused with clay and other fairly natural ingredients. I really look forward to trying this out, and I may do a quick review when I get around to using it.

Considering the price, it seems likely that I would repurchase this product, assuming it gets along with my skin.

NYC New York Color Big Bold Plumping Lip Gloss:

Retail Price: $4.99

Before I talk about the product, I just want to remind you that I am not a fan of any lip glosses; I hate the slick, often sticky feeling of them on my lips, and I don’t like the super shiny look of them either. I did, however, try to give this one a fair, unbiased shot. It isn’t the worst lipgloss I have used. So I guess there’s that. It isn’t a super-sticky formula, and almost feels like it might be moisturizing. Also, the plumping effects of this gloss aren’t too over-the-top painful. It isn’t a nice minty tingle like, say, the Revlon Balm Stains, but more of a stinging feeling, but it isn’t really painful and it fade quickly enough. It is highly glossy, which is again something that I don’t like, but I’m sure lots of people would really like that aspect of it. I’m not sure how long it lasts, as I wiped it off after maybe 20 minutes, but the card claims it will last up to 4 hours.

The one thing I absolutely hated about this product, however, was the smell! It smelled to me sickly sweet, and a little like Turkish Delight, which is one of the least delightful foods on the planet. I think it is trying to smell like vanilla, but I just find it repulsive, whereas vanilla should be creamy and delicious. And this isn’t one of those scents that fades when you apply it. So gross.

All things considered, I would never repurchase this product, but I’m sure most lipgloss lovers would like it, unless you have an aversion to plumping products or Turkish Delight.

NYC New York Color Big Bold Curl Mascara:

Retail Price: $4.99

Try to ignore my awkward hand position in the second picture. The first thing I noticed about this mascara was the big, gorgeous brush. I have a history of loving mascaras with massive brushes. This mascara applies really nicely, and does seem to hold a curl as well as doing some nice volumizing. However, this mascara is not waterproof. At all; some products say that, but are passable, this one is really not waterproof. Like, don’t cry, don’t sweat, and don’t get caught in the rain. As such, I had a hard time liking this product completely.

I wouldn’t repurchase this exact product, but may consider it if they have a waterproof version of this formula.

Also, Influenster included two $1.00 off of two NYC product coupons in this VoxBox, which is nice. I may look into getting some nail polishes or lipsticks or something, and maybe give one of the coupons to my sister or something.

And that’s everything I received in this box. It was really cool getting to try out some new products, even if most of them aren’t something I would buy myself. I’ve been interested in the Skinny Cow brand for a while now, but I’ve never bought it before because I wasn’t sure it would be worth it. In my opinion, it isn’t, but I can see the appeal.

I’m definitely most excited about the mask and the press-on nails. =)

I can’t wait for another box. I hope Influenster has more opportunities for Canadians soon!

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you got this box as well, and what you think of any of the products mentioned above!

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I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.