POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review – September 2014

ByLiz CadmanSep 23, 2014 | 90 comments

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September

I had seen (and posted) the spoilers for the September POPSUGAR Must Have box last week, and I wasn't too excited about this box, but now that I have it in my hands I love it!

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Items

The Subscription Box: POPSUGAR Must Have

The Cost: 39.95 a month

The Products: “Must Have” items for women selected by POPSUGAR editors. (Fitness, Home, Beauty, Food, and more)

Check out all of my POPSUGAR Must Have reviews and the Women’s Subscription Box Directory!

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Card

Each box comes with a card detailing the items included.

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Scarf

Tilo Modal Gradation Scarf in Raisin – Value $125

This scarf is so luxe - I love it! It's super lightweight, and I think the colors are perfect for fall. And it looks gorgeous on too:

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Grey scarf

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Headphone

Letter C Design Pencil Set – Value $5

Nicole Miller Round Interlock Earbud – Value $20

While I haven't used pencils in years, I can appreciate including them in a September box. (I'll pass these along to my mom). And while I won't be buying headphones anytime in near future, I might send these to my brother in college (he's apparently always lending his headphones to people).

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Cards

Rifle Paper Co Garance Dore Card Set – Value $18

I think this card set is so chic, and it's a practical item too!

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Brownie

Urban Remedy Vegan Almond Brownie – Value $6

I was SO excited to try this brownie! (I avoid gluten and dairy in my diet, so I can't remember the last time I was able to eat anything POPSUGAR sent). I loved it. It was such an indulgent treat, and I want more! (Full Disclosure: I haven't had a real brownie in years, so my opinion on what makes a great brownie might be a little off!)

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Oribe

Oribe Superfine Hair Spray (Purse Size) – Value $21.50

I love Oribe hair products (they all smell amazing), but I didn't think it would be possible to make hairspray smell good. I was wrong - it smells equally wonderful!

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Minis

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Sea Salt & Almond minis Pouch – Value $6

These chocolates were listed as a "special extra" on the card. I can't eat them, but I always try to take a little gift when I go visit my grandma so these are perfect.

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Nike

Nike $20 Gift Card

This was the other "special extra" in the box - and it's an actual gift card code! Complete with pin number! (I'm so used to subscription boxes sending out "gift codes" which are actually coupon codes, so this is awesome). They also included a coupon code to get free two-day shipping!

POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review - September 2014 Nike Fit

The gift card code should work on anything, but Nike is promoting their Nike Pro Bra, and including measuring tape to help you get your perfect fit. (FYI - this gift card code expires October 31st 2014).

Verdict: I'll use or gift every item in this box, so I'm thrilled. And I still can't get over how fantastic the scarf is! What did you think of the September 2014 POPSUGAR Must Have box after getting it in your hands? And what you buying with your Nike Gift Card? I'm looking for ideas!

Posted in Subscription Box Reviews, Subscription Boxes for Women

Liz Cadman

Liz is the founder of My Subscription Addiction. She's been hooked on subscription boxes since 2011 thanks to Birchbox, and she now subscribes to over 100 boxes. Her favorites include POPSUGAR Must Have, FabFitFun, and any box that features natural beauty products!

Read More By Liz Cadman >

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90 comments

I know this thread is old and no one will even see this but I have to comment somewhere – these headphones BLOW! I brought them to work a few weeks ago and have used them probably a dozen times. (I don’t even bring them anywhere, they’re strictly desk headphones.) They’re already broken! One earbud doesn’t work at all and the other crackles. They’re not worth the listed value at all – my $5 headphones from a drugstore work better (and I completely abuse that pair!).

PA Anna

I saw it! I had a minute of downtime earlier in the day and checked my phone real quick. It showed up under the Discussion tabs. I asked my older son a week ago if he liked the headphones. They stopped working after he used them a few times. He didn’t want to tell me because they were from Popsugar. I did not bother contacting Popsugar because…well you seen the problems they have been having lately. I did read that other people experienced the same problem. How disappointing.

Jo Ann

Glad I read ALL the comments ~ thought I was going color blind ~ my scarf is NOT like Liz’s, it’s more BROWN/Grey and I was soooo looking forward to the Burgundy color ~ I too quit sub as it just seemed to “sub par”………wish they would up their game and get back in the race for our money!! Guess they don’t think they need to though ~ it was nice while it lasted!! Love your site, Liz, and all the work you put into it so we can keep up with the sub boxes……..it’s all your fault I spend so much $$ each month on all these MUST HAVE subs!!! Thanks a bunch and keep up the good work ~

Liz Cadman

Thanks Jo Ann! 🙂

Shelby

Has anyone had trouble logging into the Popsugar website? I can’t even log in to my account.

PA Anna

I checked my account and noticed that when I clicked in login there is nowhere to login. I wonder if they took it away while they fixed the bugs. The business person me wonders if they will ship boxes this month and how this will affect their business. It doesn’t appear that the upgrade is a success on the front end. What they do have going for them is their longevity in the sub world and a good reputation prior to the upgrade. It’s still early in the month so plenty of time to bill and ship out boxes even if it happens late.

Nancy in TX

The login link is a picture of a head in the upper right corner of the Popsugar Must Have page. I only mention it because it’s only half on my screen. I haven’t had any issues logging in. I hope this is resolved for you soon.

Sara

Liz, do you have any info about what’s going on at PopSugar? My box shows its paid but my credit card hasn’t been charged, the messages on FBOC say they’ll be charged this week but that’s way late- not much info coming out of PS and online folks are complaining about no responses to their emails…

Liz Cadman

I know their new site is still being worked on and has a few issues, so I’m guessing it is delaying a lot of things. I’ll reach out though to see if I can find out shipping date info.

Laurie

I’ve got a second box en route (not entirely on purpose). Does anyone know if you can stack the Nike gift cards? Or do you need to do two separate purchases?

Cindy

Just wanted to mention that if you are redeeming your Nike offer and have a Discover, use it (through your card website). They are offering 10% cashback on Nike right now.

Sarah

You can buy those blank cards on eBay right now for .99

Blessedmommi

Hi,
I’d love to swap for the Nike code if anyone has one they’re not using. Please let me know.

Thanks

Julie

That Nike promo is the bee’s knees! I just paid 9 bucks for a nice pair of running shorts that will be here in 2 days! woo!

Lisa Schafer

I am confused and need help. I haven’t received my Sept box yet so I went online and my account says my first box is shipping in Oct. Yet I subbed on 9/4/14 and they took $29.95 out of the bank on 9/8…..What did I do wrong, I really wanted a scarf……
Thanks!

Ariana

Am I the only person that feels that Popsugar caters to people that live in cooler climates? In the past year, they’ve included five scarves, a pair of gloves and a wool/cashmere beanie hat in the boxes! I feel they are not considering all of their subscribers that live in warmer climates. Unlike a sun hat or SPF that most everyone can use to prevent harmful sun exposure, not everyone can use fall/winter attire. One scarf is understandable, but five seems excessive to me.

Erin

^^This^^

PS has way too much repetition in item categories, a general lack of curation/theme, and an ongoing lack of insight regarding inappropriate, climate specific items are the reason I cancelled after a year subbed. I can buy a scarf just about anywhere online, even from department stores, for under $15. For over $40 it’s just not worth it.

Gina

Did anyone else have problems with the hairspray. It feels likes it’s locked, but there’s no way to ‘unlock’ it. It just doesn’t push down. I’m so bummed! Any suggestions?

Paula

I really had to use a little muscle to get mine to break the seal. Actually made a popping noise when it did. Most Oribe products are that way. Hope that helps!

Gina

Thanks Paula! Did you twist or push to break the seal?

Laryssa Polika

Hi all,

Did anyone else get a gray/brown scarf? I wrote Pop Sugar and they said there was no variation in the scarves but mine is clearly not like the one Liz pictured in her review.

Sort of annoyed now.

Thanks
Laryssa

chris

I love Ghirardelli chocolates usually especially with carmel but mine in this box were disgusting! Smashed, dried out, weird with white stuff on them, stuck to the wrapper. The bag looked fine but the chocolates themselves looked like a truck ran them over. It was a little shocking.

If this was my first introduction to Ghirardelli I would NOT be impressed.

Did this happen to anyone else? I hope not!

chris

Laryssa: You have the correct one. I thought this same thing at first but I looked closer at the inside and it is indeed the raisin version.

I think it might also say it somewhere but maybe I am just remembering the card.

I think these are hand-dyed or something like that so they all won’t look exactly alike. I actually prefer the look of Liz’s scarf to the one I received as well.

Cindy

I also got a grey to chocolate brown looking scarf. I was really looking forward to the one Liz showed that looked burgundy.

Christy

It’s making me crazy. I wish the popsugar site would hurry up and get back online. Geez!

Sibyl

It is back up. Disappointing at best. Why did it take that long to add 3 boxes that are onetime purchases?

Stacey

This is my 4th box and this one is my favorite! I live in Chicago and have a ton of scarves but this one is the nicest one I own. It’s so luxe an soft. I wore it today and already received several compliments. The chocolates were also gone in a day. The note cards and pencils are so cute. I don’t use cards that often but this is a good reminder for me to send little notes to friends and family instead of emails. My headphones are used on a daily basis while I commute on public transit and they snap together which is cool. (I got the dark blue color like Liz) Fall/Winter boxes are way up my alley so I am glad I stuck this subscription box out. (I almost quite when I kept getting sun tanning lotions, since I don’t tan)

Michelle

Liz, any idea why the popsugar website never came back up today? Any word on what the big changes are?

Liz Cadman

All I know is that they are still planning on getting the site up sometime today, and I’m guessing there will be new subscriptions too. I will post as soon as I know more~ 🙂

Jill

I was wondering the same about their site being down for so long–and not being back up yet!

Wantable updated their site overnight, and it now has the Fitness Box listed, btw!

Trinity

I love this box so much it makes up for that box with the hat. I was so happy looking thru this box and felt like it was more value than usual, maybe it’s just me. Very happy, makes it hard to cancel this one, they always surprise me. I will stick with this instead of getting the limited edition boxes because those are too disappointing to me.

chillybeans

I so agree about the LE boxes, never again. You can get 3 monthly PSMH boxes (when you use discount codes) for the cost of one LE box, they just seem so much more worth it to me. That said, I’m curious to see if they will come out with more boxes in the $40 range……

Tracy

I HATED this box!!!! Loved the august one, but this whole box was junk! The only thing I like is the extra nike gift card. The scarf is eeh, not much and the pencils and notecards are lame!! What happened to all the fun stuff! Shocked by how many people are saying they love it … yet go on to say how much of it they are giving away. For $40 I expect a heck of a lot more than this!!!! I feel like I have been truly ripped off :(.

lisad

Wow, what were you expecting? I personally liked this box and would never call it junk or a waste of money and I have great taste. I’ve had my share of boxes I wasnt thrilled with but that doesn’t mean someone else didn’t love them. Maybe little lace box, or FFF is more your style.

Tara B

I am with Lisad. I am more a FFF person myself. But after seeing the spoiler for the scarf.. I had to have THAT scarf. I use the 10.00 off code. so only spent 30.00. I was scared opening it because I was worried I would get the orange scarf. I lucked out. I got the one I wanted. THAT ALONE was worth the money and then some. The chocolates got eaten within an hour…. None were saved for me! lol My daughter took my pencils. She let me keep 2. The ear buds are great because I jog and go through ear buds. the hair spay I will swap and the cards are pretty but will be swapped as well because I just wouldn’t use them. might frame them… or do a project with them…. hmmm.. The nike card I used and what I would have spent $64.00 for… I only spent $12. So, this was a WIN for me. I don’t think their stuff is junk, even though PS is most of the time a miss for me. Junk to me is the half melted shoe from Nina’s last box and the ugly baseball cap. But all and all this was a good box. I think better than the LE box. Remember, if you didn’t like your stud trade it. Lots of people want this box. 🙂

Karen

I too wasn’t that excited about this box from the spoilers but now that I have it hand, I thought it was lovely. Not one thing this month will be swapped.

Jessica

The only thing I did not like in this box was the “brownie”.. It tasted off, like it had alcohol in it or was fermented (had exact alcohol-y aftertaste of a rumball cookie ).. Ughh now I really hate it after seeing the shockingly high calorie count.. heh Even some Cliff Bars aren’t that high in calories.

Brandy

I thought this month’s box was great! WAY better than the Fall SE box. I absolutely love the scarf! It’s gorgeous! Sadly, my chocolates were melted too. I just stuck them in the fridge and that worked. They are super yummy!

Vee

This is my first PS box and I’m pretty happy with it. I love the scarf. It’s very lightweight and perfect for the coming months (if we ever cool down here in San Diego), but I’m going to Boston in a few weeks so I’ll get to use it then! I’ll be gifting the notecards and pencils as I don’t see myself using them. And the chocolates melted so that’s a bummer. Glad they are individually wrapped.

Nancy in TX

I got the scarf in Grey to Brown. The purple would have been nicer but I’m happy. I needed a travel size hairspray so some serendipity is going on there. The earbuds are blue and I’m hopeful they will be a good fit for my tiny ears!. I may frame the notecards if I don’t send them out. I know some people are disappointed with the chocolate but I seem to be enjoying them just fine!

Mags

Finally got my box today and am very happy with it – really wanted the purple/grey scarf but ended up with the brown/grey, which is still lovely. I easily would have paid $20 for the version I got (I just don’t pay more than $30 for scarves, I wear them 3-4 times a week), I’ve already redeemed my Nike certificate for a new runnings shirt that I found in the clearance section and desperately needed and the chocolates were a delightful treat with the family after dinner tonight. So for me, the box was a pretty good value, it didn’t knock my socks off – but I don’t regret it at all.

I’ll gift the notecards, let my kids use the pencil pass along the brownie to a friend who can’t eat gluten. Honestly, I love when I get to pass along items from the sub boxes after I’ve gotten my treasures – it really makes my day.

lisad

Love it, Popsugar is my favorite box hands down month after month. I must be in their target group. I cancelled FFF as it never wowed me. The scarf is just beautiful, a real treat. The cards are very high quality i really loved it all.

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POPSUGAR Must Have Box Review – September 2014

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