Burke Decor Spa Subscription Box Review – October 2015

Burke Decor’s spa box is a selection of 3-4 favorites from the Burke Decor editors and curated to your spa profile. Choose from Cool + Fresh, Warm + Earthy, or Floral + Fruit. This is a review of the Warm + Earthy box.

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

Here’s the inner custom box. If you’re wondering why the outer box looks like it’s been opened in the first photo, it’s because I wanted to make sure nothing was broken before I bothered getting my camera out and my lights set up. (There’s a reason for this that I’ll get to in a moment.)

Here’s a look at the items I received. The box didn’t contain an information card.

The Subscription Box: Burke Decor Spa Box

The Cost: $45 per month with an additional $6 charge for shipping (the shipping charge is not obvious on the site).

The Products: Full sized spa items selected by the Burke Decor editors.

Ships to: US

Check out lots of great beauty and spa boxes in the Beauty Subscription Box Directory!

Oakmoss Candle by Apotheke – Value $32

This contains notes of jasmine, gardenia, oakmoss, and vanilla. It’s a little floral for something that’s supposed to be “warm and earthy,” but there is something a little earthy about it, too. And the floral part is not overwhelming. I’ve put it in my basement yoga/exercise room and I have been lighting it while I’m doing yoga. It’s 100% soy wax with a cotton wick that’s been dipped in beeswax.

Charcoal Bar Soap by Apotheke – Value $8

This soap is made with bamboo charcoal powder and coconut, olive, and organic palm oils. I love a good charcoal soap and I appreciate getting one that’s premade. Because I tried making charcoal soap last weekend and it was messy. (Tip: don’t ever make charcoal soap in a *white* kitchen sink…you will be scouring for a long while to get it all out.)

Moroccan Amber Hand Lotion by Nest Fragrances – Value $19.20

This was originally going to be an all Apotheke box (see below), but this hand lotion was substituted. I actually really like this. It absorbs into the skin quickly and the fragrance is well-suited to my tastes (and fits the Warm + Earthy profile quite well, I think). I’ve taken it to work and put it on my desk and it looks a whole lot classier than the obnoxious purple tube of hand cream from Bath and Body Works that I kept there before.

So I have made some references in this review to breakage and substitutions. My original Burke Spa box was received several weeks ago. Above is a picture of the inside. A glass bottle containing Apotheke liquid charcoal soap broke and got EVERYWHERE. It soaked into the charcoal bar soap and even the candle glass was broken.

Burke Decor did replace the whole box for me. But it was not easy to get them to do so. I was asked to provide pictures (which is a reasonable request, and which I promptly responded to). After that, though, I had a hard time getting a response. I finally called and that helped more than emailing did. More time passed and I hadn’t gotten a shipping notice, so I contacted them again. Apparently the liquid charcoal soap (I didn’t even realize that’s what it was at the time, I didn’t turn over the label because it was covered in black goo and shards of glass) was not going to be in stock for two more weeks. I was offered two choices: wait some more, or accept a substitute item of equal value. I opted for the substitute item, which was the hand lotion (they told me in advance).

I want to make it clear that Burke Decor did replace the entire box after proof of breakage/damage was provided. But it was somewhat difficult to get responses from their customer service and the replacement took a few weeks. The second box was packaged MUCH better than the first one, for what it’s worth.

Verdict: I calculated a value of approximately $59.20 for the October 2015 Burke Spa box. (The hand lotion price is a sale price; at non-sale prices, the value would be about $64.) This is somewhat above the cost of the box plus shipping, although the final value was not as outrageously high as with other boxes containing beauty items. I will use every single item and I think they fit the warm + earthy scent profile fairly well. If you are a bargain hunter, though, it is my understanding that Burke Decor regularly offers % off coupons and you may get better prices on individual items through their store by using one of those.

What do you think of the Burke Decor Spa Box for October 2015? Do you get the Cool + Fresh or Floral + Fruit box? If so, be sure to tell us in the comments what you received!