POPSUGAR Must Have CFDA 2016 Special Edition Box Review

I’m ISO the plain brown sunglasses. Have an XL 1951 in python bri-gris for trade. Thanks!

If anyone is unhappy with the box, let me know– I’d love to buy it off you! Comment here 🙂

I enjoy mostly everything in here and am glad I bought it. I really wanted the Illesteva sunglasses anyway, I originally wanted the really reflective ones and got the plain brown in my box, but the brown is actually really practical and they look great.

I love the Derek Lam perfume too so just those two products make the whole box worth it.

I have a ton of water bottles but no S’wells so I am glad to have one, but I do think the graphic is kind of fugly.

I think the coverup is OKAY.. and should be good to throw on after the beach/pool.

I like to display my products so that giant warning label on the dry shampoo is so weird, esp for a high end product, but excited to try this none the less.

The Philip Lim pouch would be way cuter without so much text on it.

If anyone is looking to swap their S’well bottle please let me know. I don’t see any listed on the swap page yet

I don’t know why everyone is ripping on the cover-up, that’s the reason I bought this box, I love lemlem! Yes it is a thin material but it’s supposed to be. It’s a cover up! It’s very good quality and very soft, and they are great to wear. My only complaint is that the sunglasses I received are crooked (hopefully popsugar will replace them?). And the pouch, while cute enough, is kinda lame. For that suggested value, I would’ve rather had pretty much anything else.

The products are gorgeous ! I would love to tray myself to this box.

I gotta through some love out to this box! I got mine today, and I really like it. Everything feels classy and is very high quality. I LOVE the cover up! I think the mismatched stripes and uneven hem are cool and make it a unique piece. I will say it’s definitely not “one size fits all” though, so it was smart for them to use it as a spoiler. I wear between a size 8 and 10 and the fit is perfect. It might fit a little looser on a smaller size or a little more snugly on a larger one. The pouch is super luxe, and I love the “Stop and smell the flowers” graphic. It’s large enough to fit my phone, credit cards and a lipstick so that works for me. I often stash smaller bags like this in my day bag if I’m going somewhere after work so that I don’t have to lug my big bag around later. The Elizabeth and James dry shampoo is not your average dry shampoo. It smells delicious, and Nirvana Black (I got Black, but I think White is one of the possible variations) is one of my favorite scents. The sunglasses are fatastic and will probably replace the Chanel pair I’ve been wearing. I’ve been intrigued by the Derek Lam fragrances ever since I heard about them. Thrilled to get the entire set, and that packaging! Never had a S’well bottle, but I love the design and shape of the bottle (it’s high quality, insulated stainless steel) and am excited to try it. I agree that the box is a bit pricey, but it feels current and fashion-forward to me and if you like the design of the items I do think the quality is definitely there.

Love all the comments, especially the helpful husbands! Also appreciate the review. So overpriced tho. I can’t believe these sell when all of the items, if not better quality pieces, can be found everywhere for much less than msrp and it seems no one likes the entire box.

I’m not familiar with this box, but thought someone mentioned a portion of proceeds go to charity? It seems like another sales gimmick as I select my own known charities, and believe the charity approach shouldn’t be used to push people into spending. After overhead, so little ends up going to them anyway, vs sending $ directly to the charity of choice.

I saw the cutest Swell bottles at Target yesterday for $24. Have to try one; hopefully they’ll go on sale over the summer.

This box is the reason I will never, ever buy one of their special edition boxes. It seems like they just toss the label “limited edition” on something and then justify the ridiculous value of the item. I’m still shaking my head over that small makeup bag/pouch they’re valuing at $200. NO WAY.

Sorry, that pouch value has me all ranty 🙂 But I guess that’s how they jack the box value up to make it look better than it is, imo.

If you want to try out the DEREK LAM 10 CROSBY Vial Fragrance Set SIZE 10 x 0.067 oz, Sephora has it. It’s a smaller set for $30.00.

Those sunglasses are divine.
I’m meh about everything else.
Except the S’well bottle. S’well bottles are the best. Not exactly a designer “find” though.
I still can’t bring myself to pull the trigger on a $225 box.

Ugh. Thank goodness for this wonderful blog so I can make informed decisions about purchases that would or would not appeal to me (I figure if something sells out, I wasn’t meant to have it, or I will get it on swaps). Love that some proceeds go to CFDA, even if they did not pick my choice for their winner(s) this past year :^(

Sunglasses are such a personal item based on face size and shape and with no way to specify something from something like 3 shape choices that you could choose at checkout, that’s tough as those would be a fail for me. I am OK with items such as perfume being personal because it is a “surprise” in boxes, and I think they did nice curation for including a collection so you can blend to your taste (when I get scents I don’t like I usually use them as potpourri refreshers, rarely is something so disagreeable to me it can’t be used in this way). The PL 3.1 bag looks like a free gift with purchase for buying something else from the line, it may be leather but it isn’t striking me as luxe (it would have been more luxe to me to have been plain black with the text only showing on the inside).

But that coverup. I get it, this is a fairly expensive item for what it is, and those in the know would “know” you had on a fairly expensive/trendy coverup, but for those not in the know, (and even for me who is now in the know) they would see this item as a rag.

I just want to put in a word of encouragement for modeling the clothes! I know some people have had less than kind words about the boxes, but everyone has been really nice to Haley when she tries on her outfits. Of course, she always looks fabulous, but I’m sure you would too. I would be just as shy as you are, but I fully support some fashion bravery!

Have any of you contacted PopSugar for a larger size replacement for the coverup? I did on Friday as soon as I opened my box. It fits me everywhere (size L-XL usually and 14-16 in numbered sizes) except the bust . My fiance kept saying “Oh I’m sure it will be fine.” Well I finally put it on and he looked up and said “Ok it’s really too small in the chest,” so it’s definitely noticeable the way it stretches the fabric and smooshes. Anyway, I heard back from them on Monday and they said they’ll send me a bigger one but even when I wrote back, they wouldn’t give me any information about when, which I was kind of bummed about. Just wondering if anyone else had the same experience.

Everything is extremely overpriced and for $225 I would expect everything to be full sized. Unimpressed. I think I’m officially over PS boxes.

I agree that the curation is better this year. I do appreciate 50% of the proceeds going CFDA. But it’s not tempting at all. Personally $225 is too much to spend on products that don’t thrill me – I would rather spend that money on 1-2 products I love. Glad others like it tho!

This box is nice and I love popsugar curation. What I don’t understand is why isn’t it more fashion related. I just don’t think the items are representative of fashion designers. I think Racheal Zoe is more fashion forward.

Even though these items aren’t to my personal taste, I think they did a much better job this year of incorporating some bigger name fashion designers and putting them front and center. The wallet looks like a promo piece though-I dislike prominent logos on anything-and unfortunately, I agree with the other commenters who have said that the coverup looks worse in person. The awesome thing is that because the box didn’t sell out right away and many spoilers were released, hopefully the majority of the people who purchased did so with eyes wide open and will love their items!

I thought the coverup was a bit of a joke when I saw the spoilers, but now that I see the pictures up close, I think it’s really nice. I love how thin the material is – it’s very chic, and exactly what you would see at high end resorts – all those rich people trying to act like they don’t care about how they look! Still, not regretting that I passed on this….

“One-size-fits-most.” I must definitely NOT be in that category, lol! It barely fit over my chest and wouldn’t come down any further. I removed the stitching from the middle to open it up like a vest. I’d think I’ll wear it with a white tank or bodysuit. Still cute!

I’d love the perfumes, the pouch and the sunglasses case. The bottle looks plastic (I’d prefer metal or glass) and the cover up is a joke (too sheer, uneven hem looks like a mistake and seams are poorly finished), it reminds me of what those annoying beach vendors sell for $10. I’d consider buying the box for $100 maybe? Or even less.

If the box was a bit cheaper I would be interested. The clothing item is what kills it for me…I agree that it was good to release it as the first spoiler bc as a plus size woman I kew off top the box would not be for me bc the item was a high value item that I couldn’t use off the bat. I love nirvana perfumes and have both scents but I have no need for dry shampoo as I have extremely dry kinky curly hair. I think if you can use the items the box is decent.

As always, your review makes me like the box more than I did when spoilers came out. And I wouldn’t be able to pose in clothing for reviews-especially knowing that some things would just look horrible on me, so don’t worry too much about it 🙂 I’m completely fine with you using the dress form

And my mom and grandma would completely be trying to “straighten” the cover up too!

I’d be interested in the pouch…the sunglasses will likely not look good on me, so it would be too much of a gamble…don’t use dry shampoo…the coverup is too short for my taste…I have way too much perfume, but it does look luxurious…already have a swell bottle (large one). So, kinda glad that I didn’t spend $225 on this one. That being said, I purchased the Summer PS LE box, so I hope it’s not a dud (after the winter one being a dud for me – whole box up for swap).

Lol, I work for a chemical company, and those symbols (called pictograms) are required on all aerosols now, but I’ve never seen them so prominent! And they messed up, they’re supposed to be black with red diamonds, not gold! This box is way too high fashion for me. I do like the packaging though.