The CuteBox is a monthly subscription service that sends you hand-picked kawaii items–many from Japan and Korea!
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: The CuteBox
The Cost: $24 per month + free shipping. Save with 3, or 6-month prepaid subscriptions.
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CODE: ADDICTION
The Products: Now, every box comes with 5-7 super adorable cute items. They recently made the change from 10 items to 5-7 to provide less filler in each box. This box is one of the last boxes with 10 items inside.
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The box came with a cute thank you postcard and an information paper listing the 10 items included.
Sailor Moon Necklace with Candy
There's no telling which Sailor Scout's necklace you'll receive inside this blind box! The image on the info card looks like it corresponds to Sailor Mercury, but the one I ended up with looks a lot like Sailor Moon's bright pink bow. It's definitely just a toy necklace, rather than something of really nice quality (the pendant is just lightweight plastic), but it's really pretty and sooo cute! The bow has an iridescent quality to it, and the giant pink gem is really fun. I feel like you don't have to know Sailor Moon in order to fall for this pink and gold piece of jewelry! Oh, and it comes with a small bag of simple candies. I wish all jewelry came with candy, haha.
Kitty Pen
Put a cat on almost anything, and I'm bound to love it. Not only is there a sweet gray kitty face on top of the pen cap—there are also doodles of kitties on the side of the pen, too. I love the little yawning cat! This pen is really nice to write with, too. The ink flows nicely, and the point is fine enough that my scribbles come out neat and tidy on the page.
Milk Look Correction Tape
What a sweet little desk accessory! This bottle is about the size of a bottle of Wite-Out, but the strawberry milk design is wayyy cuter! I love that this is correction tape, rather than liquid paper (which can get messy), too.
Hoppe-Chan Card Holder
Hoppe-Chan is essentially a little drop of pastel-colored cream that's come to life. Appropriately, this card-holder keychain has a squishy, plush feel to it. I imagine this might be a fun way to keep your ID card for work or school on hand, though, for me, it's just a bit too big and bulky (especially given that I already have a wallet with a keychain on it—adding this would be a little too clumsy). This accessory comes with a piece of candy, too!
Animal Soft Candy DIY
Soft candies aren't really my thing, so I think I'll save this DIY kit for a friend of mine. But I love the spirit of this treat! Rather than just tossing a few pieces of candy in the box, this kit combines a happy sweet treat with a fun activity. Judging by others' experience with DIY kits like this one, I doubt the finished product will look as adorable and crisp as the lemon and strawberry marshmallow creatures on the front of the package. But this is way more fun than your standard bag of candy.
Sailor Moon Moon Kingdom Mirror
I love that this toy came in a yellow gachapon-style ball! This mirror is about as long as a house key and slips into my jeans pocket with ease. It's just plastic, of course, but I found it surprisingly crisp and reflective. The cover makes it look pretty fancy, too.
Gudetama Yoyo
Folks, it has been a hot minute since I last yo-yo'd. But I've been surprised by how much use this toy has gotten so far! Yo-yos are kind of the world's first fidget spinner—it's kind of nice to flick this yo-yo up and down its string as I'm on a phone call or just needed to expel some excess energy when I'm at my desk. Plus, it's got everyone's favorite lazy egg on it! I like that he's wriggling atop an egg white. So cute.
Rilakkuma Stickers
Rilakkuma is one of my favorite kawaii characters. These stickers envision this chill little bear as a teddy bear—I love his rumpled edges! These stickers are so sweet and would make a great seal for an envelope (or I could drop a bunch of these die-cut stickers into the envelope as sort of a sticker confetti).
Sumikko Gurashi Sticky Notes
These long stickies have a sushi theme! Eeee! I love 'em! These squishy critters are some of my favorite cartoon characters, and these types of tabs are really helpful in marking pages in my notebooks, planners, journals, or even a book when I've misplaced my bookmark. My cat pen's wet ink took a second to dry against the smooth paper, but a softer ballpoint I tried seem to work a bit better.
Mi Mu Ru Blossom Plush
This soft little mushroom fits in the palm of my hand. At first, I thought it was some kind of squid, but it's actually just a pastel purple and white mushroom! The "fur" on this plush is a little roughed up for whatever reason, and the quality doesn't seem quite as nice as other, larger plushies I've seen (maybe just because there are so many details crammed into this bitty little plush). It's not my fave, but I could imagine that it's a fun character to collect.
The Verdict: This was my first Cute Box, and I thought it was a lot of fun! None of the products felt terribly high value—they seem like the dime store trinkets or the kind of small things you'd find in bins at the toy store. That said, it's a lot of fun to unpack this box and see all the cuteness smiling back at you. I'm a big Sailor Moon fan, so I was really stoked to see those items in particular. But I do feel like there's a good chance these goodies will end up in a junk drawer if they're not something you really love. I'm happy that at least a few of the items (like the pen, the stickies, the corrector tape...) are useful, rather than just cute to look at! I'm curious how the quality of the items might change now that the company is moving from a 10 item box to a 5-7 item box (to eliminate filler)...
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No. Orders close at 11:50pm PST on the 18th of the month. Nab the next box here!
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Value Breakdown: This box costs $24.00 with free shipping, and I received 10 items inside. That means the average value for each of these items would be $2.40, which feels fair for what I got.
What was your favorite item from this month's The Cute Box?
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