Modern Love Box is a subscription box curated for couples. Each box aims to help long-term relationships nix boredom and keep that intimate, romantic spark alive.
They describe their expert-curated boxes as "monthly boxes of luxury items and activities meant to enhance meaningful experiences and promote overall relationship success." The activities and items are all purposefully gender non-specific—same-sex couples and heterosexual couples can enjoy this inclusive box all the same!
This month's box is being reviewed thanks to an MSA reader request!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: The Modern Love Box
The Cost: $47.78 per month + shipping (Information on the site says the cost is about $54.00 per month, but my total charge for the box + shipping—which was $7.48 for me in Pennsylvania—was $55.26)
The Products: Luxury items and activities for adult, long-term couples meant to inspire intimacy and excitement. The items are curated by relationship experts and appropriate for all kinds of couples (heterosexual, same sex, etc.).
Good to Know: According to the Modern Love Box site, "Couples will receive their box every month between the 18th-22nd. (Please keep in mind that such events out of our control, e.g holidays and weather may affect this!)" Also, they offer some single boxes (rather than a recurring subscription) that would make great gifts!
Ships to: Continental US only.
Check out more date night subscription reviews in our Subscription Box List!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
Signing up for The Modern Love Box was easy—they have just one subscription level to choose from, and you can cancel it at any time. During the sign-up process, they ask you for details about your partner, such as name, age, gender, and length of the relationship. They also ask an open-ended question about what you're most excited about in regards to the subscription, though I don't know if that impacts the kinds of things you get in the box or just gives the company a better idea of what brings customers to it...
Since this was our first box, we got some welcome items in addition to the normal contents of the box. First was the card you see above. It explains how the contents of each monthly box are just part of the process. To get even more benefits from the activities inside, you should take time to reflect on each experience and the feelings that come along with them.
Two Journals
To help you reflect, the box includes two slightly-larger-than-pocket-sized journals. They're not hardbound, but the paper covers have a coating on them that seems like it could stand up to being stuffed in a back pocket or tossed in a tote bag. There are two designs, both of which feel a little more traditionally feminine to me, but Alistair's not the type to worry how "manly" something looks, so it was no problem for us. I'm bad at journaling, so I appreciated that the welcome card gave us some jumping-off points to get going. We'll have to keep these in a safe spot so we can continue the exercise over the months.
Okay, let's backtrack a bit now and talk about the info booklet for the box. I was really impressed by how fresh and youthful the branding for this box felt. I just turned 30, and Alistair, 31, so the more mature, somewhat serious presentation of the couples "gifts" you see around Valentine's Day feels a little ill-fitted to our more playful, quirky personalities. This on the other hand, seemed approachable and fun.
In addition to looking great, the booklet was also helpful in explaining the three steps of our "date". This month's activity is... drumroll, please... bodypainting! When we opened the box, I remember Alistair and I sharing the same "Hmm... Ooookayyyy" look. I love art, drawing, painting, the whole shebang. Alistair loves experiencing art (and is beautifully supportive of my endeavors) but making it isn't his forte, and he gets intimidated by it pretty easily. And I think both of us were hesitant about the whole bodypainting idea. We're no prudes, and as I mentioned before, we love being playful and silly with each other. But bodypainting first struck me as... I dunno... new-agey?... Weirdly bohemian?... It's definitely romance-movie material.
Natural Earth Face Paint Kit - Retail Value $18.95
I thought it was neat (and went along with the contemporary, in-touch vibe of this box) that the paints chosen for the task are natural, vegan, and come with bamboo applicator tools! I've been trying to use more organic, natural body care and makeup products. It only makes sense that my bodypaint should be natural, too, right? Haha. The formula is creamy and easy to apply. You can dilute it with a bit of water, too. It washes off with just water really easily.
Two Paintbrushes
Since the applicators in the paint kit are basically fancy eyeshadow sponges, I liked that they included two (really nice) paintbrushes, too. I don't know how detailed you can get with bodypaint, but they do have really nice pointed tips, so if I used them on a painting project, I could play around with details (almost like with brush pens).
With our tools in place, we got started on the activity. The basic gist is that one person strips down to their skivvies and acts as a canvas for the second person. WooOOooo!!! The booklet suggests putting a towel down or something to prevent paint from dripping onto the floor. We didn't get too wild with it, so that wasn't a huge concern for Alistair and I. But I could see people going totally Jackson Pollack on this project. (Who knows—now that we've loosened up with this go, maybe we'll get a little looser on round two!)
There are questions to inspire the painting, too. Basically, the person painting is answering each question with a painting, rather than words. The human canvas then tries to interpret what they painted in a fun guessing game/conversation starter. More than the paint, we both really liked the excuse to talk through subjects we hadn't stumbled upon before. We have a mutual childhood fear of the dark, for example. Both of us answered the "What's one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen?" question with landscapes from trips we'd taken. Meanwhile, the painting process forces you to be a bit more vulnerable with your body. (It will teach your partner just how ticklish you really are, haha!)
Loofah
With our art done, it was time to get cleaned up. I won't go into details, but I can say that I liked being provided with some fun body care items to make tidying up a bit more special. For one, they included a fresh new loofah...
Pulse Skincare Matcha Mint Wash, 4 fl. oz. - Buy an 8 oz bottle for $12.95
... and this refreshing bodywash. Alistair noted that it smelled a lot like the tea tree products he loves—there is a bit of tea tree essential oil in there amidst the peppermint and green tea infusions. As a matcha lover, I was bummed that didn't get more matcha aromas from this soap, but I liked its refreshing minty zip.
The Verdict: This ended up being a really cute date box. I think they came through on their "modern" mission—both the products and the packaging felt geared towards a new generation of young couples. And as much as I initially balked at the idea of bodypainting, it was a clever choice of activities that inspired communication, physical touch, and a sense of vulnerability. And at the very least, it was a nice excuse to schedule time for one another into our (really) busy schedules. I'm especially curious to see how the journaling element of the process impacts how we communicate or at least how aware we are of our feelings over time.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes! Though boxes are usually all sent out by the 22nd of the month, this particular box is still available as a one-time purchase here! If you sign up today for the monthly subscription, your first box will be January.
Value Breakdown: This box cost me $55.26 and contained 5 items (I'm counting the paintbrushes and the notebooks as sets here). That means that the average price of each item is $11.05. Note that there's also an intangible value here—the curation and planning behind the date activity.
Do you think you and your partner would enjoy this The Modern Love Box activity?
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