Brown Sugar Box is a monthly women of color lifestyle subscription box offering tees, accessories and lifestyle products designed by and made for Women of Color.
Each Brown Sugar Box includes a graphic tank or tee and 4-5 additional full-size products ranging from drinkware, accessories, bags, jewelry, makeup, housewares, and stationery. All items are from black-owned businesses.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About Brown Sugar Box
The Subscription Box: Brown Sugar Box
The Cost: $39.95 a month + shipping
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 20% off your first box!
CODE: FIRSTTIME20
The Products: 1 graphic tee or tank plus 4-5 additional full-size lifestyle products
Ships to: the US for $4.95 and International for $12.95
Good to Know: Boxes are shipped around the 15th of each month. When purchasing a subscription, you have the opportunity to select your t-shirt size and fit preference.
Brown Sugar Box October 2018 “SHEro” Review
Each Brown Sugar Box includes a mini magazine that highlights the theme of the box, list the products included and offers interesting and inspiring articles.
The inspiration for this month’s “SHEro” theme is explained alongside details of the items included in this month’s box.
This article highlights real-life black female superheroes from Rosa Parks to Coretta Scott King and Oprah Winfrey. I'm inspired by the stories of these amazing and powerful black women.
Following the theme, the next article explores powerful black women in the political space.
The next article talks about discovering your own power within by exploring what makes you feel powerful and tapping into your passions.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Highlighted are organizations established specifically to address the unique challenges that black and minorities face when fighting breast cancer.
This SHEro Playlist will have you feeling strong, empowered and unstoppable!
Brown Sugar Babes are invited to share pictures of themselves on social media for a chance to win a free box.
The back cover has a picture of a very beautiful woman with a floral crown. On this page, Izzy & Liv invites you to connect with them on Facebook.
SHEro T-Shirt – Listed Retail Value $28
I typically enjoy the Brown Sugar Box exclusive t-shirts and this design is no exception. I love the #blackgirlmagic twist on your typical superhero tee. The natural-haired dark-skinned beauty looks powerful, strong and confident!
Floppy Hat – Listed Retail Value $28
This floppy hat is trendy and I’ve seen some women really rock this look but it’s just not my personal style. Also, the quality is poor - 100% polyester and made in China. It’s a tight fit on my head so it doesn’t appear to be big hair friendly either. To add insult to injury, my husband said I look like Ms. Celie from The Color Purple in this hat. It’s a fail!
Blossoming Ideas Notebook – Estimated Retail Value $20 (found here for $10)
UPDATE: Izzy & Liv sent out a formal apology regarding the “Blossoming Ideas” notebook included in the October Brown Sugar Box. Per Izzy & Liv, the vendor did not deliver the quality of the notebooks that were promised and due to extremely late delivery, Izzy & Liv did not catch this error during the fulfillment process. They have adjusted the stated value of the notebook from $20 to $0 and the total value of the October box from $115 to $95.
I'm excited to see Izzy & Liv partnering with black-owned brands. However, this notebook is a letdown. Similar to the hat, from the distance, it looks very pretty but upon closer inspection, I find that the quality is poor. I compared this notebook to the notebook listed on the brand's website and it is clearly not the same product. The original is larger, has more pages and better spiral hardware. This notebook looks like a cheap knock-off of the original.
Wrap Poncho – Listed Retail Value $32
This poncho is my style! I love oversized fall staples - wraps, scarves, and chunky sweaters. This is right up my alley! Unfortunately, it is also poor quality, thin material, 100% acrylic and made in China. I'm really questioning the listed retail value for this item. However, it is very cute and I may be able to get away with wearing it once or twice. I don't expect much wear beyond that.
“You Got This” Bracelet
In support of Breast Cancer Awareness month, this flexible plastic bracelet was added to the box as a bonus.
Wire Cuff – Listed Retail Value $10
This is really cute! I appreciate it that it's flexible and can be sized to fit my large wrists. I can see myself wearing this with both casual and dressy outfits. Thumbs up!
Verdict: I’ve been a Brown Sugar Box subscriber from the very beginning. Izzy & Liv is a brand with a mission that I love to support. Unfortunately, I feel like the overall quality and value of the boxes have started to decrease over time. I'd like to see them continue with the fabulous t-shirts and inspiring magazines – these items I consistently enjoy. However, they have to address the sizing issues and poor quality of the recent wearable items. This box has too many wearable items in my opinion. Fashion styles vary widely and one-size-fits-all items don’t account for all the amazing shapes and sizes of beautiful black women. Subscribers are bound to be disappointed. I also think some of the listed retail values are inflated and I'm really wondering what happened with the notebook in this month's box. Finally, I'd like to see more partnering with black-owned businesses. There are so many amazing and high-quality black-owned brands to choose from. I'd love to see them featured more often.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, but sign up today to receive next month's box
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 20% off your first box!
CODE: FIRSTTIME20
Value Breakdown: The listed retail value of this box is $118. At $44.90 a box, here’s what you are paying approximately per item:
- SHEro T-Shirt: $10.65
- Floppy Hat: $10.65
- Blossoming Ideas Notebook: $7.61
- Wrap Poncho: $12.18
- “You Got This” Bracelet: n/a
- Wire Cuff: 3.81
Alternatively, each of the 5 items in the box (not including the bonus bracelet) has an average cost of $8.98.
Check out all of our Brown Sugar Box reviews and more women of color subscription boxes in the Women Subscription Box Directory!
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What do you think of this month’s Brown Sugar Box?
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