CAUSEBOX Winter 2019 Box Review + Coupon

ByLiz CadmanJan 31, 2020 | 59 comments

CAUSEBOX is a quarterly subscription box that features brands and items dedicated to doing good all over the world. Many featured brands donate a portion of proceeds to charities and/or may employ local artisans, use ethically-sourced goods, etc.

FYI - CAUSEBOX had shipping delays for this box. More details here.

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: CAUSEBOX

The Cost: $54.95 on a quarterly basis, or $49.95 per box with an annual subscription

Use this link and coupon code FALWELCOME10 to save $10 off your first box!

The Products: At least $150 worth of products for women from CAUSEBOX's favorite socially-conscious brands.

Good to Know: Sign up for an annual subscription to qualify for CAUSEBOX Custom, which lets you hand-pick certain items in your boxes!

Ships to: US & Canada

Check out all of our CAUSEBOX reviews!

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Each CAUSEBOX comes with a booklet detailing the items included and the makers behind each item. I recommend reading this cover-to-cover! CAUSEBOX works with makers that give back, support fair trade, ethically source materials, etc., and it's an inspiring read!

Now, on to the items!

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Imani Collective Knit Throw Blanket - Retail Value $120

This blanket is 52 inches x 60 inches. Here I am holding it up to give you a better sense of scale:

(Subscribers will receive this throw in Slate or Cream. If you are an annual subscriber, you get to pick the color.)

What a lovely and well-made item! I'm always happy to get a new throw blanket, and I love the subtle tones of this Slate color. The blanket is 100% cotton, medium/light weight, and should work well for all seasons. (And I know some MSA readers are not the biggest fans of tassels/poms. But no worries - you can easily trim those off if they aren't for you!)

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Gold Serving Spoons by Artisan Direct - Value Listed $39

(Subscribers will receive this or Cozy Convertible Mittens by Siizu or Luxe Jewelry Box by Samara.) If you are an annual subscriber, you get to pick the item.)

Just like this blanket, this serving spoon set is a classic piece I'm sure I'll be using for years. They are 18/0 Stainless Steel, Gold Electroplated, and dishwasher safe! ("Dishwasher safe" is one of my favorite word combinations! 🙂

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Machete Holiday Hair Clip Set - Value Listed $31

(Subscribers will receive this or Foxy Originals Mix & Match Stud Earrings. If you are an annual subscriber, you get to pick the item.)

The designs of these barrettes are so timeless! I've been shifting to only washing my hair twice a week (dry shampoo = critical to this life changing decision) and these hair clips are a perfect addition to keeping my hair looking good even on day 3!

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VITIV Daily Hair Vitamin – Retail Value $30

(Subscribers will receive this or PUR 4-in-1 Correcting Primer. If you are an annual subscriber, you get to pick the item.)

This daily hair vitamin is like a serum and styling product in one. You apply 1-3 pumps (depending on hair length) to damp hair before styling. I love that it's ingredient-conscious and the light scent is fab, too. It helps me with preventing frizz and prepping before heat styling. Most importantly, it doesn't weigh down my hair (No product build-up feel.)

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Whitney Kerney Mugs – Set of Two - Value Listed $35

(All subscribers will receive this item.)

How beautiful are these mugs?! The pale pink one has become my morning go-t0 coffee mug. They are a CAUSEBOX exclusive collaboration with artist Whitney Kerney and proceeds from these items support victims of domestic violence. (And good news - while I couldn't find any info on their package, I did find on their Instagram page that CAUSEBOX confirmed these mugs are microwave and dishwasher safe!)

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DERMA-E Hydrating Night Cream - Retail Value $29.50

(All subscribers will receive this item.)

I'm a big fan of DERMA-E. The formulas are ingredient consious and priced reasonably. This is a rich cream that takes a few minutes to fully absorb. I am all about Hyaluronic Acid in my skincare, and this cream definitely left my face feeling plumped up and hydrated.

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Art Print – $10

And in every box, CAUSEBOX works with an artist to design the box and artwork. These little postcard-sized prints are great for framing!

Verdict: This CAUSEBOX has a value of $284.50! As usual, I am so impressed with CAUSEBOX. I love their mission of working with brands + companies that have ethical production practices, and the box curation is equally amazing. The value is great for a $54.95 box, and incredible with a $10 coupon. Even after reviewing CAUSEBOX for years, I'm still amazed that they can include so many quality, useful, high-design items for such a low cost AND give back, support fair trade, etc. It's incredible.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? As of publication date, the Winter Welcome Box would be your first box. It includes many of the items in this review. See full spoilers here.

Use this link and coupon code WELCOME10 to save $10 off your first box!

Check out all our CAUSEBOX reviews to see what they've sent in past boxes, too.

What do you think of the Winter 2019 Box from CAUSEBOX? What's your favorite item?

Starting at $69.95

Active Deal

$15 off of your first Alltrue box

Use Coupon Code MSA15OFF

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Alltrue

3.3 overall rating

244 Ratings | 82 Reviews

Alltrue (formerly CAUSEBOX) is a seasonal lifestyle membership that unites a community of individuals who stand for good, seek truth, and take action. Every season, Alltrue members receive a curation of carefully vetted socially-conscious lifestyle products (from fashion and homewares to skincare... read more.

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Posted in Subscription Box Reviews, Subscription Boxes for Women

Liz Cadman

Liz is the founder of My Subscription Addiction. She's been hooked on subscription boxes since 2011 thanks to Birchbox, and she now subscribes to over 100 boxes. Her favorites include POPSUGAR Must Have, FabFitFun, and any box that features natural beauty products!

Read More By Liz Cadman >

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59 comments

Cheryl

VERY disappointed in Causebox.. I ordered the box December 28th while the Winter Box was still available.. at least it said I was ordering the Winter box.. Cut to January 21st and I contacted them asking when my box would be shipped.. I was told they ran out of Winter box so I will be getting the Winter Welcome box.. Okay.. very disappointed but fine.. It is now Feb 4th and my box is still “awaiting shipment” … I had ordered a FabFitFun box on January 24th and my box was sent for shipping on January 31st. So it took them a week to send the shipping info to FedEx.. and FedEx sent my tracking today (on Feb 4th). Just seems like the Causebox takes a long time to get your first box. They already have the Welcome boxes so why is it taking them this long to ship it??

Dale

Same order time for me. Yearly subscription and didn’t get anything I chose. Received the welcome box in mid March two weeks before I received my spring box! Who knows when I will get my summer box. I haven’t been notified that it has been shipped at end of June. I wanted to support the causes but not when the service is so poor. The only reason I did yearly was to be able to choose products and that has not worked out to be the case along with delivery problems and condition of boxes when received. Also no phone contact when requested to solve the problems.

Donna

Same here. This is my first experience with Causebox. I bought the annual membership and I now regret it. Communication is severely lacking on their part! Maybe they need to take some pointers from Fab Fit Fun on how to do customer service. (And, yes I too reached out via email and was basically told they are growing and they will be getting boxes out as soon as possible)

Lana

Was considering getting this for gifts, so glad I didn’t pull the trigger on this. Getting a winter/holiday box in late jan/early feb would definitely not have worked for me.
The item reviews are also not so good :/

Alice

I understand the frustration from those who want complete customization for a seasonal box. However, those of us who purchase the annual Causebox do so for that specific reason: to get the customization. If you want to customize, get an annual. Otherwise, don’t subscribe for a seasonal Causebox. It’s just that simple.

Sugarshay

As customers and potential customers we have the right to request certain things. Whether or not the company takes our comments into consideration is another matter entirely. I don’t see very many comments from people saying they want complete customization. They just want some customization options like other subs do. After the shipping debacle of last season I don’t blame people for wanting more. I say keep on voicing your concerns. If enough people want some customization options Causebox will change. It’s just that simple.

Alice

The whole premise of customization IS the draw of a lower overall cost for the annual subscription. Why would anyone purchase the annual and spend all their money up front if there wasn’t some incentive to do so? Customization is that incentive.

Mandi

Ok now I have to say something because your attitude is bugging me… I pay for all 3 boxycharm subscriptions (base, luxe and premium) and I would never begrudge the subscribers who only pay for a base box every month the chance to also have a choice product of their own. The point is, this company could tier the choices like fff does or let annual subscribers have first choice, then seasonal gets to choose. This would actually be to their benefit as I can imagine their seasonal turnover is very large and they would retain more customers by offering it. Paying for an annual subscription upfront shouldn’t make you special enough to be able to have a choice while the seasonal subs who actually pay more than you don’t. If anybody gets a choice, all should deserve some kind of choice. The fact that you think it’s fair is sad.

Lana

I think FFF does a good job balancing ability to choose some items for everyone and all items for annual, and letting annual subs do customizations first/ get early ship dates.
Causebox doesn’t let you make any selections and sometimes the items are jarringly different from each other (like in this case).
I’ve considered getting single Causeboxes before, but the rogue choice items stop me, and I would not want a year of this

Alice

FFF is the ultimate rogue mix of items, lol. Some folks select their own rogue mIx of FFF! It’s no different than Causebox that regard. To each his own. I LOVE Causebox and wouldn’t dream of an annual of FFF.

Beth in Oklahoma

There are companies that have suddenly gone under as well, and it’s difficult to get your money back. I’m sorry, but due to all their issues, I wouldn’t trust Causebox with an annual subscription. Perhaps they should open selection to yearly first, and box to box subscriptions secondly.

Alice

Annual sub purchases are a risk with any of them for many reasons. One has to decide if it’s worth the gamble.

Pam

Well, the reality is some people can’t afford to pay $200 upfront. This amount might not seem like a lot for some people but for others it’s a huge amount. Some people save up for a special quarterly treat to gift themselves.

Alice

I purchased my annual with a recent discount. I believe it was around 174. I have to budget like anyone else. The only reason I got an annual was for the complete customization. That was a treat for myself.

Kathy

The issue is not everyone has the money to pay for the annual upfront, and if the box were to take a turn for the worst on an annual sub, you have to wait until the year is over before you could stop receiving boxes

Nancy

I completely get this. It is why I am inscribing from this box. The owners of the company have a super bad attitude towards their customers. Not everyone like me can pay for a annual sub. And they could careless. Example, I can’t wear mascara cause it irritates my eyes terribly. So I would order or choose a necklace Over the mascara. I could at least give that as a gift. But they don’t allow for ANY CHOICE at all. Also the Annual customers overall pay less for their subscription that I do as a seasonal customer. So they definitely don’t put out for this choices. Doesn’t make any sense. Also they send the cheapest product ALWAYS to the seasonal customer, ALWAYS. I’ve been ordering long enough to figure out this SCAM that the owners are playing and cheating us out there. These people, the owners are so ignorant to reaSon and could CARE LESS about their customers at all. It’s not only want but necessity with some of these products. I am cancelling and will have nothing to do with these SCAMMERS!!!

Alice

That risk is there for any annual sub purchase. One has to weigh the risk and decide if it’s worth the gamble.

Stephanie

I have to agree with most of these comments. Hopefully CB reads these messages. I would definitely subscribe to this box if it allowed customization for quarterly subscribers. There’s such a difference in product that I won’t chance it. For example: serving spoons, mittens or jewelry box. I live in a cold climate so I have dozens of mittens already, I don’t wear much jewelry so no need for a small box. I love love love the serving spoons so this would be the choice for me but with a 33% chance, no thanks. I also don’t have my ears pierced so again it wouldn’t be worth it to get the earrings. Even now I look at their edit box and I’d love to get it but not with the option that I might receive a vegan clutch which I detest. CB please change.

Emilia

I got this box on the Black Friday sale. I got the spoons (gift), earrings (gift), cream throw (goes on bed), primer (gift), mugs (gift), cream (keep). I bought another throw to put on the second bed and hair clips just because I was so upset I received earrings which are useless to me. For CAD $40 it was worth it. Had I received mittens – I would be livid. I was trying to swap the spoons for the jewellery box, nobody wanted them. I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to swap the mittens. I see a few people desperately trying to get rid of them, and nobody wants them. I bought the throw off someone in a Causebox Facebook group for CAD $25 – more than half the price of the whole box. It was the cheapest out there. The hair clips I bought off eBay. People in the groups wanted unreasonable amount of money for them.

Causebox definitely needs to allow seasonal members some sort of customization. It’s the only reason that prevents me from subscribing.

As for the shipping delays – I don’t really care, because none of the items were meant as Christmas gifts for this year. But I definitely understand peoples frustration.

AHP

Technically yes, you can skip a box. But be aware that in spite of them confirming the skip by email, they may accidentally send the box anyway and then require you to return it to them when they make this mistake. This happened to me. I personally have not had good experiences with their customer service and among other issues, did not get prompt responses to my emails. There are quite a few concerns voiced on other threads about CS issues, so be advised.

Tracy

I don’t like that you couldn’t customize the items as a quarterly subscriber when they are so drastically different from one another. I get not being allowed to customize the color of something unless you are annual subscriber, but mittens vs. dinnerware vs. a jewelry box are incredibly different from one another and just seem random.

Also, for a box that says it cares about sustainability, it is not sustainable to send a person an item they won’t use. Letting quarterly subscribers choose the item out of the three they are most likely to use would ensure that item is not thrown out, shipped across the country, or sent to Goodwill.

Joy

Completely agree especially since I got absolutely every variation I didn’t want.

Nan_A

I agree!

Fran

I agree with Tracy. On everything she said.

Didds

I hope they go back to the customization being colours vs different unconnected items, and I am an annual subscriber.

Leslie

I agree. I’ve been a member for a little over a year now. I’m annual and get to customize, but I still prefer color options rather than ‘this item or that item’ options.

Elaine

I got the special with the extra mini box. So happy to have the cranberry poncho, and I also got a face scrub and a candle. The actual winter edit box was really solid. I was worried since I didn’t get to pick, but I really liked everything. I liked the throw, brushes, serum, earrings, etc. Plus, the stories behind the items really make me feel good about buying from Causebox. Win win!!!

Svetlana7e

I liked my box. The blanket was rough but I can live with it. Like everything else. I wish I can opt out of post cards, I have no use for it and always put it in recycle bin.

Paula James

I always send the postcards to my daughter to brighten her day. She is a big fan of inspirational quotes.

Potato

I am a little bit annoyed by the shipping delay, and some items of the winter box are not as higher quality as I would have hoped. The blanket is a little bit tough, and the gloves seem like could fall apart by itself. Hope they bump the quality. I’m very happy with my winter welcome box tho.

Amy

I agree, that blanket is rough and there is no way to soften it.

Didds

IMO the FFF blanket was a million times better than the causebox one!

MzKayleeJames

Omg that blanket is amazeballs! I’d consider buying one form the brand after getting that, it’s so cuddly!

Chantel

I adore CB and will never cancel. Yes, shipping delays were a major bummer, but when I get a box like this, I am willing to put up with it as long as it is not something that happens often. I am shocked people are complaining about this box. I think people need to just stop ordering subscriptions boxes if they are going to be unhappy about something like this.

Alice

Completely agree. I loved everything and this is such a great sub.

Alexa

Agree that their constant shipping delays are problematic. The one box I got from them had multiple delays and only arrived long after the season was over, it was a Summer box and I didn’t get it until the Fall. The Turkish towel that came with it was the thinnest, cheapest turkish towel of the ones I own, much lower quality than one that came with Popsugar’s July box the year before – much like this thin blanket screams “cheap!” to me. And then, there’s the fact that they don’t let seasonal subscribers customize even one item, unlike PSMH, FFF, or RZBOS. Their mission is admirable but their business model is rubbish at the moment.

danielle

I used one of the discount codes and figured this would be worth it for 30, but this box was such a disappointment. I sold everything I got except for the earrings and the night cream. I literally was hoping for everything I didn’t get and figured getting a least a few of those things would be worth it. Especially with the shipping delays, not sure I will get it again in the future

Jean

That stinks. I really don’t like that quarterly subscribers can’t customize ANYTHING. I am a former Annual Subscriber but I just got so overloaded with stuff I couldn’t justify keeping it. I would jump in again for a really great box but the fact that it’s basically a mystery box keeps me out.

Charlotte

Causebox is shutting out a whole lot of customers by only letting annual subscribers customize their boxes. I would 100% subscribe if quarterly subscribers were able to customize.

Eileen

I got the same box except for the hair clips; I requested the earrings instead. I’ve been using the hair vitamin every day and like how my hair feels. The pink cup has become my weekend morning coffee cup!

Beth

Can you skip a box if you are an annual? I used to love causebox , but cancelled after I got that tote a few boxes back. I thought it was so poorly made, which I had predicted in advance. However, this review, esp. the throw and serving set (swoon) makes me want to resub!

Alice

Yes. And their customer service is prompt and courteous.

Beth

@Jean, @alice, thanks!! That’s really good news.

Jean

Yes, you can. I was able to skip a box last year without any problem.

Joyce

Cause Box is my favorite box right now Its great!

Jeanette

Great review but I can’t trust a company that doesn’t communicate about shipping delays except through another company. I really wanted to make it a long term sub but they didn’t bother to reply to my emails. So, for me it was time to move on. Their lack of response is just bad customer service

They posted this message all over their social media too (not just through MSA) but honestly I don’t remember if I got it in an email or not…

Cheryl Williams

Totally agree! I am not happy with this.. I am suppose to get the welcome box (whatever that is) but it hasn’t even shipped yet.. Really disappointed because I wanted the box BEFORE I make the decision on if I want to keep the subscription. I thought I was getting the winter box but no.. guess I will see how this all shakes out but will probably just cancel.

Redhed36

People may receive the Derma-E Day cream instead of the night cream. There was a manufacturing issue with the night cream which they said was the reason for the shipping delays.

I chose the cream blanket. It looks nice but isn’t soft. It feels kind of like a Turkish towel.

Sarah

Came to mention the night cream. I received a day cream, which was a bit of a disappointment to be honest. I put off buying a night cream because I expected one from the box… Eh.

Alice

I loved my Winter box. Received my Winter Welcome box today, and love everything I selected for it, too (got an annual with this one). Hurry up Spring spoilers/choices!

Geena

I was disappointed with the blanket. It looks beautiful but it feels really rough to me! I really wish it is softer. Hopefully it will get softer after a few more washes but I’m curious to see what others think about the blanket.

mrppug

I won’t be getting Causebox again. Maybe I misunderstood what the box was about, but I so disappointed when I looked at the bottoms of my mugs and found that Made in China stamp. Also— I ordered for the blanket and the tassels (which were secured by three single strings) have already fallen off. The only thing worth anything was the jewelry box, it makes for an easy travel container. But everything else in here? Falling apart or available at Walmart. Wanted something new and unique— thought this would be promoting small businesses and TRUE ethical labor. Disappointment again!

Alice

I LOVE the texture of the throw! It’s supposed to have that tactile feel because of the thread used. It’s fabulous and unlike anything I already have.

Stacie

Glad I’m not the only one! I draped it over a chair for decoration – It’s definitely not a cuddly blanket.

Marcia

The blanket is lovely but definitely on the rough side. I washed it on delicate – it shrunk but at least it’s a bit softer. But mom still finds it a bit too rough to use, so it may be Have to be used as a pretty Decorative throw.

SheriH

I love Causebox and I loved their Winter Box. I like them better than FFF and will be getting an annual. Just waiting for them to show spoilers for the Spring box.

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CAUSEBOX Winter 2019 Box Review + Coupon

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