CherryReview: Bleu Vintage Box

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posts - I was down the whole of Monday and the past few days have just been a matter of recuperating.  Not sure what happened, but I woke up with the worst headache of life and then mild fever later on.  I slept probably 12 hours, barely ate and just felt like my brain was replaced with a bowling ball!

The last time I felt like that, was the time I had food poisoning in 2009.  Not a good feeling.

Anyways, I finally have a post for you guys!  I recently felt like spoiling myself a bit so I decided to try out a subscription box called Bleu Vintage.  From the review that DSK Steph made, it seemed like the box was pretty promising - three pieces of jewellery and a scarf/accessory, all for $27.99 (well that was because it was USD converted in to CAD and then shipping included).  Not a bad price for what you are getting?

Disclaimer: I purchased this box with my own money and I am not being asked to make a review, nor am I being endorsed or paid to make this review at all.  This review is 100% my own experience and my own thoughts.

YAY!  Surprise in the mail...actually no, I was anticipating it coming today.  Contact lens case is there to cover my postal code :P

I got the box on Wednesday, which is exactly 7 business days (business is key here) from when I ordered.  Not so bad, considering that it is within their proclaimed time limit (7-10 business days).  There were some hiccups though - I didn't get my account activation, nor have I ever received my 10% discount either (which you are supposed to get upon your first subscription).  Already off to a rough start, right?  I didn't care about the 10% discount honestly because I knew I probably wouldn't use it (you can only use it to purchase items from the online store).  So it wasn't a big deal for me.  The customer service was pretty good at answering my questions and making sure my account was activated shortly after my email.

I purchased the Silver box because I don't wear gold jewellery - it just isn't my thing.  I have a few pieces but here's the thing...if I wear my cross necklace (because I am Catholic), it is white gold, so gold jewellery would not match.  If I wear my fiance's heart necklace he gifted to me, that's also white gold, so gold jewellery won't match.  And most of my earrings are silver too.  And my rosary bracelet is also silver.  So gold really just clashes with everything I wear!! (Except my glasses - they are a light metalic brown/bronze).

So...when I opened my box (super excited!) and saw the gold jewellery in the box instead of silver...you can probably picture how disappointed I was.  Afterall:

1) Bleu Vintage deducts your card right away after you purchase...when they only ship out 2-3 days after your order.  And it's not a very official looking e-mail.  It's just an email that says "We have deducted $xx from your credit card".

2) My account wasn't activated right away.  Ho hum...

3) They didn't give me my membership discount.  But as I say previously, that wasn't such a big deal breaker for me.

Anyways, I sucked it up and decided that I'll take the gold jewellery for a spin and treat it as something different.  Here are some photos and my opinions on each piece:

Infinity scarf

The first item I pulled out was wrapped in some tissue paper - a faux silk (most likely polyester blend) infinity scarf, good for spring.  Except...spring seems to have skipped over my city and we are almost in full fledged summer.  So I can't wear this...unless the temperature starts dipping any time soon.

Quality-wise, it's alright.  I hate to say it, but I've seen a bit better workmanship from these types of scarves in Hong Kong and Shen Zen.  I'm glad to know that this wasn't made in China, but for something made in the USA, I would've expected that a) the edges would be better, in the sense that the surged ends were less frayed (I had to snip off some threads...) and b) the surging could have at least be a little more even (certain areas were shorter "stitches" whereas others were slightly wider).  The print is fun and I really like it - I can see myself using it once the weather starts cooling off (which means I'll probably have to wait until September).

Arrow earrings - modeled on my ear

All the jewellery came in small light blue organza bags, which was a nice touch.  As I said, my order ended up being all gold jewellery so this is what I'll have to deal with.  I don't hate it, I think the style is nice, it's just that I barely wear gold.  Bah.  Anyways, these earrings were cute, although I would have preferred if it wasn't dangling in the direction of the arrow, but rather perpendicular so that the arrow wasn't pointing downwards.

Quality-wise, they are really light-weight earrings, something about it though just doesn't seem to justify the $15USD price-tag on the website.  I just think they are a tad too light - I would have expected them to be slightly heavier.  Maybe I'm just being a little too picky because I'm used to wearing jewellery that I buy at more expensive stores (Swarovski, the department stores in Canada and Hong Kong...actual jewellers?) that  my standards have gone too high?  But then again I have also made my own jewellery before and I don't know, these charms just don't have the weight to them that I would've liked them to have.  I'm not saying I want them to weigh down my ears, but when jewellery is slightly heavier, it has a more expensive feel.  Of course I don't want someone to be putting lead in my jewellery...

Next up:

Matching arrow necklace - my favourite piece of the bunch...but there was one little thing that now makes me upset

You can change the angle of the arrow by adjusting how the necklace sits.  You can also adjust the length because there is an extension chain.  That's pretty good since it means you either wear it alone short or long, or with another necklace

The following are going to be shots that explain to you my qualms about this necklace, and despite liking it a lot, I also don't like it too:

The rhinestones are a cute touch on the arrow necklace and the earrings.  However, when you look really closely at the placement of the rhinestones, you can see that some are bulging out a bit, and that's usually a recipe for disaster (because if you lose one crystal, forget it, your whole piece is gone).  I'm very finicky with these details, and because of that I'm going to be stuck finding the glossiest clear top coat I have an slathering a thin layer on it.

The other thing I found that irked me was...

You see that black spot on the bow of the arrow?  There are a bunch of those on that particular spot of the bow.  And usually that means that the item has been plated.  Which actually explains why the jewellery is light (but that's fine - a lot of jewellery is plated with gold and I am cool with that).  However, I am thoroughly disappointed that even before I've worn this, there is already a black mark on it, meaning that it has been scratched.  I know the name of the box is "Bleu Vintage" and someone's gonna come back to me and say "Yeah but it's the charm of something vintage!"  and that this little black mark is just a sign of it being "loved" and "vintage-y" but come on, that's not the point of this...I'm supposed to get a nice new piece of jewellery that has a vintage FEEL not a total vintage LOOK.  At least that's not what I was going for.

*sigh*

The last piece of jewellery in the box:

Front side

Back side

Modelled on my wrist

This was...okay.  It just fit my wrist with a few centimetres of space left.  Can't say I love it, can't say I hate it.  The rhinestones are better placed on this one though and have a better look, which is good.  However, I find the gold a tad to yellow for my tastes and the bracelet feels a bit plastic-y to me.  Not sure what it is, but I might not wear it (if it was silver I would consider...but gold is almost a deal breaker for me).

Overall impression: Hmm...yeah I'm not impressed.  I don't subscribe to these boxes because I find it really hard to put money down on something where I am not 100% sure of the quality, or whether the items will suit me or not.  Which is why I haven't bothered trying to subscribe to GlossyBox or BirchBox or Ipsy...or any subscription box altogether!  Maybe I was just unlucky for my first try, or my expectations were too high.  However, overall I think I would give Bleu Box a pass - for the money that you spend on the box, you do get a lot, but is it really value for your money?  Eh, well if you compare to the prices you would pay individually (per the site), then yes, it's a good deal.  But in my opinion, I would rather use that money to buy one very good quality piece.  To me, that's money better spent.

PS: I will update this post when (and if) I receive any news from Bleu Vintage's customer service regarding the fact that they sent me the Gold box instead of the Silver box.  However, that will not change my perception of the items that I have received, nor the opinions that I have stated in this post.

Update: I got an e-mail - I think it is a misconception that the "Silver" box will have silver jewellery and the "Gold" box will have gold jewellery.  So maybe I did get the right box after all.  The Gold box is supposed to have around 4 pieces of jewellery compared to the silver box with 3 (Gold being worth $100 and Silver being worth around $50, although the price point for the boxes is not that drastic, nor do I think the boxes being worth that much).

So all in all, was it my fault for getting gold jewellery when I don't wear it?  Eh...I don't know, I guess maybe if I read it more in depth I would've figured it out?  But I think labeling your boxes "Gold" and "Silver" is not exactly the smartest idea when you are dealing with jewellery anyways because jewellery comes in both colour tones!!  Some other label may have stopped me from purchasing the box and being disappointed in the end.

I can't say that customer service is super friendly and fast - from the looks of it, it is more of a one-person team.  Because they were out of town, the response time was relatively long.

Readers: Has anyone else had different experiences with Bleu Vintage?  Do you have a monthly subscription box that you enjoy?  Please let me know!