Sunday, April 3, 2016

MonoBox (from I Love Jewelry) Review, March 2016

If I were starting my own subscription business, I'd think twice about naming it the MonoBox! (Do you really want monthly Mono?) But that is the name of a new box from I Love Jewelry. For $21.95 per month, you get three items. One is monogrammed (clothes or jewelry) and the other two are surprises, most of which are jewelry or beauty items.

When signing up, you're asked to provide your clothing size (I assume this is mostly for tops, although they don't say) and your initials for monogramming.  Be aware that the initial of your last name generally goes in the middle of a monogram.  So Susan K. Jones would see "SJK" as a monogram with the "J" somewhat larger than the other two letters.  (Just mentioning this as some reviews have expressed surprise/concern about that customary practice)

Before moving on, I want to mention a problem. Although the site states the monthly cost of this box as $21.95, the amount billed to my credit card was actually $25.90, which means they are charging $3.95 for shipping.  While that is a very reasonable shipping amount, it is not o.k. to omit that information upfront. Not providing clear and complete pricing information well before the checkout page is a red flag. I have e-mailed them about this and will update this post if I receive a response.

Now...we all want to know, what is in a MonoBox?  It took a little longer than normal (about three weeks) for my box to arrive but since personalization is involved, I sort of expected that.  And here we have it....Mono in a box!  (Sorry, just couldn't resist.)



Right on top is a card that has a 15% discount code for I Love Jewelry's website.  If you're interested, use code MOREMOREMORE; I believe the discount applies to your entire purchase.



This is the group of items I found packaged inside lavender tissue paper.  So far, so good!



The monogrammed item that I received was an off white baseball cap. The monogram is embroidered in dark gray thread. Although the cap has an adjustable snapback, it is too small for my big head. Even if it did fit, I'm really not the baseball cap wearing type so this doesn't work for me.  Having said that, the monogram is beautifully done and the color combination makes this cap highly wearable. But unless I can find someone with my initials (and a smaller head) or someone who is not too discriminating about their head wear, really not sure what I can do with this. That's the inherent risk in getting monogrammed items.


  
I was surprised to find that there were actually THREE jewelry items in my box, contained in two pale pink drawstring organza bags.  



The first is a set of aqua, gold and coral bangles. They fit me nicely and have the look of enamel on metal although I'm sure they are not. These are chunkier than what I usually wear but the colors make them fairly versatile. (My photography leaves a lot to be desired; these are prettier than they look here.)



I thought the second organza bag contained just a necklace but there is actually a pair of earrings in here too!



I'm not wild about the statement necklace trend (which has gone on much too long in my opinion) but this gold and aqua necklace is somewhere in between classic and statement. It really is pretty and simulates the look of turquoise in a very believable way.  



The earrings are probably my favorite item in the box.  They are quite delicate and have the open fishhook backs that I find the most comfortable to wear.  These are something I can see wearing on a regular basis.  Love!



These are clearly inexpensive jewelry pieces but for the price paid, I'm happy with what I received.  I don't expect any of these to last very long but I will enjoy wearing them in the meantime.  I particularly like the way the pieces work together; there are a lot of options here.

Aside from the shipping cost disclosure issue, I think MonoBox did a pretty good job, especially since I received one more jewelry item than expected. They probably should do a little more profiling when customers sign up to make sure clothing or accessories will fit but I have no complaints about the quality or accuracy of the monogramming.  There is a limit as to how many monogrammed items I need or want but until then, I'm eager to see what comes next!

Thanks for reading,

Cheryl

Disclosure:  Views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own.  Product discussed in this post was purchased by Lone Star Shopper.  Post does not contain referral or affiliate links.

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