Since I canceled my Birchbox (Canada) last month, I signed up for the Canadian subscription box, Topbox. (If you’d like to sign up, you can contact me for a referral email, but honestly, that’s a pain and you may as well just sign up directly on their website. I don’t believe there’s a waitlist or anything!)

One nice thing about Topbox is that for Canadians, it doesn’t cost as much as some of the US boxes, which charge in USD and an additional $4.95 for shipping. So, for Canadians, Topbox sends out five samples (just like Ipsy and the regular Birchbox) for $12 (plus your provincial tax) rather than US$14.95 (which currently works out to a little under CA$18). I’m in Ontario with 13% tax, so my cost is CA$13.56. Not too bad.

But how good is the box?

Now, I’m not sure why, and I am pretty sure I was only charged 1 × CA$13.56, but I ended up with two boxes of stuff! I’m going to have to check my credit card bill to see if I got charged extra. One box looks like the regular Topbox with 5 items; the second box contains three apparently full-sized skincare items. Maybe it’s an intro thing…? I am not expecting to get this much stuff next month, that’s for sure.

What I Received

Regular Topbox

Aveda Invati Solutions for Thinning Hair Exfoliating Shampoo (Mini)
Aveda Invati Solutions for Thinning Hair Thickening Conditioner (Mini)
Barefoot Venus Shea Butter Hand Cream in Sugar Leaf (Mini)
China Glaze Nail Lacquer in New Birth (Full-sized, from The Giver collection)
Essie Sleek Stick UV Cured Nail Appliqué in Sneek-E (Full-sized)
Topbox patterned cylindrical cardboard container
Deborah Lippmann coupon for a free nail file to be picked up at Holt Renfrew

Extra Box (Loulou Magazine × Vichy Laboratoires)

Vichy ProEVEN Brightening Cleansing Foam (100 mL)
Vichy ProEVEN Advanced Daily Dark Spot Corrector (30 mL)
Vichy ProEVEN Night Overnight Concentrate (40 mL)

The regular Topbox stuff all came in a pretty white and purple patterned cardboard cylinder, which is not as handy as Ipsy makeup bags, but sturdier than Birchbox boxes. Eh, it’s a box 🙂

But, I actually will use everything in here! That is, apart from the Essie nail appliqués, which look way enormous (I guess you have to trim them to fit the nail? They’re massive to me!) and are not something I’ve ever used.

Normally, I’d complain about getting shampoo and conditioner samples, but with my postpartum hair loss, I’m keen to try Aveda‘s products for thinning hair. Just in time, too, as I’m running low on my current Andalou Naturals shampoo for thinning hair.

The Vichy products all look cool and I’ve never tried the brand before, so that is exciting.

The China Glaze polish is a newish shade (New Birth, a pale, whitened mint green cream) that I don’t already own.

The Barefoot Venus hand cream is maybe a bit meh, but I guess we can all use hand cream. I’ll probably save this one for fall/winter. It’s a pretty big container, too.

And, I don’t usually go to Holt Renfrew (upscale Canadian department store, typically staffed by snobby SAs) but if I’m passing by one this month, I don’t mind picking up my free Deborah Lippmann nail file (which looks like it’s actually a buffer).

So, it’s a win for now, and I am looking forward to my next box!

For those of you in Canada, have you tried Topbox?