Summer 2020
*Rachel Zoe Box Of Style is now known as Curateur
Rachel Zoe is known as a stylist, fashion editor, designer and reality show star. In 2015, she started her Box of Style, a high-end subscription box that features a curated selection of goods from promising brands you may not have heard of. Her selections are often eco-friendly or focused on using clean, non-irritating ingredients. Each box costs $99.99 and includes $500 or more of luxury goods, from skincare and makeup to jewelry and bags. I tried the summer 2020 box, and the selection was catered to vacationing and lounging by the beach.
The summer 2020 Rachel Zoe Box of Style includes a Henny + Lev canvas weekender bag, a Peter Som sarong, Grown Alchemist Hydra-Repair Cream, Kosas cream blush and highlighter, and white beaded tassel earrings. My personal favorite item was the Grown Alchemist cream, which is exceptionally hydrating without leaving behind any oil. I think this month’s box includes a great blend of practical and glamorous items, and there’s something for everybody here.
What We Like About Rachel Zoe’s Box Of Style
I was excited to open up the box to a variety of items that I could use and wear while relaxing. The summer box feels very catered to a relaxed, vacation experience. The Henry + Lev weekender bag and Panacea tassel earrings fit well into a summer color scheme, with their light colors.
The skin cream and color palette showed how well-curated the box selections are. They’re both versatile items with wide appeal. My skincare and makeup routine is fairly simple, but I still expect to find a way to use both of these regularly. Both of these items are clean, without the harsh chemicals that come in many makeup and skincare products, and that’s a huge plus side.
Below are some of the items from the box, excluding the weekender bag and the Missoni towel.
What We Don’t Like About Rachel Zoe’s Box Of Style
This box doesn’t offer a lot in the way of personalization options. The options are mostly between a few color schemes, or from between a few different gift options. If your box includes an item that doesn’t fit your taste, there’s no alternative option. Most of the products in the box have wide appeal, but you may find yourself needing to regift some of them.
The box is definitely a great value, but it’s a high price to pay unless you know you’re going to use all the items included. This summer, I don’t have as much use for a sarong and beach towel as I normally would— but I do look forward to using them when beaches open up again.
Peter Som Dream Floral Sarong
- Rose Quartz
- Meteorite
My Pick
I chose the sarong in meteorite, a palette of deep blues, purples and black. The other option, Rose Quartz, featured pinks and reds. You can really feel the gorgeous space tones in this sarong, and the watercolor-style print offers plenty of visual depth. It’s a lightweight and soft cotton/poly blend, perfect as a coverup or a shawl. If you’re not headed to the beach or the pool anytime soon, try using it as a scarf when summer nights get chilly.
Missoni Home Towel
The gift options for Summer 2020 are:
- Henny + Lev The Max Makeup Trunk
- Missoni Home Rufus Terry Beach Towel
- Danielle Nicole Macramé Handbag
Missoni Home Rufus Terry Beach Towel
As a new subscriber, I got to choose a gift to come with my box. I chose the Missoni Home Towel, because it looks so striking and seems like something I’d get a lot of use out of compared to the other options. I never would have thought to buy a designer beach towel for myself, and that’s part of what makes this box so fun. It manages to bring novelty and glamour to normal activities.
The classic chevron print is the Missoni calling card, and it’s just as colorful here as in many of their garment prints. The terry cloth is thick and absorbent, ideal for beach days or poolside use.
Henny + Lev Canvas Weekender
This Henny + Lev bag came in a biodegradable plastic bag, which was great to see. The brand specializes in using environmentally friendly, sustainable fabrics to create their bags.This item uses natural canvas and Waterborne PU faux leather. Waterborne is easy on the environment and also exposes consumers to fewer chemicals than other PUs.
The bag is made from a natural canvas with tan faux leather accents. It’s lined with a pale satiny fabric and has a few internal pockets. It also comes with a matching pouch, perfect for makeup and other personal effects you might want to keep separate for easy access.
The tan faux leather provides a nice contrast to the white. It’s a versatile bag. The size is usable; big enough to hold everything you need for a short trip, but not cumbersome. It’s just over a foot tall and 25 inches long. This weekender really is a great size to take on a short trip. It’ll fit a couple of outfits, a few paperbacks, and whatever else you need to take on your weekend getaway. I can’t wait to use it the next time I’m able to take a trip.
GROWN ALCHEMIST Hydra-Repair Day Cream
When I saw this item in the box, I wasn’t very excited about it. That changed once I tried out the cream, though. The Hydra-Repair Day Cream contains rosehip, camelia, and jojoba oil. It also has soothing aloe vera, and geranium blossoms to balance sebum levels and reduce pores.
There’s a light, fresh citrus-herbal scent to the cream, but it seems to fade fairly quickly and doesn’t linger all day as you wear it. Personally, I like the scent, but if it’s not your favorite, you don’t have to worry about an overwhelming, long-lasting fragrance. The scent is naturally derived, and it’s also free from parabens, paraffins, synthetic color, glycols, lauryl sulphate, and other chemical ingredients.
The cream has a thick texture, and a small amount goes a long way. The box describes it as a “velvety viscosity,” and that’s accurate to how the cream feels to me. The cream absorbs well and doesn’t leave behind a telltale shine. It seems to sink right into the skin and leaves behind a smooth surface for makeup application. Since my skin tends to be dry, I love this product and I’m glad this box introduced me to it.
KOSAS Color & Light Palette
KOSAS is a new makeup brand that creates clean makeup products that nourish skin by avoiding harsh additives. The KOSAS Color and Light palette has a cream blush and highlighter made with natural, vegan ingredients. The one in this box came in Tropic Equinox. The Rachel Zoe website shows swatches of this on fair and medium skin tones, showing that it can flatter different skin tones.
The brand recommends using the blush on the hollows of your cheeks, and the highlighter on cheekbones and other high points on your face. The subtle shimmer effect catches the light nicely, emphasizing your bone structure.
I liked the cream texture, which made it easy to blend to the desired results. I like a subtle look, and I was able to achieve it even with my basic makeup skills. The texture also means the cream is easy to apply on the go and doesn’t require brushes. The neat packaging and two colors both make it a minimalist, easy to use option. It fits nicely in a bag for touch-Nups.
For these swatches, I added a lot of pigment— these can easily go on much sheerer than pictured here.
PANACEA Beaded Tassel Earrings
These Panacea earrings are made with high-quality materials, and it shows. The white glass beads are strung onto silk thread by hand. The bright white tone of the beads and tassel style look very summery and would fit right in with any resort outfit. They have a secure post backing, and the frothy tassel style reflects light gorgeously.
Panacea has teams working on jewelry all over the world, and these earrings are made in India. They’re not really my style, but anyone who likes bold, summery looks will enjoy these statement earrings. I can easily imagine them worn with flowy summer fabrics in yellows and oranges.
Final Thoughts
The Rachel Zoe Box of Style is primarily focused on accessories and skincare items. Rachel Zoe’s curation seems to favor eco-friendly items and clean beauty products that are free of harmful ingredients. If you want to stay informed on the latest brands in skincare, makeup, and accessories, this box will help keep you in the loop with plenty of new products to try.
Each box gives subscribers a value of around $500 for $99.99. If you regularly spend money on makeup, accessories, scarves, and similar items, this is a great deal. If you don’t normally spend that much money on style items, it might not be worth the price to you.
This box will be a hit among people trying to inject some glamor and luxury into their daily lives. The selection of fun, cute goods gives you something to look forward to in the mail. If the summer box doesn’t quite hit the mark for you, keep an eye out for the fall box, since you can purchase individual boxes without a subscription.
