A little while ago I spotted a tweet (on twitter..obviously) asking for pregnant bloggers to review a brand new pregnancy subscription box service.
A bit about Project B:
The box costs £14 each month.
Each month you’ll receive products, from relaxation, to healthy eating, to household, to pampering, plus expert advice to match your month of pregnancy. You can sign-up for any month from 12 weeks.
Each month you’ll receive around five items in your box; it might be a nourishing bump oil, a pregnancy-specific vitamin, a delicious snack, or a new household product.
From the UK’s leading and well-known brands, to more niche or emerging companies, products you can expect to see are Pregnacare, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, Metanium, Weleda, Green People Nappy Cream Balm, Nakd cereal bars, Halos N Horns, Spontex, Balm Balm Rose Geranium Face Balm to name but a few.
Expert advice – Midwife and Health Professional Nikki Holdsworth RSc (Hons) RM and author of ‘What To Buy For Your Baby’ Liat Hughes Joshi both write completely independently. This means you also have some interesting information to digest in each box – specific to your stage of pregnancy.
Four large postcards will tell you about –
Your Pregnancy This Month – how big baby is growing, how you might feel, what you might expect.
Eating Well – what’s good to eat and what’s not in Box 1, and then a nutritious recipe to make in each box after that.
Staying Active – safe and effective ways to keep you mobile and help build stamina for labour.
Shopping Ideas – what to think about buying when.
What I think:
I received box 5 (weeks 30-34) and the products/information are all geared towards preparing for labour.
I had a helping hand to open it:
My box contained:
* Nail girls nail varnish in burgundy
* Montezuma’s creamy white Dominican Republic chocolate with raspberry
* 3 x Pukka tea samples
* Floradix liquid iron formula
* Laboraide twin pack – natural aid to baby’s birth
* Femfresh intimate hygiene wipes
Firstly..what I liked:
* The Floradix iron formula is a handy addition to the box. I (like lots of pregnant women) have had iron deficiency problems throughout my pregnancy and I think this is really useful. I was however disappointed that there are no instructions/dosage details with the bottle. I’m unsure if the bottle I have is one dose or more? I am going to check with my local pharmacist.
*Chocolate – I’m not a huge fan of white chocolate but its nice to have an indulgent treat every now and again and this is pretty nice chocolate.
* Tea – out of the three herbal tea samples I enjoyed two. I didn’t enjoy the ginger one but that is personal taste more than anything else.
What I didn’t like :
* Femfresh wipes – I’m not a fan of Femfresh. I really don’t get it.
* Nail Varnish – I was happy to get a nail varnish in the box especially one which is free of nasty chemicals but it was very watery and hard to put on for that reason.
What I’m undecided on:
* Laboraide – this is a new product which seems to be like a gum shield that you bite down on during labour. It has lots of exciting and bold claims on the box about reducing pushing time during labour, pain etc but until I actually use it I can’t really tell you what I think. I will update this post after I give birth. It retails at approximately £20 per twin pack so it bumps the value of the box up quite a bit.
My final thoughts on the box overall:
As a concept I love the idea of a pregnancy gift box each month. Pregnancy can be a pretty rough, emotional time and a little treat each month is a great idea. I think for me it would be the kind of thing I’d like to receive as a gift from my partner/family member or friend rather than something I would purchase for myself.
If the Laboraide works then the box is good value..however if it doesn’t I may not think it was worth £14. I did get a sneak peek at another box ( the pamper/relax month) which contained a candle worth £9 along with bio oil..face balm and skin illuminator as well as popcorn so that month sounds pretty nice!