Every three months, Fortune Cookie Soap puts out a subscription box themed around that season. I am a girl who loves her bath products, so when I saw they were still accepting subscribers for the spring box, I bit the bullet. This quarter’s box was inspired by the Garden of Good and Evil, and features 8 products (including a full size soap) divided into “good” and “evil” scents. I am a longtime Lush and indie bath product fan, so I was excited to be able to try a bunch of products from a company at once without having to spend a lot of money. This box has some hits and misses, but read on to see which products are worth checking out!

The Goods

Body wash in “Native Nectar”

From the listing: “Fresh cracked coconut, no machete required.”

This is straightforward but delicious. As I write this there is snow so thick outside I can barely see outside my windows, so I’m loving this jolt of summer. It’s not that much different from a coconut scent from a mainstream retailer like Bath and Body Works or the Body Shop, so I probably wouldn’t buy a full size, but I love having travel size goodies to take on the go so this one is a success for me. This seems out of place with the theme, though, as I would consider coconuts much more of a summer smell than spring. (Full size retails for $10.99)

Hand sanitizer in “Afternoon Delight”

From the listing: “Pink watermelon dancing with fresh apricots, crowned in white florals.”

Another great scent, and perfectly timed. There’s a flu going around my place so I’ve been washing and sanitizing my hands religiously, so having a punchy, bright scent to throw into the mix is great. The watermelon dominates here, with the apricots playing a supporting role and the white florals nowhere to be seen. It’s a very juicy scent, almost good enough to eat, but again feels very summery for a spring-themed box. There’s a small amount of fine gold glitter suspended in the sanitizer liquid. Once you use it, the sparkles mostly disappear but it does leave a few behind, so I wanted to make a note of that for my more sparkle-averse readers. (Full size retails for $2.89)

Cuticle butter in “Marshmallow Dreams”

From the listing: “Lavender sprigs draped over sage and basil, livened up with a splash of vodka and a swirl of sticky, sweet marshmallow fluff.”

This scent is really strange to me. I kind of get where they were going with it, but I don’t find it all that appealing. It almost smells like someone stuck a marshmallow in a spice cabinet for a while, pulled it out and made a fragrance out of it. Sadly, the formula on this one was a miss for me, too. In the tub this has the consistency of a soft frosting, but as soon as it touches skin it liquifies and sits on top of wherever you put it, making a mess. Once I finally managed to massage it in, it left my cuticles feeling just as dry and sad as before, just greasier. There are not currently any cuticle butters listed on the site, so they may be a new product for spring.

The Evils

Whipped cream in “Make it Rain”

From the listing: “Sparkling droplets of citrus and jasmine dripping with musk, clutched by bloated cedarwood boughs.”

Finally, a true spring scent! To my nose, this smells exactly like spring rain as the flowers start to bloom. I’m really picky about my lotion formulas so I wasn’t overly optimistic about this one, especially after being so disappointed by the cuticle butter, but it’s truly great. The texture is moisturizing without being heavy. As soon as I started working it in I could feel my poor, neglected winter skin get some relief, and it absorbed quickly with no greasy feeling left behind. It didn’t take much product at all to moisturize my hands, so I think I’ll get a good number of uses out of this sample, which is the perfect size to throw in my purse. (Full size retails for $10.99, or buy four 1-oz. samples for $12.99)

Fortune Cookie soap in “Forbidden Fruit”

From the listing: “Dusky verbena creeping over fresh blueberry skins and lemon zest.”

This smells exactly like the listing sounds: delicious. The first thing that drew my attention to Fortune Cookie Soap was their namesake product, and I was really excited to receive one in the box (as far as I can tell from past boxes, each subscription box always includes a themed soap). These are too precious, and to be honest, I have so many soaps currently in use that I haven’t broken this out to test it. I think this would also make a great gift or party favor. (Full size, retail prices range from $2.99 to $3.99)

Steam Me Up Scotty in “Me So Thorny”

From the listing: “Citrus, lavender and french vanilla corrupted by a dark shadow of patchouli and sandalwood.”

I really enjoy this scent. It’s a little sensual and brooding, perfect for the “evil” side of this box (and, if I’m being honest, probably the only truly “evil”-inspired scent here). The patchouli, citrus and lavender take a back seat to the vanilla and sandalwood, and the balance is quite nice. I was really excited to see one of these included in this box, as I’ve been itching to try one. A few years ago, Lush carried “Emotibombs,” which were essentially bath bombs that you put on the floor of the shower that fizzed and steamed while you showered. “Steam Me Up Scotty” works the same way: place it at the back of the shower floor, out of the direct stream of the water, and let it do its thing while you do yours. I liked this a lot. The scent doesn’t have as much throw a traditional bath bomb, and it won’t leave a lingering fragrance on your skin after you get out, but this is the perfect product for those nights when you just want to hop in the shower after a long day at work and stand under the hot water for 15 minutes. (Sold in packs of three for $5.99)

Bath Fizzy in “The Bloom Bloom Room”

From the listing: “A sinfully sweet combination of jasmine, lilac and lily of the valley darkened with throbbing musical notes of fresh peach and citrus, all swirling around poles of decadent spun sugar.”

This was a disappointment for me. Based on the description alone, I expected to really like this one, but it smells like cotton candy to me. If I really concentrate I can almost pick out the peach, but the citrus and floral notes are totally lost in the sugar scent. This is sort of a frustrating thing to receive a sample of – it’s quite small, so it’s really impossible to get a feel for how their bath bombs perform. All I can tell with this is whether I like this particular fragrance, and in this case, I don’t. I popped this into a sink full of hot water to test it and the overall effect was pretty lackluster, it fizzed and dissolved in the blink of an eye and left behind barely-tinted pink water. If I’m going to spend $5 to $8 for the luxury of sitting in scented hot water (and I often do), I would rather purchase from Lush, where they have effects to justify the splurge and the bombs are big enough to be divided and used for a couple baths. There’s nothing wrong with this bath bomb, there’s just nothing very special about it, either. (Full sizes retail from $4.50 to $7.99)

Perfume oil in “Venus Fly Trap”

From the listing: “Bergamot, narcaisse and musk lurk beneath delicate notes of water orchid, sparkling lemon and pink jasmine.”

This was a bit dull for me. The fragrance is a perfectly lovely aquatic floral, but nothing unique. Fortune Cookie Soap currently only has one perfume oil available so I’m not sure whether this will be offered in an oil form come spring or if it’s just to test out the scent. I buy a lot of indie perfumes from other places and am not generally a huge floral fan, so this would probably be more exciting for someone else. (Full size roll-on perfumes retail for $7.99)

Overview

The Soap Box is a quarterly subscription box that includes samples of upcoming seasonal releases before they go public. In addition to the actual contents, each subscription box comes with a gift card code for $10 off your next order, so if you’re a regular Fortune Cookie customer, it’s a great deal.

The biggest frustration for me with not only this box, but a lot of Fortune Cookie Soap products in general, is that it’s very difficult to find product sizes listed anywhere. One of the ways I like to evaluate beauty box subscriptions is by calculating the dollar value of what I receive, and it’s all but impossible to do that here. No sizes are listed on any of the sample products, and even if I were to guesstimate a size on those, I can’t find a a weight or volume listed on the full-size site listings, either. I suspect there probably isn’t $20 worth of product in this box, and I’m ok with that (both because of the code, which I will likely use, and because I think there’s value in being able to try products and scents from an unfamiliar company prior to buying), but I am curious what this box is technically worth.

In general, though, I think this box is a fun way to get introduced to a company without committing to full size products you may not love. I love the idea of subscription boxes but find I’m too picky for makeup-themed boxes, so this is a nice way to still get my surprise packages with better odds of liking what I receive. I liked five products, was “meh” toward two and only thought one was truly terrible. I’m planning on keeping my subscription, at least for now. I will probably pick up Steam Me Up Scotty tabs in Serenity or Sensual, and possibly a body wash or whipped cream in Me So Thorny, which was my favorite scent.

Update 3/25/14: Fortune Cookie Soap announced the theme of their summer Soap Box would be “Candyland.” As I am not a fan of candy scents, I have unsubscribed, although I would consider ordering another box if the inspiration was more appealing to me.

The products featured in the Spring Soap Box will be available on Feb. 21 (this Friday!) at 6 p.m. The Soap Box costs $19.99 for US residents, $28 for Canadians and $34 for international subscribers. The next box will start shipping out May 12. For more info or to sign up, visit the Fortune Cookie Soap website here.