Another month, another subscription box review!  This month we have another box from Japan Crate… the Umai Crate, a pack full of ramen and noodles to enjoy, straight from Japan.  But is this box worth the price and the wait?

Like the Doki Doki Box I reviewed, all of these items are shipped from Japan, which means the items will have quite a long shipping time.  While the Doki Doki Box took about six weeks to get to me without interruption, the Umai Crate took about eight weeks, as it was stopped by U.S. inspections.  This is no fault of Japan Crate themselves, and when I contacted customer service to report that my box had not come in (it arrived a day after I sent the e-mail), they were courteous and more than willing to ship a replacement or offer a refund.  There are subscription services out there that have poor customer service and make it difficult if problems arise, so it is great that Japan Crate is not one of them.

Let’s get to the details of the Umai Box itself.  Each month’s Umai box comes with five (out of a choice of seven) noodle packs to try, with an additional non food item, generally related to cooking or eating the noodles.  The Umai Crate does not account for any dietary restrictions or allergies (understandably), so there might be some packs people with certain allergies can’t eat.  For example, this particular box had a lot of noodle packs with fish ingredients in them, which would be a problem with vegetarians and those with allergies to fish.

Now, as stated, these items come straight from Japan, and as such reading the labels and brands of these noodle packs is impossible unless you know the language.  I don’t, so I’ll be using the handy guide that comes included with the Umai Crate in order to provide accurate information about these products.  Without further ado:

Yamadai Tenobe Somen

While somen are traditionally served cold, this noodle bowl serves them up piping hot! [This bowl comes] with a broth rich in the flavors of sardine, flying fish, shiitake and four different types of soup kelp.

This was delicious!  The broth was tangy and very good, and the noodles soaked in the flavor of the flavor back well.  I’d be excited if I could order these elsewhere, but international shipping is always a bit expensive.

Ace Soup Harusame Kakitama

These vermicelli noodles are not only delicious, but they’re also lower in sodium!  The scallop based broth can be enhanced with a few pieces of crab and fresh veggies!

This is my first time seeing clear noodles!  I was a bit shocked at first, I thought I messed up cooking the noodles, but that’s how they were suppose to be!  After getting over the initial shock the noodles were very good, and the broth complemented them well.

Itsuki Mini Nyumen

Itsuki Mini Nyumen has a super delicious broth featuring Hidaka Kombu [note: a type of seaweed].  It also has a nice, round flavor from the shiitake and citrus.

This was a decent bowl of noodles, but like the description says, the broth steals the show here.  The noodles don’t really soak up the taste of the great broth, and while that doesn’t make it bland or terrible, it does leave a bit to be desired.

Maru-Chan Tempura Soda

This buckwheat noodle dish is similar to Kanto region dishes with the broth being balanced between soy sauce and sugar.

The broth in this one was quite tasty, as were the brown noodles!  The buckwheat noodles seemed to have a bit of sweetness to them, but the broth was the real winner here.  I was worried that the mixture of soy sauce and sugar wouldn’t be that great, but it turned out better than expected.

Fujiwara Shizimi Salt Ramen

The ramen in this dish are made using flour from the Hakkaido region.  While it is a salt ramen, this one is not vegetarian [as] it includes fish and clam in the broth!

This packet was… odd.  Not bad, but it was an unusual set of flavors.  The broth tasted like a fishy chicken noodle soup, and the noodles were also a bit unusual in their texture.  It certainly wasn’t bad, but not the type that I’d go out and buy if I could easily.

Non food item: Soup Ladle

This is a nice silicone soup ladle.  The ladle part is a bit small, so I’m not sure if I’ll actually use it often, but I’m not one to complain about more kitchen utensils.

When I first ordered the Umai Crate, I was worried it would be full of ramen packs that I could easily buy at a local Asian mart at the fraction of the price.  Thankfully, though, this box was full of unique items that I’ve never got to try before.  Of course, given with any type of food subscription box, your mile will vary wildly on how much you like the items within–if you’re not a fan of fish or fish ingredients, then you wouldn’t have liked the box I received.  On top of that, $25 for five ramen packs is a tough deal to sell, though the allure of foreign products does help this a bit.  If you’re looking for something a bit different and don’t mind waiting a while for the crate to ship, then the Umai Crate is a fun box to try.

Umai Crate Subscription Review

We all know there are subscriptions for everything these days.  There is something out there for everyone, of course… but what about things you didn’t know you wanted?  Sure, we all love your Amazon subscriptions and the subscription box of our choice, but there are some… unusual subscription services out there.  But these aren’t just weird, they’re helpful, too!  Let’s look at 10 subscription services you probably didn’t know you wanted.

1. Bacon

Every self-respecting meat eater loves bacon, so what better subscription than one that delivers new slabs of delicious meat candy every month?  The Bacon Every Month Club from Tender Belly sets you up so that you get four packages of bacon every month, in either a sweet (maple) or spicy (habanero) every single month.  Now that’s a tasty subscription to get behind!

Bacon Every Month Club

2. Black Socks

Are you the type of person that likes black socks, and only black socks?  Do you want a new pair of the darkest, blackest socks to slip into every few months?  Well, look no further than BlackSocks’ Sockscription.  This subscription will send you three new black pairs of socks every four months, so that you can unify your sock drawer, and never have to go sock shopping again.  And, with a unified sock drawer, losing a sock will never matter again!

BlackSocks Sockscription

3. Underwear

Like BlackSocks does for socks, MeUndies is looking to revolutionize your underwear drawer.  Every month, MeUndies will send you a new cozy pair of underwear to slip into–and with a variety of styles and colors, your subscription can be catered to your tastes.  Additionally, MeUndies underwear is made out of modal, a fabric much softer than the typical cotton undergarments.

MeUndies Subscription

4. Feminine Products

Look, periods suck, and no one wants to think or talk about them, let alone remembering to go out shopping for feminine products before Aunt Flo pays her monthly visit.  Le Parcel is a simple subscription by comparison… every month, a bit before a lady’s time begins, Le Parcel will send a care package with all the tampons you need (from a name brand of your choice)… and a chocolate treat as well, to help curb those cravings a bit.  There’s even a few other goodies, at well!  Simple, yet so helpful for you (or a lady friend in need).

Le Parcel Period Subscription

5. Toothbrushes and Toothpaste

Do you find shopping for dental products a little too overwhelming?  If you have an electric toothbrush, finding new brush heads for it can be surprisingly a pain, and all the different brands and varieties of toothpastes seems unnecessary and needlessly confusing.  Quip is looking to go back to basics with a simple electronic toothbrush with no frills attached (so no weird settings or apps) and a basic, simple toothpaste that gets your teeth nice and clean.  If you opt into it, you can also choose a subscription that gets you a new brush head, full sized toothpaste and travel sized toothpaste every three months, saving the need to remember to search for and buy new supplies.

Quip Store

6. Fancy Paper

Maybe you’re a crafty person, doing neat little DIY projects and making collages.  Maybe you’re an artist, creating work on quality parchment.  Or maybe, you just like good paper.  No matter the situation, OliveBox has you covered with a monthly box filled with high-quality ‘lifestyle items’, which ranges from notebooks to card to… just nice paper.  It’s a perfect subscription for someone who that truly appreciate some good stationary.

OliveBox Subscription

7. Stuff from Celebrities

Are you the sort of person that enjoys getting ‘inspired’ by celebrities?  Whether that be trying a new culinary skill, trying to write the next hit novel, or anything else, Quarterly sends out packages every three months that are curated by well known artists, chefs, scientists, and any profession in between.  With ten different boxes to choose from, all with vastly different themes, anyone can be pleased and feel inspired by this neat subscription… or maybe just get some neat stuff.

Quarterly.co

8. Grass for Your Dog to Poop In

So anyone with a dog knows that sometimes… going out to walk your dog can be a real pain.  It might be cold, or there’s a hurricane outside, but when nature calls for your pup you have no choice but to brave the elements… or do you?  Not anymore!  DoggieLawn has created the Dog Potty Grass, which is a patch of grass you can place in your home for your dog to do their business in.  Think of it as a mix between home training and a cat’s litter box… the best of both worlds!  And your dog will be able to go whenever they want.  You can get new patches of grass weekly, biweekly, or monthly.

Dog Potty Grass

9. Food… With Music

Everyone’s heard of wine and meal pairings, but what about music and meal pairings?  Turntable Kitchen has an interesting idea for the foodie/audiophile in your life.  Every month, Turntable will send you three recipes to try with 1 or 2 of the premium ingredients (you’ll have to get the rest of them yourself), as well as an exclusive 7″ vinyl record, and a digital version of the music to play with this tasty meal.  It’s just unique enough that the person that has it all… probably doesn’t have this subscription.

Turntable’s Pairings Box

10. Retro Doodads

If you’re stuck in the past, it can be a little hard at times to feed your obsession for the oldies.  Exploring Goodwills and scouting eBay can be fun, but sometimes you just want stuff delivered to your door without such a large time commitment.

Thankfully, the Retro Pop subscription box is here to help, with items from the decade of your choice–either the 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s.  Each box comes with an exclusive t-shirt done just for the box… and while it might not be an authentic item from the decade, it encapsulates the style of the time well.

Retro Pop Box

10 Unusual Subscription Services You Didn’t Know You Wanted

They say that “beauty is pain”, and while that may be true in some ways (I will never pluck my eyebrows, thanks), it doesn’t have to be true in finding your beauty products in the first place.  With the explosion of subscription box options over the years, there are plenty of boxes out there for pretty much anything… and that includes boxes for makeup and other beauty products.

But, the choices can be a little overwhelming… worry not, here’s a list of six beauty subscription boxes that may be right up your alley:

Ipsy

In all of my subscription box research, by far Ipsy is one of the most popular beauty boxes available.  While it is on the cheaper side of the spectrum, Ipsy manages to be well worth the $10 a month by offering five beauty items (some full sized, some samples) and a nice new makeup bag.  That’s every month.  If you want to dip your toe into subscription boxes but are worried about price, Ipsy is one of the best options available.

Julep Maven

Julep Maven’s beauty boxes focus more on their high end nail polish.  Julep’s box is a little on the higher end of the scale at $25 a month, but you are able to pick each item in your box, from old polish colors to new, or even other types of make up and beauty products.  Additionally, if you don’t want your box that month for whatever reason, it’s easy to skip a month of the subscription. Julep makes sure that you get exactly what you want in each box.

Target Beauty Box

Target’s Beauty boxes are just a little different from the others on the list–Target doesn’t actually offer a subscription, and the release times for these boxes aren’t always consistent.  However, these particular boxes come relatively cheap, and are packed with makeup and beauty goodies.  The Target box mostly contains samples, but all the better to learn what items you like and want to get more of (probably at a Target, like a clever advertisement scheme!).

Vegan Cuts Beauty Box

The Vegan Cuts Beauty Box, as the name suggests, is a beauty box consisting of all vegan beauty products, that were not tested on animals nor have any animal products in them.  There’s a surprising amount of beauty products that can contain items derived from animal parts, so Vegan Cuts makes it great for vegans to easily find beauty products that match their lifestyle.  Most items in the Vegan Cuts box are samples, but it goes a long way in raising awareness for animal free beauty products.

Boxycharm

Boxycharm is like a higher-end Ipsy box.  Like Ipsy, Boxycharm sends you five items a month, minus the makeup bag.  However, all of these products are full-sized, and the value of the items easily values around $100.  Boxycharm is one of the best values on the market right now, and a great way to build up your beauty product collection.

eSalon Hair Coloring

eSalon differs from the beauty boxes by providing high quality hair color.  eSalon has an extensive quiz you take to help determine your hair type and how you want to color it, and specialists create a perfect formula just for you and mail it to your door.  Any person that dyes their hair somewhat regularly know that with over the counter dyes can be difficult to match to the color on the box, but eSalon takes the guesswork out of it.  Better yet, the subscription model helps to keep you stocked up on your color, so it will never fade out.

There it is, a beginner’s guide to the first beauty boxes you’ll want to try out… or maybe one or two you missed along the way.  Are there any beauty boxes that you recommend?  Let us know in the comments!

6 Beauty Subscription Boxes Worth Your While

Attempting to leach off the Amazon customer base that wants to pay for Amazon Prime on a month-to-month basis, Sprint is offering a “deal” that includes Amazon Prime as an add-on to subscribers for $10.99 a month. Of course, that’s a 25 percent upcharge on Amazon’s yearly price of $99 for Amazon Prime. Over the course of a year, a Sprint customer would pay roughly $132 for 12 months of Amazon Prime.

Sprint is attempting to market this option to people that either want to try out Prime (rather than using the free trial offered by Amazon) or to people that only want a month of Prime to catch up on Amazon’s latest original shows, use it for their holiday shopping, etc… Of course, if a Sprint customer keeps paying every month and forgetting to cancel, it will become more expensive than Amazon’s regular price after about 9 months.

It’s likely that this won’t be the last service that Sprint offers as an add-on to subscribers. As the industry moves to payments-over-time when people upgrade their smartphones, offering ways to pile on additional fees will be in the best interest of the mobile providers. It’s unclear how much money Sprint gets to keep in this partnership with Amazon. Assuming Amazon only wants their standard price from Sprint, that means Sprint will clear nearly $3 a month per customer.

If you are new to Amazon Prime, be aware that Amazon occasionally discounts the price of Prime by 25 to 30 percent to celebrate award wins of their original programming like Transparent. The last sale dropped the price to $73 for a year, a figure that drops the monthly rate to about $6 per month. That would make the Sprint plan even more of a money-grab, making it a poor choice if signed up beyond 6 months.

No other carriers have announced plans to partner with Amazon for Prime month-to-month subscriptions, however we wouldn’t be shocked to see those announcements in the near future.

Hate money? Sprint’s terrible Amazon Prime deal is for you