Review of White Apricot’s Green Grab Bag

We all love to get samples of both new and trusted makeup and beauty products, and many of us like to try to use more organic or natural products on our skin. Well now there's a combination of both worlds, thanks to Bonny Osterhage from White Apricot. Now you can try some of the best organic and vegan products, and then get a discount if you decide to purchase the full-size. There's a catch; a monthly fee for as long as you want to receive the sample bag. So is it worth the monthly subscription cost? We put it to the test, and you may be surprised with the results.

Pros:

Deluxe samples of multiple products.

All products are organic or vegan.

Monthly subscriptions or multiple month gift subscriptions available.

Offers a wide variety of beauty products from makeup to shampoo, skin care and more.

If you like the products you can buy full-sizes at a discount.

Cons:

You don’t pick your samples.

Recently I was contacted by Bonny Osterhage, the beauty editor of White Apricot and co-founder of Green Grab Bag, offering details on their beauty bag subscription program. Since I love the beauty bag sample programs, and organic products, I decided to give Bonny’s Green Grab Bag a test run. The bag I received contained 7 different brands with mostly large-sized samples of one of their products, along with a grassy green sustainable jute bag (the jute bag has now been replaced a recycled bag from Nashville Wraps). I liked the variety of beauty products in the bag which included stick blush, self-tanning moisturizer, eye cream, a fragrance, toning mist, body scrub and a cleanser. Since I’m the makeup chic I would have enjoyed more makeup than beauty products, but the bag did include pamphlets of the product lines so I could see what other makeup products are available.

So to begin I tested each product for texture, feel on the skin, smell, color (for the blush), how many other products each line sells and the general price points. Here is my in-depth breakdown of each of the 7 lines that came in my Green Grab Bag:

Vapour Aura Multi Use Blush in Spark: Spark is a sheer pinkish peach shade, which is my all-time favorite blush color. The texture was light and creamy, and the color was just enough to give me a natural pinkish peach glow. Made of mineral pigments and organic ingredients, you can easily wear the color on your eyes, lips and cheeks without problem. The blush is available in five shades and will cost you $28.

Holly Beth’s Eye Cream: With one dab of this eye cream I was in love. It feels like heaven on your eyes, and it’s 95% organic so double score! Sure it doesn’t have tons of anti-wrinkle ingredients, but it does have vitamin E and a rich luxurious feel. It’ll make you wish it was available for your entire body; trust me. The full-size jar is 1 ounce and will set you back $32.

Lavera Summer Glow Facial Moisturizer: This gave the perfect pick-me-up of color to my pale skin. It’s streak-free and easy to apply for a great slight summer glow, while also giving your face a blast of antioxidants and vitamins. The bonus is that it’s buildable, so you can keep applying daily until you reach your sun-kissed goal. It comes in one shade for all skin types and hues, and will cost you around $23.50.

TSI-LA 100% Natural Unisex Perfume in Kesu: This scent reminded me of a big brand fragrance, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. That’s okay because I loved it anyway. Layered with jasmine, davana, lime and exotic spices Kesu really is a great unisex fragrance that has a great calming effect. TSI-La makes many others as well, but Kesu comes in a 4ml bottle for $38.

Amal Oils 100% Organic Neroli Water Toning Mist: If you love hydation mists then you’ll love the dual benefit of this toning mist. This Neroli water infused mist balances, calms and replenishes your skin while minimizing pores. It is also supposed to calm you while “uplifting your spirits”. The smell was nice and light, while the feel on the skin was hydrating and not tacky. The spray comes in a 4 ounce bottle, and it will only cost you $21.50. Not too bad.

Scrubz Body Scrub in Lavender: Just opening the large sample sized jar made me almost fall into a relaxed state of being. The Lavender scent was fabulous, and the scrub's texture was perfect. They use sugar instead of salt, which I tend to prefer. They offer more than just body scrub too, and all products contain natural oils. The body scrub comes in two sizes, and will set you back either $16 or $26.

Collective Well Being Corrective Cleanser: I’ve never used an oatmeal-based cleanser, but I have to say I liked this one. It’s a non-foaming cleanser that uses oatmeal with raspberry extract to lightly exfoliate, clean and hydrate your skin at the same time. The texture was just the right thickness, leaving my skin feeling pampered, clean and softened. You get 5 ounces for $15, and a little goes a long way.

So overall I really enjoyed White Apricot’s Green Grab Bag. The idea of large-sized organic and vegan product samples is terrific. Personally I love to sample products, but sometimes you can’t try something unless you buy it. Thanks to Bonny you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I also like the idea of how Bonny and her staff try out the product lines before they use them in the bags. That way you know you’re getting a good sample from a quality company. The only downside is not being able to choose your samples, but once I started playing with the products I got over it. Overall I love the idea of the monthly sample bag, and the price is perfect especially for the large-sized samples. Using the bag as a 3, 6 or 12 month gift for someone is also ingenious! I know I’d love to get a sample bag every month, how about you?

The Bottom Line: Whether it’s for a year-long gift, or for yourself, the Green Grab Bag from White Apricot is something to make you feel special, while feeding into your need for beauty samples.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.