**Note: this post is going to be a LOT longer than the usual PopSugar reveal post, so feel free to scroll down to see the product descriptions :) **

As soon as the first of the month rolls around, I start getting antsy in anticipation of my PopSugar Must Have box. It’s one of my favorite boxes and I always love seeing the box on my doorstep after a long day of work.

This time around, PopSugar had a lot of difficulty with shipping out orders on time. And it left a LOT of customers upset. PopSugar updated their website in September and as a result, many technical glitches occurred. Shipping addresses were lost, credit card information lost, missed cancellation requests, and more complications left customers angry, confused, and upset. Some people were even charged for their October box twice. Worse, customer service wasn’t able to keep up with all the requests, leaving subscribers even less patient than they already were.

People were canceling their subscriptions left and right, and some even contacted their credit card companies to remove their PopSugar charges for the month. It was BAD. Worse, PopSugar has done almost nothing to rectify the situation. We all received emails on Friday from PopSugar founder, Lisa Sugar, talking about the difficulties with the new website and acknowledging the issues, but the only thing she said was that one of our coupons (details below!) would expire on November 15, 2014 instead of at the end of October so that people would have time to redeem the voucher.

Ouch. While I was definitely unimpressed and somewhat upset at the way the situation was handled, I didn’t have any inclination to cancel. PopSugar has delivered everything else on time and I’ve been a subscriber for a year now.

So, instead of receiving my box in the first week of October, here I am writing about it today. I only received my box on Thursday. While I’m glad it finally came, I must say that it was too difficult to not see spoilers online when I was researching about the status of this month’s box. Basically I saw everything that was in the box 2-3 weeks ago.

I know many people are happy with their boxes this month, but I think it left more to desire. Call me greedy, say I have bad taste, tell me that this is the best box out there right now, whatever you want. But how I feel is how I feel.

Here’s everything the box contained:

Happy Socks – Animal Socks – $12 – These leopard-print socks are cute for sure, and Happy Socks are found at high-end department stores like Nordstrom. I didn’t feel like these socks were worth $12 though they did have a type of luxurious feel to them. In addition to that, the washing instructions say the socks have to be washed inside out (what?). These cute socks will be fun to wear with boots this winter but I didn’t feel like this was worthy of a PopSugar box.

butter LONDON – WINK Eye Pencil in Earl Gray – $18 – I’m no stranger to butter LONDON nail polishes but I know nothing about the rest of their products. I know that beauty bloggers talk about butter LONDON all the time, but I never had an inclination to try out their eyeliners or lippys since they were so pricy and I only really knew them for their nail polishes. I did a little test on my wrist and the liner glides beautifully with ease across the skin. It also blends pretty well. It’s one of those liners where the glitter spreads easily but the actual liner stays put pretty well, so if that’s your type of liner then hey, this is it! This glittery dark gray eyeliner is a great product for a night out!

Isaac Jacobs International – Acrylic Frame – $36 – This acrylic frame is borderless and stands up on its own. It’s easy to place a photo or note in between the acrylic slabs, which are held together by magnets. It’s definitely chic, and you can also probably place two photos back to back and display both in the “reversible” frame at once.

[Similar here]

Mine Design – Chalkboard Candle – $24 – This candle smells DIVINE. I didn’t really care for the fact that it’s in a container painted with chalkboard paint and comes with a piece of chalk, I just cared about the smell! I’m not sure I’d spend $24 on this candle per se but I’m glad it was included in the box.

Dean & Deluca – Pumpkin Spice Malt Balls – $5.75 – Unfortunately, these malt balls were slightly melted and cracked when I opened my box (as pictured above) but I immediately put these malt balls in the fridge to let them firm up. At first bite, you taste a subtle pumpkin spice flavor and then after a few seconds you taste the chocolate. This is possibly my favorite item in the box! I’m considering ordering more of them from Dean & Deluca online.

Nailed Kit – Halloween Decals – $8 – I really wanted to like these nail decals. These decals are perfect for halloween, coming with jack-o-lantern, chevron, spiderweb, and dotted patterns. I opened my box and only saw one sheet though, meaning that there is only 5 of each design. Maybe I’m misunderstanding how to use the product and you can use the nail stickers on two nails or something, but from what it looks like, you only have enough of one design to apply to one hand. That’s a little ridiculous if that is the case. Does that mean I wear spiderwebs on one hand and jack-o-lanterns on another?

[Similar here: Cupcake decals!]

K. Hall Designs – Shoreline Shea Butter/Olive Oil Bar Soap – $10 (but listed as a Special Extra) – This soap looks fancy and like it’s perfect for the cold winter months ahead. It contains shea butter and olive oil to moisturize your skin.

The Blue Jean Bar – Blue Jean Box – $40 off (Special Extra) – The Blue Jean Bar has launched a style subscription service that very similar to Stitch Fix where you fill out a survey with your style preferences and a stylist sends you clothes to choose from.

Coupons: 

• 15% off product total at Dean & Deluca, valid for one-time use through November 15, 2014.
• 25% off Marchesa Voyage for Shopstyle with code

For all the items listed that have can have a price, the total value of the items comes to $113.75. That’s pretty good for a PopSugar box, but I don’t particularly feel like I got a great value this time around. Aside from the disappointing Nailed Kit, I thought a lot of the items in here were “overpriced” which inflates the value of the box.

Hopefully, PopSugar can redeem themselves with the November box, which I am praying comes on time :) I still have faith in them and while I may not have 100% enjoyed this box, so many other customers who finally received their boxes and were SO HAPPY with what they ordered this month, even with all the technical difficulties the PopSugar team was having. So if PopSugar is able to redeem themselves with this month’s box with so many customers, I know I can count on them to really deliver a great box in the future.