Sunday, April 16, 2017

Sol Theory: My First and Last Box

I was recently approached on Instagram by a Sunglasses subscription box called Sol Theory to be a brand ambassador. This was the first time a brand reached out to me to test their products, so I was pretty excited to get their message. I was given an ambassador code for 20% off all boxes I purchase, and then I was set up with a coupon code for my followers for 20% off their first box. I wasn't offered payment: instead, I would receive a free box for every three sales made with my code. 
There were a couple of red flags. At the time, I didn't even have 100 people following me. They didn't offer payment, commission, or PR to be sent to me. Three people had to use my code for me to even get a box from this company. An account with under 100 people following isn't likely to make any sales, and they know this.  After I did some snooping around, I found that almost all of their ambassadors were like me: small accounts with little to no influence in the beauty community. Sol Theory is trying to get smaller accounts to subscribe by promising free stuff. I was asked in my DMs to provide my email during sign up so I could be alerted when someone used my code, but there was no place on the website to enter my affiliate code so they knew I was an ambassador. Most of their pictures on Instagram are of random models wearing sunglasses that didn't come from this subscription box. Nevertheless, I ordered a box to see if it was anything worth talking about. 
J. Cat Beauty Blinkle Shimmer Eyeshadow in "Honey Amber," K.T.B Cosmetics Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in "Black," Beauty Creations "Exposed" Blush Collection, Sol Theory Sunglasses      
It's ok. It's not worth $20. I unsubscribed after I opened this. The sunglasses were the only thing I liked at first glance. I don't buy anything from the makeup brands included because they're cheap, but I will be holding on to the eyeshadow from J.Cat Beauty. 
Swatch of J. Cat Beauty's shadow in "Honey Amber" 
Girl! That's pigmented! This is just an arm swatch, so I'll need to try this on my eye before I can say that it's a good shadow. But so far, I am impressed! The cheek palette is being donated or given to a friend, because the shades are entirely too dark for me. The eyeliner will also be given away, because I don't ever use liquid liner anymore. 

I would not recommend the beauty version of the box to anyone, but Sol Theory has some other box options that you might want to try. They have a box with sunglasses and jewelry, boxes with men and women's sunglasses, and more. If you like sunglasses, you will like the boxes that just come with the shades. However, you could buy better sunglasses at Versona for the same price (or less) than the price of the Sol Theory boxes.

If you're interested, you can use code BEAUTYCON to save 20% off your first box. 

Have you tried this brand? Leave a comment about your experience.

Thanks for reading 💕
 

16 comments:

  1. I am so glad I found this blog post! They just approached me today and I wanted to do a little research first. Now I know not to get involved with them. Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
  2. They approached me a couple days ago and I’m not going to lie I was really surprised and kind of excited lol but I am so glad I decided to look into it and found your blog. Oh well it was nice for a moment ����‍♀️
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ditto! I was approached as well! I guess I'll just prance around with my Ipsy- and they dont even pay me to promote lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was also approached! I only have 45 followers and started 5 days ago lol i KNEW it had to be a scam of some sort.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  6. I too have been approached and like yourself felt quite excited. I'm so glad I came across your blog whole carrying out a bit of research, thanks so much for sharing, you have helped me out a lot xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Damn, I just signed up and was approached the other day too. Wish I had seen this sooner. I guess I’ll see what sunglasses I get and what they are like when I get my first box but I am guessing I will have to unsubscribe. Was it an easy process?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I did the same thing. subscribed and I always always lose my sunglasses so I figured great. After 6 months Yes 6 months! I asked them to stop sending me nothing but black and gold sunglasses. I unsubscribed today and they didn't bother apologizing after this being the second time i asked. They cancelled and didn't care, my sunglasses would also come with the price 32.99 and others on them. This company sucks

    ReplyDelete
  9. I was approached today so I was doing my due diligence before agreeing to anything.

    Thanks for the review much appreciated

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was so skeptical because like you, I have no following. I was just posting random Birchboxes and Boxycharm pics on my Instagram and getting like 18 likes ��. Thank you for posting this! I will not be perusing it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you for this post. They just approached me a week ago. I decided to do a little research on then first... I'm glad I've found your post.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks, for this post! They just approached me, about Dming them, which I hought was weird..

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. check here

    ReplyDelete
  14. I wish I had done better research when I received their invitation to rep their brand. It was a rip.

    ReplyDelete