My Review of Stitch Fix Personal Styling

I think most women would agree with me that having a personal stylist hand-select clothes for you and dress you to the 9s every day is the stuff that dreams are made of. I enjoy fashion, but I also have a limited budget and limited time, so sometimes the simple thought of keeping up with the trends just exhausts me. Not to mention that as I get older, I've begun to refine my personal style more and more, which means I care a little less about the trends and more about finding pieces that fit me well, are made well and express my sense of self. Of course, given that limited budget I just mentioned, personal styling was never something remotely within reach for me...that is, until I discovered Stitch Fix.

What is Stitch Fix?

It's an online personal styling service that charges a $20 styling fee and then sends you a box of 5 pieces of clothing and accessories "custom" curated for you based on your sizes and personal style. You can choose to receive a "Fix," as they call it, at regular intervals of your choosing, or you can just order one when you fancy it or have a special event coming up that you need some new clothes for. Once you get your box, you have 3 days to try everything on, determine what you like and send the rest back. Your $20 styling fee goes toward the purchase price of whatever you decide to keep and IF you like everything that was sent to you, you receive a 25% discount on the purchase price of the entire box.

How do I get started?
When you create your account, one of the first things you'll be prompted to do is create a Style Profile. They'll ask for things like your height, weight, bra size, how you like different types of clothes to fit (i.e. do you like your pants tight or loose? do you like to show off your arms or your stomach?) and then they'll show you pictures of clothing that fits into certain types of styles and ask how much you like or dislike what is shown. Finally, they'll ask you how much you'd usually spend on different types of clothing (as little as $50-$100 or up to $250+) and then will give you a free-form space to describe your style and include a link to a Pinterest board that you'd like your stylist to use as inspiration. It only takes a few minutes to fill out your profile, yet it's pretty exhaustive and should theoretically help someone reading it truly understand the types of clothes you're looking for.

So, how did it work out for you?
I wanted to make sure that I gave the service a good old college try before writing my review, so I've received a fix once a month for the last three months. In addition, I've started following a Facebook page called Stitch Fix Reviews where women write blog posts similar to mine on a monthly basis and show off the items they've received, in addition to sharing their reviews of their individual fixes. I wanted to make sure I had lots of data points to guide my thinking and set my expectations!

When I got my first box, I was super excited to see what was inside. When you first open your box, you'll find a style card that comes with a personal note from your stylist, as well as pictures of each of the items you've received styled in a casual and dressy way for inspiration. You'll separately receive a price sheet that shows how much everything costs and a pre-paid mailing bag for you to send back whichever items you decide you didn't like.


Upon looking at my style card, I was pleasantly surprised to at least visually like every single item on there! Each piece looked really cute and the way they were styled felt pretty up my alley. I excitedly proceeded to my bedroom to try everything on....and that's when things went down hill. As I examined each piece, I first noticed that 3 of the 5 pieces I was sent were made of polyester. Now this would have been fine normally, but I had specifically asked not to be sent any polyester in my style profile, so they clearly did not read it closely or ignored my request outright. Then, I noticed that the fit was WAY off on most of the garments. They sent me a teal henley top that was a size medium, but it was way too big. The navy dress they sent (size 12) was also so big it looked like I was wearing a potato sack. The gray and white blazer they sent fit oddly and while I really liked the maxi dress, it was too tight in the waist. The only thing I wound up keeping was the tribal print pink and blue tank top.

Although I was disappointed to only walk away with one item, I had heard that the service was something that got better over time as your stylist got a chance to know you and hear your feedback. I forgot to mention that when you "checkout" and tell them what pieces you'll be keeping, you have an opportunity to rate all of the items you've received and explain why you did or did not like them. Apparently this information is passed on to your stylist the next time to help them pick out a refined set of clothing. I was anxious to see if this was true.

When I received my second fix, the story was eerily similar. I walked away with one pretty blue maxi dress, but returned the rest of the items either because the fit was poor, the quality was poor or I simply didn't like the pieces. And while I was REALLY happy with the item I got, and although I did see that as a result of my "note," the stylist specifically sent me the TYPES of pieces I requested (i.e. maxi dresses and colorful tops), it was starting to become obvious to me that the STYLE of the pieces in no way, shape or form matched what I was asking for in my Style Profile or what I was showing as "my style" on my Pinterest board.

By the time I got my third box, I was SO disappointed with the not-my-style, ill-fitting, poorly made and/or expensive-for-the-quality pieces that I was sent. It was at this point that a pattern really became obvious to me. In my three months, I've read a LOT of Stitch Fix Reviews on the Facebook page I mentioned, but it didn't quite click for me until recently. Stitch Fix sends the exact same style of clothing to every single person I've seen, regardless of their stated "personal style." I'm serious. I've seen the same few brands with the same casual, sort of preppy style showing up in every person's box. Yet if you look at my stated style on Pinterest, I'm showing edgier pieces, lots of solids, fitted blazers, interesting metallics, animal prints, color blocking, mixed medium fabrics. None of the pieces I received could be added to this Pinterest board and look cohesive, nor did the "styling suggestions" on my style card match up to the style I said I prefer.

Along those same lines, despite your stated price range for items, everything you get will be between $50-$100 (with a few exceptions). I stated in my style profile that I spent $100-$150 or even $200+ on some categories and talked about preferring higher end materials like 100% silk, yet I was never sent a single item that reached the $150 threshold. In my third box, I finally did get a few items that came close to the $150 mark, but they were for "blazers" that were more like thin cardigans - no shape, no structure and made of incredibly thin material. Nothing I'd pay that price for.

Will you use Stitch Fix again?
I'm not sure. This past month I forfeited my $20 styling fee because I didn't like anything in the box, and frankly, I'm a little pissed that I spent $20 for someone to "style" me when it's clear they didn't try all that hard to actually send pieces that reflected my personal style. After all, that's the premise of the service - that this is customized to you. I also noticed that I had a different stylist every single month, so the idea of "your" stylist learning and growing with you now feels a little far fetched. I may grow soft after the sting of this last box fades in the next few weeks and give it a shot one more time, maybe with some edits to my style profile to try and hone in on what I want a little bit more. If things improve, I'll certainly come back and let everyone on the blog know! For now, I'd recommend the service cautiously. If you have a more fluid personal style, or are less particular about the quality of the items, it certainly does deliver a fun high to receive a box of clothes in the mail. Just set your expectations carefully and don't put too much stock into it being personal to you.

Have you tried Stitch Fix? What has your experience been like and would you recommend it to others? Let me know in the comments below!

Introduction to BeautyCounter + Skin Care First Impressions Review

Did you know that there are about 10,000 chemicals commonly found in personal care products and that only 10% of those chemicals have safety data?

Did you know that the European Union has spent the past two decades banning or restricting more than 1,300 ingredients, yet the United States has only banned 11 to date?

Did you know that the average woman uses at least 12 personal care products every morning, yet most of these women have no idea what ingredients they're using?

It's statistics like these that personally led me to change up my beauty and skin care routine a few years ago, and to this day, it still shocks me to hear how little the cosmetics industry is regulated.

This leads me to the purpose of today's post: introducing you to BeautyCounter. You probably haven't heard of it, a) because it's a fairly new line and b) because it's another company that employs a direct sales model (like Mary Kay, Ava Anderson, etc.), but I'm hoping that after reading my first impressions review that you'll take a moment and check it out.

How did I discover BeautyCounter? It seems like it was fate!

A few weeks ago, I attended a fitness expo and as I was wandering the booths in the marketplace, I stumbled upon a gorgeous set-up covered in beauty products. Naturally, this drew my eye, although I frankly assumed that this was another standard line of chemical-filled products. Rather, Kerry - a Director at BeautyCounter and the woman manning the booth - immediately handed me a "never list" and started explaining to me why I should avoid these ingredients in my products. Now she was speaking my language! Naturally, I spoke to Kerry about my blog and she agreed to meet up with me a week later to talk more about the line.

According to BeautyCounter's press materials, the company's mission is "to get safe products into the hands of everyone." And although I'm no scientist, the more you read about the company's ingredient selection process and threshold for lack of safety data, the more you start to believe that they're truly doing what they claim.

Of course, it's one thing to develop a natural product, and another thing entirely to develop natural products that work. To ask that these natural products work AND have beautiful packaging is almost always asking for something you'll never receive.

But BeautyCounter was two for three with me as I learned more about the line. The packaging was pretty gorgeous and didn't "look natural," but rather looked like something you'd find in the high-end section of Sephora. Now it was time to find out how the products performed.

Kerry agreed to let me borrow her complete line of skin care products for a week to try things out. I got to try the full Essentials collection (made up of a cream cleanser, exfoliator, AM and PM cream, eye cream and rosewater toner) and the Countertime collection, which is their anti-aging line and contains face wash, treatment pads, a firming serum, AM and PM cream, cleansing balm and eye cream. I also got to try their shampoo, everyday body lotion and their three "Lustro" oils, which are complementary to the moisturizers.

I didn't get to keep anything, and I was rushing a bit to try as many of the products as I could, but I was willing to go for it for a chance to see if the products were as good as they seemed!

Want to know what I think?

PROS:

• Do I have to say for a third time just how gorgeous the packaging is? Unlike the Ava Anderson products that I blogged about previously that feel cheap and a little childish, BeautyCounter's products look and feel high-end, sophisticated and elegant. I loved the glass Rosewater bottle and the sleek Lustro oils, not to mention the ENTIRE Countertime line, which reminds me of something I'd see at some expensive French line like Givenchy or Guerlain. Love, love, love.
• The Essentials line Routine Clean Cream Cleanser is hands down my favorite product. As the name states, it's a cream consistency and it lathers beautifully and smells great, with a subtle citrus fragrance (quite similar to the Ava Anderson products truthfully). But my favorite thing about it? It acts as a makeup remover! At night I simply massaged the product gently all over my face and my eyes, and voila! Makeup was totally gone with no residue. Anything that simplifies my routine and I'm sold! Not to mention, the cleanser was super gentle and didn't leave my skin feeling stripped.
• The #3 Lustro oil (ylang ylang and chamomile) is phenomenal and smells superb! Formulated to balance oil production and soothe skin, this oil mixed easily into my nightly moisturizer (just a couple drops) and in just a few applications started helping my chest acne clear up. I couldn't believe it!
• I loved basically the entire Countertime line. Sure, it's made for women in a slightly higher age bracket, but I liked the all-white packaging and the way the creams were formulated with a thicker, creamier texture. I also preferred the cream-based eye cream over the Essentials line, which had a thinner, gel consistency. And no, none of the products aggravated my acne-prone skin.

CONS:

• The only product that I truly didn't care for at all was the Essentials Collection Gentle Exfoliator. Why? Because it was TOO gentle. For someone with primarily oily skin, when I want to exfoliate, I really want to exfoliate. And this hardly had any exfoliating beads, plus the ones in there were way too big to feel like they were really scraping off any dead skin cells. Especially next to my favorite exfoliator from Acure, which has a sand-like texture, and even next to my Ava exfoliator, this one just didn't cut it.
• The packaging for the Every Day AM & PM Hydrating Creams in the Essentials Collection could use a redesign. It's beautiful, for sure, but it's that kind of pump that you can't disassemble when the pump can no longer grab any more product. I'm the type of girl that likes to take things apart and dig out the product that's stuck to the sides or bottom, but with this packaging, you're stuck when the pump stops pumping. To me, that means you're wasting product and especially for how much these creams cost, I want to get every ounce that I'm paying for!
• Speaking of prices, this is NOT a cheap line. Now I'm a big proponent of the adage "you get what you pay for," so I'm not fighting the prices, but if you're on a shoestring budget, most of these skin care items (they range from $24 to $75 dollars each) are likely going to be out of scope for you. The Essentials Line is the more cost effective of the two, but even then to get the 6 core products in the line, you're shelling out $185. 

Overall, from a first-impressions standpoint, I'm pretty pleased with my BeautyCounter experience, and I will definitely be purchasing some of these products once my Ava Anderson skincare line runs out. Based on my experience, here are the products I'd personally suggest giving a shot if you decide to try out the line:

• Routine Clean Cream Cleanser
• Rosewater Uplifting Spray
• One of the Lustro Face Oils (depending on your skin concern, although #3 is my fave!)
• Everything from the Countertime Collection (except the soothing face wash...you could also probably skip the enlightening treatment pads and firming serum depending on your age. I never did try the cleansing balm, so I can't comment on that one!).

I'd skip the shampoo and the lotion, not because anything's wrong with them, but there are a lot of natural alternatives out there that I think deliver better product, particularly for the price point. The sunscreen is also pictured here, although I didn't get around to trying that one either. I do hear that it's won a bunch of awards recently, so it may be worth a go, especially if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the summers.

As I mentioned, BeautyCounter IS a direct sales business - they say it's because they think the BeautyCounter story is better told person to person. So if you're interested in buying any of their products, I'd love it if you'd go through my new friend Kerry's web site to give her credit for the sale: www.beautycounter.com/kerrylenehan. Of course, if this makes you uncomfortable, you can order through the main site directly, but why not help support a woman trying to run a small business AND get the word out about healthier personal care products? :)

If any of you have ever tried BeautyCounter, I'd love to hear your thoughts and what you liked/didn't like. Or if there are other natural and organic beauty lines that you think are great, let me know about them, too!

*NOTE: None of the links used are affiliate links. I will not make any money off of you clicking on the links and/or buying the products. They're just there to help you find things more easily!