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I'm bringing something new to you this week, and something I am very excited about! I was contacted on Instagram by the lovely Angharad, owner and creator of The Strawberry Week and she very kindly sent me out one of her amazing 'boxes' to review- thank you so much Angharad!
The Strawberry Week are a newly launched monthly period subscriptions and the reason I put boxes in inverted comma's above is because instead of a box, this comes in a fully compostable mailer bag! They send out self care packages and period essentials for that time of the month in the hopes of making things that little bit easier! Each package will be worth at least double what you pay and will consist of period essentials, a self care treat, a tasty snack and a soothing drink. These treats will change every month so there is always an element of surprise!
Angharad started The Strawberry Week after a particularly rough period during the lockdown in 2020, where she felt frustrated at being unable to purchase a face mask- as in, the self care kind- due to them being seen as a non essential item (not sure how anyone can deduce what is and isn't essential to people but that is another story entirely)! This lead to her searching online for a self care period service but they were out of her budget and didn't really pose good value for money. Angharad believes (and so do I!) that treating yourself shouldn't have to break the bank and so she set up The Strawberry Week, where it doesn't break the bank- which you will find out shortly! Another thing I really admire about this business is the 'no shame' ethos around periods. I definitely used to feel uncomfortable talking about my period and would always hide my pads and tampons up my sleeve when going to the bathroom to change them. I even used to place other items on top of them in my supermarket trolley so that they couldn't be seen. Why is there still so much stigma around a perfectly natural experience that a large percentage of the population go through? There shouldn't be- and The Strawberry Week is firmly behind that stance!
As always, I unboxed this on my YouTube channel, which you can watch here:
So let's get to the exciting part- the products!
First up were the period products, and whilst they may not seem exciting, they are essential at that time of the month! There were 10 Tampons included, and there is some important information I want to give you about these tampons. They are all 100% organic cotton, contain no plastic or nasty chemicals and are fully biodegradable. Over the first 4 months of their business, they are also aiming to donate 8000 tampons to period poverty causes in their locality of Wales (such a beautiful country, by the way!). They also partnered with a company who will plant a tree for every package purchased to mitigate the carbon emissions created during the manufacturing and delivering process- amazing right? The tampons are for regular flow and absorption, which is perfect for me and as I am extremely lucky to only have a short cycle (3 days if that), I may even get 2 periods out of these too!
Up next was the tasty snack, which in this months offering was a huge bar of Terry's White Chocolate Orange. I mentioned this on my unboxing, whilst I love white chocolate, I really dislike orange (I know, I am in a minority!) so I personally won't be eating this. However, part of the beauty of services like this is that you can pass on the love and excitement to those close to you and that is exactly what I plan to do with this! One of my friends has had a bit of a rough time of late so I will be sending this to her with some bath salts and a face mask for her to have her own pamper night. For those of you that do love chocolate orange, this will be a true treat as the size is huge and should be enough to satiate those cravings! A very generous addition!
Next up was the drink, and I was very excited to see a generous sachet of Hot Chocolate, which I definitely won't be sharing! I think I could easily get 2 drinks out of this, maybe that is wishful thinking because I love hot chocolate so much ha ha. I am not 100% sure of the brand of this hot chocolate, however it says UCC Coffee on the back so I am thinking it is them! The hot chocolate is also Fairtrade, which I love! There is nothing better than curling up with a hot water bottle, a warm drink and something tasty when you are on your period so I plan to save this for my next time of the month to give me something to look forward to!
Finally, there was the self care treat and I was absolutely smitten with this item! It was an absolutely stunning Fan Brush accented with my favourite colour, purple! This is by Kohl Kreatives, a brand I am not familiar with, but I am very happy to be introduced! It came in a purple protective sleeve and when removed, it is just the most beautiful brush, which can be used for brushing on highlighter or removing loose powder from those delicate areas of the face. I am a sucker for a pretty make up brush- a girl can never have too many- so I am very happy to add this to my collection!
I mentioned earlier that it doesn't break the bank- I am not lying! Here is a breakdown of the prices:
Monthly Subscription- £5 (yep, you read that right!)
Self care package- £4 (this is everything except the period essentials)
Succulent self care box- £10 (contains a random succulent, succulent related gifts and self care treats).
So, my first introduction to The Strawberry week was an absolute success- even though the chocolate wasn't to my taste this month, I was able to treat a close friend and put a smile on my face, which is a gift on it's own! The value for money is amazing and it is so nice to have a treat to look forward to at a time where we really do need to treat ourselves! I love the ethics behind the company, the fact that the items are all designed to pamper and that there is a lot of good being done for many amazing causes behind the scenes! One thing that I would maybe like to see in future editions- and this is by no means a negative or criticism at all- is maybe some different period options as tampons are not necessarily something that can be used by everyone. I am sure that this is something that will be looked into further down the line and they are still very new- although you wouldn't know it with how they have hit the ground running! I am very impressed with this new service and I am so excited to see where the future takes them- I hope the continue to grow and grow!
