Mane Crate August 2016 Subscription Box Review

Mane Crate is a monthly subscription box that sends curated products for you hair and costs $29.99 a month plus shipping. Here is some info about their box according to their website:

Mane Crate is MADE FOR YOU!

The best products your hair could ever dream of, delivered to your door monthly. Imagine never having to think about what is best for your hair again – Mane Crate is MADE FOR YOU!

Each monthly Mane Crate delivery will contain a shampoo, conditioner and styling product, plus two additional items.

These additional items could be a brush, an accessory, or another full-size product.

Sounds good!

My products arrived in a box that was sealed with washi tape. Inside there was shredded paper and pretty blue tissue paper for cushioning and presentation.

There was a product information card that listed the items that were included in this box (one item wasn’t on the card). It looks like they have made some changes this month but this is my first box so I don’t have anything to compare it too.

Everything in the box! Before I go any further let me tell you about my hair and its needs:

1. Super fine and thin and needs all the volume it can get
2. Shortish – about chin length in the front and shorter in the back
3. Not dyed or treated in any way
4. I blow dry and then touch up with a curling iron every day
5. I get a haircut every 8 weeks
6. I wash my hair every.single.day.

Verb Hair To Go ($14) First up is a 4-pack of products from Austin-based Verb Products. The first thing I noticed is that these products are moisturizing, which is not what I look for in a shampoo. All of the Verb products have the same Grapefruit Oatmeal scent and all but two products in the entire line are vegan.

One thing I must say is that the Hydrating Shampoo and Hydrating Conditioner  both smell terrific and are not overly perfumed. They also worked pretty well on my hair and didn’t weigh it down. It still isn’t my preferred type of product but it will come in handy when I travel. Both of these products are fine for color-treated hair.

I receive a lot of leave-in conditioners from subscription boxes and I usually just skip my usual conditioner and spray the product such as this Leave-In Mist in my hands and apply to my ends. In my case a little goes a long way and again, this product didn’t weigh my hair down.

I am not a wash and wear kind of person but I did try the Sea Spray in the hopes that it would add some volume but it really didn’t help my hair at all. I have nothing against this product in particular, I dislike the category as a whole.

The Brush Cleaner by Olivia Garden ($11.49) scared me at first glance but then I realized it was for my brush and not my head! It’s like a rake for your brush and helps remove all the hair that gets trapped. I think it is supposed to remove built up product gunk too but a monthly soak in a little ammonia and hot water also does the job.

The long bristles help to remove most of the hair…

…while the shorter ones are better for detailed cleaning. Overall, this was a nifty little tool and really great for someone with a long mane of hair.

Mane Crate Hair Bands ($3) There were a couple of brown rubber bands that I will have to pass along since my hair is too short to put up. I am not sure that these are of the same quality as Goody; they felt a little stiff and although I don’t use them myself I used to shoot them for my cat to fetch and these just don’t have that same quality.

The Bio Ionic SilverClassic Magnesium Styler Sculpting Brush ($25) wasn’t listed on the product card but it promises to reduce drying time and to condition, smooth, and add shine to hair. My hair takes 2 minutes to blow dry so I don’t know if it would help people with longer hair cut their dry time or not.

I have mixed feelings about my first Mane Crate. The value of the products this month (not including the brush, which wasn’t listed on the card and was missing on some of their social media pictures) was $25.49, well below the $29.99 subscription price. The value goes up to $53.49with the brush. The brush worked like a regular brush and the brush cleaner was fun to use and I really do like that they sent a travel pack of hair products from a small, cruelty-free company. The Verb products, while great for normal hair, did nothing to boost the volume of my hair. I hope to see the value go up to at least the price paid for the subscription and it would be wonderful if they offered a little more personalization. This subscription is probably best for someone with a great deal of hair!

What did you think of the August Mane Crate?

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