Yume Twins Subscription Box Review- Sanrio All Stars July Box edition

Hello everyone! Today I bring you another subscription box review. This box comes from the company of Tokyo Treat. If you remember, a long while ago I reviewed their regular box of japanese snacks. I heard they were opening a new subscription box, this one being of cute japanese items based on Japan's kawaii (cute) culture. They called this box, Yume Twins.

Now unlike Tokyo Treat, which has three different tiers of boxes (small, regular and premium) Yume Twins only has one box. This box comes with 7-8 items from these categories: knick-knacks, plushies, jewelry & accessories, art prints, toys & figures and stationary.  I missed out on their first box in June which was sold out in days so I had to wait until they opened up slots for their July box. As soon as they did and announced what the theme was for July's box, I subscribed.
My box was shipped out June 19th and I received it July 8th, about three weeks to get here without a tracking number. Since it's not sent via registered mail, the time it took (from Japan to the United States) is fairly reasonable and it still came in before their estimated date of July 20-28th.

The items come in a cute purple box that is packed very nicely. When you open it the first thing you will find is the booklet that lists all of the items for that month's subscription. This month's theme is: Sanrio All Stars.

Look at those cute drawings

everything was placed nicely in this box

here are all the items for this month's box

 The first items were these adorable Sanrio socks. The tag says they come in a size 22-24 cm which is a size 6-8 in US, 34-38 in EURO and 3-5.5 in UK according to the chart I used here. Before I tried them on I was not too sure if they would fit me since I am a women's 8 US, but the material of the sock is fairly stretchable and fit well on my feet. The only complaint of mine would be where the seam ends up being on my foot. It is right against the tip of my toes instead of over them around the nail bed. I have a feeling that this will cause me some discomfort until I get used to them or stretch them out from normal wear. The seam position might be of the sizing which is reasonable since Japanese clothing tends to be on the smaller area of what North Americans might be used to. I would still wear them despite the seam placements so these were much of a hit.

Next up is this adorable plushie! On the guide they give you it says you can either receive a Hello Kitty or My Melody with a unique name on each one. I ended up getting a My Melody one which I love because she's a rabbit and if you haven't noticed by my handle name I love rabbits.

her name is Miho

She has a ball chain to attach to your keys, bags, backpacks, etc which I currently have on my purse so I can carry her around wherever I go. Her fur is very soft and the heart feels as if it has been attached well. She's definitely a hit!

Next up is the Harajuku Princess Tiara. 

Now when I saw this I honestly thought to myself this looks very cheap. According to the guide pictures and the side of the box, there are at least four different variations of this though they all look like they are made from the same material. I took it out of the box and wiggled it around for a bit. It's made of cheap plastic that doesn't even have those cheap rhinestones in the little indentations all around the tiny tiara. Though wiggling it around it didn't feel as if it would break, it still really felt like one of those tiaras you find in the dollar stores. Its cute but I expected a bit more. This was a miss with me. 

The Hello Kitty or My Melody Pouch was next in the guide. Just like the socks, there are different variations of these pouches as well. And just like the socks and plushie, I got a My Melody version. The guide says they are made of high quality material which I completely agree from taking it out of the plastic pouch it came in and used it for a bit. 

I also love it because its in the color I love the most which is red. Another My Melody that is a hit!

So far out of the four things I have talked about, only one is a miss. Four more to go, let's see if we can continue the hits. 

It looks like we have one more Harajuku item. This one is called the Harajuku Kawaii Bracelet.

This bracelet is so small, that was my first thought and I voiced it when I tried it on. It would probably fit a person with a smaller wrist or a younger person, say a child but not me. It honestly felt as if it were to snap if I wore it long enough and it felt it would start cutting my circulation as well. The color combination is cute as well as the beads but because I would never wear it because it doesn't fit, it's a miss. 

By this point I was beginning to think that all my box was geared towards My Melody since I got socks, plushie, and pouch from her. I don't mind it but since the theme is Sanrio All Stars I hoped there would be more than one sanrio character in the box. Thankfully there was and what better All Star than Hello Kitty herself. 

She came in two items the first being the Hello Kitty Memo Pad.

This memo pad is different from any memo pad I've ever seen. First of all its is only a pad made out of what I believe is a silicone type rubber. 

see through

By what I can tell from the picture, you can write on it on pen and then use the red heart to erase what you've written. I tried it out and it takes a few tries but the heart does erase the pen marks after a few strokes. I'm not sure if I will ever use this but I don't see it as a miss so I'll make this as neutral. 

The second Hello Kitty item is a Randoseru Charm. If you don't know what a randoseru is, its basically a backpack used in japan by elementary students.

It has cute straps on the back like an actual backpack and a ball chain to attach it to your own backpack or wherever you would like to carry it. I think this could be used for makeup like lipstick or chapstick since it's around that size. The plastic is thin and I think it would get crushed easily if say you put your bag or something heavy over it.  Here is a couple of more picture of how big it is. 

it had a piece of styrofoam to keep it from being crushed during shipping

Another thing I might not use though it is very cute. Maybe I'll find some use for it but it's not likely, this is a miss. 

The very last and probably the cutest out of everything in this subscription box was this little cutie pie right here. 

it's a puppers! 

This cute little puppy plushie right here is called a shinada poodle. Now these are extremely popular and definitely scream kawaii when you see and feel them. There are three color variations you can get: black, white and pink. I am so glad I was given the pink one because it went with all of my other items and I personally think that the pink one was the cutest of the three colors. This little pup is so soft and is a perfect companion for either your other plushies you might have or just for yourself to cuddle when no one is watching. I've seen the prices for these cute poodles and some cost just as much as the price for this box (I'll discuss in a bit about the price in my overall). Definitely a big hit with me this eight and last item in the Yume Twin subscription box!

So overall I had five hits, two misses and one neutral. I think this box was pretty nice to get even if there were some misses. Would I get this box again? The box itself is around 30 USD with shipping (non trackable), so I think for the price maybe, maybe not. It's fun to get different items and knowing that you can skip the month if you don't like the upcoming month's theme is a plus. Cancellation is simple and easy and if it is your first time getting the box, they always have some sort of discount codes that you can use for your first month. So what do you all think? Do you see yourself buying this or passing it over for another subscription box? Let me know what you think down in the comments!

I would like to also say that past, present and future reviews I do are not paid by the companies in which I get the products I review. I want to clear that up in case some of you may think that they are. All of my opinions are 100% mine and everything I review I have bought and/or won myself. I will never say this product is good just because I may have gotten it for free or I had be sponsored for it. My reviews will and always will be what I truly believe and not paid for. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Hello everyone, time for another review! This time I'll be talking about an agency service I used to be able to shop on Japanese websites as well as what I bought.

Samurai Buyer is a proxy agency that helps buyers that are not in Japan, buy from Japanese websites like Amazon.co.jp or Rakuten.co.jp. If you've ever seen something you've wanted to buy on google but then you find out it's on a Japanese website like those I stated above, chances are they will not be available to you if you live outside Japan. This is where Samurai Buyer comes in! I found out about this service a while back ago by youtuber Sharla when she made a video about how to buy from Japanese websites which I will link here. 

If you watch the video, she pretty much explains just how it works but in case you don't want to watch it, this is a breakdown of how it works:

Samurai Buyer has three services they offer 1) Proxy Service 2) Auction Service and 3) Transfer Service. 

 Proxy Service is what you use when you want to buy from either Amazon.co.jp or Rakuten.co.jp and do not ship internationally. Samurai Buyer will get it for you then send it to you for a fee. If what you want to buy is less than 5,000 yen then the service fee will be of 500. If the item(s) is more than 5,000 yen then the service fee would be 9% of the item price. Some shops have domestic free shipping which means that you don't have to pay twice for shipping just the international fee. The international shipping fee will depend on how heavy your item is so the lighter you buy the less you have to pay. They only ship EMS which is great since that shipping service is the fastest and most secure. 

The second service they have is their Auction Service. The auction service can be used when you want to bid on Yahoo Auction. Again since most shops do not ship internationally Samurai Buyer can bid on your behalf. I have not used their auction service so I'm not well versed on how it goes down but if you would like to use that service here is a link that can help you navigate through it.

The last service is their Transfer Service. You can use this service if you want to buy from another Japanese website that is not Amazon or Rakuten or cannot be bid on in Yahoo Auction. Again, I have not used this service yet so I cannot say for certain how it works but this link will help navigate and explain even more.

When I first heard about this website I went through their items and was surprised to see how much they had that I never thought I could buy. I wanted to buy something that I knew I wanted but could never buy. I decided on a new phone case for my iPhone 6s since I had always wanted a cute case but could never get because they never had for the phone I had at the time. 

So I went on their website and looked around for what I could like and ended up with one of my favorite anime, Hetalia. 

Nekotalia iPhone 6/6s case

I had seen this case a while back on AmiAmi but it had been sold out there as well as other places that did ship to me. I was so happy to find that I could get it via samurai buyer so I immediately ordered proxy shopping service. I hadn't noticed though that it said it would be available from 1-3 months. I paid for the case as well as the service fee and waited for when samurai buyer were to contact me for the next step. After a few weeks I grew concerned when I did not receive any new emails from them so I emailed them to inquire about my order. It took them about a day to get back to me because I had emailed them in a weekend. They said they were waiting on the shop to send them the case so they could inspect it and bill me for the international shipping. Knowing that relaxed me that I would be getting my case soon but I just needed to wait some more.

After a week I was sent an email to pay for the international shipping and once I paid that about a day or so passed I got one more email that contained my tracking number for it. It took four days to get to me which was great since I had waited over a month for it. It came in a good condition and not even the packaging was damage like it sometimes happens when you get something shipped.  

Here are a few pictures of the case and how it looks like from the inside with my phone in it.

Overall I'm really happy with Samurai Buyer and would definitely recommend it for anyone looking to buy from Japanese websites. Just remember to read everything on the page from where you are buying to make sure you are going to get it quickly and not wait for a month like what happened with me. The service was not as expensive as I thought it would be which was great and I hope that more people use this wonderful service. Until next time!