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GQ Best Stuff Box is a quarterly men’s subscription box. It usually includes a hero item with a high retail value as well as accessories and skincare items. They offer a great curation of high-quality products every season.
This box is for…those looking try new brands and high-quality products at a great price.
Cost: $50 per quarter or $190 per year. Subscribe here!
Subscriptionado is supported by readers like you! If you purchase through my referral/affiliate links, I may receive a form of compensation. Read the full disclaimer here.
FIRST IMPRESSION
I ordered this subscription for my partner, who I lovingly refer to as My Person (or “Person”, for short). He’s been getting jealous whenever I receive a subscription box in the mail, especially when I get my FabFitFun boxes. Although FFF has special edition boxes for men, they’ve yet to do a quarterly subscription box. The GQ Best Stuff Box is the closest thing to a FabFitFun for men that I could find, so I was excited to sign him up!
He is the more budget-conscious person in our relationship, so he was wary of trying this out. He values good quality items – this was my attempt at convincing him that he could find high-caliber products for a fraction of their retail price in these subscription boxes!
ON TO THE ITEMS!
Rhone Versatility Workout Shorts
RV: $85
A redemption card was included in the box so that customers can receive shorts in their preferred size, color, and style. I love this idea! Women’s boxes tend to include one-size-fits-all apparel, which is a silly concept for clothes. Or they will only have a certain amount in each size, which isn’t great for late subscribers or those who don’t pay extra for a premium or annual memberships. I like that the GQ Best Stuff Box does this format because it maximizes choices for its subscribers. I wish more boxes would follow their example!
The link on the card led directly to the product page. From there, we were able to select my partner’s preferences for size, length, color, and lining. He chose the 9” shorts with a lining.
He loves them! It’s still cold where we are so he hasn’t had many opportunities to use it, but once the weather warms up, I’m sure he’ll be wearing it all summer! The lightweight fabric will be perfect for the heat. He ordered one with a lining, which is great for when he bikes. He gets self-conscious with tight clothes so bike shorts aren’t an option for him. These shorts are a great alternative!
FYI, as of this publication, all of the 7” shorts are sold out. This wasn’t a problem for my partner since he prefers longer lengths for his shorts.
Materials: Italian lightweight warp knit fabric
Spitfire “BC2” Sunglasses
RV: $49
Sunglasses in subscription boxes are a bit of a gamble because you never know if the shape or size is going to look good on your face. Person lucked out on these Spitfire sunglasses because they are amazing! They ride the line between classic and trendy, so they’ll be great to use for many seasons. The rectangular frames have an interesting shape, and the dark green lenses are just so cool. Can you tell that I’m a bit jelly??
Person isn’t a flashy guy, so these black frames are perfect for his aesthetic. He likes how sturdy they are and that the lenses are very green. He normally wears glasses so he won’t be able to use these with activities like driving or biking, but he can still wear them when we go to the beach or do some other low-key activities.
Materials: Optical grade acetate frames with distortion free 100% UVA/UVB safe lenses
Nalgene Wide Water Bottle
Size: 32 oz
RV $12
Person is a fan of this water bottle. As someone who likes outdoor activities, he uses water bottles daily. When I asked him to test this out, he held the top with one hand while giving it a few knocks with his other hand, as if it was a punching bag. (*sigh* Men!) But, apparently, this water bottle passed the test because he concluded that he liked how sturdy it was. He also appreciated that it has a wide mouth that makes it easy to fill and that it has markings for ounces and milliliters so he can keep track of his fluid intake.
I like the design! This is a bottle made exclusively for the GQ Best Stuff Box, and it features a bear sitting under a tree reading a GQ magazine! Adorbs!
Material: Tritan
Made Without: BPA, BPS, Phthalate
Dishwasher safe
Field Notes National Parks Notebook
Size: 3-pack
RV: $13
We both thought the designs on the cover of each notebook was wonderful. Person loves parks, so he found these interesting. He was disappointed that there wasn’t much more information about each park inside the notebooks. He said he would have liked it better if they had included a drawn map or a quick guide to each featured park. Field Notes, if you’re reading this, that’s a suggestion for you!
Material: Cover – 100 lb cover stock; Copper staples; Pages – 48 pages of Finch Opaque 60#T marked with a 3/16″ graph
Made in USA
Gold Toe Traveler Socks
Size: 2-pack
RV: $15
Both of us were only familiar with Gold Toe’s dress socks, so we were both happily surprised to find these in the box! These socks are made for rougher activities like hiking, which is much more useful to Person than dress socks. These are nice and thick, and they’re pretty darn soft, too!
He likes the way they look. Here he is having fun while modeling them:
This sock is in the color Sage.
This one is Midnight Blue.
Materials: REPREVE® yarn made from recycled bottles
Koa Skincare Daily Cleanser
Size: 3.4 fl oz
RV: $18
I’m sloooooooooooowly trying to introduce Person to a skincare routine, so this is a welcome addition to the box. I’ve only recently been successful in getting him to use a cleanser on his face rather than a bar of soap (I know, right???). He likes how this one smells – it’s got an earthy menthol scent which we both found refreshing.
First 5 Ingredients: Water, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, Lauramidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Decyl Glucoside
Oars + Alps Natural Deodorant
Size: 2.6 oz
RV: $14
I recently made the switch to natural deodorants, so I was excited that Person got this one to try! This deodorant uses cornstarch to absorb odors and “botanicals” to mask body odor. According to the Oars + Alps website, there is apparently a “detox” period that the body goes through when switching from aluminum-based deodorants to natural deodorants (something I wasn’t aware of in my experience, but my daily sweat levels are minimal to none). It’s said to be a 4- to 5-week transition period. Person will start using this now so that by the time summer rolls around, he won’t have any problems!
The scent he received is “California Coast,” which is a lovely coincidence since we’re both originally from the Golden State. He likes the clean, crisp scent of this deodorant!
First 5 Ingredients: Propanediol (Corn Derived), Water, Sodium Stearate (Palm Derived), Aloe Barbandensis (Aloe) Leaf Juice, Zea Mays (Corn) Starch
There were two sponsored products in this box:
Tiger Balm Active Muscle Spray
Size: 2.53 fl oz
RV: $7
We started watching Tiger King on Netflix, so when he saw this product, he got excited for a hot minute because he thought it was a Tiger King spray! Alas, this is Tiger Balm. While it’s not currently trending as high in pop culture as the King, this brand is still well-known for its muscle-soothing effects. Person likes how this is a full-size item. He (and I) will get a lot of use out of this once we start training for our 50-mile bike tour later this year.
Active Ingredients:
Methyl Salicylate 25% ……………….. Topical Analgesic
Menthol 16% ……………………………. Topical Analgesic
Camphor 7% …………………………….. Topical Analgesic
Inactive Ingredients: Ethanol (Dehydrated Alcohol), Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
Dude Wipes On-the-Go Wipes
Size: 3-pack (Full size: 30 Wipes)
RV: $2 (Full size: $9.99)
We were way too excited to receive these toilet paper wipes in this box. But I guess that’s normal in this mid-coronavirus world we’re living in!
For transparency’s sake, I want to let you know that we haven’t opened one of these up to test them. While I do appreciate the usefulness of these to-go packets, I have a deep dislike for one-time use products packaged into singles. I’ll spare you my rant on wasteful packaging. What this means, though, is that I’m not including an actual review of this product right now because I don’t want to waste this product when I don’t need to. I’ll certainly update this whenever we end up using this product!
Materials: Plant-based fibers
FINAL IMPRESSION
I think Person’s introduction to subscription boxes is a success! He liked all the items in his first GQ Best Stuff Box, and I know that he will get a lot of use out of them throughout the year. The total retail value of the box impressed him, too! He recently asked when the summer box will come out, so it looks like he wants to continue his subscription!
Favorite Item: Rhone Versatility Workout Shorts
Highest Value Item: Rhone Versatility Workout Shorts
THE BREAKDOWN
Rhone Versatility Workout Shorts: $85
Spitfire “BC2” Sunglasses: $49
Nalgene Wide Water Bottle: $12
Field Notes National Parks Notebook: $13
Gold Toe Traveler Socks: $15
Koa Skincare Daily Cleanser: $18
Oars + Alps Natural Deodorant: $14
Tiger Balm Active Muscle Spray: $7
Dude Wipes On-the-Go Wipes: $2
Total Value: $215! That’s over 4x the cost of the box!
At $50 per box, you’re basically paying $5.55 per item. That’s awesome, especially compared to the retail prices!
Is this box still available? No, but the spoilers for the GQ Best Stuff summer box are up!
Check out these other subscription boxes for men!