Package Overload

Today I have three days worth of packages to review. Wouldn’t have been such a  big deal, if it wasn’t for the fact that there were eight packages today! Needless to say, I’ll be doing these in batches again.

First off, the things I’m the most disappointed in. Out of four items here, half of them aren’t useable. Bah. These are all supposed to be ear cuffs or fake earrings.

The claw cuff ($0.23 on AliExpress, with free 30-50 day shipping, arrived in 24 days) simply doesn’t fit. Its grip is too loose to hold onto an ear, and the metal can’t be adjusted to make it work. I may be able to make it work as a charm on a necklace or something, due to the hole in it (that wasn’t obvious in the photos, but is there if you look hard enough) so it’s not a total loss, I guess.

The magnetic earrings ($0.24 on AliExpress – now $0.25, with free 30-50 day shipping, arrived in 26 days) don’t really work. The magnets for the backs – which they sent 4 of – are strong enough to hold onto each other, but the front pieces are barely magnetic at all. As shown in the picture, they’d much rather stick to each other than the fronts! I’m considering gluing one back to each front to get a better hold. They might be usable at that point… But I’m still pretty disappointed.

Thankfully, the other two cuffs ($0.15 each on AliExpress, with free 30-50 day shipping, arrived in 24 days) work just fine. They’re nothing special, but they’re exactly as pictured, and they fit perfectly with just a little adjustment. The metal doesn’t feel super cheap, but it’s not very sturdy, either. At 15 cents each, though, I definitely can’t complain.

Now, I’m one of those people that, if I could afford it (or was brave enough to risk infection by doing it myself), would have dozens of piercings and tattoos. I briefly considered buying a few $0.50 piercing guns and doing some myself, but it’s incredibly dangerous to do so, and I’m not that stupid. (Now, my 17-year-old self, half a lifetime ago… That’s another story.)

Instead, I bought these.

The jeweled septum ring was $0.27 on AliExpress, with 30-50 day shipping, and it arrived in 32 days. The back of it does look a little cheap, but nobody sees that. It took a little work to get it on the first time, but once I figured out the trick, it was easy. I think it might be a bit too much sparkle for me, but it’s cute.

The “fake” nose rings were $0.23/pair on AliExpress, with free 20-38 day shipping, arriving in 32 days. Now, while these do sort of work for fake piercings, the listing is a bit deceptive – these are REAL nose rings, meant to be worn in an actual piercing. They’re too loose to be worn long-term if you intend to wear them as fakes. That said, they’re sort of perfect for testing out different piercing placements to see if it’s something you really want to do. (I tried them on my lip, and was surprised at how much I liked it.)

If you haven’t noticed, I have a thing for rings – and for other things that can be worn on fingers, apparently.

The finger armor was $0.70 on AliExpress, with free 20-39 day shipping – it arrived in 25 days. Now, I’ve loved stuff like this for as long as I can remember, but never actually thought I could own one. This was listed as a men’s piece, so I assumed that it would be somewhat close to my size, as my fingers are wider than most women’s… It wasn’t. I had to do some major modification with my jewelry-making tools to make this fit. In the process, some of the patina finish rubbed off, leaving it looking a  bit uneven. That said, it’s still pretty cool – if you have the tools needed to make it fit. (It didn’t even fit my pinky finger – ack!)

The lotus ring ($0.69 on AliExpress, now $0.54, with free 20-38 day shipping, arrived in 32 days) is amazing. I’m completely in love with it. It fits like a size 7 1/2 – perfect for my pinky finger. I got the rose gold color, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. The ring feels solid, not cheap. Very nice!

The Precious Lord of the Rings “One Ring” was $0.92 on AliExpress, with free 20-38 day shipping, also arriving in 32 days. The ring fits perfectly, but it’s definitely not stainless steel – it’s too light to be steel. The engraving looks like it’s painted on, not etched in the finish… So I’m thinking I might cover this one with clear nail polish to, hopefully, protect it a bit. After I shine it up some – the finish gets pretty dull after handling it just for a minute or so. I think, in the future, I’d go for a more expensive one that’s hopefully better quality.

These two necklaces were both ordered as gifts for specific people.

The grandmother necklace is, supposedly, identical to one I received in my first review post. Interestingly, though I only paid $0.66 (currently $0.78) on AliExpress, which was 17 cents more than the other, the quality is a million times better. On every level. It took a little while longer to get here – 31 days out of the quoted 28-45, but it’s well made, the pendant is shiny and not “rustic” looking, the heart is pretty, and the chain is decent. If I was to do it all again, I’d buy two of these, and not touch the cheaper version.

The faux-leather cord necklace is also a gift, which set me back $0.49 on AliExpress. It took 32 days to arrive, out of the quoted 20-38. It’s a pretty necklace, and the cord, surprisingly, has no odor to it (usually, these fake leather cords stink.) I somehow thought that the leaf was ceramic, not metal, but that’s not a big deal. It’s still pretty, and I’m sure the recipient will love it.

And, last but certainly not least, two more necklaces.

The spike necklace was $0.74 (currently $0.93) on AliExpress, with free 22-28 day shipping, arriving in 32 days. Looking at the photos, it looks like it’s a pretty imposing piece of jewelry but, unfortunately, the spikes are a LOT smaller than they appear, with the longest ones about 5cm/2″ long, and the width of the entire spiked section coming in at 9.5cm/3.75″ when laid flat. The chain is rather short, too, making it more of a choker length than anything – at least on me. I’ll probably refigure it a little so it goes a little wider on my neck, and so it doesn’t feel like it’s choking me.

Now, I won’t even try to wear the Deathly Hallows necklace ($0.43 on AliExpress, free 30-50 day shipping, arrived in 32 days) until I replace the chain. The pendant is nice, solid-feeling, and decent-looking. But, the chain looks and feels cheap, and a little bit dirty, too. I’m worried about something rubbing off on me, so I’m trying to handle it as little as possible until I get that fixed. The color is definitely off compared to the listing – this is much more yellow than the bronze that I ordered. Not bad, overall, but it could be a lot better.

The quality of this lot was definitely mixed, between good and bad, but for under $6 total, I think I came away with some nice pieces.

All the things

So, I might have gotten a little behind on my posts. 2 shipments that I missed last week and then, today, seven packages showed up! SEVEN!

Needless to say, I’ll be doing these in groups.

First off… My phone has been walking around, unprotected, for over a year now. I kept meaning to buy a case (and the screen protector shown previously), but it never happened. Then, I decided enough was enough, and got cheap Chinese stuff!

This case was $1.79 on AliExpress when I ordered it (it’s since gone up to $1.96.) With free shipping, it was supposed to arrive in 20-38 days, but only took 17.

It’s a decent little case. Soft but rigid silicone, it feels like. It doesn’t make the phone too bulky, and gives it a slightly nicer grip, but it does make it a little harder to reach the buttons on the side, and the pattern is printed on the outside, so you can see a shadow under it. I like it, though.

These were for my daughter, whose earbuds are always breaking. The last pair lasted maybe a week! I figure, if she’s going to keep breaking them, might as well just get her cheap ones. And these had black & silver stars on them, as a sort of reference to Black Rock Shooter, so even if they suck, she’ll use them just to look cool.

These earbuds were $0.49 on AliExpress, with free shipping. They were expected to arrive in 20-39 days, and took 22, so well within the expected delivery window.

Now, the quality of these is about what you’d expect for a half-dollar pair of headphones. They sound a little tinny, and the soft in-ear pieces are kinda weird shaped. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t last all that long, but for the price, it’s not a big deal. And my daughter was very excited to get these, cheap or not!

I actually ordered two of these eyeglass cleaners, after seeing them on a video from AliHolic, but immediately gave one to my daughter, who has been having trouble keeping her new glasses clean.

These were $0.39 each on AliExpress when I purchased them, but the price has gone up to $0.65 each (and it seems this particular seller no longer has them available.) Free shipping was supposed to take 20-39 days, and they arrived in 25.

These work ok on dust, but any oil on the lenses seems to just get spread around. Haven’t tried them with eyeglass cleaner spray, though – that might help.

These are kinda interesting. This is matatabi, aka silvervine. It’s a vine that grows mainly in China and Japan, and has an effect on cats similar to catnip.

These 5 sticks cost me $0.76 on AliExpress (the price has increased to $0.84 as of this moment.) They were on the low side of the 22-38 days expected for shipping, arriving in 22 days.

I was curious about how my cat would respond to these sticks, and I wasn’t disappointed. He sniffed one at first, then walked away… And less than a minute later, he returned, and was rubbing against it, and chewing on it, and just loving on the poor, defenseless stick.

Now, if you do buy this, be very careful when opening the package – I accidentally cut through the resealable bag and having the open bag near my desk was starting to irritate my lungs a bit. It does have a smell, and if smells tend to get to you, make sure you either keep the bag intact, or find a Ziploc bag to keep them in.

…and on to the jewelry! This is a selection of ear cuffs that I purchased during one of my mini buying sprees.

The two 3-ring cuffs were $0.19 each on AliExpress, with free shipping supposed to arrive in 30-50 days, and they arrived in only 20. Quality-wise, they feel a bit cheap – almost plasticky – but they look good, and slide on easy enough, with only a little bit of work required.

The silver bar cuff was $0.33 on AliExpress (currently $0.32), again with free shipping. It arrived in 20 days, right in the 20-38 day estimated range. I didn’t notice the little hole on it when I ordered it (looking at the photos on the item confirm it was my error, not the seller’s.) This is a heavier metal than the ring cuffs, which would be good – if I could manage to get it on my ear! The opening is a little small, and it doesn’t want to slide on. It’ll take a little manipulation to get it to work. This might be best if you wanted to add charms or something to it – the ring would be the perfect place to attach them.

The silver snake cuff was $0.40 on AliExpress, with free shipping. This, too, arrived in 20 days, which was at the end of the expected 12-20 days. I love this thing, but it’s too small for my ear, and the bit that goes through your ear really doesn’t work with my stretched ears, so this is going into the gift box. It’s a decently heavy metal, though, and I’m sure I’ll find someone who would love it.

The black dragon cuff was $0.32 on AliExpress, from the same seller as the snake. It came in the same package as the snake cuff, with the same delivery times. Again, I love it, but it just doesn’t work – too small, and stretched ears. I think I know who is getting this one, though!

And, of course… More jewelry!

The Hamsa necklace and feather ear cuff both came from the same AliExpress seller, at $0.35 and $0.29 respectively (currently at $0.48 and $0.32). They were expected to take 20-38 days, and arrived in 25. I love these – the quality is a lot better than I expected at those prices. The metal is solid and not flimsy, and there aren’t any major visual flaws that I can see.

The ring was $0.90 on AliExpress, with free shipping estimated at 30-50 days, and arriving in only 25 days. It’s one of the more expensive little pieces I’ve purchased, and the quality actually shows it. I expected a cheap-looking, flimsy ring that would break when I inevitably had to resize it to make it fit. Instead, it fit my pinky finger perfectly, and actually feels sturdy enough to be worn on a semi-regular basis. Again, no major visual flaws that I can see – I’m pretty happy with this!

And here comes the geekery – Harry Potter style!

I paid for upgraded ePacket shipping on both the $0.95 prefect badge and the $1.40 time turner keychain, as they’re gifts for someone whose birthday is at the end of the month. I didn’t get the cheapest versions available on these two, as I wanted to make sure they got here in time to be gifted – and they did, even though the time turner’s tracking number still has it caught up in customs. Both were expected to arrive in 12-20 days, and arrived in 20. Considering they were hung up in customs for quite a while, that’s really not bad.

The quality on the prefect badge is excellent. It’s larger than I expected, and the enamel and gold finish look smooth and perfect. The keychain, on the other hand, has a couple rather large glue blobs where the hourglass is attached to the metal. I might try to sand the blobs off a bit before I gift it, or I might just leave it, for risk of messing it up. The keychain part is rather solid, though, which I’m glad of – I don’t think this has any risk of falling off somewhere.

The time turner necklace was only $0.85 on AliExpress, with an estimated free shipping time of 20-39 days – it arrived right in the middle, in 25 days. This necklace is missing the glue blobs of the keychain, but otherwise seems to be exactly the same pendant. The chain seems to be decent quality, so I think it’s great as it is. I’m also highly amused that this showed up on the same day as the other time turner. Perfect timing!

And, finally, the last of it for today, I swear… More geekery!

The TARDIS necklace was $0.95 on AliExpress (the price has since gone down to $0.88) with free shipping. I was surprised at the weight of this pendant – it’s nice and heavy – I’m wondering if it isn’t solid metal, though there’s a panel glued in the bottom, so I’m guessing it’s just really thick metal. The green gem on top is a bit hard to see against the metal, but I’m not really complaining about it – not sure where a green gem fits in with the TARDIS. My only issue with it is the length of the chain – it’s just too short for me. Easy enough fix, though.

The Assassin’s Creed necklace was $0.54 on AliExpress when I purchased it. It’s no longer available, but the price is now listed at $1.06! Ouch! I like this, especially for the price, but there are obvious flaws with the finish – there are major bubbles on the bottom. The cord is cheap rubber, and a bit short, but I think it’s actually the perfect length for me – not so tight that I feel like I’m choking, but not so long as to get caught up in the neck of my shirt.

Overall, I’m pleased with these purchases! The grand total for all of this was only $11.48 (not including upgraded shipping) and I think it was way more fun than, say, buying lunch at McDonalds.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s mail brings!