Just like that, the first week of 2018 has ended. Are you still keeping your New Year’s Resolutions, or have you already broken them? Whichever your answer is, we are here to help with a series of subscription boxes – monthly (sometimes, quarterly) boxes one subscribes to based on one’s interests and hobbies, to receive related and themed goodies – around the world to make sure you keep your New Year’s Resolutions way past the second week slum, and throughout the year.
1. Be More Well-Dressed
The very website you are at now (and our print magazine, of course) is a good source of inspiration when it comes to giving your wardrobe a makeover. However, if you still require a hand to hold in terms of what to get that best suits you, these curated subscription boxes can very much be your wingman to being best dressed for the year.
Subscribing to SprezzaBox is very much like having your very own stylist at home. The curated box features fashion accessories and grooming items from notable international brands for you to carry out your “New Year, New You” resolution. Not to mention, they also cater one-time boxes for you and your groomsmen, if ever this is the year you will be exchanging wedding vows.
For those investing on a proper facial hair growth for the year, The Shave Room is there to shear you on. Featuring their own premium whipped shave cream, and an entire grooming line of the highest researched quality, including brand new blades, specifically designed for wet shavers, there is something for everyone – from a novice to a professional.
2. Be More Cultured
According to Colin Firth’s Harry Hart a.k.a Galahad from Kingsman: A gentleman is always on target with witty remarks, interesting facts, and conversation starters that bring the best out of everyone. The following subscription boxes aim to make you a better person, by the time the ball drops again at the end of the year. Whether it’s to cultivate a pre-existing interest, or broaden your horizon with a new hobby, as long as the heart craves for knowledge, these boxes already have your name on them.
Being well-dressed and well-groomed is just the beginning, as what goes on underneath it all is just as important. Culture Carton is for men out there who have resolutions to improve themselves, inside and out. You may choose to subscribe to their book club, featuring a specially curated book that will fill up your knowledge jar as a man, or the essential box, which includes grooming and accessorial items for you to step out into the New Year more confidently.
For bookworms who are at a loss on what books to read to complete the year’s Goodreads Reading Challenge, the Singaporean-based BooksActually experts already have a line-up of books ready for you to dive into. Unlike the many books subscription boxes available out there, this one features a few curators on standby, catering to the many genres available out there, so you don’t receive a chicklit novel, when you’re more of a Sci-fi kind of person.
Has the Discover Weekly and Your Daily Mix playlists on Spotify gotten a little passé for you? Keep your resolution to discover new music with Wax & Stamp – in a more fashionable and analogue way. The subscription box features two curated vinyls every month from a diverse genre of music. Besides, vinyl records are all the rage now, so it doesn’t hurt to add a little aesthetic to your home while indulging in non-mainstream music.
Whether it’s espresso or filtered, grounded or roasted, dripped or brewed, fair trade or organic, hot or cold, black or white, Bean Shipper has an extensive range of coffee beans from the many suppliers in the country and around the world to quench your morning cravings. Also sold separately is a complete range of equipment for you to prepare your perfect cuppa every morning in the comfort of your own kitchen, so you don’t have to put up with long queues at Starbucks for coffee that is not quite up to par – face it, you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.
3. Travel More
One might keep the resolution to travel to a new country at least once a year, but for many, it’s easier said than done, when more important priorities and commitments come into play over the year to lead you off a beaten track that stray you farther away from something that is considered a luxury to many.
Keep the wandering spirit alive throughout the year (or at least until your next great escape), with one of these travel-centric boxes. For the traveller who gazes towards the Land of the Rising Sun, Neko Box is a monthly subscription box from Japan with a different theme every month, featuring exclusive knick-knacks, which will keep one in anticipation of visiting Japan in the foreseeable future, and dear to the heart of the ones who have just left.
The Wordy Traveler, on the other hand, is the perfect quarterly companion box for those who enjoys kicking back in a new place with a cup of tea and a book in hand, drinking in the ambiance and the account. This subscription box brings the destination to you instead, with their thematic books, teas and memorabilia; you could be holed up in your dingy apartment on the dodgy side of Kuala Lumpur, but still feel like you’re lapping up the waves at the Caribbean.
Whilst Iceland may be a further (not to mention, dearer) travel destination to venture to, Give Me Iceland provides the temporary antidote needed with their monthly selection of snacks and sweets available only in the land far, far away.
4. Eat Healthier
Ah yes, the ever popular New Year’s Resolution that is often neglected before the first quarter of the year ends, following closely behind the “clock in more gym time” resolution. Fret not, this year, you might just be able to keep, not one, but two resolutions. It’s no longer an excuse that you don’t have the time to cook a healthy meal, or that you don’t know where to order a healthy meal; these subscription boxes are delivering a healthier lifestyle right to your doorsteps – literally.
Besides the quaint brick and mortar space at Dana 1 Commercial Centre in Ara Damansara, The Naked Lunchbox serves up properly packaged Asian-centric meals to go with their in-house freshly pressed detox juices. Besides that, they also offer 5-Day Eat Clean Lunch packages to help you save a few bucks while keeping fit for the long run.
If you’d prefer something a little more intercontinental, dahmakan has got you sorted for your busiest working hours over lunchtime, and your laziest after hours for dinnertime – not to mention, Sundays! From a renowned chef who has served his time in five-star hotels like Hilton KL and Doubletree Hotel, dahmakan does the nitty gritty calories count for every meal, while delivering favourable local concoctions, such as the Healthy Nasi Lemak with strawberry sambal, and Healthy Nasi Kerabu with salted egg.
From buffet spreads to feed more than 20 guests, to personalised lunches on your own, the chefs behind Cooked have something up their sleeves every time, every day. Cheat days just got a little cheekier with these filling Asian food that makes sure you don’t stray too far from your resolution, but still enjoy comforting meals from our diverse food culture.
Photography by Ian Wong / Home Studio
Art Direction by Joyce Lim
Words by Celeste Goh
Special thanks to Bean Shipper, BooksActually, Cooked, Culture Carton, dahmakan, Give Me Iceland, The Naked Lunchbox, Neko Box, The Shave Room, SprezzaBox, Wax & Stamp, The Wordy Traveler