Are Bkr Water Bottles Worth It?
Looking for a durable and reusable glass water bottle that won’t leak? A Bkr water bottle is the answer. I have had my pink Bkr bottle for about five years now, which means I got it before it became a designer bottle. Yes, you read that correctly - ‘designer’ water receptacle. But having had one for so long, I can absolutely see why they became so popular.
Looking for a durable and reusable glass water bottle that won’t leak? A Bkr water bottle is the answer.
I have had my pink Bkr bottle for about five years now, which means I got it before it became a designer bottle. Yes, you read that correctly - ‘designer’ water receptacle. But having had one for so long, I can absolutely see why they became so popular. They don’t leak or break, the mouthpiece is the size a mouthpiece should be and not one of those ridiculously large ones that slosh water all over your face, and they look great. If anything happened to mine, I would literally spent the cash to get another. Here’s why.
The lid is a revelation
The lid screws on tight in one rotation. One rotation! And it doesn’t leak, ever. I have had so many water bottles leak in my bag it’s ridiculous, so the fact that this doesn’t leak and screws up really easily is a big plus for me. It’s also designed to be carried with a ring, so you could tie it to your bag if you wanted, or just loop it around your finger and off you go.
A weird design feature Bkr came up with within the last five years is a lid that fits a (vegan) lip balm in it. Of course, it specifically fits the Bkr Water Balm which, at $35, is more expensive than the lid itself, but I guess it would look nifty with the balm clipped in.
It (probably) won’t break
The bottle is smooth grass wrapped in a silicone cover that’s reinforced at the bottom, which adds a layer of protection if you’re a bit clumsy like me and drop things.
I have dropped mine a couple of times, but the worst was when it fell top-down and the lid cracked where the loop is. That’s not a design flaw - I don’t think anything could have survived that. The lid is made of quite a thick plastic and is not easy to break. It still functioned normally and I was able to close it without any trouble, but the glass has remained unbroken. You can buy replacement lids separately, so that is what I did.
Handy Sizes
Bkr comes in three sizes - one litre, 500ml and 250ml. I have the smaller one because I don’t carry around huge bags and I like to be able to slip it in a handbag while traipse to the supermarket or around the world, but there are definitely times where I’ve seen the benefits of a larger one, like when I’m working out.
Having said that, the litre bottle would probably be quite heavy. The bottle is made of glass, which adds to the weight, so keep that in mind when choosing.
Easy Cleaning
A few reviews say the Bkr bottle is hard to clean, but I’ve never really found that - you can put the whole thing in the dishwasher, or take the silicone slip off and wash that separately. The only thing to watch out for is don’t take the small silicone ring wedged inside the lid out - it’s what stops the bottle from leaking. I took it out once to clean it thinking I was being thorough, and it never really fit back in properly and it was a pain, and I’m kind of glad the lid broke so I could get a new one. That was not a design fault, that was just me taking things apart when I shouldn’t have.
Change the colour to match your outfit
The coloured silicone sleeves are also sold separately and are interchangeable, so you get a different colour for every day of the week. Not strictly essential, but a pretty cool feature nonetheless that makes this brand stand out. You can also get different kinds of sleeves, like spiky ones and smooth ones in different colours to suit your vibe.
Water tastes better from glass
I know that sounds subjective, but it’s true - the water tastes fresher and cleaner than out of a plastic bottle. Once you start drinking from glass, it’s really hard to go back to plastic. Chemicals from plastics also leak into your water bottle over time, which means you’re ingesting a hell of a lot more than water at the end of the day, which is kind of terrifying when you think about it. Whether you get a Bkr bottle or not, plastic bottles should be a thing of the past.
Water tastes better from glass
I know that sounds subjective, but it’s true - the water tastes fresher and cleaner than out of a plastic bottle. Once you start drinking from glass, it’s really hard to go back to plastic. Chemicals from plastics also leak into your water bottle over time, which means you’re ingesting a hell of a lot more than water at the end of the day, which is kind of terrifying when you think about it. Whether you get a Bkr bottle or not, plastic bottles should be a thing of the past.
vegan and cruelty-free
It seems odd for a water bottle to be vegan, but animal products make their way into the strangest things so it’s definitely worth noting. I make an effort to promote companies that are clean and ethical, and Bkr definitely fits that category - even the lip balm is vegan. Winner!
Cons
The one con I can think of is that you can’t fit ice into the bottle. That’s not a huge problem for me but, from what I understand, people from the US love having ice in their drinks and, unless you have an ice tray that makes tiny cubes, the Bkr bottle doesn’t cater for that. You would think ice would be more of a deal in hot Australia, buuuuut it’s not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What’s your favourite glass bottle? Let me know in the comments below!
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I Tried the Frank And Oak Subscription Box. Here’s What Happened.
Is the Frank And Oak ‘Style Plan’ Subscription Box worth it? I gave a go and here’s what happened.
If you’re in North America and Facebook detects that you’re remotely interested in clothes, you’ve probably come across ads for the Frank And Oak monthly subscription box, and hovered over it, wondering if it’s really worth it.
There’s no subscription fee and you can opt out of a certain month, or unsubscribe completely at any time for no cost whatsoever. You can also return any items you don’t want within 30 days for a full refund (they’ll even pay shipping), and they’ll only keep a styling fee of $25 if you return everything. This means that if you received nine items and only keep one, they won’t charge the extra $25.
On top of that, all their materials are sustainable and ethically sourced from around the world, everything is recyclable (including the tags), and their clothes are very practical and made to last. Considering the horrid effects of the fast-fashion industry (looking at you, H&M), Frank And Oak know where it’s at.
Anyway, back to the box…
My personal style can be a little out there – I don’t hold back when it comes to glam makeup, fancy (thrifted) skirts, and giant platforms. This can (and has) resulted in some unwanted attention in the past, so when I move to a new city, I like to check out the fashion trends so I know what to expect. Knowing I was moving to Quebec in a matter of weeks, I decided to subscribe to the Montreal-based fashion box to see what French Canadian style was all about.
Here’s what happened.
Frank And Oak Style Plan: A Review
After drinking the proverbial Kool-Aid and clicking on a <gasp> Facebook ad, I arrived at a beautiful-looking website and was asked to pick from the men’s box or the women’s box, and place a range of style preferences (preferred patterns, whether I liked casual, classic, or creative styles, colours I’d never wear, sizes for different items of clothing) and what I would usually spend on shirts, dresses, pants, ect. I chose the cheapest in all areas.
Everything was very visual – I was asked to select a range of preferred outfits and items from images, and knew exactly what I was selecting at all times. It was an easy process and I felt confident about my choices.
Two days before the box is due to be dispatched, I would get an email to preview the box and confirm the items.
It should be noted that if you don’t confirm or decline the box for that month within two-days, the box is automatically confirmed, your credit card is billed, and the box is shipped.
Box 1
I was road-tripping around Jasper, Alberta with no internet, and had no idea the email for my first box had arrived. Three-days flew by and, low and behold, when I got back and realised more than $300 had been billed to my credit card for clothes I’d never seen before, I immediately contacted Frank And Oak to explain the situation.
Surprisingly, they were extremely accommodating. Since the box preview fell over a long weekend, they hadn’t shipped mine yet and happily gave me a refund.
Crisis averted, and I was looking forward to actually being able to preview the next month’s selection.
Box 2
I was living in Montreal by the time box two came around, so I was super-excited to take a look.
The previews come with nine stylist-selected items already in your box, with a price on the top right-hand corner of the page. You can thumbs-down any items you hate and never want to see again, then refresh to see new items in their place.
I wanted to see allll the options (maybe there were ones I’d like better if I kept going?), so I kept thumbs-downing things to see what else they had, and then eventually I ran out of options, the price dropped significantly, and I couldn’t go back and thumbs-up anything I rejected.
I used the chat function to ask a human if there were any more items, and some new ones popped up, though because I look terrible in pastel colours, I had to reject more and the number of items diminished again. I ran in to this problem a couple of times.
Eventually someone at Frank And Oak told me they might be adding more items later in the day, so I waited.
When I got back to the preview screen, most items I wanted were sold out and the cost of the box was hovering at around $200 for what I perceived as less items.
Since none of the items I really wanted were available, I decided to skip that month and wait for the next one.
Box 3
Third time lucky, right?
The email came, I previewed the box immediately and liked way more items than I had the previous month. Win! I thumbs-downed a few odd colours that would make me look like I had liver failure, but kept most of them, including some jeans, a scarf, a fluffy navy sweater, two black dresses, some 40s-style tweed pants, black boots, and a few other things.
For the first time in three-months, I hit ‘confirm’ and almost immediately got a receipt. It cost $224, but for nine items, it looked like a pretty good deal. So far so good! It wasn’t until I got the shipping notice that I realized what was actually going on.
You have to confirm the items you want to keep by clicking on the image. There’s no thumbs-up button to do this, you just have to know to double-click the items you want. I didn’t do this on any of the items, so the top three were automatically confirmed for me, and the shipping notice read that I was only receiving three items for $224, rather than nine.
One item was a $70 scarf (to put this in perspective, the last scarf I bought was $1 at a garage sale) and I tried really hard not to think about it.
Because I’m living in Montreal, impressively, the box arrived the next day. There were indeed three items in the box and, I have to say, they were beautifully folded and packaged.
what was in my box
The first item I picked up was the $70 scarf. It was a deep red, finely woven, and thick enough to withstand a Canadian winter, but not chunky. It was stunning. I was floored. The picture above doesn’t do it justice.
I’m a traveller so I usually thrift clothes, or buy cheaper ones, so wearing brand on the higher end of the scale was an experience I hadn’t had in a while.
The sheer quality of everything was a nice surprise – it’s something I didn’t even consider, but it made deciding what to keep astonishingly difficult. All items were extremely well-designed, and made from soft and wearable materials that had a nice weight to them – something fast-fashion labels just don’t have.
The black dress didn’t look all that remarkable from the outside – it looked like a few other dresses I’d seen on racks everywhere for years. It was shorter in length and sheer with small buttons down the front, but didn’t feel like it would blow everywhere in the wind or cling to my tights on cold days.
The sweater was thick and warm. I think I was imagining something slightly oversized when I saw the preview because I’m small and things usually look big on me, but it was surprisingly fitted with room underneath for layers, and sat just above my hips.
On top of that, everything fit perfectly.
Is It Worth It?
The thing with subscription boxes is that they’re meant to be great value. I’ve signed up to a few beauty boxes in the past, and have received quite a few items for a seemingly low cost, so I assumed this would be a similar thing.
While you do save around 20% on each item with the Frank And Oak Style Plan, for regular humans who work for a standard wage in Canada, it’s not cost-effective. What I didn’t realise upon signing up is the more you ‘confirm’ to your box, the higher the price goes. For example, I added a Thinsulate snow coat recently and, with three other items in the box, the cost of the whole box jacked up to more than $500. Sure, you’re getting a discount, but it’s not a huge one.
All in all, if you’re happy to spend a little more on quality, durable and sustainable attire that will last, then yes, the Frank And Oak Style Plan subscription box is totally worth it.
If you’ve been gawping at the cost and can’t fathom spending that much money on only a couple of items, then maybe it’s not for you, but I wouldn’t rule it out. Signing up is a risk-free process – you never pay for anything you don’t want, and if you proceed with the box and don’t like any items when it arrives, it’ll only cost you $25. If you can part with $25 or more for the sake of curiosity, then I’d give it a try.
At the end of the day, I probably wouldn’t have picked out any of the items I received from a rack in a store, which is kind of the point of investing in a stylist. In that capacity, it’s a fun and interesting thing to try.
Have you tried Frank And Oak, or another clothing subscription box? Tell me what you think in the comments below!
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