Birchbox Love

Birchbox Product Review

Some products are worth raving about and Birchbox monthly subscription is one of my current favorites.  I signed up three months ago and I have yet to be disappointed.  Here is the low down:

Cost: $10

Contents: 4 to 5 beauty product samples + 1 lifestyle sample (tea bags, chocolate, granola bar, stationary, etc.)

These samples are not skimpy in size – they mostly consist of small tubes of moisturizer, mini spray bottles of hair product, small nail polishes and lip stains.  Most of my samples have lasted me the whole month, if not longer, and I have been thoroughly satisfied with them.  If you like trying new beauty products and enjoy getting a package in the mail, then Birchbox is for you.  I love the day it comes in the mail and I get to look through my new collection of goodies.

April Unboxed

1) Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle Detangling Spray – Although this sample was a good size, the spray bottle was defective and I could not get it to spray on my hair.  Fortunately, it did not prevent me from unscrewing the cap and applying it to my damp hair anyways.  This is the first faulty sample I’ve received in three months so I’m not complaining.  In fact, I was impressed that Birchbox sent me a follow up product from the same company after I positively reviewed a sample of Beauty Protector Hair Oil in my first box.  This was a small vial of oil for your hair, wet or dry, which smelled absolutely amazing.  The scent was the same as Pink Sugar perfume in case you ever used that in the past.  I loved the hair oil so much that I committed to buying it.  The first Birchbox worked it’s magic on me.  Plus, I was able to stretch the little glass bottle of oil for almost two months.  Well worth my ten dollars if you ask me.  The detangler smells as good as the oil, but it is only meant for wet hair.  I like the oil better because I can dab it on the ends of my hair to make it smell wonderful on a day when I’ve spent time outside or haven’t had the time to wash it.

2) Color Club Gala Gems Nail Polish ($13.00 for 4 small polishes)- I received a turquoise color with a pearl finish called “Breakfast at…”  I like the color and I love painting my nails so it made me happy to receive a whole polish in my box.

3) Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner ($11.00) – This eyeliner is a soft, wax pencil, and it can be bought in either black, lime green, olive green, dark green, charcoal grey, brown, or sky blue.  My typical eyeliner comes in a green tube from Maybelline and costs a little over $4, and I’m not especially happy with it.  It tends to leave under-eye smudges throughout the day.  This eyeliner, however, pleased me very much and provided me with smooth, black, defined lines and no smudging.  I’m very happy with the size; a whole eyeliner is worth almost half the box.  I would buy this product.  However, the down side is it must be ordered on Birchbox and it’s almost three times the price as my regular, convenient store-bought eyeliner…higher quality, higher price, less convenient.

4) Harvey Prince Yogini Perfume Sample ($55.00 for 50 ml) – The scent is light and fresh – good for spring or perfect for freshening up after yoga! I love little perfume samples because they are great to stick in my purse to have on hand if I need a little spritz as the day goes by.

5) KIND Healthy Grain Bars Granola Bar (lifestyle sample, $11.88 for a box of 15) – It’s nice to try a new healthy snack and I liked the taste and crunch of this granola bar.  My bar was Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt, but I think I would have liked Dark Chocolate Chunk or Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate better.  It’s nice that these bars are gluten free and full of healthy super grains including oats, millet, quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat.

Extras:

• Each box you receive comes with a card that gives a detailed description of each sample in the box and how to use it.  It also provides you with the cost of the full-size product.
• The boxes are themed for each month.  April’s box also included a “rainy day tip” since April is considered the month of showers, and the goodies were wrapped in blue tissue paper.
• An added benefit to subscribing to Birchbox is that any product you order after receiving a sample of it will be shipped for free.  The company also sends frequent discount codes by email.  If you post a review providing feedback about one of the products you received, you earn points to save you money when you shop in the Birchbox store.  Referring friends and buying things on the site also earns you points.
• The cardboard box is reusable – I might use one to store stationary and one to store headbands.  Might as well get your money’s worth out of the packaging!

Other Box Favorites

Beauty Protector Protect & Oil ($25.00) This is the hair oil I was raving about in the description of the first product!

theBalm® cosmetics How ‘Bout Them Apples?™ ($32.00) These lip tints are great.  My box had a small square sample with one of the lip tints.  The red color was a perfect stain and it left my lips feeling smooth.  It’s on my buy list!

Skin&Co Roma TRUFFLE THERAPY™ SERUM Boosting Anti-Aging Serum ($75.00)  The serum is a moisturizer to apply to your face and neck after washing it and before bed.  It smells amazing and I could feel it tightening and firming my face.  Too expensive for me, but if you really value an anti-aging serum, then this one is worth trying.

Chelsea

(Pictures taken from Birchbox.com)