September 2013 Birchbox Review!

It’s that time of month when the mailman delivers another pink box of goodies to my mailbox! This month is Birchboxs’ three year anniversary, so they are sending out a 1000 point golden ticket (worth $100 in the Birchbox Shop) to 100 lucky subscribers, old and new alike. Although I wasn’t one of these lucky winners, I did LOVE my box this month. Again I went into it blind, but here is the sneak peek video if you are interested:

I recieved Box # 45.

This month’s theme was Heritage. The card reads, “The best part about beauty? It’s not the glitter or the gloss, or even those miraculous antioxidants from far-off lands. It’s the stories. Every brand we work with, from the just-hatched to the iconic, has its own fascinating history. Just look at Ruffian, a New York-based fashion label started by two designers with a flair for Victorian drama. Their first nail lacquer collection-which all of our subscribers will get to try this month-was inspired by the runways but voted on by you. File that away for party conversation when someone compliments your mani. This also happens to be our anniversary month, and we can’t let it pass without thanking the people who have helped create our story: our members. All we had was an idea-we needed you to add the magic.”

Time to dig in!

My first sample was the Ruffian Nail Lacquer in Hedge Fund.
Sample size: 0.17 FL. OZ. – $10 | Full Size: 0.17 FL. OZ. – $10

I am a nail polish junkie and have an entire little drawer system dedicated to all of my polishes, so I was SUPER excited to find a nail polish in my box this month. I was extra excited when I realized this is actually the full size product! And out of the three colors I could have gotten, this one is my favorite. Great job, Birchbox! This nail lacquer is a forest green color with golden glitter. I really enjoy this polish because the formula is pretty thick and you only need one coat to get full coverage, so this bottle will last me an eternity. I would DEFINITELY buy more of these as more colors come out!

My next sample was the Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream.
Sample size: 1 FL. OZ. – $5.91 | Full size: 2.54 FL. OZ. – $15

This is actually a really nice sized sample and I am excited to use this a lot as it gets colder outside. It has a really nice fruity scent and makes my hands feel very soft. I really like that this product is affordable and I will probably be purchasing some of this if I use all of my sample before winter is over!

Next up is BCBGMAXAZRIA Perfume in Bon Genre.
Sample size: 0.05 FL. OZ. – $1.10 | Full size: 3.4 FL. OZ. – $75

This perfume smells awesome, and you know how much I LOVE perfume samples! I really, really love that this sample came in a spritzer bottle so I don’t have to bother with pulling a cap off and making a mess. It has very strong jasmine notes. It is advertised to have jasmine, tiger lily, sandalwood, lychee, red berries, and golden amber. I definitely can smell the amber, jasmine and sandalwood, but the other scents are pretty mild. It smells very nice and lasts for a while. Would I buy it? No, but only because I would never use an entire 3.4 OZ bottle. But I really enjoy the sample and it is perfect for fall and winter!

The next sample was the Coastal Scents Eyeshadow Quad in Queen of Hearts.
Sample size – 4 shadows – $1.77 | Full size – 88 shadows – $39


I really love this little palette sample!! I am not a huge eyeshadow fan and I usually tend to use very neutral colors if anything at all, so these pinks will blend very well with my skin. I’ve always really liked pink and red eyeshadows. There are three metallic and one matte shade and they look really nice together. I’m not sure if I would really need an 88-shadow palette, so I probably wouldn’t buy the entire thing, but it does come with three brushes, so if you really like eyeshadow, it’s a pretty good deal.

My last sample was the SARAPOTEMPA Half-Up in Brown.
Sample size: 1 half-up – $9 | Full size: 1 half-up – $9

When I saw this, I was like wut. It looked huge and spongey and I wasn’t very excited about it, but I tested it out to make a bun and it’s actually pretty cool. I wear my hair in a bun everyday at the gym and work, so I will actually get a lot of use out of it and it really isn’t as puffy as it looks. I doubt I would buy another one until this one breaks or gets worn out, but it’s pretty neat and I’m excited to use it. Not to mention, it’s a good deal since it’s the actual full size product.

The last little item was a coupon code for the Birchbox Shop.

Overall, I loved my box this month and I can’t wait to try out my products a little more and give myself a mani! Thanks, Birchbox!

Box price: $10
Box value: $27.78

August 2013 Birchbox Review!

So this was my first time ever trying Birchbox and I think I am addicted.

Now, for those of you that don’t know, Birchbox is a monthly subscription service where you pay $10 a month (including shipping!) for a surprise package to be delivered in the mail full of higher-end beauty samples (and occasionally full-size products). You can also cancel at anytime, so you don’t get locked into a contract if you don’t like it, but it’s pretty neat and inexpensive. This box was shipped on August 15th and showed up 5 business days later. I am actually surprised I even got a box this month because there was a ten day wait to sign up for my subscription and I didn’t actually purchase my subscription until August 6th. They said that my first box would arrive next month, and considering they ship out all the boxes by the 10th of each month, I wasn’t expecting anything. I was definitely pleasantly surprised! This package DOES fit in a normal mailbox and also apartment-sized mailboxes, so you don’t have to worry about signing for anything or leaving this pretty box of goodies on the doorstep in plain sight. If you are of the manly persuasion, they do offer a box tailored for the dudes which is full of goodies and cool accessories (I’ve seen a nifty wallet, an apron and even sunglasses in unboxing videos).

One of my favorite things that made me go with Birchbox over some other subscription services is the rewards points system. For the purchase of your first box, you are given 10 points. You also get 10 points for each item reviewed (so 50+ per month). ALSO, for every dollar spent in the Birchbox Shop, you receive 1 point. What does this mean? Well, for every 100 points you accrue, you earn yourself $10 to spend in the shop. These points keep stacking and don’t disappear until a year after they are earned. So if you earn 50 points per month, you will end up with $60 to spend before the year is over! This is amazing considering a lot of the products in the shop are a bit out of my budget. These points also will stack together with coupons (and trust me, you will get coupons), so you can end up getting some really nice, high-end products for barely anything out of your pocket.

Now, let’s talk about my box:

Every month, Birchbox chooses a theme for their boxes. They do have “sneak-peek” videos which review all of the products that *could* end up in your box, but I like to ignore those until after I get my box in the mail. I love surprises, so I try to just go into this blindly. Below is the sneak peek for August, 2013:

This month’s theme is Finishing School. Each month there is a little introduction card which includes a little paragraph about the theme for the month and on the back, there is an explanation of each sample you received  with the prices for the full-size products so you know what to expect if you find a new favorite. My card for August reads, “Once upon a time, finishing school meant an elegant Swiss academy where a young lady went to learn the intricacies of high society. While the concept may feel a bit outdated (truth be told, we’re more likely to sign up for a night class in Photoshop), we love the idea of zeroing in on the details: from the elegance of a handwritten invitation, to the confidence-boosting power of bright red lipstick. As proof that finishing touches are anything but fussy, we collaborated with Ann Taylor to bring you a guide to fall’s best accessory trends. Learn how to update your day, night, and weekend looks without breaking the bank-and on that note, you’ll also find an exclusive shopping offer just for Birchbox members.”

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dig in!

As far as I can tell, this month I received Box #75.

My first sample that I pulled out was this Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso.
Sample size: 0.03 FL. OZ. – $6.60 | Full size: 0.1 FL. OZ. – $22

At first, I figured that this was just going to be another stain-type lipgloss. I’m really glad I swatched some before I put it on my lips because it is VERY red and if you don’t smudge it a bit, it looks pretty garish once it dries. And once it does dry, it takes quite a bit of scrubbing to remove it. That aside, it’s a nice formula. It dries pretty matte, but it keeps it’s color all day (hence the name) even if you are eating, drinking, etc. It has a really nice candy-like scent, but it doesn’t have a flavor (probably because it dries quickly). The sample size is really nice and this is probably going to last me months if not a year plus because a small amount goes a really long way. I’m not sure if I would buy this exact color, but I really like the product and once this runs out I might check out some other colors and buy something a bit more neutral.

My next product was the Shu Uemura Art of Hair Cleansing Oil Shampoo.
Sample size: 0.5 FL. OZ – $2.04 | Full size: 13.5 FL. OZ. – $55

I wasn’t super excited about this sample at first because it seemed so small and I didn’t really know how I felt about washing my hair with an oily shampoo, but I tried it out and was pleasantly surprised. This has a very faint but lovely scent and there was actually enough for four shampoos, so I really got to test this product out. It doesn’t leave my hair smelling like anything and doesn’t foam very much, but it left my hair feeling pretty clean. I didn’t notice any difference in how my hair felt or behaved, but it did a nice job of cleaning all of my hair (which is pretty fine, but also reaches halfway down my back), so I was impressed with how a little could go a long way, but I just don’t see myself spending $55 on a shampoo that didn’t “wow” me. Maybe if I could have gotten to try this out with the conditioner, I would have a better idea of how these products work, but either way, it was nice getting to try out a very high-end shampoo not once, but four times!

The next item in the box was the  SPF 45 Sport Coola Classic Sunscreen in Fresh Mango.
Sample size: 0.169 FL. OZ. – $1.08 | Full Size: 5.0 FL. OZ. – $32

First of all, I have to say this stuff smells freaking AMAZING! It’s like wearing a mango flavored Orange Julius on your face! The size was small and I wasn’t expecting to get many uses out of it, so I decided to stick with only putting it on my face and so far I have used it three times and have enough for another use or two. I used regular sunblock on my body. The formula is pretty light and smells incredible for hours and I was definitely happy to have gotten to try this scent. Would I buy it? Possibly. $32 is pretty pricey for a sunblock, but it is %70 organic and Coola donates portions of their profits to cancer research, so I may actually stock up on some of this before summer next year. It smells awesome and if it is still available next Spring, I will most likely grab a bottle.

Next up: Harvey Prince Eau Flirt Perfume in Lavender Pumpkin.
Sample size: 0.05 FL. OZ. – $1.44 | Full size: 3.4 FL. OZ. – $98

This perfume is nice for summer and has a pretty intense floral scent. It isn’t overpowering, but it stays with you all day. If I sniff hard enough, I can kind of pick up the lavender, but I really don’t smell the pumpkin and once it blends into my skin, all I really smell are floral notes. That being said, it is a nice perfume and I ADORE perfume samples. I have this thing where I get really burnt out on perfume and rarely, if ever, finish an entire bottle of perfume, so I love having small samples so I can use them until I am sick of them and move on (I still have a sample of Coco Chanel Mademoiselle from six years ago that isn’t empty yet). I most likely wouldn’t purchase this, not because I don’t like the scent, but because the full size is huge and I know I wouldn’t ever use it all and $98 is a lot for something I won’t fully deplete.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in Brown.
Sample size: 0.07 FL. OZ. – $16 | Full size: 0.07 FL. OZ. – $16

Woohoo! First month and I got a FULL SIZE product!! And it’s not boring black! Normally, I am not a huge fan of liquid eyeliners because they tend to be messy, but the applicator tip to this is awesome.

You can get fine lines, thick lines and everything in between. It does stay on for a long time, BUT don’t cry with it because something about tears makes it run and it will burn the living daylights out of your eyes. But overall, it’s a pretty nice eyeliner and I have used it a lot. I would say I would buy it, but I already have it now 😀 thanks, Birchbox!

Below are my swatches for the Stila lipstick and the Eyeko eyeliner:

The last thing at the bottom of my box was a little fashion booklet from Ann Taylor which included a coupon code. It was a nice little extra, but I’m still young and Ann Taylor styles are a bit too ‘mature’/’old’ for me right now, so I won’t be using them. But it still saves you a decent amount of money if you like shopping there because I know some of their items can be pretty pricey.

Overall, I LOVE my first Birchbox! I got some really cool samples that I actually like and want to use, not to mention one full size product! I know some people get boxes that they don’t enjoy, but so far, I am in love.

Box price: $10
Box value: $27.16