I recently one a 3-month subscription to Birchbox from Wild Ginger’s blogiversary giveaway and I’m SO excited! I’ve never gotten any sort of subscription box of any kind, mostly because I couldn’t justify the cost, but I’ve always been interested in Birchbox! Thanks, Lindsay, for hosting such an awesome giveaway! 🙂
*I wasn’t compensated for this post in anyway – just wanted to share my experience with Birchbox!*
I don’t know much about makeup, so it seemed like such a great idea to get samples of different beauty products to see what works for me! I’ve already gotten 2 of the subscription boxes pretty close together (because I signed up for my August box and the end of August) so I’m going to review the products in both my August box and my September box!
For my August box, it was a regular style box and came with 5 awesome products inside.
I really like how each Birchbox comes with a little information card that tells you what each product is, what it does, and the cost of the full-size version is, should you decide you like the sample. In this box I got a perfume, lip pencil, eyeliner, hairspray, and sunscreen.
Harvey Prince Perfume | Full Size: $26-$55 –The smell of this is seriously amazing. It reminds me of one of my favorite lotion scents – ‘PS. I Love You’ from Bath & Bodyworks (which is now discontinued… *sniff*). A slightly spicy floral smell that’s just the right amount of sexy and sophisticated that’s great for date night or an outing with friends. I felt really great and grown up wearing it because normally I don’t wear real perfume. I kept smelling my own wrists because the scent was that delectable! And my husband absolutely LOVES this scent on me so I just ordered the 8.8ml bottle so I can keep wearing it 😉
Laqa & Co. Lip Lube | Full Size: $20 – I really like the look and feel of the design of this lip pencil. It’s chunky enough to easily be held in your hand and you wont lose it in your purse. It was really easy and smooth to put on and smelled vaguely minty, which was nice. That being said, the color isn’t totally me. The shade is a bit bubble-gummy/high school girly for me (think the movie ‘Clueless’), but when paired with another lip gloss or something over the top of it, it might work. I’d definitely like to try it in another color since I liked the application and how it felt on my lips.
Marcelle Eyeliner | Full Size: $12 – I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this eyeliner a.) because it’s a pencil and I usually use a cream/eye liner brush combo and b.) because it’s blue. Blue eyeliner?? Black or black/brown is my usual go to color. I put it on and was a little skeptical. But once I added some eye shadow and my mascara, I actually liked the look! It was a softer vibe since it’s pencil and not a harsher line like with my usual eyeliner. And the blue actually helped my blue eyes pop more! So who knew I would actually like blue eyeliner??
Number 4 Hairspray | Full Size: $30 – I love that this hairspray doesn’t get that crunchy-feeling or that aerosol smell. Since it’s a spray that comes in a mister, application is super easy and I didn’t choke to death on all the typical hairspray fumes. Yay! It actually had a pretty nice smell to it! I used this after I curled my hair, which doesn’t usually hold curl well, but with this spray my curls lasted well into the evening! Definitely better than your typical hairspray. Plus the bottle is in French, so, you know, fancy.
Supergoop! City Sunscreen Serum | Full Size: $48 – I love that this one is sample-sized because I like to carry around sunscreen with me in my purse and this one fits in a side pocket so easily! I know it isn’t summer anymore, but when you have pale pasty skin like me, you basically need sunscreen year-round. Hah. It had a faint sunscreeny-smell that I liked, but it wasn’t too over the top. This is a non-greasy formula and just melted right into my skin without any stickiness or grimy feeling. I could barely tell that I had it on. Win-win!
Now for my September box! And can I say how much I absolutely SWOONED over the box design? I’m seriously keeping it to store other things because it’s just too pretty to throw away!
You guys, I may seriously have to consider staying on the Birchbox train – there are so many cool products that I never would have thought to use but have ended up being great! This box had 4 out of 5 products be really great for me, so I’m definitely excited for my October box to get here!
Rusk Elixir Mist | Full Size: $24 – The packaging on this thermal shine mist is absolute perfection – the typography, scissors and bottle style all spoke to the designer in me. That being said, I’m not exactly sure what ‘thermal shine mist’ is supposed to do – is it for protecting your hair from heat? Just to make it shiny? Both? I spritzed some on my dry hair before I went to style it, but all it did was make my hair instantly greasy. I had to immediately grab the dry shampoo and fluff my hair back up to get rid of the grease! Which is too bad because it smelled realllly good and misted on easily. It may have made my hair greasy because I have very fine hair, so this may work for other hair types. Worth a shot!
Whish Shave Cream | Full Size: $16 – What girl doesn’t want smooth silky legs? It’s an actual lotiony cream, and not a foam like most shaving creams, so it was a little hard to tell that it was on my legs while I was shaving because it just kind of rubbed into my leg. That being said it smelled AMAZING like blueberries and cream and it actually worked really well. My legs were super smooth and felt great. Ooh la la!
Dr. Brandt Pores No More Cleanser | Full Size: $36 – I usually use a Burt’s Bees face wash in the shower, but decided to give this one a go. I’m glad I did! This cleanser has a really awesome peppermint botanical smell that made me feel like I was at a spa. It worked really well and left my skin silky smooth. It seemed to reduce my pore size a little bit, but I was just happy to have the silky smooth face! Is it weird that I kept touching my cheeks??
Model Co. Lipstick in Stiletto | Trio: $16 – At first I was a little disappointed – when I took off the plastic and opened the tube, half of the lipstick was broken off and stuck in the cap. Womp womp. After a little finagling I was able to get it out of the cap and smoosh it back on to the rest of the lipstick without much damage or mess. Once I got it on I really liked how it looked! They sent a great color for my skin tone, and while I felt like it dried out my lips a little, the color had a lot of staying power, even while eating and drinking! Definitely my go-to date night lipstick now! (Mostly because I don’t own any other lipsticks, but also because I like it!) Here’s an instagram of me wearing it:
Wilma Schumann Hydrating Collagen Eye Pads | Set of Five: $18 – I let my hubby try these ones because he has more pronounced bags beneath his eyes and puffiness than I do (but it’s not as bas as he thinks it is!). How many people can say their husband is willing to try beauty products?? He’s definitely the best 🙂 According to his report, they felt really cool and tingly while he had them on (in a good way) and they were spa-like and relaxing to have on. After he took them off he did have noticeably less puffy under eyes and commented on how his skin felt tighter and smoother instead of the usual bagginess/puffiness. I bet you would see even more dramatic results if you used these on a regular basis.
So there you have it! My 2 Birchbox Reviews. I’ll post another one when my last one comes sometime in October. It’s definitely been a lot of fun trying all of these products. Since I work from home, I often don’t put too much effort into my looks since I basically only see my pets all day. Now that I’ve tried Birchbox, though, I think I will put a little more time into my getting ready routine because it really does change my outlook and confidence when I make the effort to look a little nicer! And I’m sure people probably appreciate it more when I don’t have bed head or raccoon eyes at 5pm 😉
Have you ever tried Birchbox? What are your thoughts?
Yay! I’m so glad you liked everything! Pretty stinkin’ sweet, isn’t it?!
It’s SO awesome, Lindsay! I just may have to continue my subscription because all of the products have been so fun to try 🙂 Thank so much again!!
My husband gave me a 6 month subscription to Birch Box for Mother’s Day and I am definitely going to extend it. I love getting a package in the mail and then getting to try to many amazing products.
Oooh so fun, Marci! Sounds like you have an awesome and thoughtful hubby 🙂 It definitely is so fun to try all the different products and it’s totally better than getting bills in the mail! 😉
You’re so pretty you don’t need makeup but you look so lovely in that photo 🙂 I used to put makeup on every day before the boys came along. I was a beautician so it was a must. I went through a really horrible stage of not being bothered but have started making the effort to put on at least foundation, eye liner, mascara and a little blush or bronzer. Five minutes I feel are well worth spent doing my makeup and not scaring everyone that I come across. Haha! These products look so nice! Love these types of boxes. Love the element of surprise. Congrats on winning 🙂
Aww, thanks so much, Maria! You make me blush 🙂 I didn’t know you were a beautician – that’s so cool!! I’ve never been very good at makeup/don’t really know how to use it to my advantage but it has been fun to put in a little more effort, even though I’m usually home and don’t see that many people! It definitely is worth it to get dressed and put on a little something, just so I feel like a productive normal human being! 😉