Hey Birchbox fans!!

This Month I skipped out on the specially curated ‘Valentine’s Day’ themed  box and opted to ‘Chose a sample’ with the regular box.  I also opted to add on a Birchbox plus item. (which I absolutely love)

If you are new to Birchbox, Here is the lowdown:

For 10.00 Per Month you will receive a box of 5 beauty products/samples and an occasional bonus product delivered to your door each month. Join Birchbox

For those interested there is also a Mens Birchbox. Details here

birchbox has many additional perks as well:

-prior to the month you will receive an email that will allow you to choose one of your samples from a selection or to choose a specially curated birchbox with each product detailed. You also may stick with the option of keeping your surprise standard monthly box with a selection of the spotlighted monthly items!

-Birchbox Plus: In addition to your monthly boxes birchbox has added Birchbox Plus, this allows you to add a lifestyle item to your box for a discounted price: [anything from additional (full sized) beauty products to items for your home, entertaining and accessories!] (You will receive an email with these options prior to your months box as well)

-The very best part of Birchbox for me is the Birchbox store and the rewards system that they have. Each month you may review each product for 10 BB points ea. 100 points equals 10.00 to use in the Birchbox shop; essentially every two birchboxes received can get you 10.00 to use in the birchbox shop.  (you also earn 1 bb point for every dollar spent in the shop) There are many other promos that allow you additional bb points and other loyalty discounts throughout each year.  They offer many excellent brands in their shop.

– Birchbox also has the Ace program which you are auto enrolled in after receiving 500 bb points in a calendar year:  learn more about the Ace program.

The Box:

The Goods:

ARROW Boost Color Enhancing Lip Balm:  Product is full size $14.00

Birchbox exclusive new brand, Arrow offers this hydrating lip balm which claims to adjust to your natural pH, enhancing each wearers natural lip color to create the perfect hue. It has a light herbal like scent that I find pleasant.  When deciding whether or which sample to chose for my box my mind kept wandering back to this product, I knew better, brands keep making their version of this product and I own a few myself.  For lack of a preferred sample choice and the stellar packaging this brand offers, I chose it anyway.  It seems my gut was spot on with this.  The tube is really nice looking, the product is smooth and fairly moisturizing but the bright, almost neon pink shade I achieve from the supposed technology behind this concept is garish and always uneven as it is lighter on your smoother areas and darker/brighter on drier/chapped areas.  This shade will never be ‘my’ shade yet it’s always the shade I end up with and because it only seems to intensify with added application in order  reap the continued moisturizing benefits it’s a product I plan to steer clear of both now and in the future.  On a lighter note, there are clearly plenty of folks out there who want to try the product as it is now waitlisted. With the massive amount of reviews it has already generated, mostly positive, people do like the product.  I suppose shade preference is a huge factor in this.  I have; however, read plenty of reviews in which the reviewer was shocked over the bright, shocking pink hue that did not fit them in the least.

Corioliss Conditioning Argan Mask:  This is a sample size, full size $40.00

This is a nourishing hair mask made with Argan oil, packed full of fatty acids, vitamin E and tea tree oil.  To use you simply smooth over your hair post shampoo/conditioning routine, wrap hair in a towel for a few minutes, then rinse.  The smell of this product was not to my liking, strong and way to similar to a cheap, bathroom air freshener; one I recognized from my childhood. When rinsed from my hair the improvement was significant and post styling I felt its performance was solid.  It even saved me a palm full of Moroccan oil and decreased my drying time.  As for the unpleasant scent?  It did not linger on my hair, which was a huge plus.  Unfortunately my hair did require the entire tube and I prefer to try a product more than once before purchasing.  I’m still up in the air on this one, but a good product nonetheless.

Borghese Fango Purificante Clay Cleanser: Deluxe sample, Full size is $30.00

I like the idea of merging a cleanser and the popular clay mask and I enjoyed using it.  I thought my skin felt really clean and soft post wash.  I wonder though, if this will strip my skin too much, be too drying with continued, daily use?  It may be a good product for a once weekly deep cleansing and I think that is how I will treat it for now.

Catherine Malandrino Romance de Provence: Sample Vial, Full size $65.00-$110

I heard someone describe this scent as ‘old world’  that fits.  It’s not for me and I like some long time classics.  This is the scent of a room full of much older, French sophisticates, of yesteryear…   I enjoy finding new fragrance and own many, many different scents but I’m quite picky about them.  I’ve received a plethora of sample vials from Birchbox, yet so far have only liked one.  I guess this fragrance does have one thing going for it, it’s not Harvey Prince.

Color Club Mini Polish in That’s my Jam: Mini version, Full size $8.50

Color Club Polishes, while not my favorite are a pretty solid brand.  This is a nice, simple, deeper, wine like red.  The formula was easy to apply and went on nicely with a nice shine.  I so rarely, as with lipstick, wear reds yet have an abundance of each, thanks to subscription boxes.  I thought I might bypass more reds by avoiding the specially curated Valentine’s date box, but I didn’t.   Nothing wrong with this polish though and the tone of the red works well with my skin tone.  I’ll likely wear it at some point.  ❤

…and here it is.

Birchbox Plus Items:

Umbra prima frame and accessory organizer set: Frame $10.00 Organizer $15.00

I received these two items as a set and though I can’t remember exactly what I paid for it, there is always a bit of a discount on Birchbox Plus Items.  You can purchase each item separately in the shop still for the prices stated above.  I had to have this frame and though I’m not a fan of the organizer used for jewelry storage, I love it as a home for this little succulent. 🙂

Frame

Accessory organizer tiny plant home 😉

A mediocre box for me this month.  Cute box design.  I got 1 good hair day out of it and an occasional cleanser, some great add-ons for the home and after reviewing my products via Birchbox, enough points to get the new benefit Liquid Matte Hula Bronzer I’v been eyeing.  Always a win with Birchbox in one way or another. 🙂

What did everyone else think?

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-Kelli xoxo