Hey Birchbox fans!!

This Month I chose the featured box: Effortlessly Elegant housed in a gorgeous box designed by Rifle Paper Company.  Love their designs.  The box theme was designed around ‘spring’ & ‘renewal’.  I also chose a Birchbox Plus add-on this month, 2 decorative glass trays by Rosanna inc., which are lovely and perfect for keeping every day use items front and center or using as a nice little catch-all.

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:

Tocca Crema da Mano Giulietta: travel/deluxe size 1 oz, 2 oz size is $10.00

Tocca, this brand has a huge fan base but I’m not really one of them.  The hand creams are nice and moisturizing with pretty little luxe packagings; but most of their perfume scents are a bit old world for me.  I had always assumed they would be amazing, and I still remember the first perfume mini I received via Sephora, Florence.  It smelled identical to my grandma my entire childhood.  (the namesake should have been my first clue) I’ve tried a few others over the years but there was only one scent that I ever really liked.  The scent in this hand creme version is actually nice.  Though I would have never picked a scent of green apple and pink tulip, it works.  The tulip keeps it from being too fruity and the apple from being to floral.  It’s a nice balance.  I can add this to my hand creme collection, my nightstand drawer.

Laura Geller New York Baked Blush -n-Brighten in Tropic hues: travel/deluxe sample .04 oz, full size is $28.00

This lightish, shimmering pink is like a summer, tropical paradise in a pot.  I’m not a huge blush person, personally.  I find it hard finding shades that I like.  I’ve always stuck to bronzers and highlighters, maybe a dab of color on the apples of my cheek with a tint.  I love this though, it’s more of a highlighter blush and it just screams summer.  It’s really pigmented at first but blends light with a bit of shimmer.  It doesn’t show up in a prominent way.  The very lightest of skin tones would benefit most using this as a blush and the darkest of tones might benefit from the light, pinky highlight; on me it’s subtle once blended in and I like that.

One Swipe

Blended

Dr. Jart+ Liftra Contour Cream: .17 oz deluxe sample, full size is $60.00

I was most interested in this sample this month.  I love K-beauty and not just because a lot of it is impossibly cute, (it really is though) but because after two years of battling sudden onset of hormonal acne plus terrible dry patches under the mouth area and countless prescription products that only made it worse, expensive high end brands that didn’t help etc…etc.;  I found that certain ingredients found in Korean beauty products cleared both of my skin issues up in only a couple of days, seriously, and now I’m obsessed.  The biggest issue with Kbeauty (if you are not Korean) is the lack of information (in English, for me) on most products when you receive them.  This product in specific, is the same.  While Birchbox’s site tells plenty about what the product does and how to apply it on your face…it fails to mention when to apply it.  K beauty routines are all about steps (and lots of them) but most importantly doing them in the proper order.  I applied a dab of this to the top of my hand and decided it felt much too heavy for anything I would put on my face by day, under makeup, for fear of clogged pores and breakouts, but I don’t know if this would be the case.  I used it in the evening just before my final product and it truly does seem like an excellent product.  It has a real instant lift feel to it and makes your skin feel more firm and plump right away but it does feel quite heavy like that of a heavy duty night cream.  I’m happy to report that my skin still looked excellent come morning and if anything, further improved; but, that was only one night of use.  I’d love to know a bit more about the product to find if breakouts are a common occurrence and where this product fits in to my routine.

Marcelle 3-in-1 Micellar Sollution: travel/deluxe sample 1.7 oz, Full size is 21.00 for 10 oz

I always use a micellar water for my final cleansing step, basically to ensure my face is totally clean using a product that is super gentle and won’t dry out my skin.  So, I totally recommend the product itself to anyone, just know that if you wear a lot of makeup/eye makeup a first step cleanse is generally necessary as it could take a lot of time getting your face totally clean with this only.  I still prefer the wipes as they are so easy and soft on my skin.  This product works as well as most other versions but after finding the ‘simple’ micellar wipes version, I’ll definitely stick to those.

Parlor by Jeff Chastain volumizing lifting spray: travel/deluxe 1 oz sample, Full size is $24.00

This product isn’t bad, it works to lift my roots some due to over straightening as it can get too flat on top.  I just wish the product wasn’t so wet, as it is meant more for damp hair pre-styling and I prefer a post styling and touch up root lifter. I prefer the dryer, aerosol versions for root lifting.  It did give my hair a bit more body, despite mashing the cuticle of my puffy hair back down.  It smells really nice too.

Birchbox Plus Items:

Rosanna Vanity Tray set: BB Plus cost $28.00, full price it is $34.00

This is a set of two, decorative glass trays, the smaller green version has more depth.  I love placing favorite products in these to showcase them in a prettier, more organized fashion.  Plus, they make great photo props! 😉

This was a nicely curated box.  Love the box itself and I received some good sized deluxe products, a few that I really love!

What did everyone else think?

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-Kelli xoxo