Birchbox August 2014 Overview

Birchbox is a monthly subscription box that has both a Women’s box and a Men’s box. The Women’s box is $10 a month that sends beauty samples and sometimes even lifestyle samples; some past lifestyle samples are granola bars and vitamin gummies. The Men’s box is $20 a month and includes grooming samples and lifestyle samples. I have seen some Men’s box include wallets, aftershave, and even ties!

This month Birchbox allowed its Women’s box subscribers to choose one out of four makeup items to be featured in their box or choose a standard “Everygirl Box.” They sent an email when it was time to make your selection. I had positive experiences with Laura Geller products before thus I decided to choose the Cool Lids Cream Eyeshadow.

The interesting thing about Birchbox is that there is an incredible amount of box combinations. I always have a hard time finding someone with the same box as me, which is somewhat hard to believe. The only thing that I’ve noticed about Birchbox that bothers me is that they do tend to send samples from the same brands. Back in April, which was my first box, I received a Marcelle BB cream. I cancelled after April and resubbed in late July and guess who made a reappearance in my box: none other than Marcelle but this time it was a 8 in 1 Power Serum. Contents of my August box are the following:

• Harvey Prince Ageless Body Creme (Value: $1.10)
• Laura Geller Beauty Cool Lids Cream Eyeshadow in Silver Sands (Value: $12.42)
• Neil George Shampoo (Value: $4.50)
• Neil George Conditioner (Value: $4.50)
• nügg Beauty Revitalizing Mask (Value: $3.00)
• Total Box Value: $25.52

I am acquainted with Harvey Prince because I happened to receive one of their perfume samples in my April Birchbox. As you can see this is just another example of what I mean by Birchbox sending repeat brand samples. Anyway, the Ageless Body Creme is a decent size for a subscription box although it is only worth about one dollar. It is infused with a grapefruit fragrance and claims to leave your skin “silky-smooth.” I have way too many body creams already so I will be dumping this in my swap pile.

The Neil George products are generously sized samples in my opinion. They both contain Indian Gooseberry fruit extracts, which is what makes them smell so pleasant. I like how Birchbox always sends the shampoo and conditioner together but I would’ve preferred something else. The downside of receiving shampoo and conditioner samples is that they take up two out of the five samples you receive instead of just one. I will be swapping these as well since I am trying to use hair products that are free of sulfate, silicone, and paraben.

I’m really excited about the revitalizing mask because it claims to hydrate and replenish dull skin. I’ve been using a heavier dose of Benzoyl Peroxide and my skin can use the extra hydrating. I wish the sample for this mask were larger so that you are able to use it more than once; this way it would be easier to make a valid conclusion on whether or not it works for your skin.

The Laura Geller cream eyeshadow was probably the highlight of this month’s box. I absolutely love this metallic silver shade! You do need to wait a minute or two for the eyeshadow to dry completely, if not it will blend away to an extremely sheer shimmer. The great thing I noticed about this product was that once it dries, it does not budge. This cream shadow is versatile and can be used as a base for a powder eyeshadow or glitter, worn alone on the lid, blended with other colors, or even as an inner corner highlight. The sample size is equivalent to 65% of the full sized product and is valued at more than what I paid for the box. *amazing!*

Birchbox is always a hit or miss for me and it seems that although this box had decent sized samples I only liked two out of the five that were sent. If you are just getting acquainted with subscription boxes and don’t mind seeing the same brand every so often, then this might be for you. Birchbox points system is hands down the best one I’ve encountered and is the easiest to accumulate points. You receive 10 points for your initial subscription but sometimes there are codes floating around that will earn you 100 points on your initial subscription.

*If you are a new subscriber you may use the codes: BBPLUS100 OR bbstore100 to receive 100 points with your subscription*

100 points = $10 in the Birchbox store and you can receive 10 points for reviewing each sample you receive in your box. That’s easily 50 points a month just by completing their short review form! There are hundreds of items in their stores and they all come with free shipping. If you would like to subscribe you can use my referral button down below. If you have any questions just email me or leave me a comment. Thanks for reading, peace to the out!

-Purchased by me-