Subscription boxes are so much fun and such a crapshoot. When they arrive in the mail it feels like Christmas and you get to open everything and it's all a surprise. And we know how surprises are- sometimes they can be a great thing, sometimes they are terrible. I have found that my potential for disappointment is proportional to how excited I get about a particular product. So I try not to think about subscription boxes until they arrive.
I renewed my Birchbox subscription in July so I got my July and August boxes within two weeks of each other. July was first.
I'll just get it out there now- while the boxes are always fun, I was not impressed with July.
Let's run through the products real quick, shall we?
That bottle turned on its side is Key West Aloe Save a Tan lotion. While it's very nice, I don't tan. Ever. And while the description on the birchbox website suggests that you achieve the glow you're aiming to preserve while wearing the proper SPF, as far as I'm concerned if you're tanning you're not wearing enough SPF. And tanning is aging and increases your risk for cancer. So the branding is ridiculous. The lotion smells very nice, but I'm not spending $12.50 for 6 oz of nice smelling lotion.
The tiny tube is Supergoop! Daily Correct CC Cream SPF 35. It's way too dark for me. Fail.
I'm not sure that I have the correct hair type for amika Un.Done Texture Spray. This did nothing for my hair. I have texturizing powders that I use sometimes for volume, so I am familiar with the concept, but this did nothing for my hair. Nothing.
Jouer Daily Clarifying Treatment Oil seems like a good face oil to me. I'm not sure why it's $48 an ounce full size when the first few ingredients are grape, jojoba, rice bran, and sunflower seed oils, and a few of the other oils are potential irritants, but it felt nice going on and sinks in fast. Meh.
The biggest disappointment for me was the stila look at me liquid lipstick in the shade Beso. When you buy this it comes as a trio with 2 other colors. This stuff feathered like crazy on me! First lipstick I've ever had that did that, and I even tried it with lipliner. I've tried it three times now, and even when I use a little and blend it out, it bleeds out around my lipline What gives???? I think you can even see the feathering in this swatch on my hand toward the top.
The only thing I'll really get any use out of is this coupon for a mini of my favorite mascara if I buy something else from the brand on Birchbox. We'll see....
Whew, so that was July. And I was not that impressed. (Just in case you weren't fully aware.)
Moving on! August was MUCH better! These are more like quick first impressions since this just came last week.
How stinkin' cute is that box???
This might be the cutest marketing campaign I've seen from Birchbox.
Ok, here are the goods!
First up was Shea Terra Organics Rose Hips Black Soap. This has shea butter and coconut oil towards the top of the list which aren't ideal for acne prone skin but it was worth a shot. You use this as a face wash/mask/scrub. This stuff has the texture of molasses, it's so sticky I couldn't get it out of the container very easily. And when I started spreading it on my face ohhhh the smell. This stuff REEKS. It was like I was spreading charred chicken ashes all over my face. Who comes up with this stuff? I MIGHT try it again but ohhh that smell. My skin did look nice the next morning.
Next was the St Tropez Gradual Tan In Shower Lotion. I tried this once, but it's a gradual tanner so I didn't really see any difference. See above regarding total inability to tan... most self-tanners turn yellow on me but I'll see what happens here. I liked using it in the shower so there's less mess.
There was a can of the Oribe Apres Beach Wave and Shine Spray. I'm assuming this is some kind of salt spray which I like to use for texture in my hair. I have yet to try it out but I won't be ignoring it because the rave reviews on Birchbox are from fine-haired girls like me.
Balance Me Congested Skin Serum seems like a good idea but there are a ton of ingredients in here that are skin irritants if they used the oils, ok if they used an extract of the flowers, but the ingredients list doesn't differentiate. It's supposed to be a spot treatment. I have low expectations for this one but we'll see. I might try it sometime.
As far as I'm concerned the best thing in this box is the sample of theBalm cosmetics Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush. This is a great color and not too shimmery as far as I can tell. It will be kind of a pain getting a brush into that TEENY TINY SAMPLE PAN, but I think it will be a good one. A long time ago I got a sample of theBalm's Bahama Mama blush and it was excellent quality.
So that's two months of Birchbox! If you'd like to sign up it is only $10 a month which I think is worth it. Usually the good products outweigh the not-as-awesome. If you'd like to sign up with my link, click here. (If you click there I get points to use on future purchases.) If that sounds like a shady scam and you now feel like this entire post was an advertisement for Birchbox because I gave it such a glowing review, just go here.
Do any of you get Birchbox? Do you think it's worth it? Any particular hits or misses for you?
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