June 28, 2012

June Birchbox Review

My first reaction when I got my June Birchbox was “wow – this mailing box is pretty crushed on one end”! Unfortunately, so was the inner Birchbox. The shampoo sample had split at the bottom and shampoo got on everything. I had to throw out the shampoo, which smelled AMAZING, and the baggie because it was shampoo slimy. I emailed Birchbox just to let them know that it had happened – I didn’t ask for anything or even complain – I just told them what had happened and they are sending me a whole new box! I totally didn’t expect that – I thought maybe they’d send a new shampoo or even just give me a small credit towards the next month. That’s really good customer service. The theme for the June box was Jet Set. I don’t really get how all of the products fit the theme, but oh well.

Birchbox is a monthly subscription service for upscale beauty products. For $10, you get a box with 4-5 generous samples including makeup, skincare, fragrance, body, and hair care. Wanna try Birchbox? I’d love it if you used my referral invite: Click here.

June Birchbox Items: The price in parenthesis is the price for the full-sized product, the samples are pretty generously sized, if not full-size.

Georgie Beauty Winks by Georgie ($28) – Set of false eyelashes. False eyelashes fall in the category of looking awesome, but being a little too hard to apply. I’ve worn falsies twice (my wedding and my reception, which were separate), and both times my sister applied them for me. She lives in Vegas – people out there were those things regularly! I’ll try to apply these and will wear them for an occasion. More likely, I’ll get someone else to put them on me. I still have the ones that Summer got me to wear for my wedding, but those were pretty dramatic for anything other than wedding pictures!
Hair Rules Volumizing Shampoo ($15) – This is the bottle that split, but the smell was amazing! I’m looking forward to getting the replacement and using it. I was seriously thinking about how good it smelled the next day, and now again that I’m writing this. It was even better than Aveda, which I love! The price is similar to Aveda Shampoo, so if I love it, I would consider purchasing it.
La Fresh Eco-Beauty Oil-Free Face Cleanser Wipes ($9.99 for 30) – I haven’t used these yet, but I love having face wipes to use when we go out of town. The price seems a little steep compared to what I can get at CVS on sale, or a huge pack at Costco. For awhile I was using the Costco wipes every night because I was too lazy to pull my hair back to wash my face before bed. Then I realized that was so wasteful and stupid, even though I’d tear each cloth in half and use only ½ each night. Now I’m back to regular facewash, but I still greatly prefer to travel with wipes to use.
theBalm cosmetics Stainiac in Beauty Queen ($17) – I was really excited to get this! I’ve always been in love with the idea of a lipstain. I think Benefit BeneTint was the first stain on the market and I bought it probably 12 years ago. I didn’t love it – it looked too pink and weird on my lips. I think I used it as a cheek stain a few times, but it was hard to apply/blend since it was a liquid. Stainiac is a gel-like formula and I really like the color. It’s still pink, but it’s a more natural wearable pink. (Picture below)
Birchbox Extra: tili Bags ($8.49-$9.49) – This is a decorative quart-size bag that touts being the perfect size for flying with toiletries in your carry-on. It’s cute, but I just use a clear quart bag and wouldn’t pay extra for these. I could care less if everyone can see through my quart size baggie filled with ~~mini vodka bottles~~ toiletries.

Overall, this month’s Birchbox is mostly useful. The only thing I’d trade out is the Eyelashes, since I have pair of reusable MAC lashes still. I’m still undecided about whether to skip next month and do a month of just MyGlam instead, but I’m so impressed with the customer service for my damages box, that I may skip MyGlam for July instead.