Sunday, July 21, 2013

Birchbox July '13 Box Review


Ahhhh, birchbox, always on of my favorite subs and the gateway drug into the world of obsessive box hunting. Some months, you bring me such joys and others such sorrows and yet others, a mix. Why must you do this, beloved birchbox? Why can't you be like the June box and always make me happy? Why must I suffer in my love for you? Oh birchbox, you can be such a cold hearted bitch..

Ok, so there are some items on the ugh side of the spectrum this month but just the aesthetic of the packaging gets me so my bb love continues intact. Seriously, they've got a fucking voodoo curse on me because despite the couple of items I don't like,  I can't help but to look forward to next month. 


Hmmm....
Hmmmmm... Part 2
Ok, I love this. 
Had to add this pic so you can see 'Swiss Dot'



The Balm ® Instain ® Long Wearing Powder Staining Blush in Swiss Dot

The packaging is fantastic. It opens up like a magazine and you can see in my second posted pic that it has a 'cover' with a very 'chic' rendering of a model. I really like this sample if only for the way it looks. Luckily, I also really like the shade of the blush! 'Swiss Dot' isn't too light pink and it is shimmery enough to look so pretty on! I'm pretty much in love with this and the touted "long wear" is legit. I'm definitely buying a full size (which is incredible because I don't think I've ever purchased a blush). 11/10


Birchbox Bobby Pins (2) in Green Pattern 

If hair accessories are included, I'm a happy camper. The pattern is cute enough and these bobby pins are a bit larger than usual plus the have a badass grip. I'm serious! The grip on these bobby pins is incredible! They're large and in charge! Lol. I didn't think I'd care for these before actually getting my hands on them but their quality changed my mind and birchbox has me again because I'll definitely be purchasing a full size set too. 10/10 


Benta Berry  G-1 Moisturizing Face Creme

Again, I love the packaging. This creme has a very french unisex "súper cool!"(not cule!) style and I can't believe I'm so weak as to being completely drawn in by the packaging. Nevertheless, I am but I also like that fact that the creme claims to be both moisturizing and mattifying. In addition, it smells good, looks cool and comes from France (this checklist could also be applied to boys *wink wink*), what else do you need? 10/10 



Pür Minerals CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 40 

Now this is an item that I wasn't excited for at all. Why? I'm so tired of the bazillions of BB,CC,DD, and zzzzz creme samples I've gotten as not one of them has actually worked for my skin and they typically just make me shiny, greasy faced, and later on bring about horrible breakouts. Sooo, I think it can be rationally expected that this sample won't really be at the top of my wish list. I do have to give them props for size because the sample is pretty sizable and will last for more than a couple of uses but I'm pretty reticent to even give it a try thanks to my previous experiences. I don't know.... maybe I'll risk it when I'm feeling crazy but, for now, this sample is kind of useless to me. 5/10 


Kérastase Chroma Riche Rinse

I'm pretty sure I've gotten these foil packets before so that sucks and it sucks more because they're foil packets! I know that Kérastase is pretty pricey (I think their hair masques go for ~$61.00) but I hate foil packets because they just make me feel like there isn't possibly enough actual sample to let me see if any difference is made by the actual product! I do love getting hair product samples (because I'm near obsessive about my hair and have the dozens of hair products to prove it) but I think my main disappointment really is about the foil packets! Either way, I'll be trying these because I've always wanted to shell out some cash for a Kérastase product and I might as well see if it's actually worth it bur seriously Kérastase and birchbox, don't give me foil samples! It makes me sad :''( 8/10





Overall, I'm satisfied with this month's offering because I love 3 items, like 1 (the hair product) and only actively dislike 1 (CC creme) and that is quite a good ratio of love/hate. Birchbox gets a lot of crap for sometimes sending out smaller samples than other comparably priced boxes but birchbox also sends out high-end brands that other boxes don't and their website/store/CS are honed and sophisticated enough for them to not only be considered legit but actual leaders in their industry (with this level of unabashed ass kissing, I should be writing copy for them!). For that, I'll stick with them. Especially if they send me more good stuff than bad (even though it seems to be mainly a matter of luck with box numbers!). 


Box:
Frequency:
Monthly
Price:
$10.00
Perks:
Every $1 spent, equals 1 point, plus you get 10 pts for every item in your box that you review. 100pts= $10.00 with no accumulation limit (so you could have 600 pts aka a $60.00 credit/discount)
Recommend
Yes! Although I didn't love absolutely every item this month, the ones I did like are more than enough to keep me happy. I love the point system, the CS,  and especially the brands they send out, so I'm still a loyal birchbox fan but be careful because if they're your introduction to the world of subscription boxes, you might go down a long road of box obsession ;) 

As always, don't spend cash on anything you don't love! 



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