January Birchbox!

It is January Birchbox time!

First up, is the Put A Lid On It eye primer from the Balm Cosmetics. I have so many eye primer samples it is stupid, but I am interested to compare this to the rest. On the skin it just felt like it provided moisture and not much else. A full size is $18. 

I love the brand Fresh. I love that they use good ingredients and their lip balm is to die for. I adore the Soy Face Wash but usually their face moisturizers are crazy expensive. This is no different, full size is $42 but I am excited to try this either way. This is the Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream. It is described as a moisturizer with "antioxidant-rich lotus flower extracts, this lush moisturizer protects skin from the free radicals and hydrates for a full 24 hours". I have a feeling this might make me fall in love. We will see!

I was pretty pleased when I saw this little guy. It is a nail polish by alessandro, which is exclusively partnered with Birchbox. This is a color called blue lagoon. I don't have a blue like this it is more of a slate/grey blue. I cannot wait to try this color out! A full size is $12.

 I have a love-hate relationship with Ojon. Most of their stuff smells so horrible to me that I just cannot use it. I have their texturizing spray and I love it. So I was iffy when I got this. This is the Damage Reverse Instant Restorative Hair Serum which is said to have ojon and macadamia oils to smooth and hydrate. I have only tried it once but I think it may be too much for my shorter hair. I find with my short hair I can't really use oils because it makes my hair greasy. With my long hair, it is no problem. A full size is $25. 

Finally, is the Harvey Prince fragrance Skinny Chic. This is not the first Harvey Prince fragrance I've gotten from Birchbox and if my memory serves me right I am not a big fan. I find them to be too overwhelming and just a strange mix of fruit and flowers. This is a "blend of juicy Meyer lemon, white grapefruit, and pink plumeria". A full size is $21-$55. Not a favorite. 

They included a cute poster full of favorite products and on the other side 25 tips for the new year. Pretty nice but I don't know if I'll hang it up :-P

November Birchbox *Give*

November Birchbox is here! I love getting this little box in the mail, it is such a treat. Plus, today it came at the same time as my tiny little Sephora order came :) 

So where to begin? This month's theme is give, which I think couldn't come at a better time when so many people are in need, especially after the storms. This month Birchbox is supporting the Art of Elysium which is a non-profit who has artists and musicians and designers put time and talent towards kids who have different medical conditions. I have heard about this through the palettes that Kat Von D had designed for this non profit and I love the idea behind this group. 

The first item I saw was this Oscar Blandi pronto Texture & Volume Spray. I thought it was a hairspray at first but it is just what it says it is. You spray it to get that tousled look, which I love and it might be a good trick for my now shorter hair!

This I just couldn't save until the end because I thought this was a great idea. For the extra, they gave me a sample of men's cologne to give to a guy friend. That way they get a little something and then they could learn more about Birchbox (since there is a box that guys can get which actually looks awesome). This is Artisan by John Varvatos and the card says it is a "modern blend of energizing citrus and warm woods". I love the smell and if my brother or dad don't like it, I might just wear it myself!

The next item totally blew me away because it was a full size lip gloss! The brand is ModelCo which I've never heard of but it is an Australian brand and I've seen that in some boxes people are getting this brand's full size mascara instead of the gloss! This is a bright hot pink with pink and silver shimmer, thankfully no chunky glitter. The best part? The tube has a mirror on! The gloss is the tiniest bit tacky but not sticky and it looks so juicy on the lips. The color is actually called Showgirl Red.

Then instead of the standard wrapped part of the box, they included this cute purple gift envelope that once you are done with you can use to give someone a gift. The idea is to take your other products out of there first. I feel like come people might actually get confused. 

Inside the envelope I found two hand soaps by Caldrea which I feel like I've heard of before but I'm not sure. There is one called Sea Salt Neroli No. 17, which on the back says inspired by "bright clear mornings at the shore". The second one is a limited edition scent, Vanilla Quince Santal which I am very excited to try. 

Finally, the last item is from One Love Organics, which I've been wanting to try. It is their Aromatic Body Serum in Rose (my favorite scent!) and it is made with pumpkin seed and sea buckthorn oil. It smells incredible, and it doesn't leave your skin greasy. It is also a spray which I love. 

Then to top it all off there was a bonus! They included a Holiday 2012 Gift Guide which is so cute and has some good ideas for men and women. Then they gave a coupon to Chromatic Gallerie which is a website where you can build your own pair of heels for $88! You can pick the heel height, color, material, and it is awesome. It gives you $15 off and a friend $15 off but I'm gonna share the code with all of you! On the website just type in Birchbox15 and do it before December 31, 2012.

August Birchbox!

  

 Look what came in the mail today!

This makes me happy to see. It is nice to just get a present every now and then, even if you paid for it. 

This month's theme is back to school! Which is pretty cute, but I would have pegged September for that theme...oh well. 

There were some nice things in this box though! Instead of the usual card with all the products it gave you a folded booklet with the items and a bunch of beauty tips!

First up is a shave cream in a jar! Something I certainly have never seen before. It is by the brand Whish and the scent is pomegranate. I'll be using this probably the next time I shower, I'm just too intrigued. 

Along with that, I think the extra for the box was this Schick Hydro Silk razor! Which is awesome, I've been using disposable razors for so long, and they work just fine. It's nice to have a razor with replaceable heads though...it is like a treat.

 

Then there was a card from Stila in the box with three samples on that back!

The first one on the left is their Stay All Day 10-in-1 beauty balm. I was looking at beauty balms (or bb creams) on Sephora's website a while back and I did see this. I just have too many foundations to finish before I'll spend the money for another. This was a great way to try it though. I put it on before I wrote this post! I would have used a little more than what was in the sample but I really love it so far. 

The two other samples are of their Stay All Day foundation and concealer which comes packaged together! The concealer in in the top! If you look at the picture below on the right you'll see what I mean.

 Then there was a sample of Viva La Juicy Le Fleur. I wasn't a fan of the regular Viva La Juicy but this I like. I'm a big rose girl and while it doesn't have rose in it, this is a bit reminiscent of it. The scent has sparkling mandarin, wild berries, honeysuckle (which is probably what I like about it) and jasmine (also a favorite of mine).

 Last but not least was this moisturizing cream called Yu-Be. This is really popular in Japan where it originated and the story behind it is great. The paper said this is a moisturizer that is safe for the whole body, lips and face! The special thing about this is it is glycerin based rather than petroleum based. I tried some on my lip and hands and I really liked it. I'm going to try and find it in stores.

It has lots of listed uses though; like burns and facial moisturizing and cuticles and much more!

This card was included in the box and it just says that this month's Birchbox is partnered with Pencils of Promise a group that builds schools in Central America. If you buy anything from the Birchbox Shop this month, then 15% of the proceeds go to Pencils of Promise. I though that was awesome and I wanted to include it.