Hello, readers!
I have been an on/off subscriber to Birchbox for the last 18 months or so, and I know that people are unsure whether this subscription is something for them. So I thought that I would share my latest delivery with you so you can check out the type of goodies you can get with Birchbox. Each month you get 5 products that are tailored to your beauty profile that you fill out when you join, and you get a mix of mainly mini’s and normally 1 full-size product.
This month every subscriber got a Benefit lipstick, and we were given the chance to select which shade we wanted. There was 2 to chose from, one being a nude tone and the other a bright pink.
Now I am all about the nude shades, I love me some NYX Lip Lingeries with their neutral palette. However I also like to shake it up sometimes and step out of my comfort zone with a sky blue or dark purple shade. So I decided to leave this decision up to the Birchbox gods, and so I move onto the first product in my box this month:
1. Benefit They’re Real! Double The Lip in the shade Pink Thrills. This product claims to give you fuller looking lips with its unique dual colour formula in a teardrop-shaped lipstick. The top of the teardrop is darker than the rest of the lipstick, and this acts as the lip liner, making application super quick and easy. I will say that the product feels really nourishing on my lips, it is very easy to apply, and it smells like sherbert. It’s also a decent size for a mini sample, giving you plenty of time to test it out and see if this is worth your hard earned coins. My only huff is that I don’t agree that my lips look fuller after application, check out my photo’s and let me know what you think. Would I buy this? No, I think that there are other lipsticks out there that are just as nourishing and half the cost. If this did make my lips look fuller then maybe I would reconsider.
Birchbox link to Benefit They’re Real! Double The Lip
UPDATE 1 WEEK LATER: So I decided to wear this vivid lippy to work and see how it held up, I blended the liner into the lip colour a little with my finger and it looked much better. I was at work for about an hour and a half, went to the toilet and the inner lip colour had crumbled and cracked everywhere 😦 The liner was still set, looking good, but considering this boasts an 8 hour wear time, I was super disappointed.
2. Marcelle Gentle Make Up Remover For Sensitive Eyes. I tested this product out last night after I had a fun playtime with my Urban Decay Full Spectrum palette, and I used the darkest blue shade EVERYWHERE. I also put on some liquid liner and some fibre lash mascara, and to my pleasant surprise, this magical potion removed it all. No fuss, no arguments, it just got on with what it was there to do. It’s a typical eye makeup remover in that it has 2 liquids that are separated that you have to shake up to activate. And my only niggle is that it left quite an oily residue on my skin, but my toner washed that away very easily. Would I buy this? Yes, I would. I love experimenting with makeup and wacky colours, so a decent eye makeup remover is always welcome in my arsenal.
Birchbox link to Marcelle Gentle Make Up Remover For Sensitive Eyes
UPDATE 1 WEEK LATER: Still using this product and its great, easily removes my makeup, no stinging, and a little goes far.
3. balanceme Instant Lift Primer. I got excited when I saw that I got a primer in this months delivery, I have tried out a few and I am always up for falling in love with something new, especially when they say that they are 99% natural! This primer is a milky white, light gel and it says that it is a complexion perfecting primer, smoothing and lifting skin to look more youthful and virtually poreless. I would be jumping to try out this primer if it didn’t smell just like nit lotion. I rubbed a little on my hand yesterday morning and the memories of a raw scalp and sharp nit combs all came flooding back, and I kept smelling it during the day. I honestly don’t know if I could wear this on my face all day, but I will certainly give it a go and report back. Who knows, maybe that’s just the price you pay for something awesome, right?
Birchbox link to balanceme Instant Lift Primer
UPDATE 1 WEEK LATER: I tried this out, and although the nit lotion smell isn’t quite as potent on my face, it made me SO oily. Like I was shocked, my boyfriend was shocked, my cats were shocked. I do suffer combination skin (yay me) but I do not recommend this for anyone with oily prone skin. Nuh uh.
4. Korres Santorini Vine Shower Gel. Another product that boasts a high natural ingredients content, this time of 86.7%. This shower gel smells fruity and slightly medicinal, which I like when I’m scrubbing away the dirty doughnut shame from earlier in the day. Again, it’s a decent sized mini allowing you a good 3-4 showers before deciding if you need to make this a regular in your routine, or if it makes you want to just throw in the towel. Would I buy it? Unfortunately not, as Birchbox has already made me fall deeply in love with the Rituals shower range, but this is certainly a good product and worth checking out!
Birchbox link to Korres Santorini Vine Shower Gel
UPDATE 1 WEEK LATER: I like this, I like the way it smells and I like the way it moisturises my skin. It’s quite a thin consistency so I don’t know how long it would last, but it gets a thumbs up.
5. Batiste 2 in 1 Invisible Dry Shampoo and Conditioner. Now if there’s anything that gets me excited, it’s a product that allows me to be super duper lazy and skip washing my hair to carry on playing The Sims for another 4 hours. I have always adored the Batiste Dry Shampoo’s, and my favourite so far has been the cherry scent. But I only use dry shampoo to buy myself 1 extra day, as the white residue tends to build up and start to look a bit too much like dandruff. So this new invisible formula has got me VERY intrigued. I also have bleached hair, so I get a crappy combo of greasy and dry all at the same time, so their additional conditioning element has me signed up. Would I buy this? You bet your butt I will! The vanilla & passion flower smell will become my new scent.
Birchbox link to Batiste 2 in 1 Invisible Dry Shampoo
UPDATE 1 WEEK LATER: Man, I was so excited for this product. So excited. But you can bet your butt that I will not be purchasing this product *sigh*. I think the conditioning element of the spray is a little too strong, as my roots continued to separate after I sprayed them. They felt soft but looked greasy still, and then at about 2pm I had huge chunks of what looked like dandruff down my parting, so ‘invisible’ it is not. Total bummer.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with this months Birchbox. I got a good mix of products, with a bit of makeup, haircare, and skincare. I have purchased a number of products that I have tested out in my Birchbox subscription before, so I would recommend that you give this a try if you are considering it. I mentioned that I have been an on/off subscriber previously, and that was because I had not taken the time to use up my products before my next box arrived and I started to hoard beauty minis… I hope you enjoyed the read! I will be uploading again next month 🙂
Have you tried out any of these products, what did you think?
If you’ve taken the time to read this – thanks for hanging out with me today, you’re awesome.
Dani does 