Tuesday, January 28, 2014

What’s in my Birchbox: January Edition

How many of you receive a Birchbox? I signed up just a couple months ago and am still tweaking (almost typed twerking) my profile to more accurately hone in my beauty preferences. For $10 a month, it’s a great way to get a handful of beauty and hair care items I would be unlikely to buy for myself.

Here’s what I received in my January box:
  • Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Crème. It’s no secret that I have very thick hair, so any form of cream that dares to tame this mane is a welcomed gift. I’ve only used it a couple of times (mostly because I’ve been too lazy to do my hair in any style besides a messy bun or braid), but it seems to work fine. It says to use a quarter-sized amount, but I use less, about a pea-sized. The only thing worse than frizzy hair is greasy looking hair. PRO: You can use on wet or dry hair! CON: You have to style your hair to see if the product works.
  • Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy. This was the second month I’ve received a fragrance sample. I have nothing against perfumes, in fact – I love to smell good! But a girl can only use so many tiny tubes of delicious scent. Last month, I threw my sample into my gym bag and I’ve been using this sample at home in my “perfume rotation.” Viva La Juicy is a strong floral scent, but not too overwhelming. Even though I like it, it doesn’t make me want to run out and buy the full-sized bottle. I also changed my Birchbox profile to limit the amount of fragrances I receive. Call me boring, but I just like smelling the same every day. I find it distracting when people smell differently all the time – don’t you?
  • Nail Rock. Words can’t describe how excited I am to try this product. I’ve had some shellac on my nails recently, so I haven’t busted open this sample yet, but it looks promising. Nail Rock comes with a polish to provide a solid color foundation to your nails, as well as a big pot ‘o glitter. My sample is a light pink/nude with a pot of pink sparkles. After painting nails with two coats, you’re instructed to dip WET nails into the pot of sparkle. Press down firmly and allow 15-20 minutes to dry. I’m not gonna lie, this sounds awesome, but messy. And I have limited trust in my ability to execute this process properly. Here's a quick video that demonstrates the process. Look closely and you'll notice that they pretty much skip over the part between dipping the nail in glitter and having a perfectly manicured nail. However, I’ve been big on having sparkles on my ring fingers lately (see here and here) and I don’t see why you couldn’t use the sparkles with other polish colors as well. I’ll report back after experimenting.
  • I was supposed to receive Coastal Scents Revealed Eyeshadow Palette, but instead received some Ahmad Tea. I mean, it tasted just fine, but I'm gonna be honest, I would have preferred the eyeshadow. Tea is tea in my opinion so I think I'll just stick to Tazo.
  • As an added bonus, I also received Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion.  Since I’m suffering from the world’s worst cold [slightest exaggeration], this facial moisturizer has truly been a gift from Lord Jesus. I haven’t been using it as a full-facial lotion, but have only used some around my nose to help avoid the sensitivity that usually follows excessive Kleenex use. It smells heavenly and feels like buttery milk. That’s weird. I know. But just trust me and buy some. I’ve also used some on my hands on the coldest South Dakota days. I’m probably breaking some beauty rule.

What did you receive? Do you subscribe to a different but similar service? If so, tell me more about it! Do you like it? What drew you to that service instead of Birchbox?

No comments: