February Birchbox - Red Carpet Ready

This months birchbox theme is red carpet ready. I thought the theme was a really cute idea seeing that it is award season. when i thought of this theme i thought that receiving a full face would be a really cute idea (primer, mascara, a lip product) something along those lines... and i received something along those lines. first off i watched the sneak peak video and i was somewhat underwhelmed... they talked about how lancome just became affiliated with birchbox, i was really hoping for the mascara! i received an email saying that because of the snow storm nemo my box has been snowed in so it would be a little late, totally understandable! when my box got here i was excited because i knew it was going to be my last box... yup, i said it... my last box. i'll go into detail about that later. but this box included:

• color club nail polish in wild cactus
• lancome le base pro makeup primer
• miss jessie's original pillow soft
• vasanti brighten up! enzymatic face rejuvenator
• ghirardelli caramel square

i was excited to see the nail polish, probably the thing i was most excited for. its a emerald polish to go with the color of the year! if you didn't know... emerald has been named the color of the year, so very on trend this nail polish was. i was really hoping to try the lancome mascara they showed in the sneak peak video but a primer is okay too... i use the benifit porefessional primer and i probably wont stray away from that for awhile, maybe i'll let my mom try it. i have received another miss jessie's original hair product before and have yet to try it. this being said the other one wasn't in a foil packet and was in an actual bottle. i'm assuming you shouldn't use that whole pillow soft sample at once so why put it in a foil packet i cant close... bad packaging on that one. i haven't heard of the vasanti brighten up! enzymatic face rejuvenator before but i love face scrubs so i will be sure to try this out with my clarisonic. and finally the little chocolate treat... seemed pointless but i already ate it so... i obviously liked it. 

overall i have liked birchbox... i may eventually go back to them but for now i unsubscribed. the main reason was because i wasn't receiving products i enjoyed. i wanted more makeup beauty projects along those lines and i just didn't seem to be getting them. that being said i unsubscribed for birchbox and subscribed to ipsy. i figured why not give it a chance i have been seeing what has been in the bags and they seem to really be products i like! i'm currently on the waiting list so once i get off i'll be sure to be reviewing the bags just like i did with birchbox. so long birchbox.

January Birchbox - Best Year Ever

Feels like forever since i have done a birchbox box opening. I skipped the month of december because I have the boxes shipped to my apartment at school so I didn't get that box until the beginning of january, only a few weeks before I received this months! This month was a huge surprise for me, I didn't watch the video on youtube and i didn't log into birchbox online to see what my box was. So I went through this unboxing as I probably should with no spoilers. This months box weighed .4050 and contained 

• embryolisse lait-creme concentre - 24 hour miracle creme
• harvey prince skinny chic
• lashem double trouble lash mascara (lies, all lies. it was an eyelash/eyebrow enhancing serum)
• ojon rare blend oil total hair therapy
• theblam cosmetics hot mama

this months box wasn't a total fail but it wasn't my favorite. instead of the tissue packet they did a cute double ended box thing (no idea how to explain it) that had 2 samples in it. the box also came with a folded up packet, if you will, that had 25 ways to make 2013 awesome. As a graphic designer it was really cute and i liked the design element of it. the embryolisse miracle creme seems like it can come in handy because my skin has been breaking out over the past week, not sure if its the weather or what. of course i got another perfume same, this one i didnt hate as much as the other i have received because it was more on the fruity smell rather than the floral smell. when i read on my card a lash mascara with fibers i got really excited because i have yet to try a fiber mascara, when i found out thats not what i got i was super bummed! i'm not sure if i will ever use the lash serum... it makes me nervous sticking stuff like that really close to my eyes. the ojon hair therapy i guess could be good with my ends because they are so dead from all the dying i have done to it... so it wont be a complete waste. and the one thing i was so excited about was thebalm hot mama blush/eyeshadow! i have heard so many great things about this blush. the color is a blush color i would totally use! the one thing about this is that it is so small, but i guess thats what you get when you pay only $10 for a box. overall it was a good box, i'm going to keep my subscription to them because i love getting a package the mail every month, and let be honest... i love birchbox no matter what i get!

if you want to get a birchbox of your own click the link here. it will help you skip the waiting list!

November Birchbox - Giving

I have been so busy lately with school and finals I have barely been able to update. I got this months birchbox a little late because of hurricane sandy, but like the says is better late than never. It actually came to my apartment around the 21st while i was away on break so when i came back i had a goodie waiting for me! this months birchbox theme was giving thanks, which was appropriate for this month. as always I watched the sneak peak of the box on youtube and nothing really stood out to me that i must have, i was really interested in the mox lip butter and the stila liquid luminizer (neither was in my box but no biggy). either way when i got my box i was excited to see what i got. this months box weight .5720 and contained

• curly hair solutions curl keeper
• j.r. watkins hand and cuticle salve
• modelco shine ultra lip gloss
• sumita contrast eye pencil
• chuao chocolatier honeycomb chocopod (lifestyle extra)

instead of a little tissue packet it came with a purple gift container that you can reuse for a friend! I loved on that back that you could check off because… “you’re the cats pajamas” it also came with a holiday gift guide book, i’m loving these books the box come with they are always so cute and festive. also came with a chromaticgalllerie $15 off coupon for me and a friend. other than that i wasn’t ecstatic about the products but i didnt hate them, which is always a good thing. the curly hair solution is alright, i’m pretty sure i got something like this before. i don’t like to use a lot of products in my hair so i’m not sure if i will use this or not. the hand and cuticle salve is actually something i will use, despite the horrible smell of lavender (really hate that scent). the modelco lip gloss is something i will actually use as well, its a pretty color for the holidays and i love that the packaging come with a little mirror. now for the sumita contrast eye pencil, its green… like a neon green. i will probably never use it. i don’t see a use for it at any time… i wish it came in either black or brown because i totally needed a new eye liner. the life style extra was cute, i was interested in other flavors but mine was alright. i like honey but it was in dark chocolate and i’m not a huge fan of chocolate in the first place but i really could see people liking these. overall this box wasn’t bad. i’m going to stick with birchbox, i really just love getting little packages in the mail each month i dont think i can really give it up. still waiting on that beauty blender though haha! 

if you want to get a birchbox of your own click the link here. it will help you skip the waiting list!

October Birchbox - Transformation

i have had this post saved in my drafts for weeks now because i really just wont want to post this because i am so upset. first i heard this month as 2 different box’s you could choose from, one was a transformation box and the other was a teamed up box with goop. I obviously wanted the goop box so i waited and waited for my email asking me what box i wanted. i got no such email, so around the first week of october i emailed them and asked why i didnt get this email and that i would like the goop box. their response? i unsubscribed to their emails blah blah blah. yes i unsubscribed from the emails where they are trying to get me to shop in the store every single day and saying they had a new product in the store, those get annoying and flood my email every day. emails that have to do with the box should be separate and everyone should get those whether they have unsubscribed or not. needless to say i didnt get the goop box. i get my email that my box has shipped and there was no tracking number. finally get my box and the theme was transformation, the card says they ”picked samples that you can use to shake up your routine” i was unsure of how i felt about what was going to be there when i opened my box

in the box was:

• Ouidad Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel

• theBalm cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer

• Lucy B Cosmetics Roll On Perfume Oil Duo

• Vitivia Vitamin capsules

• LUNA Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar

well i was right, not excited or happy about most of the products. the ouidad climate control heat & humidity gel, ok yeah i guess i can use it… in the summer seeing it fall/winter now there is no heat or humidity going on with my hair. I was exited to theBalm Mary-Lou Manzier. I have been using it since i got the box. its a highlighter that can be used as an eyeshadow as well. i don’t usually like to use high lighter because my face is oily so i don’t want to bring anymore shine to my face. but i like to use it as a highlight on my inner corner and my cupids bow. i used it on my sister for her homecoming make up and it looked really good on her skin type. oh look another perfume same, i’m so so so sick of these! i’m super picky with my perfumes and these do not smell good. and don’t let the name fool you, the samples are not roll on nor are they a spray. as for the vitivia vitamin capsules, i’m not going to take any vitamin or medicine capsules that aren’t prescribed by my doctor or if my doctor says i should take vitamins with more vitamin a or whatever. so i wont take these. finally as a lifestyle extra another luna bar these are whatever i eat them right when i open the box because i’m usually hungry haha. the box also comes with a card with how to you makeup and such.  overall not happy at all with this box. i seem to be getting worse and worse boxs as the months go on. i’m just waiting until i get a beauty blender ;) i was hoping this month would come with some cool beauty products you could use for halloween! maybe some colored eyeliner, eyelashes, fun colored lip products, texturing hair gel or something. this is not what i was expecting for the month of octorber. lets hope next month is better. how did you like your box? 

if you want to get a birchbox of your own click the link here. it will help you skip the waiting list!

September Birchbox - The September Issue

this months birchbox theme was "the september issue". i'm guessing they are going off of the big start of this seasons fashion. to be honest i feel like they had no idea what to do for this month because there is really no over all theme i saw. I watched the september box teaser and i didnt see anything i was dying for. They introduced a custom Color Club nail polish line inspired by Fall 2012 collections. The names had to do with social media which was really cute. I was hoping for the cobalt blue color called insta-this, i may just purchase this online. since the theme was the september issue it came with a little fall lookbook with ten fall trends. i really enjoyed this little magazine they added in this months birch box, i kind of hope they continue with this magazine. it also came with a little "gift card" to madewell for $25 with a purchase of $75 or more. i just became aware of madewell through fashionably broke so i'm excited to have a gift card. according to my tracking information my box weighted .6300 lbs. I loved this months teal tissue paper its one of my favorite colors so i was super excited to see it when i opened the box!

in the box was:

• benefit cosmetics foamingly clean facial wash + refined finish facial polish
• color club birchbox custom polish
• nexxus pro-mend split end treatment system
• twistband birchbox custom lace hair tie
• youngblood mineral primer
• mightly leaf tea company teas as my lifestyle extra

once again didn't hate my box but i didn't love it. i love all of the benefit cosmetics products i own and i didn't know/haven't used any of their face products yet. there isn't much in the sample so i don't think i will ever really know if i like it or not, with things like this i feel like you need to use it a couple times before knowing if it works and or breaks out your skin. like i said before i wanted to cobalt blue nail polish color but i guess a dark gray is going to be good for fall and winter. i got the color "status uptade" i'm assuming they wanted status update but had a little mix up at the printer! i know everyone messes up every once and awhile but i had a great laugh. i haven't used any of the nexxus hair products but i haven't heard anything bad about them and my hair is ridiculously damaged because of the amount of times i have ombred my hair, so might as well try it. i have only received one other twistband in another birchbox and really liked it minus the fact its a horrible color so i don't wear it often. i like that it somewhat looks like lace i just don't understand why they don't make it black and white but i like the color better than the other one i had! i have never heard of the brand youngblood and i don't really use a primer but never hurts to try. and the packaging of the product is really cute and dispenses the product so well. for my lifestyle extra i got a couple of teas, i don't really drink tea but i will be willing to try. maybe i will try them when i'm really sick one day.  

like i said before this box isn't amazing but isn't horrible. all i'm happy about is i didn't get a perfume sample thats a huge plus!! i don't understand why they didn't put a madewell "gift card" on the product list but i don't hate it! i will definitely look onto the website and see if i find anything special! i saw in the sneak peak video they had the brush guard which i have heard a lot of good things about so i was somewhat hoping i got that, but they are only $5 so its not a huge deal. how did you guys like your box? 

if you want to get a birchbox of your own click the link here. it will help you skip the waiting list!