Birchbox cost’s $10 a month but if you review your items then you get a credit of 10 points for each one which is $1 to use in the store. Points can only be spent in increments of $10. Which take no time to get. They have the best point system out of any box I have tried!
Birchbox is the “Gateway” box that will lead you down a road I have yet to make my way back from. Perhaps in that forest of boxes you and I will meet and discuss bronzer while spraying various products all over our hair. The murmurs around us will lead us to our next “Holy Grail” beauty item…
There is an option where you can add on full size surprise items for $20 more. I am personally more into the samples sizes and so I doubt I will ever take the plunge. Still it is good to know what options are out there!
Do you think Nicole actually wrote the letter included? I have not heard the word “bonkers” come out of anyone’s mouth in a long time. People in Hollywood don’t just pace around having a full time glamorous set of jobs and some kids n’ pets talking about how “bonkers” life is.
Dr Brandt – Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant: I reviewed this before. I now have become pretty obsessed with this product. I have dry skin on my face and I must exfoliate or I end up looking like a brontosaurus. That doesn’t make any sense and neither does my crazy dry skin. I LOVE the lemon scent of this product and the fine grain exfoliant. It does an amazing job and I get no breakouts or burning. The $78 price tag is only something a cosmetic company ensconced in a plush bubble of privilege could ever put their stamp of approval on. So samples will have to do until I finally give up and buy it, because I haven’t found anything as good.
My cat keeps trying to tell me litter makes a fine exfoliate but I think she is just trying to get me in a compromising position…
LAQA & Co. Lip/Check Crayon (Humble Brag): I totally hate it when people humble brag and I honestly think it is on the rise. I once was friends with this guy who would call me up and complain all the time about his life but then would say something like “My brother always tells me how I have the perfect life because of the money I make and all the travel I get to do. Sigh…”
This crayon has nothing to do with any of that sorted business and I was struck at just how nice this color looked on me for both my little thin bird lips but also a natural blush. As a lippy it is a little dry, but I am a fanatic about having moist lips. It has caused me many woes in life when I was caught without my lip balm… many woes indeed.
I want to spend the day only humble bragging. Each time someone has the guts to call me out on it I will produce $5 and give it to them and thank them for being a good friend.
OPI – Venice Collection (My Gondola or Yours?): I am a huge fan of OPI nail polishes! I especially love getting mini bottles of polish for the cute factor and because I really only need a small bottle. I was a disappointed that I ended up with the a color that despite its fancy name is really just black. I love the other colors in this collection and I can see why black is a nice addition but it really is representative of it.
I was also a little sad to see that Birchbox does not sell the mini’s version of this collection. I found it on Amazon for $10.50 and free shipping which I am going to order. I linked it if you are interested because if you ended up with the black color like I did, you might just well be!
The name “My Gondola or Yours?” and the deep dark black of the shade make me think that you should not visit ANYONE’S Gondola… run… RUN!!!!!
Rene Furterer – LISSEA Leave-In Smoothing Fluid: For those who love France this is a french product! Rene Furterer opened the first hair spa in the 1950 to help women who had bleached the crap out of their hair trying to get that Marilyn Monroe look. He was interested in natural solutions and believed that hair and scalp repair was possible. I too want to believe…
I tried this on my dry hair because I forgot to do it when it was wet. My bad. The product itself has a light scent that I really like, and it feel really nice on my dry thirsty hair. I will report back once I get it into my wet thirsty hair. If it does anything for my hair I will be going on and on and on about it trust me.
I like that they go for a more unisex vibe so that you can share this with your significant other, or less significant other. I won’t tell.
St. Tropez – Gradual In-Shower Tan: I was so freaking interested in this product! I really dislike self tanning products because even when they claim it does not smell it always does. I also tend to smear orange everywhere even when I do everything they tell me to do. I wonder if some of the sheets I have had to throw out will be found by future archaeologists and classified as a shroud of some sort. (Don’t worry that is my first and last Shroud of Turin jokes I promise)
The thing is, with this product you have to apply it in the shower, turn the shower off for three minutes to let it soak in, and then wash it off. It feels like it will be such a huge pain in the rump to do. I think after I post this review I will go up and give it a try. I sort of want to do just one leg so you all can see the difference. It is supposed to be gradual… On the other hand I have work to think about…
The scary thing is I don’t want to spend 3 mins in the shower just waiting to get tan. I don’t like to be left alone with my thoughts for so long!
Verdict: I like that this month’s curated box Birchbox had fun products that I would normally not buy without trying first! I do wish that the nail polish color I was sent was not black. That sort of made me frown a little in my heart. However the sample sizes this time around were pretty generous and they are perfect for this time of year!
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Disclosure: There are referral links in this post!
Great review! It made me laugh as you already know “) I noticed black nail polish is popular in my area. I wonder what started the trend?Do the curators design their boxes? Her box is pretty. I wasn’t interested in the box until you wrote about it. Humble Brag – That’s my teen!
Oh stop your humble bragging!
Cat litter as exfoliant – ha! Funny review as always. I agree that all self tanners stink even when it says they are unscented. I’ve found a couple that bother me a little less than others, so I use those. That in shower stuff you got, even if it works great and no bad smell, I don’t think I can stand shivering in my shower with the water off for 3 minutes…!
Right!?! I am hoping that if I take a really hot shower that the steam will keep me warm. But in the winter it does get cold and that is when I will really need a product like this. Maybe if I play some crazy dance music and just sort of dance around for warmth? Hmmm…
I am going to do a hair mask while I try the St. Tropez. I think it was on the list of Allure best products for the year and I was sad that it never made it into an Allure box. I’m really psyched to try it out. I haven’t been using my tan towels, which is crazy.
That is such a good idea! It makes sense to do both and get it done. I guess I am glad we get so many scrubs to exfoliate. When my fake tans usually fade it is NOT pretty.It will look like huge areas fell off. I know no one wants to know about that, but for whatever reason I feel like I MUST share!!!
Let me know what you think and I will report once I try it out!