5 Months of Birchbox Reviews, All Rolled Into One

It’s been pretty darn busy around here between work and school, causing me to miss pretty much the last half of 2011 in terms of blog posting and especially Birchbox Reviews. Since I like giving my opinions, I feel it my duty to review them, albeit in a shortened version. So here goes:

August:
The big winner from the August box was Fix Malibu’s Wish Wash Exfoliating Powder Wash. I was a bit skeptical at first – how could a good face wash start out as a powder? Somehow, magically, they make it work. My skin felt clean without the accompanying tightness that often accompanies a good deep cleanse. Combined with my Clarisonic Mia, it cleans like a dream.

August’s box had a huge loser, though, which was the Number 4 L’eau de Mer Hydrating Shampoo. Ok, technically this was a bonus accompaniment to the Lumiere D’hiver Reconstructing Masque, but its awfulness needs comment. As a shampoo, it’s pretty eh. The thing that makes it atrocious is the smell. Oh god the smell. It was akin to a vat of perm chemicals someone had tried to mask by pouring in some cheap bleach and a glade candle for good measure. It was so bad, I had to wash my hair twice to get the stink out, and my husband still said, “Honey what is that smell?” when we went to bed. I even woke up with a headache from it!

September:
September marked Birchbox’s One Year Birthday. To celebrate, they themed the box as a “Thanks to You!” and included a friendship bracelet which I have gotten many compliments on. The rest of the box though? A little unremarkable. I did like the Jouer Lip Enhancer, but it really is so much like other balms that I wasn’t blown away. And colorscience pro’s sunforgettable mineral powder SPF 30? Yep, forgettable. If you’re going to do a two-in-one for your sun protection, go with a moisturizer with sunscreen and get a good quality powder.

October:
I was pleasantly surprised that October’s box wasn’t full of kitschy Halloween-themed cosmetics. Instaed, there was a fantastic Japanese Matcha Tea Facial Mask from Pangea Organics that completely soothed my stress-ravaged skin. I was disappointed to receive only the Lip Serum half of the Befine BeLips Duo, because I’m much pickier about exfoliators, and would have been more likely to purchase the duo if I’d been given the exfoliator.

What really piqued my interest this month was the blinc Mascara. This is the mascara that goes on in little tubes and stays put no matter how sweaty you get, or how much you rub your eyes (something I do a lot). The instructions for removal sounded a lot more intimidating than the process actually was. All you really need to do is get in the shower and let the water run over your face while gently rubbing your eyes. Even though it comes off easily, I was still freaked out by the weird way it comes off (hello gooey black string) and couldn’t get over the feeling that my eyelashes were falling out (they weren’t, I was just really weirded out).

November:
Somehow, November’s box was taken over by a bunch of old ladies. Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Gold Ultra Restorative Capsules? Guerlain Shalimar? Are you trying to sell to my mother? The worst offender though? Thymes and their body lotion. The lotion was less hydrating than drugstore brands, and the smells were awful: Eucalyptus smelled like a cheap knock off of Irish Spring, and the bonus Kimono Rose smelled like a hooker after a long night. PASS.

December:
I bet you’re wondering where December’s box is in the picture above. It’s not there. The box was SO disappointing I didn’t even bother taking a picture. I know that Birchbox has gone through phenomenal growth this year, and they’ve done so many things right. But giving out kate spade new york twirl perfume twice? C’mon girls! Keep track of what’s in those boxes! I will say, though, that the POREfessional sample from Benefit was pretty good.

So there you have it. The last half of 2011 in Birchboxes. I don’t want to be stank, because I really love this company, and think they’ve done a fantastic job with growth and customer service and their overall corporate mission. I worry that the disappointment I’ve been feeling over the last 3 months won’t go away. I very much hope I’m wrong though!

Balance

As you can probably tell from my absence, I have not exactly had a balanced summer. It’s been almost all work. Now that the planning and budgeting season is over, I’m hoping to get back to blogging and achieve a bit of work-life balance. But for now, I leave you with a sign from the universe:

May 2011 Birchbox Review

Happy Unofficial Start of Summer, everyone!

This month’s box was all about celebrating mothers. Not entirely sure how well that ties in with all the goodies (unless they were going for the whole “this is not your mother’s ________” angle), but they did a fun Twitter question asking about the best beauty advice followers had gotten from their mothers.

1. Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss Never thought I’d say this, but I’m actually sick of lip gloss. This is the 3rd or 4th sample I’ve gotten since October. That being said, the gloss itself had a good texture – buttery, yet not sticky – and definitely felt moisturizing. The color was too similar to a few I already have, though, so I won’t be adding it to my collection.

2. AHAVA Purifying Mud Mask I love AHAVA. Many, many years ago I worked for Sephora and was introduced to AHAVA’s Dead Sea Salt body moisturizer, and was hooked. I had high hopes for the mud mask, especially since it is supposed to work in 2 minutes. Who doesn’t have 2 minutes to pamper themselves? Once I rinsed my face, I didn’t notice the visibly brighter skin they claimed, but my skin felt refreshed. Maybe not the miracle I’d hoped for, but definitely another solid product.

3. Archipelago Pomegranate Soap The first thing anyone notices about this soap is its incredible smell. Fresh and fruity without being cloying, it makes just about everyone say “Mmm” when they smell it. I’m a little wary about using scented anything on my body because of my sensitive skin, so it was relegated to hands only, but what a great treat for them! I may pick a few of these up as easy hostess gifts to have on hand. Or, you know, just use them…

4. Kerastase Bain Chroma Riche Ever since I started highlighting my hair last year, I’ve been searching for a shampoo I love. My salon is a Tony & Guy salon, so I’d tested a couple of theirs, along with the forbidden Pantene, and a Garnier bottle. Nothing was really doing it for me and my hair, so I was really excited to get this. The scent straight out of the bottle wasn’t ideal, but it lathered perfectly. And once I dried my hair, it was love. Even without conditioner, my hair was shiny and soft, and the scent had died down to something pleasant and almost imperceptible. I’m a bit wary of the $35 price tag, but it might just be worth it.

Treat: Tiny Prints card We used Tiny Print’s sister site Wedding Paper Divas for our wedding invitations, so I’m intimately familiar with this brand. While the card wasn’t my style, the quality of paper that this company uses is amazing for the price point. Their customer service is incredible, and their designers are great at working with you on your personalization. Oh, and did I mention they are affordable? So many stationers out there just aren’t, but Tiny Prints does brilliant work at a reasonable price point. Use them. A lot.

April 2011 Birchbox Review

And… I’m back! Sorry about the hiatus. Let’s jump into it, shall we?

1. Juice Beauty, Green Apple Peel The first line on the mask’s description reads, “This organic peel doesn’t mess around …” and they are not kidding. As soon as I put it on, the stinging started. Apparently, this is normal. It stopped after a few minutes, and never became unbearable, so all in all, not awful. However, if you have sensitive skin like I do, the results were not worth the “will this mess with my skin or not” anxiety.

2. LIV GRN, Earth Eau de Parfum I am utterly in LOVE with this fragrance! It is absolutely perfect for summer: floral and fresh, but not cloying. Bravo, birchbox ladies, for finding a fragrance I absolutely adore. I will be ordering the full size (and giving to charity, as 10% of sales go to Global Green).

3. Weleda, Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Lotion What struck me most about this moisturizer was how not greasy it made my face while still giving a great deal of hydration. It’s pretty much summer here in Houston, meaning it is humid as all get out. But no grease slick on the days I used this lotion. It sunk in almost alarmingly quickly, and has a pleasant rose smell which stuck around all day. I’m not kidding. And that was the only issue with this product. Rose scent is not my favorite, so having to smell it all day annoyed me just a little.

4. Zoya Nail Polish in Dove As we all know, I have been kinda obsessed with nail polish lately, so this was a perfect edition to this month’s box. The gray is nice and light, and almost translucent if you only use one coat. It was a little hard to get an even coat of polish, though, and I ended up with weird streaks on my nails. The color is very chic though, and a nice spring version of the charcoal nail.

Extra: Bloomin Seed Paper How cool is this concept? Plantable homemade paper that sprouts wildflowers! I haven’t had a chance to plant mine yet, but luckily there’s an extra pot in the garage.

Birchbox billed April’s box as an homage to Earth Day, and used it as a reminder that there are plenty of ways we can be conscious of the environment year round. I was impressed at their initiative, and pleased that going forward, they’ll be carbon neutral. However, they did miss two opportinities to really hit a home run. First, they could have printed the inclusion card on Bloomin paper instead of creating an extra piece to put in the box. Secondly, instead of putting our goodies into a (albeit recyclable) box, placing them in one of the highly-touted birchbox baggu would have been a nice touch. I recognize that both these actions would be costly, but birchbox is growing rapidly, and the goodwill could only increase this growth.

Lagging Behind

I have not been doing very well on this post a week thing, sorry. But I promise I have a good reason! Work and school are keeping me pretty busy these days, but I’m hoping to get back on track soon.

In terms of my birchbox reviews, sadly, I’m also behind there (obviously). Honestly, I haven’t really even been able to do much beyond photograph each month’s box! Yes people, I have 2 months worth of awesome samples almost completely untouched. It’s a travesty!

Here’s what I’m working on for you, though: A mascara review, including 4 different Cargo mascaras, and Stila Glamour-eyes from the February birchbox. Believe it or not, I’ve actually managed to wear mascara almost every weekday this year and noticed a difference! This is HUGE for me!

Ok, leaving with that. Bear with me, this pause in posting is only temporary!

Saturdays at Home

The weather’s finally gotten really nice here in Houston, and of course that means it’s spring cleaning time. Last weekend we cleaned out the garage and the closet of doom, finally throwing out boxes that hadn’t been opened since we moved here 4 years ago. Today ended up as backyard day. While K cleaned the flagstone patio, I was charged with oiling our outdoor furniture. Did you know that Teak Oil is a controlled substance? Seriously! Try to buy it through the self-checkout at Lowe’s. It requires an employee override. We also cleared out all the plants that died during the winter (poor poor plants), and now it just looks sort of empty back there. Looks like next week we’ll be gardening…

After our productive afternoon, we went to dinner at Bombay Pizza downtown. In case you couldn’t tell from the name, it’s an Indian pizza place. Sounds weird, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought too. But it’s amazingly good. I wish I had thought to throw my camera in my purse, because these are dishes you have to see. We had a chicken Kati roll as an appetizer, and followed that with Mitul’s Masala pizza. Um, WOW.

The Kati roll was busting at the seams with perfectly seasoned chicken that really brought the heat. Now, I’m not all that big on spicy food, but this spice was flavorful and enhanced the dish perfectly. The Masala pizza was covered in both chicken and Chorizo, as well as cheese, regular pizza sauce, and spicy potato gravy. How the super-thin (we’re talking paper thin here) crust held all those toppings is a mystery, but when it tastes that good, who really cares how it’s accomplished?

There are so many interesting dishes on Bombay’s menu. I can’t wait to go back!

Blog Love: I Am Style-ish

I first discovered I Am Style-ish last year while planning my wedding. While looking for a photographer, a friend of mine pointed me towards Tiffany and her blog. Not only did I find a photographer, I found an incredible blog.

Tiffany has an amazing sense of style. It’s hard to believe that she’s not a professional stylist, as every single on of her lookbooks is flawless. She combines the latest trends effortlessly with vintage finds and items already in her closet. Unlike many other style bloggers, she has a Shop the Look section beneath each picture so that you too can achieve the look. And if you’re really lucky, you’ll be able to catch one of her sales, where she gives the world at large a chance to own a piece of her fantastic wardrobe.

In addition to her blog, Tiffany also has a YouTube channel. Her tutorials are easy to follow, but so far my favorite has been the tour of her shoes. Oh her shoes. I don’t know if anyone in the world has a more spectacular collection of shoes.

Oh, and the best part about Tiffany and I Am Style-ish? She is genuinely a nice and sweet person. There isn’t a mean or even sarcastic word in her entire blog, which is truly incredible.