I’ve been totally slacking with my Birchbox reviews lately. Truth be told, I simply felt overwhelmed with all the projects I took on and fully admit that I bit more than I can chew. That’s a real problem for me that frustrates me just as much as other people affected. Sometimes I feel this surge of enthusiasm and feel like I can do it all, but then the energy levels drop back to normal and I am left with a bunch of projects that need to be finished and no creative juices flowing at all. Ugh! So today’s Birchbox April 2016 review is going to be my sort of brainless attempt at sharing first impressions with you guys, and I hope you don’t find it too lazy. After all, I actually did test all of the products by now, so there’s that 🙂
HOW IT WORKS:
At $10/month Birchbox subscribers receive 4-6 luxury samples and full-sized beauty products, tailored for them by a team of curators according to a personalized beauty profile. The value of each box usually ranges from at least $15 and can be as high as $70. Click here to join Birchbox.
rms beauty™ the ultimate makeup remover wipes [$16, available here] were my sample of choice this month, and oh how I regret it. First of all, the idea of coconut-infused makeup removing wipes is genius! Since I really like using coconut oil for pretty much everything I thought this one would be a no-brainer. I was wrong, you guys. The wipes were dry and felt super rough when I tried rubbing them against my skin. My face felt like it was being wiped by sandpaper. And before you ask, yes I did make sure to warm up the coconut oil to make sure it’s properly liquefied. Didn’t help. It seems like there just wasn’t enough oil on the wipe, so for that reason it didn’t work for me, and I doubt it worked better for most other people.
The Beauty Crop PBJ Smoothie Stick [$14.95, available here] was the product I was looking forward to trying, because I loved their highlighter from the December box. Unfortunately, my smoothie stick was twisted all the way up and broken at the base. Bummer! 🙁
Acure Organics Pore Minimizing Facial Scrub [$12.99, available here] didn’t excite me much, but after two previous duds anything would be better than nothing. I am a fan of Acure, especially their haircare, but I’ve been slowly drifting away from physical scrubs lately so this sample came at the wrong time. It’s still a nice scrub and I gave it a try for the sake of this review. I found it gentle and it seemed to do a great job unclogging stubborn deep pores on my nose and chin. The fragrance is very pleasant, too. Still, I probably won’t be using it again anytime soon because right now I’m in the mood for powder exfoliants.
Beaver Repair Rescue Shampoo & Conditioner [$15.90 and $16.90 respectively, available here] were fun to try. Unappealing brand name aside, this shampoo and conditioner duo were nothing extraordinary. They cleansed and conditioned my hair leaving it soft and smooth to touch, but I can get that same result with cheaper products. But you know, there will always be people who prefer high end haircare, even if it isn’t any better than Suave or Pantene. Nothing wrong with that, I have my high end favorites too, like Oribe superfine hairspray that’s my absolute HG.
MY THOUGHTS:
Long story short, this wasn’t a very fun box for me. Even though the sizes on most samples were very generous, I just didn’t care much for any of it. The only product I would have probably enjoyed using was broken 🙁 I am drafting a note to Birchbox CS as I write this, and they’ve been good at replacing broken samples in the past for me. Hopefully they still have some of those smoothie sticks left to send out, because I would definitely like to have one.
Did you like your last Birchbox? What was your most favorite and least favorite sample this year? Have you tried any of the products mentioned in this review? Let me know in the comments below!
| Product | Retail value |
|---|---|
| rms beauty™ the ultimate makeup remover wipes | $1.60 |
| The Beauty Crop PBJ Smoothie Stick | $14.95 |
| Acure Organics Pore Minimizing Facial Scrub | $3.24 |
| Beaver Repair Rescue Shampoo | $3.65 |
| Beaver Repair Rescue Conditioner | $3.21 |
| Box Retail Value | $26.65 |
Disclosure: This post features products purchased by Glamorable and may contain affiliate or referral links. For more details about my product review policy, copyright, and information about affiliate links, please refer to Disclosures & Content Use page.
The Smoothie Stick was probably my fave item in the box, and I totally agree with you on the make-up remover wipes.
I got my replacement smoothie stick, so I’m not so sore about this box anymore. But wow, I agree, how could they butcher the coconut wipes so badly 🙁