I don’t think I have ever received a Birchbox faster than this month, in fact, I got an email with my May tracking number after I already had the box in my hands! I was always under the impression that boxes shipping early are worse than those shipped later, but in this case I was totally wrong. This month I got seven products, which is the most I have ever gotten in any of my past boxes. That means I get $7 back in points for product reviews. I bet you can’t wait to see what I’m so excited about, so without further ado, here are the contents of my super-awesome May Birchbox!
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| Birchbox May 2014 – special yellow packaging for May |
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| Birchbox May 2014 |
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| Birchbox May 2014 – contents |
HOW IT WORKS
Birchbox is a subscription service that delivers a box of luxury beauty samples to your doorstep every month. Subscribers receive 4-6 samples and sometimes even full-sized products. At $10/month Birchbox is one of the cheapest monthly beauty subscriptions out there, the value of each box usually ranges from at least $15 and can be as high as $60. They also have a nice rewards program, where for each completed product survey you get 10 points, every 100 points earns you $10 in Birchbox credits – a currency to use in their online store for full-sized products and even gift subscriptions.
If you would like to use my referral link then click here to join Birchbox. Thank you!
Special offer: Subscribe by 5/26 and get your first box for only $5 using the code SUMMERSUB at checkout.
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| PIXI Beauty Shea Butter Lip Balm |
PIXI Beauty Shea Butter Lip Balm – The shade I got is called Coral Crush, but in reality it looks more like a bright ripe tomato, which is what it looked like on me. Something about this color made my skin look dull, and even emphasized my dark circles, so this was a classic case of the hue being totally wrong for my complexion. This lip balm, however, feels wonderful on the lips – its non-sticky formula and long wear time make it a good alternative for everyone’s favorite Maybelline Babylips sans petrolatum.
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| Marcelle New·Age 8 in 1 Power Serum |
Marcelle New·Age 8 in 1 Power Serum – I have never heard of Marcelle brand before they started getting featured in Birchboxes, and looks like a lot of people love their BB cream. I was hoping to snag a sample of it too, but instead got to try this serum. Fine with me, I love skincare! This serum is packed with a blend of five peptides to deliver eight visible skin benefits in just one week of use. A bold claim! The sample I received is large enough for about 2 weeks, so I look forward to seeing those amazing results for myself.
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| COOLA Environmental Repair Plus Radical Recovery After-Sun Lotion |
COOLA Environmental Repair Plus Radical Recovery After-Sun Lotion – COOLA [along with Supergoop, La Roche-Posay, Shiseido and Josie Maran] is my favorite brand of sunscreen, and that’s all I bought from them. I never cared about after-sun lotions because I don’t tan, but I will give it a try since I have this sample now. I suppose my skin could benefit from its soothing properties after a day outside, even if I didn’t intend to bake intentionally. The ingredients look promising, too: 70% of the ingredients are harvested from organic farms.
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| Nexxus Color Assure trio |
Nexxus Color Assure Pre-Wash Primer – That’s an interesting concept! This oily emulsion is meant to envelop the strands to protect the color from washing out, and I can actually see that method being quite effective. It was somewhat tricky to spread evenly across my long mane, but in the end I really enjoyed the result. It can’t be used alone on its own, obviously, because this oil needs to be thoroughly washed out with mild sulfate-free shampoo.
Nexxus Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Shampoo – How do I know this shampoo is super mild? It didn’t foam at all! It’s a good thing for color-treated hair, but I still would have liked a little bit of bubbles just to give me an idea if there are any spots that I missed. Regardless, this is an impressive and very gentle shampoo, that I would definitely trust with maintaining my hair color.
Nexxus Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Conditioner – This gentle conditioner contains nourishing oils that help detangle the hair and further seal in the color, preventing it from being washed out. I thought it was a nice finishing touch, and my hair looked great after the shower.
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| Harney & Sons Wrapped Tea Sachets |
Harney & Sons Wrapped Tea Sachets – It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with tea, and I always want to try all of the delicious varieties. In this box I received Caribe and Pomegranate Oolong, and they were both so refreshing! Now I have to remember to add Caribe to my cart next time I shop at Birchbox.com.
THE VERDICT
What can I say, I personally thought my May Birchbox was great! It’s also nice that I received $7 back in points, so the box essentially cost me $3. I can’t wait to use COOLA and Marcelle products, and I already have a wishlist going for those teas. I may or may not pick up PIXI tinted lip balm in a different color, we’ll see!
Do you subscribe to Birchbox? What did you think about the samples I got?
| Product | Retail value |
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| PIXI Beauty Shea Butter Lip Balm | $8.00 |
| Marcelle New·Age 8 in 1 Power Serum | $8.16 |
| COOLA Environmental Repair Plus Radical Recovery After-Sun Lotion | $2.66 |
| Nexxus Color Assure Pre-Wash Primer | $0.92 |
| Nexxus Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Shampoo | $0.26 |
| Nexxus Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Conditioner | $0.33 |
| Harney & Sons Wrapped Tea Sachets | $0.96 |
| Box Retail Value | $21.29 |
Ooooh, I want to try that Pixi lip balm! I love their products! Nice box, I’m impressed!
Glad you liked the box, Judy!
That Pixi balm looks great!! I’ll havta seek that one out 🙂
I saw lots of them at Target 😉
I liked the look of the lip balm too! I like Coola products but like you I wouldn’t have bought an after-sun product. I enjoyed reading about the Nexxus products. I have red color-treated hair that fades very quickly. The idea of the prewash primer is interesting but I don’t know about the shampoo. I still like a lot of lather especially if I’m trying to wash out an oil. That’s the great thing about these boxes, you can try things out. All in all a good box!
I like lather too, even if it’s only a little bit, just to help me keep track of the areas I already washed. But that shampoo really worked well, despite its lack of suds.
The thing I loved the most was the Pixi Lip Balm it is such a gorgeous shade. Lately I have been getting a ton of crap in Birch box making me want to cancel. But I know once I do, it will be great things again. lol
I know what you mean, that’s my reasoning too. Sometimes I just get small foils and stuff I can’t use, but at least i receive a few dollars back in points for reviews.
The beauty products are great but the reason that I left Birchbox is because I don’t want things like tea and coasters in a beauty box.
I understand, those are definitely not things that would make people happy when they expect a beauty box. I personally like lifestyle extras, especially tea and healthy snacks.
I really need to suck it up and subscribe to this box already!
It’s a nice one to try if you like beauty samples from better-known brands.
fabulous box! Bummer that the pixi balm didn’t work for you. I have heard great things about Marcelle. 🙂
Yeah I was bummed too, it’s such a pretty color 🙁
Oooh the Pixi balm looks nice!
It really does! Too bad it clashed with my complexion, otherwise I’d be all over it.
This box looks great! Too bad they ship to my country.
That’s a bummer indeed. So far I think they expanded to UK and maybe France?
I love the look of the Pixi balm
Glad you like it! The balm feels amazing on the lips.
I loveeeee the Nexxus and the pixi is amazing!
Those are so nice, aren’t they?
I gave up Birchbox a long time ago but this box has some great brands in it. I love Pixi especially.
Too bad that Birchbox subscription didn’t work out for you Marcia. I often want to drop them, too, but i’m too addicted to monthly surprises.
this box totally looks fabulous. The Pixi balm is so great!
You know it! Looks like you enjoyed those balms, too 🙂
Looks like a nice box, I love the Color Assure line and need to check out the Pixi balm
Color Assure system worked pretty well, you are probably going to like it, especially if you have colore treated hair.
I got the Pixi lip balm in a bright pink that I ended up loving. I also found out that they apparently have a new packaging facility down the road from me in TN, so I got mine super fast too. It was the first time in forever that my items were actually a surprise!
How cool! It’s great that your bags are going to get to you sooner, usually they arrive super late here, but this month Birchbox shipped mine in one of the earlier waves.
I love anything lippy so I’m curious to try Pixi lip balm.
You are indeed the lippy goddess, Kath, I think you will like these lip balms.
The Pixi Lip Balm! This looks like a decent box!
I really like it!
I would have loved the balm, but too bad it wasn’t your shade… send it over 😉
I could 🙂 Will you be grossed out since I swatched it?
I LOVE HARNEY AND SONS! Its my all time fav tea!
Nice! This was my first time trying them, and I really liked that tropical green tea blend.
You got a great box! Too bad about that Pixi, the color is nice – I got a bright bubblegum pink, which I probably will never use!
I would have been happy with bubblegum pink, I’m a huge fan of those girly colors 🙂
I am really impressed with Birchbox!
I like that subscription, too, but I know some people don’t enjoy receiving smaller sized samples.
the pixie lippie looks so pretty!
It’s really gorgeous, I wish it worked for my complexion.
I have been wanting to try those pixie lip balms. This looks like a cool box this month.
I’m glad that you like my box, Honey! The lippie feels amazing on the lips, super buttery and very moisturizing. I think you’re going to like these!
I really like how the pixie lip balms look 🙂
They are super cute, aren’t they? 🙂
I think the lip balm is all I would probably want out of this lot.