In January I reached “Birchbox adulthood” after receiving 21 consecutive boxes. I experienced both ups and downs with this subscription, and felt major box envy sometimes, but no other sampling service introduced me to as many must-haves and HGs as I discovered through Birchbox. Here’s to another great year of samples!
HOW IT WORKS
Birchbox is a subscription service that delivers a box of luxury samples to your doorstep every month. Each box is customized to match your beauty profile to ensure you get the samples you want. You will usually get 4-6 samples and sometimes even full-sized products! The samples vary from make-up and skincare, to food and beauty accessories, and each box is carefully hand-wrapped. 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!
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| Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk |
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| Harvey Prince Journey |
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| Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion with Clary Sage |
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| Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion with Clary Sage |
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| Nail Rock in Pink Glitter |
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| Coastal Scents Revealed Palette |
Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk – I remember using Klorane products back when I lived in Russia. My favorites included their gentle micellar water and pomegranate line of products for color-treated hair. After moving to the US I wanted to stock up on my staples, and discovered that the brand is known here mainly for their dry shampoo, and I was never really sure how to use those. I’m glad I now have this generous travel-sized sample to try! After spraying it on my roots it left fine white residue, and I guess it is normal for dry shampoos. I brushed and blow-dried my hair just for a few seconds, which gave it nice texture and freshly-washed look.
Harvey Prince Journey – Exclusive to Birchbox, this new fragrance by Harvey Prince features a spicy mix of Indian tuberose, Turkish cyclamen and Spanish mandarin. Personally, I found it too heavy and over the top floral, because I prefer more fresh notes in the bouquet, but if you like Rapture by Victoria’s Secret, you will like this one, too, because they smell very similar.
Nail Rock in Pink Glitter – I only knew of Nail Rock because of their nail strips, which didn’t work very well for me last I tried them. Now the brand came out with these convenient nail art kits, featuring a bottle of polish accompanied by a complementing accent product, which can come in the form of sequins, glitter, velvet, and caviar, contained in little pots. I received pink glitter duo, and after trying it, I can say that it’s clearly not for an everyday look. I will be posting a review and swatches later this week, so stay tuned if you want to find out more!
Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion with Clary Sage – I tried this moisturzer in the past, and I can say that I definitely recommend it for people with dry and sensitive skin. It’s made with mostly good-for-you natural ingredients, and makes the skin feel very soft, comsortable and moisturized throughout the day. Burt’s Bees is one of my favorite drugstore brands, that’s for sure.
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| Coastal Scents Revealed Palette (left to right): A, D, C, B |
THE VERDICT
I really liked my January Birchbox, because I finally got to try Klorane Dry Shampoo and sample Coastal Scents Revealed palette, with other three products being welcome bonuses. I think this box was well-rounded and covered all the bases – skin care, hair care, fragrance, makeup, and nails. I love when my subscription boxes are like that, because I’m very impatient, and that way I can literally try everything at once! Don’t forget, in February we will receive a special edition Birchbox curated by US Weekly, and I just can’t wait to see what products they have in store for us. Last year they included chocolate in all February boxes, so being a sweet-tooth, I’m looking forward to that, too 🙂
What came in your box this month? Have you tried any of the products I got?
| Product | Retail value |
|---|---|
| Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion with Clary Sage | $2.50 |
| Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk | $9.00 |
| Harvey Prince Journey | $1.61 |
| Coastal Scents Revealed Palette | $1.59 |
| Nail Rock | $8.00 |
| Box Retail Value | $22.70 |
