Birchbox Unboxing and Review: July 2013

July is almost over, and I finally got around to trying everything from this month’s Birchbox. Actually, this was a semi-collaboration with the show Suits, but it went unnoticed for the most part because it was aimed at Biechbox-man, with a few Suits-inspired products thrown into regular Birchboxes.

About Birchbox: 
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 product survey you complete you get 10 points, every 100 points earns you $10 in Birchbox credits which you can redeem in their online store for full-sized products. 
If you would like to use my referral link then click here to join Birchbox. Thank you!

ModelCo Party Proof Lipstick in Get Naked
To pull off this color I need a full-face makeup, which I don’t actually wear all that often. It’s a very nude shade that makes my lips look almost corpse-pale, which actually can look good with some nice bright eye makeup or flawless face sculpting. All ModelCo products taste and smell like watermelon, which is actually refreshing because you can always smell the lipstick on your lips, so might as well be something pleasant 🙂 As for the staying power, I’ve seen some mixed reviews: some people said it lasts forever and hard to take off, some say it doesn’t. I’m leaning towards “doesn’t”, because after 10 minutes of wear it left stains on my glass and I could easily wipe it off with a napkin.
Overall: 3.5/5
Purchase: No

Benta Berry G-1 Moisturizing Face Cream
This is a great lightweight mattifying moisturizer… that is unless you plan on putting other products or makeup on your face. Then it quickly turns into a disaster, because no matter what you layer it with, everything will flake off pretty soon. This cream is supposedly a huge hit among hip Parisian beauties, but I found it to be just slightly above average in perfomance, and a total turn-off when you take the flaking issue into account.
Overall: 3/5
Purchase: No

Kerastase Chroma Riche Shampoo and Masque
Kerastase is a pretty expensive brand, but I wasn’t too impressed with these shampoo and masque. The shampoo was just average, on par with any drugstore shampoo I have tried. Sure, it has a nice perfumey fragrance to it, but that’s not why I use shampoo in the first place. It also contains the worst sulfate – SLS – which means it’s not as color-friendly as it claims to be. Sulfates wash off the color, and all of your natural hair oils along with it. This shampoo left my hair dry and crunchy, which is not the kind of texture I like it to be. The masque also didn’t feel too fantastic, and was also on par with cheap drugstore conditioners. It’s loaded with silicones, which is why you might think that your hair got smoother. In reality it’s just a temporary effect, and you are also preventing your hair strands from breathing which can cause it to become dull and more prone to breakage.
Overall: 2/5
Purchase: No

Pür Minerals CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 40 in Light
The “Light” shade is actually perfect for me. I’m super pasty and sometimes it can be hard to find complexion products that are light enough for my skin tone, so shade-wise I’m glad that Birchbox actually followed my beauty profile. The product description says that this is a silicone-free formula, yet for some reason lists Dimethicone as one of the ingredients (twice, actually), which is quite baffling. The product needs a LOT of blending, it seriously took me over 5 minutes to smooth it all out and make sure there are no weird looking spots on my face, it’s that streaky. Overall, I decided that I will just stick to my Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream, which is pretty hard to beat.
Overall: 3/5
Purchase: No

Birchbox Bobby Pins in Mint
As you might have heard already, these bobby pins are very hard to put on and even harder to take off without damaging your hair or breaking the nails in the process. I think it’s a cute addition to my box, but I will have to be careful when using them.
Overall: 3.5/5
Purchase: No

The verdict: I’m being a negative Nancy about this box, but I really didn’t like any of the products enough to consider giving them another try. I don’t feel disappointed at all, though, because trying new things and discovering new companies is what these sampling services are all about. Also I got 6 products to review, which means in the end this box cost me only $4, and suddenly it’s not that bad of a deal anymore. Looking forward to August!

Are you a Birchbox subscriber? What do you think of this month’s box?