Birchbox Unboxing and Review: June 2013

I can’t believe it’s already June, seriously time flies so fast! This month I received a box #22, and I think this is the first time when my box contained only the products shown in the official Sneak Peek video. In case anybody is interested, the weight of this box was 0.7160 lb.

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!

Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo
I loooove taking care of my hair, it’s my most important signature accessory, so I was uber thrilled to find out that I’ll be getting Davines products to try in my Birchbox. The excitement quickly wore off after I looked at the ingredients and saw sulfates and three different parabens in the formula 🙁 Although avoiding parabens is kind of a “cool” thing to do these days and there’s no conclusive evidence that they are linked to cancer, I’m still a bit wary of them. Now with sulfates it’s a known fact, once you try going sulfate-free you’ll notice amazing positive changes to your skin and hair. Anyhow, I’m still going to try it as a once-a-week clarifying hair cleanse, but I’ll stick to my  regular sulfate-free routine.
Overall: 3.5/5
Purchase: No


Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner
Aside from the parabens that I’m a bit wary of, the formula of this conditioner is pretty nice. It includes several plant extracts, natural vitamin E, and silicones to help make this concoction more emolient. I have a love-hate relationship with ‘cones, because sometimes they weigh down my hair too much, and other times it seems like I just put them on my hair for nothing. This conditioner worked well as a detangler and helped manage my frizz a little bit, but I still had to use the hair oil to completely tame it.
Overall: 4/5
Purchase: No


Davines Oi/Oil Absolute Beautifying Potion
I’m no stranger to hair oils and always use some kind of a leave-in treatment either to manage the frizz or to simply nourish my dried-out flocks overnight. This leave-in oil was the last step in Davines 3-Step System, and it worked wonderfully with the other two products.
Overall: 4.5/5
Purchase: Yes

Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser
Oh. My. Gosh. This cleanser is absolutely fantastic, it’s no wonder that so many beauty bloggers rave about it! This natural scrub leaves the skin soft to touch and very clean, I can almost hear my pores taking a deep breath after weeks (or possibly months) of being congested. I highly recommend this product for anybody with deep dirt in their pores.
Overall: 5/5
Purchase: Yes

Color Club Mini Nail Polish in Mod In Manhattan
Well, the formula is awful as always, so no surprises there. It’s super streaky, takes forever to dry, and the shade is unforgiving to mistakes. However, since it’s almost impossible to apply perfectly (for a newbie like me, anyway), I decided to use it as canvas for glitters. I took out the first two that I could grab from my polish box, and they happened to be Hard Candy in Tinsel Town, and Essie in Stroke of Brilliance. Tinsel Town didn’t quite work out, but I liked how Stroke of Brilliance ended up looking.
Overall: 2.5/5
Purchase: No

Oscar de la Renta Something Blue
I actually marked in my beauty profile that I don’t mind perfumes, so I got one in my box. This fragrance has a “bridal” feeling to it, it’s very feminine, yet a bit flirty and fun. I’m also getting flashbacks from childhood, because we used to pick wild Lilies of the Valley a lot when my sister and I were kids.
Overall: 4/5
Purchase: Yes

The verdict: Overall, this was a good month. I’m not crazy about Birchbox’s new design, but I’m just one of those annoying people who are scared of changes. I’m glad I finally got to try Suki cleanser, that sample alone made the entire box worth it for me.

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

Disclosure: I bought this.