BIRCHBOX Review - September 2014

Check me out, getting my reviews done. If you knew the week I'm having, you'd recognize that as the feat that it is. Enough about me. Let's get to the review. It was a big month for BIRCHBOX. This month is their 4 year anniversary! They celebrated with these pretty keepsake boxes, and the box didn't disappoint.

Pretty, right? Another fun thing about this month was the fact that we got another opportunity to customize our own box. We could choose one sample from a list of 4 and be surprised by the rest, or in lieu of choosing a sample, you could choose the box curated by Fashionista and know all 5 of your samples. I took a peek at both options and decided I would take my chances, choose one sample, and be surprised by the rest. I liked a couple of the things in the Fashionista box, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for surprises. But let's get to it.

The good:

Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate (sample size)

This was the sample that I chose, and I'm pretty pleased with my choice. I've been impressed in the past with Shiseido products so I figured it was a safe bet. I also read in my People Style Watch that this was one of the must have products of the year. I put it on my face after cleansing, but before moisturizing as instructed and my first impression was that it smelled great. Almost immediately I noticed a difference in my face. It felt really soft and smooth. I'm convinced that this product works, but I'm not convinced of the price. $65 is a bit steep. I'm still glad I got the opportunity to try it, and I'm happy that the sample size was pretty generous.

R+Co Bel Air Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner (sample size)

This was an extra thrown in to the box, and I'm glad it was. Not only did I get to try an extra sample, but it's 2 more products for me to review on the site and get BB points for. I know there are a lot of people that don't like getting shampoo/conditioner samples but I love them. I think it's because it's easy to try (I wash my hair daily, so I know it'll get used), and I usually know pretty quickly if I like them or not. I was quite impressed with these. I let my hair air dry after trying them which has the possibility of creating a frizzy mess, but after using this, my hair really was smoother. Oh, and did I mention it smelled really good? Like exclaim "ooh" in the shower good. I felt like I was in a shampoo commercial, but I digress.

Atelier Cologne Vanille Insensee Cologne Absolue (sample size)

First off, they sent this sample with this lovely postcard. Wasn't that nice? Second, I'm totally the person that hates perfume samples. I feel like I never wear them, and I'm hard to please scent-wise. I prefer fruity or vanilla-like scents. I guess I prefer to smell like food. Any way, I actually really liked the smell of this. It's a blend of jasmine, vanilla, and lime and it smells so nice. My only complaint? The $120 price tag. Ouch.

Next, the bad:

Harvey Prince Ageless Liquid Loofah Body Wash (sample size)

I was excited to get this because again, I shower daily so I know it'll get used. And let me be straight. It smelled good. It should since it's based on Harvey Prince's Ageless fragrance. After admiring the smell, I squeezed it on my loofah and my first thought was "there's not a lot of product here". Eh. Disappointing but not a problem with the product necessarily. But then comes the bad, for something called "liquid loofah", you'd expect it to lather really well. Well it didn't. The small amount in the bottle (which is more than enough with my usual body wash), barely had enough lather to wash my whole body. I have a big problem with products that advertise themselves as one thing, and don't deliver on that. So despite the great smell, this gets a bad rating.

TOCCA Crema da Mano Luxe Hand Cream (sample size)

I'm 0 for 2 this month on hand creams. While this one didn't smell as bad as the one I got from ipsy, it was much too "soapy" smelling for me. It also left my hands really greasy instead of moisturized. Not a fan.

Lastly in the "meh" category, we have:

Pixi Breath of Fresh Air Tinted Lip Balm in Honey Nectar (full size)

Normally I'm all over lip products, and this one wasn't terrible. It wasn't great either (isn't that the definition of "meh"?). The "tint" pretty much matched my natural lip color so it didn't make a difference visually. The lip balm properties, they were meh. Not terrible, but not super impressive either.

So there you have it. This box was FULL of product and most of it was pretty good. I'll definitely finish using the ones in the good category. I'll probably even use the pixi lip balm (at worst it'll sit in the bottom of my purse until I have a lip balm emergency). Either way, I have lots of product to review which will help me rack up some BB points. I call it a win.

If you're interested in signing up for BIRCHBOX, it would be appreciated if you used my link!

Happy Shopping!