Birchbox April 2014 Review

Birchbox is here! It’s $10/month for several different beauty samples to try. It comes in this neat little box. I keep saving them because I’m sure they’ll be useful for something one of these days.

This one comes with suggestions on how to make the best of a rainy day. The answer is obvious-movies, books, snuggly blankets, and a warm beverage. Mine told me I needed to master the perfect cup of coffee. I worked at Starbucks for two years. Done and done.

It came with this stuff–

It seems like a lot of stuff. Especially since I spaced and forgot to photograph 3 other samples it came with.

The first thing I tried was the nail polish. Because I have 46370657436952 different kinds of nail polish and I love nail polish. It was from Color Club Gala’s Gem Collection in Breakfast At…

I’m not going to lie. I love me some minty green nail polish. But I’ve been there, done that. My new color is chartreuse. Or something else loud. This was PEARLY mint green, on top of that, which just isn’t my thing. It’s pretty and it’s safe, so it’s boring.

Don’t judge my nail painting skills. This is just how I was born. But at least they look nice to the untrained eye. I actually took this picture after packing a ton of boxes, so they’re kind of wrecked. I was pleasantly surprised by this brand, though. I’ve never tried it, but have heard great things. Honestly, one coat would’ve done the trick, but I wanted to double up anyway. It dried super fast, and the formula leveled out quite a bit, which got rid of some of my crazy streakiness I left behind. Though I’m not excited about this particular color, I am definitely wanting to try more of this brand. Staying power equals pretty much everything I’ve ever tried. It chips off rather quickly, but maybe I’m just rough on nails. 0.25 oz, $3.25 value.

I’m just going to go ahead and skip to the food. Personally, I think sending random treats in a beauty box is weird. But I’ve tried a few random Kind bars in the past, and they were all pretty amazing. This one did not disappoint. I’m pretty picky about textures, and this one had a very unique, crispy/crunchy one, so I’m a fan. Totally buying more to snack on. 1 bar, $0.79 value.

This bottle of Number 4 Clarifying Shampoo looks like a really boring hotel shampoo, but my mind was blown after trying it. I live in a city that has incredibly hard water so my hair feels dry all the time and looks pretty dull. After applying the shampoo, my hair felt nice and slippery and full like it does when I shower in very soft water. It also has a very nice, pretty scent that isn’t overpowering at all. 1 oz, $3.76 value.

In addition to the Number 4 Shampoo, Birchbox sent me a sample of their Reconstructing Masque. The scent isn’t as great as the shampoo, but not bad either. 0.25 oz, $2.84 value.

The shampoo and masque combined made my hair super soft and shiny. I ran out of both and went back to my regular shampoo and conditioner, and it still feels healthier than usual. I don’t usually make a big deal out of hair products, but I may have to splurge on these and use them once a week to keep my hair healthy. They are both a little pricey, but made a definite difference that I haven’t encountered with any hair product I’ve used in a while.

This Cynthia Rowley Beauty Eyeliner is the second black eyeliner I’ve received this month (the other was from Ipsy).

It’s super soft and creamy and applies and blends very well. I really love it except for one thing-it melts all around my eyes like crazy. I have really oily skin, so this may not apply to everyone, but by lunch time, this stuff had run and settled in all the lines around my eyes. Yikes. 0.03 oz, $12.00 value.

I received a trio of products from nyakio this month Kenyan Coffee Body Scrub, Kenyan Coffee Face Polish, and Hydrating Face Oil with Kola Nut.

The body scrub really does smell like coffee. Unfortunately, there was only enough in the sample to scrub my arms with and it was really hard to squeeze out of the package because all of the grounds stuck to the inside of it. While my arms did feel pretty smooth and soft afterwards, I’m not sure I can get over the coffee smell. I love coffee, but not on my body. 0.25 oz, $1.31 value.

The face polish smells like what I would imagine raw coffee beans smell like. Very plant-y with a hint of coffee. For a scrub, this was actually relatively gentle on my very sensitive skin and the oils helped to keep it moisturized. 0.07 oz, $0.70 value.

Oil on my face scares me because it has the tendency to be very oily. I tried not to be judgmental and write it off without even trying it, so I put a couple of drops on my neck before bed just to test the waters and see if this was actually something I wanted to put on my face. While it felt pretty light, it never seemed to soak in. My neck was still oily in the morning, so I held off on putting it on my face. I don’t want to add more oiliness to already oily skin. 0.07 oz, $3.43 value.

This Birchbox wasn’t overwhelmingly awesome, but getting to try so many products this time, especially the Number 4 products, was well worth the $10 for me. I can also never have enough nail polish, and Kind bars are always good, too. Total box value is $28.08.

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