Birchbox June 2014 Review

It’s Birchbox time, dear readers!

I’m happy to report that Birchbox has started sending me some pretty good stuff again.  I had to make a tweak or two on my profile, but I think we’re generally back on track.

Sometimes I think about cancelling Birchbox.  You know tiny samples, not everything works out, yadda yadda.  But as so many other bloggers and subscribers have said over and over again, the rewards program is SO worth it!

Of course you get points for submitting reviews and such, but for me, it’s actually a little more than that.  It MAKES MY DAY when Birchbox sends me a coupon code (usually for 20-25% off) in the Birchbox shop.  And here’s why:

Take a product like It’s A 10 Miracle Leave-In Product.  It’s something like $18.  You can buy it at Ulta, but Ulta coupons cannot be used on It’s A 10 products.  You can buy it at Target, and the most you can get off the price is 5% by using your Target card.  Or you can buy it from Beauty Brands (if you have one in your area), but the biggest coupon you can have there is 10%.

But along comes Birchbox with a very generous coupon code for ANYTHING in their shop.  And they carry It’s A 10.  And I have a 20% off coupon AND Birchbox points to use?  Cha-ching!  🙂

Birchbox makes their service SO worth it!

** Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription box that sends you “high end beauty, grooming and lifestyle samples” that have been customized for you through your beauty profile. You can easily earn loyalty points which can then be used as $$ toward your purchase of full-sized products. The cost of a Birchbox subscription is $10/month. **

Goodies received:

 

Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo/ Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner

Full price = $24.00, Sample value = $7.50/ Full price = $27.50, Sample value = $1.41

How silly of Birchbox to send a delightfully large sample size of the shampoo, only to couple it with a foil pack of conditioner that contains only 1/4 of the size.  But regardless of the size, I was really excited to try a Davines shampoo and conditioner.  I’ve read so many things about the brand and how much everyone loves them!

I don’t really have much to say about the shampoo.  It didn’t seem much different than any other professional brand shampoo that I’ve previously used.  It lathered very well and made my hair feel clean.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think it has a great smell.  It doesn’t smell bad or anything, but I really love for my shampoos and conditioners to smell nice.

But now the conditioner…. my my my.  It’s the business.  For real.  It was so thick and creamy and instantly made my hair feel like silk.  Again, not the best smell, but if the product is amazing, I can get over it.

Despite the thickness of the conditioner, my hair felt surprisingly lightweight after getting out of the shower.  Good stuff!

After just one use, it’s hard to tell what kind of frizz-control it really gave my hair.  But as a whole, I was very happy with how my hair looked and felt aftering using this shampoo and conditioner duo.

 

Davines OI/All In One Milk

Full price = $28.00, Sample value = $0.83

This leave in product promises to add shine and softness, protect from heat and UV rays, detangle, and fight frizz.  I thought it was just okay at doing those things.  It had a pretty runny texture, and I find you generally need a thicker formula to really have those types of benefits.  And it had the most unusual and unique scent for a hair product.  It was very strong and kind of woodsy.  It was kind of nice and kind of not.  And actually, I could still smell it in my hair two days after my last use (and I wash my hair daily).

 

Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Anti-Wrinkle Defense Serum

Full price = $62.00, Sample value = $4.13

I know everyone loves Caudalie, but from the very few products I’ve tried, I have yet to be impressed.  Perhaps Caudalie is just not my brand.

How do you know if a wrinkle prevention serum is working?  If you get wrinkles while using it, does it mean that the product in ineffective or does it mean that your wrinkles would be a lot worse if you weren’t using the product?  And if you don’t get wrinkles while using the product, does that mean the product is working or do you just have great genes?

Either way, this serum is oil-free, which I appreciate.  It has a very runny consistency and feels very light weight on the skin.  But despite the serum being oil free and feeling fine when first applied in the morning, my skin felt significantly more oily by the end of the day (compared to days that I didn’t use the product).

If any of you guys out there are fans of Caudalie, I’d love to know what products you enjoy.  It seems like such a great brand, but I feel like they keep letting me down…

 

Egyptian Magic Skin Cream

Full price = $38.00, Sample value = $3.25

I am not the one in my house using this product.  My boyfriend is.

I read that Egyptian magic can he used to help heal psoriasis and eczema flare-ups.  My boyfriend has psoriasis dermatitis on his entire t-zone area.  So he’s been using a small amount of this Egyptian Magic on his face almost daily for about a week now.  It does helps to soften and smooth the affected areas of his face, although it makes the areas slightly shiny.

Similar to coconut oil, the product is solid in the jar, but warms to a liquid consistency when warmed up in your hands.  My boyfriend says it smells like honey (probably because the product contains honey and bees wax).

The only thing I think he’s unsatisfied with is a general improvement to his skin without the product.  Even after a week of use, if he doesn’t use the product, his skin goes back to how it looked before, which is disappointing.

 

ElevenSkin Perfection Eye Cream + Concealer

Full price = $30.00 (received full size)

I felt much excitement about this product.  And I really wanted to love it.  I really, really did.

I thought it would be great – a concealer with the moisturizing power of an eye cream… or an eye cream with the coverage of a concealer.

AND Birchbox sent me the full size!

No, no, no.  This product did not work out.

It was way too thick and did not apply or blend well at all.  It became oddly clumpy as I attempted to blend it.  And I tried using my fingers as well as a concealer brush.

Also, it only appears to be available in one shade.  What’s that about?

 

Harvey Prince Hello eau de toilette

Full price = $55.00, Sample value = $0.42

This is my second sample of Hello (as I received a sample from Beauty Box 5 as well).  And I’m happy to have a spare!

This perfume has lovely notes of lemon, mandarin, grapefruit, forsythia, and plumeria.  A little citrus and a little floral and quite light.

It’s very pleasant for spring and summer.

 

Overall, I’m pleased with my Birchbox items this month, even though not all of them worked for me personally.  That’s just how sub boxes go sometimes.  But I was pleased with the type of products sent.  This month had a nice value, too.  Birchbox costs $10 and my total box value was $47.54!

Did you receive anything exciting in your Birchbox this month?

If you’re interested in subscribing to Birchbox, please considering using my referral link here.

 

 

 

 

Birchbox February 2014 Review

I’m feeling very uninspired by Birchbox lately.  I have noticed that since I changed to the yearly subscription, instead of paying month to month, I’ve noticed that my boxes have not been as exciting.  Has anyone else on the yearly subscription noticed that too, or is it just me?

Also, I apologize in advance for not having the sample values and overall box total value listed this month.  Two of my samples didn’t show have their weight listed, which made things difficult.

** Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription box that sends you “high end beauty, grooming and lifestyle samples” that have been customized for you through your beauty profile. You can easily earn loyalty points which can then be used as $$ toward your purchase of full-sized products. The cost of a Birchbox subscription is $10/month. **

Goodies received:

 

Benefit Big Easy in 03 Light/Medium

I disliked how teeny tiny this sample was.  I was able to use it on about half my face (sorry, I didn’t take a photo).  It makes it so difficult to decide if a product will really work for you.

However, since I was able to apply a little bit to my face, I did find that I enjoyed the texture of this foundation.  I thought it was, indeed, very lightweight.  The “liquid to powder” claim seems fairly accurate as my face didn’t feel too wet after applying.

I would say that this product provides light coverage, but it’s hard to say that definitively as I had so little product to work with.  So I can’t tell you how the product looks or feels if you build it up a bit.

On my hand swatch, the coloring pulls fairly yellow, but on my face, it wasn’t so extreme.

I didn’t leave the makeup on my face for very long (again, I only had it on half of my face), so I can’t really say for sure how long it controlled oil production and things like that.

 

Benefit It’s Potent Eye Cream

I already own this Benefit eye cream and did a full review here, if you’d like to read it.  So this delightful little sample will be going to my mom!  I have to say I was very pleased to see such lovely packaging for a sample!  It’s a little glass jar for crying out loud!  🙂

 

W3LL PEOPLE Universalist Multi-Use Color Stick in Dusty Rose

I wish this sample packaging was in stick form – like the actual full-sized product.  Oh, well.  But I do love that it’s completely free of parabens, artificial chemicals, petroleums, fragrances, and dyes.  Good stuff, good stuff.

  

I liked this multi-use formula as a lip color.  It was moisturizing and added light color (Dusty Rose looked a little coral on me).  And lasted about 4-5 hours without eating or drinking.

However, as a cheek color, I found it to be a little too wet or tacky or something.  It’s hard to describe, but I just didn’t care for the way it felt on my cheeks.  And I say that as a big fan of cream blushes.

  

This product didn’t have the strongest pigmentation.  My lips show about 4 layers of product and my cheeks have two layers.  I didn’t want to build up the color any further on my cheeks simply because I wasn’t a fan of the texture on my skin as it was.

 

Juicy Couture La La Malibu Perfume

I’m so, so picky about perfumes so it’s almost not fair for me to review them.  But for me, this perfume seemed very “high school”.  Slightly juvenile, but like you’re trying to be an adult.  I don’t know.  It’s fairly sweet smelling, and I’m not a big fan of that.  It’s certainly not the worst smelling perfume (it has some citrus notes, which I do enjoy), but it’s far from something I would enjoy wearing on a regular basis.

Again, take my perfume opinion with a grain of salt as I have only ever encountered THREE perfumes in my entire life that I enjoyed enough to actually purchase.

 

Serge Normant Dry Conditioner

I don’t ever have “day two” hair because my scalp and roots are too oily not to wash every day.  But for the sake of this blog, before I took my shower, I brushed my hair to smooth out any tangles and sprayed this dry conditioner on my ends.

This dry conditioner and I did not play well together.

The first thing I noticed was the smell.  It started off nice, but then grew to be so strong, it gave me an instant headache.  And the smell lingered for hours… until I washed my hair.

Additionally, it did not really add any softness or shine to my hair.  In fact, I would say it made my hair look dull.  Worse than before I put it into my hair.

 

Overall, this wasn’t the worst Birchbox ever, but it wasn’t the best either.  Perhaps I would have been more excited if I didn’t already own the eye cream and also received a larger sample of the Big Easy foundation stuff.

How was your February Birchbox?  Get anything exciting?  As always, I’m looking forward to next month!

Benefit It’s Potent! Eye Cream Review

I’ve never used an eye cream before.  But now that I’m 29, I decided that it’s time, mostly for preventative anti-aging measures.

I was at a expo show a couple weeks ago Benefit had a booth set up there.  After talking with a consultant and sampling a few products, I decided to purchase the It’s Potent! eye cream.

This eye cream claims to reduce dark circles and smooth fine lines, restore elasticity and firmness, and help protect the delicate under eye skin from free radical damage.

  

I think the packaging is very cute –  a petite glass jar with a blue/green tint, and a faux-cork lid.

And the product appears thick and rich and heavy.  There is no real scent or smell to the cream as it is fragrance-free.

I take a tiny bit of product and gentle apply it to my under eye area and up outside area of my eyes.

Surprisingly, the cream feels very lightweight when applied to my skin.  It’s smooth and creamy, and absorbs quickly.  It leaves behind no stickiness, nor does it make my under-eye area look too shiny.

Sometimes, if I’m not careful, I’ll notice that my mascara has rubbed off my lower lashes and is instead slightly smudged onto my under eye area.  But it’s not every time.  It might mean I need to use a waterproof mascara on my lower lashes.

I can’t comment on its effectiveness on dark circles – I don’t really have any.  Again, I’m using this product more to take preventative measures against the signs of aging.

But my under eyes do seem to stay hydrated all day (I will admit that I wasn’t really have a problem with them feeling dry to begin with) and it never feels greasy or oily.  Like a good moisturizer, I forget that I’m even wearing it.

I have only worn this eye cream during the day.  I have not worn it at night, however, you can use it as a night cream.

I’ve been using this eye cream for about two weeks and I’m currently content with it.  I’m not sure I’m in love with it, so I would probably do some more shopping around before I re-purchased it.

Now don’t misunderstand – I’m not say I wouldn’t re-purchase this eye cream, I’m just saying that because I don’t know much about eye creams, I would want to look to see if there are any other products that would fit my needs better than this one does.  If I can’t find an eye cream that I think is better than this one, I would buy it again.

Have you tried It’s Potent?  What did you think?

Do you have a recommendation for another anti-aging eye cream?