Wednesday, May 13, 2015

March 2014 Birchbox



Going back to talking about my old Birchboxes again! I've fallen more than a year behind once more, I'll try to get better about this soon.

Looking back to March of 2014, it wasn't the best box but there was at least one gold star.

Vasanti Brighten Up! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator: Honestly, I remember almost nothing about this product. It wasn't bad, or I would remember that. So it did the job, it worked okay, the price isn't bad for this kind of product (which is to say I think it's expensive but most people probably wouldn't). But I don't remember it being a miracle worker either.

Ghirardelli Intense Dark Cherry Tango: I really love when Birchbox includes something delicious and sweet. Though in this case, I'm not actually a fan of fruit filled chocolate stuff. As I've gotten older I've definitely become a bigger fan of dark chocolate (isn't that the way it usually goes? I'm sure it's something with changing/dying tastebuds as you grow) but I did like this. Not enough to go out and buy it, but enough to actually at least recommend it to people who like these particular flavors.

Might Leaf Tea Samples: Confession time, I don't like tea. At all. You can't even convince me to give tea a try in the interest of giving a good review. I don't get upset when I get tea bags in my Birchbox like some people, but I give the tea away immediately. I think this particular set went to a coworker. There's no shortage of people I know who will take the tea off my hands, but I won't ever be able to give you a tea review. Sorry!

COOLA Face SPF 30 Unscented Matte Tint: I don't dislike the COOLA brand products, but I do think they're rather overpriced for what they are. I've never really had them perform significantly better than any other sunscreen I've had, and in the case of the matte tint, it really felt odd on my face and I wasn't entirely a fan of the texture. That said, my best friend loves the texture, so your mileage may vary. This was the first COOLA sunscreen that I got and I wasn't overly thrilled with it. It wasn't bad, but for the price I expected more.

Air Repair Rescue Balm All-Purpose Skin Salve and Lip Balm: I actually got this Birchbox the day after I got back to the U.S. from a trip abroad, so I was very eager to try the Air Repair Rescue Balm because I definitely had dried out on the plane. I did like it, it worked well, and it did the job it said it was going to do. It was slightly better than just using straight up Vaseline (my go to when lotion isn't getting the job done) but I don't know price wise if it was far and away worth the price jump over Vaseline. Still, I wasn't upset when I got another tube as one of my two free samples with a later order.

Curl Keeper Original Curl Keeper: This is the gold star product in this box. I expected not to like it, for one because my hair is more wavy than corkscrew curly, so I just didn't think it really was going to do anything for me. I've tried so many different types of products to try to keep the wave and curl in my hair, and they either don't work or they leave a layer of crunch and/or residue that is just not worth it. So I was very reluctant to try it.

I loved it so much I bought a bottle before my sample ran out, and I keep a bottle in reserve now too. This stuff did exactly what I wanted it to, it started to really accent and preserve the natural wave my hair gets from air drying, it gives it a bit of body and shape, and it does not leave my hair feeling crunchy or like any product is in it at all. I did notice some of the reviews say that it leaves their hair feeling stiff and I can tell you that if it is, you're using too much of it. This isn't like other products where you have to slather it to see results, less is more for sure. I guess it might take some trial and error or something, but because I was hesitant to use it I think I used less than normal anyway and discovered the right balance fairly quickly. I am so much happier with my hair now because of this product. Seriously, I love it so much. This is why I subscribe to Birchbox, because I find things like this that totally change everything for me.

So this wasn't really a thrill of a box, but the discovery of Curl Keeper made it all worth it. The point is to find amazing new things, and it definitely fulfilled that promise.

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