July 2014 Birchbox

If I recall correctly, July of 2014 was the first time they let you choose a sample for your Birchbox, and I've really enjoyed that extra perk, though sometimes I think about maybe just saying "surprise me" instead. I'll get into that in later boxes, in this box there was no question for me on what to pick.

A photo posted by Elizabeth (@onegirlsreviews) on Jul 13, 2014 at 11:23pm PDT

Hello Body Cream: I'd been excited about this product since I realized it existed, especially after how much I enjoyed the Hello perfume in my June box. The body cream smelled just as lovely, if not maybe slightly better actually. It was a great lotion, you didn't have to use much to get a really great feel on your skin. I love the entire Hello line, though I have to admit they're a bit costly. Though Harvey Prince is constantly having sales if you subscribe to their mailing list.

Ruffian Nail Lacquer - Ambrosia: This was the sample I chose, which is probably no surprise since I've talked before about how much I love Ruffian's products and wrote a tutorial for their "signature" look a while back too. I'd been wanting some of the new colors for a long time, but I couldn't convince myself to spend the money because I had so much nail polish already. But then came the choice to get the color I wanted most in my box? Yes please. This color is absolutely beautiful, I'm still so happy I have it. Especially now that it looks like it's not available anymore.

Ruffian Dressing Room Nail Lacquer Remover Towelettes: I can't actually remember if I've talked about these on the blog before or not, or if this was even the first time I'd gotten them. But either way, I'll just say I LOVE these. I ended up buying a pack shortly after I got this one, because they work so well. I've tried other nail polish remover towelettes before (namely Julep's) and they've been basically rubbish (yup, Julep's middle range quality strikes again). So I wasn't expecting much the first time I opened one of these. But seriously, it works. It's actually bigger and has enough stuff to really remove all ten nails worth of polish. Honest. And they really do smell better than normal.

suki exfoliat foaming cleanser: This cleanser was okay, I wasn't overly impressed really. The lemon smell reminded me of a furniture cleaner or something, it just wasn't a smell I associate with face wash. It was a little more harsh than my sensitive skin can usually take, and the sugar dissolved way before it could actually do anything. And at $33, I've definitely gotten far better products from Etsy that cost less.

Marcelle New Age 8 in 1 Power Serum: I don't know what to say about this that I haven't said about every other serum I've reviewed. Meh, it does something, not sure what, it's better to use this with my moisturizer than not, but I'm still too cheap to think $34 an ounce is a price I'm willing to pay for something that's just "eh, I guess it's doing something" when I can get something cheaper that is about the same effect at The Body Shop.

Coastal Scents Revealed 2 Palette: I'd been tempted to buy this palette a few times actually, or the first Revealed palette, but I convinced myself not to because I have several eyeshadow palettes right now from BH Cosmetics and they're fantastic and will take me forever to use up. So I was thrilled to get a chance to try this without having to spend the money. I got the "ballerina" set of colors, which were four very nice, subtle neutral shades. I loved them, the colors are great and I got really good coverage out of them. I definitely liked them enough that I'm even more tempted by the full sized palette now, and will probably cave and get one of them next time I order with points.

One of the other things that came with this Birchbox was a year's subscription to Women's Health Magazine. Like, an actual free subscription where you didn't have to remember to cancel later or anything, just fill out a quick card and drop it in the mail. I definitely am not one to say no to something like that.

So now that it's been about a year, my review of Women's Health Magazine is that it is a seriously weird mix of actual, good, scientifically backed advice and really bonkers woo woo stuff, plus some body positivity sprinkled over fat shaming. I mean, I guess it's as mixed up as most women's emotions on those topics? It was a decent distraction for the last year, and if I could renew it for less than $5 I might think about continuing to get it, but honestly I got very little out of it. Also, it's more than a little heteronormative (which is not a word I use often for various reasons). But it was very, very full of the "how to please your man in bed" stuff and a bit too much focus on losing weight to look good to get a man (which is eight kinds of problems in one) and I can't recall seeing one mention in the entire year of women who are lesbians, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, nothing. I'm not saying every issue of every magazine every time needs to include everybody always, but they don't really make an effort.

I am currently trying to get healthier, and I did pick up a couple tips from them over the last year. But for the most part I found it the same old crap I've been trying to reject, with a lot of fat shaming and "lose weight no matter what" and "only skinny people are attractive" kind of feel. So I won't be renewing.

May 2014 Birchbox

So going back a year to my May 2014 Birchbox! This was one jam packed box, but I definitely have to say it also had the one product I have hated the most from all my boxes I've gotten.

Caldrea Body Lotion and Caldrea Body Wash: I remember very little about this particular sample, oops, sorry! I don't remember them being bad, just not memorable either.

CoTZ Face Natural Skin Tone SPF 40: My skin is super pale, and as I've mentioned before, anything with any sort of tint isn't going to work for me, so this one was on that list too. It was just too dark to work for me so ah well.

Nexxus Pre-Wash Primer: This is the product I mentioned that is the worst thing I've gotten in any Birchbox. I want to be nice most of the time, I try not to be too negative but this was awful. It was horrible, and I can't for the life of me figure out who let this thing out into the market. I understand what the point is, when you color your hair there's a delicate game you play with wanting your hair clean and pretty but also not washing out your color. But I'm sorry, this stuff basically coated my hair in oil (like I need help with that) and then nothing got through and did anything for it. I realize they think that's the point but it was so gross. I let it go a couple hours before I used my regular shampoo to wash it twice more to make it look presentable again, and then it was still only okay. Ugh, so terrible.

Nexxus Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Shampoo and
Nexxus Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Conditioner: I'll never know how well these two worked because I used them along with the primer and it was so awful. Obviously they did nothing to get rid of the oil residue of the primer, since they aren't supposed to.

Pixi Beauty Shea Butter Lip Balm: Change of pace though, another winner! I ended up getting all three colors of this later one because it was really awesome. It's very moisturizing, and the color is fun. All in all, it's great and a good product to keep around for when you want some color but not to go through a whole lipstick routine.

Greenleaf Candle: I've kind of gotten away from candles in general lately because I've started using Scentsy products instead. But this candle smelled very nice, and I was very happy to get it. Especially because not long after this came in the mail my power went out and I realized it's a good idea to keep a candle around anyway.

So this box had a lot in it, but not too much that was memorable in a good way, except the Pixi Lip Balm which I absolutely recommend. Remember, if you want to give Birchbox a try please consider using my referral link!

April 2014 Birchbox

Oh no, I somehow managed to skip over my April and May boxes in the rush to talk about June apparently! Or I just got May and March confused like I frequently do. But here we are still in my Birchbox Throwback, let's talk about April 2014!

This month's box was themed for "rainy days" and it was so perfect because it arrived on rainy day. And I'm actually writing this review after a dreary rainy day, so obviously I'm back in the right mindset for it. The box itself was pretty good, had a couple great discoveries, some not so much, and as always lots of cute themed stuff. One thing Birchbox does well is their themeing, each month the box is very well put together. These ladies know what they're doing.

Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Wash: Okay, this was the gold star for me in this box. I really loved this body wash, and it's high on the list of what I'm going to splurge on when I finally use up my cheaper body wash that I stocked up on a year ago and need to finish before I can spend money. I liked the smell, it worked really well, and it just felt great. The right amount of lather, just all around a really good product. I've since become a fan of this brand, even if their prices are sometimes a little high for me.

Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner: I can't remember which color eyeliner I got in this box, except that it was kind of purple. This was my first experiment with colored eye liners, and while I thought it went on well and was easy to use, at the end of the day my major problem was it didn't matter how much eye makeup remover I used, or how hard I scrubbed, I still looked like I had a black eye whenever I tried to remove it. And I didn't have the best of luck with it staying put, so the dark purple just ended up making me look bruised. The eyeliner itself was probably great (except it was a bit smudgey), but the color didn't work for me.

KIND Healthy Grain Bars: The bar I got was pumpkin seeds with sea salt, which I expected to really not like. I'm not a big fan of pumpkin, and while I've liked quite a few sea salt flavored things lately, usually those words are followed by "caramel." I almost gave this bar away without trying it, but I did and I'm glad because it was actually pretty good. I learned that pumpkin seeds don't really taste like pumpkin, at least not what I'm used to. I have started buying more KIND products now that I had this and liked it, though they have been hit or miss since then.

Color Club Gala's Gems in Gold Struck: I got some Color Club polish in a previous box and if you read that review you'll see I was generally unimpressed with it. Since I wasn't sure if it was the fact that it was a metallic polish I was willing to give the company another try, but this polish was also a more metallic finish and so to be perfectly honest I ended up trading it without opening it so I could get a better swap out of it. The color also wasn't my style anyway.

Davines OI/Shampoo and Davines OI/Conditioner: Since I jumped the gun and went out of order, my previously reviewed June box was actually the second time I got a Davine's set of products. I don't mind getting multiples from the same company though, and these were different offerings from the brand than my other box. That said, I wasn't overly impressed, or even upset about them. They were fine, just completely fine. All the shampoo and conditioner samples I've gotten in my Birchboxes and there's still been only one I might think about getting once in a while instead of my current cheap brand. Shampoo has definitely not been a thing where I've been convinced to go higher end.

So, all in all, it was a pretty good box, no giant standouts but my introduction to a few good brands that I liked and want to try more from. Which is the entire point after all. You may have noticed one of my common themes is that I'm actually really cheap when it comes to things like beauty products, and Birchbox doesn't always go for stuff that's in my typical price range. So on the one hand, that's great because I get to try stuff I would never pick up on my own because of the price. Plus, with their points system if I find something I love I can splurge for it later. But the problem is, sometimes I feel like there's a long line of stuff that's just proving to me that my cheap ways are good because the expensive stuff isn't that much more impressive.

All that being said, I still adore Birchbox because it lets me have that trial and error to figure that out through actually using products and not just guessing that something might be better because it's expensive.