As you know my first Birchbox contained a lot of Smashbox makeup and a nail polish, but my second Birchbox contained more skincare and a fragrance sample, and I actually think I like this box better!
This month's box is the Us Weekly box, and in the spirit of awards season, it's filled with all sorts of fun products made for getting red-carpet ready. Although I assume not many Birchbox subscribers actually have occasion to do that, it's nice to think that we're being given products used by the stars that help them look fabulous. My second box contained some really fun products that I was really excited to try:
My main products were the Beauty Protector Protect & Oil, OPI's new Sheer Tint color-tinted top coat in Don't Violet Me Down, Dr. Brandt's pores no more treatment from the new Birchbox-exclusive Camera-Ready Kit, and Joan Vass L'eau de Cristal perfume. I received two Harney & Sons teas as my monthly extras in Cleansing White Vanilla Grapefruit (white tea) and Enlightening Paris (black tea).
I was most excited to try the Dr. Brandt pores no more, I've heard fantastic things about this product so I was happy to have received it. ON first impression it felt like every other gross, matte pore refiner I've ever tried, but unlike the other treatments this melted right into my skin and really reduced the look of my pores. I feel like it helped the makeup on my nose stay better and kept me looking poreless all day. I'm really excited, because I have massive pores, so I'm considering buying the Camera-Ready kit. It's an amazing value, the kit includes the full size pores no more treatment and costs less than the product by itself, plus includes three other deluxe samples and a mirror. It's hard to say no to a deal like that!
The other products were surprisingly great this month. I'm not overjoyed about the Beauty Protector oil as it shattered in my first box, and clearly someone in shipments needs to be fired because my second bottle was not closed tightly and had leaked in my box. Luckily this time it wasn't enough to ruin anything but it was still annoying. I would call the product average as it pretty much does what every other hair oil does (softens, shines and de-frizzes), but this release is behind the trend. The OPI nail polish is really fun, I love the sheer tint, it's a lot like Julep's Rock Candy Nail Glaze, and I like the color range. This will be really fun for spring time, and I love that the color is layerable so you can use it to create fun looks with your other nail polishes. The perfume was a surprising champion in this box - I never expect much from the fragrances, I've received some really sub-par scents from Birchbox, but the Joan Vass smelled AMAZING. It manages to be soft and sexy and not overpowering. It's extremely feminine and smells really expensive. I was pleasantly surprised and will definitely enjoy spritzing this on. I haven't tried the teas yet but the flavors sound so interesting and I'm glad I'll get to try them!
My other shipment is something I was really excited about - I had racked up $20 worth of Birchbox points and decided to treat myself to a product I've put off buying for a long time - Dr. Jart's Detox BB cream. I've heard fantastic reviews about this product and its ability to cut back on shine, calm and reduce acne and reduce the look of dark spots. I've been having serious acne flare-ups for the past few months so I decided I'd finally splurge and spend the $16 to hopefully soothe my irritated face. I managed to pick up three free samples in the Birchbox Bonus Shop, two of which were mystery samples and one of which was a deluxe-sized Leave-In conditioner from EVOLVh. When I got the package, I had received Harvey Prince's hello. and The Honest Company's Healing Balm as my samples.
The samples of the conditioner and Healing Balm were actually really large and I'll probably get quite a lot of use out of them. I was ambivalent about the Harvey Prince fragrance, it smells like a lot of other citrusy spring scents I've tried. The leave-in conditioner is really great, it made my hair really soft and silky even after blow drying. The Healing Balm actually seemed familiar to me, I've used a similar product called Surfer's Salve which I like a bit more than this balm, and it's meant for essentially the exact same thing. Although this is formulated with babies and diaper rash in mind, it's a product that help soothes dry, chapped skin, sunburns and bug bites, which Surfer's Salve does just as well but with a few different ingredients. I'll definitely use the tube, but I do prefer Surfer's Salve over this.
I'll do a separate post about the BB cream as this one is getting a bit long, so stay tuned for that coming soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment