Alright another late post for Rianne. Starting this blog off really well...haha. I received my March Birchbox around the 12th this month and I am pretty happy with the selection this month. A lot of brands I have never heard and few that I just hadn't tried yet, which is exactly why I signed up with the company in the first place.
This month's "theme" was Spring Training and designed to whip our beauty routine into shape. And based on the variety of products included in this box, I would say that is a pretty accurate description. The first thing that was listed on the description card were the Boscia Green Tea Blotting Linens. These oil blotting sheets have a green-ish tinge to them and have speckles of what I assume is the green tea leaves mentioned in the name of the product. The green tea leaves also give it a nice smell like a cool cup of tea which I love. I tested one of the sheets out and it did a pretty great job of absorbing the oil from my face and left me fairly mattified. I can see myself using these every once in a while, but I have a few different kinds of blotting sheets and have yet to finish an entire package. I will put these into my bag for school so if I am ever feeling grossly shiny I will at least have these on hand.
Sample Value: $2.50
The second item in my box was a nail polish from Color Club in the shade Lava Lamp. I love getting nail polish samples in my boxes because I am also so iffy when I consider buying full size polishes since I have NEVER in my 22 years finished an entire full bottle of polish. This little bottle was adorable, but unfortunately I didn't love the color. I am so pale and have such cool undertones that the Day-Glo orange color I received just looks a little strange. Either way this won't go unused, I will just give it to my younger cousins who love super bright nail polish and can actually tan instead of just burn like I do.
Sample Value: $4.00
The next item in my box was from a brand I had never heard of. The Refreshing Hand Soap from Grandma Stelle's. II'm not sure what Grandma Stelle was like, but if this soap is an indicator then she seems like a bit of a party animal. t is in the scent Verbena Thyme and smells like extra lime-y margarita mix to me. It is a nice smell, but definitely one I would use in the kitchen as opposed to the bathroom. I will be using this one while I'm cooking since I can't stand the feeling of greasy, gritty, or dirty hands.
Sample Value: $3.00
The fourth product included this month was from Traditions by Nick Chavez. It was their Yucca Root Shampooing Cream and it wish said to have "restorative abilities". I am currently using up an shampoo bar at the moment but will give this product a try once I am finished. It smells really minty to me and I'm really interested if it holds up to the claims on the bottle. The only thing that confuses me is that it is called a shampooing "cream", but the texture is of a clear gel like consistency, but we will see on this one.
Sample Value: $4.80
The fifth and last main product was a sample card for the Stila smokey eye set. It came with three colored eyeshadow samples in Kitten, Diamond Lid, and Ebony. I have never tried any of the stila shadows before and hopefully these are the same quality as the full size. I am saving these for a time that I want a super classic smokey eye, so probably not until my next vacation. Still can't wait to try them out though.
Sample Value: ???
The very last item in my box was Birchbox's "Lifestyle Extra" and it was two tea bags from Kusmi Tea and it is their DETOX Tea. I am a green tea junkie and this one was delicious. The tea itself is a mixture of maté, green tea, and lemon grass. I made one of the bags the morning after I got my March box and I didn't get to finish it while it was warm, so I drank the rest of it later in the day when it had chilled. It was AMAZING as a cold tea! I am saving my second packet for when I am having a particularly stressful day.
Sample Value: $1.83
So all in all, I will use all of the products and it was definitely worth the $10 this month and the actual approximate value of the box came to about $16.13 without the eyeshadows since I have no clue how to place a value on that. :/
- Rianne
The first product in this box was from Annick Goutal and it was their Petite Chérie perfume sample. I didn't particularly hate the scent, but there wasn't much to it. I couldn't really smell anything and that is what put me off by it the most. The card does say that it is an "understated" scent, but I think non-existent takes being understated to a whole new level. All in all, it will just go in a box of my unused samples and maybe I will take it out later down the line and absolutely adore. Who knows?
The next sample I received, which was actually a full size, was a nail polish from Essie's luxeffects collection. The color I got was Set in Stones and it is a silver glitter top coat and it is really pretty. I did attempt to exchange it at my local ULTA for a different polish in the same collection, but not because I didn't like it. I just wanted the multicolored flake topcoat instead since it is something I don't have in my collection at the moment. Unfortunately, ULTA wouldn't let me exchange it because the label was in the wrong place and the computer gave her an alert that it wasn't an ULTA nail polish, so whatever. I kept it and I have used it and do like it quite a bit. So it wasn't the end of the world that the exchange didn't go through.
Overall, I am sooooo happy that I spent the extra $10 this month! This box was amazing and I finally got to try out a product that I had been eyeing up for MONTHS! Thanks so much Birchbox for a great March!
