August 2011 Birchbox: Overview

My friend Jamie, known as The Happy Cardigan on Word Press, kinda convinced me through her blog to jump on the Birchbox bandwagon...kinda hate her for that, but I just received mine in the mail, and am excited to try out a bunch of these things.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Birchbox ( I wasn't until Jamie introduced me to it), it is a service that will send deluxe samples of beauty products every month. The samples are picked out for you from a pool of stuff they're currently "sponsoring" or featuring. You can subscribe for $10 a month. My box took quite some time to ship here in Hawaii (not exactly a benefit of living in "paradise"). You are also able to purchase products that Birchbox features on their site. Anything you buy gives you reward points (including the Birchboxes themselves), and once you reach 100 points, you can redeem that for $10 to use on the site. The only downside to the points is that they expire every 365 days.

This is the box the samples came in. I like the size since it will fit in my mailbox in case my pops isn't home to receive it.

You'll be greeted with this card explaining the samples you receive in the box.

Here's all the samples. I haven't tried everything (although it's taken me forever and a day to post), but when I do try them, I'll try and do a post about my experience with them:

Left to right: Be fine food skin care Night Cream, Be fine food skin care Single Serve Exfoliating Cleanser

I tried the night cream, and it's nice. If you have dry skin, I would say this isn't for you. But it's the right amount of moisture for me. I will try the cleanser one night.

N4 Reconstructing Masque.

N4 Volumizing Shampoo. This sample is like a one time deal. I hope it at least cleans all my hair.

Tocca SPF 30+ Sunscreen Towelette. It came with 2 packages (with one towelette in each). I'm afraid to try it because of the fact it might get my skin all greasy, but I gotta try it eventually I guess.

Twist Band Hair Tie. Yeah...I don't think this could even tie up half my hair.

Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Medium. This stuff isn't all that great. Almost no coverage, and it makes my face greasy anyway (not necessarily more than usual, but enough to make note of).

I like this idea of getting these deluxe samples regularly. A few things I am not too fond of is that some of these samples, like the shampoo I got aren't really deluxe in my eyes, and that it took forever and a day to ship. One solution to the shipping would be for them to stagger the shipping of the boxes so that they come to our doorsteps at approximately the same time. However these minor things are just what they are...minor. One thing that I am liking is that I got a bunch of stuff that I have never heard of. So this is a great way to introduce yourself to different companies in the beauty industry.

Stila Holiday Collection

Hey guys,

I got an email this morning about Stila's holiday collection.  There's some interesting things that you may want to check out.

Dream in Full Color Palette $39



Includes: 29 eyeshadows, 7 cheek colors, and a smudgestick in stingray.

Color-wise, it looks a lot more wearable than the color wheel that came out last year.  There are a lot of earthy colors.  The thing that I kind of like is that it comes with the cheek colors, which I believe are those things on the "outside" of the "flower" looking thing.  They seem very similar in color though.  If I catch it at Sephora, I should try and swatch.  This would be cool to buy if you already don't have a neutral palette, and also would like to try the smudgestick, which I am not the biggest fan of.


Daydream Palette, $18



Includes: 22 eyeshadows

This palette has a lot more color colors.  I may look into buying this.  I has nice, softer looking teals, blues, and purples, along with some neutrals.

Holiday Lip Glaze Set 2011  $25



Includes 4 best sellers and 4 holiday exclusives in a smaller .05 oz (compared to the full sized .08 oz) package.

Colors:

•  Apricot (Permanent)
•  Kitten (Permanent)
•  Starfruit (Permanent)
•  Grapefruit (Permanent)
•  Believe - rosey wine with gold shimmer (Limited)
•  Dreamy - creamy, beige amaretto with subtle shimmer (Limited)
•  Fantasy - warm pink with gold shimmer (Limited)
•  Kaleidoscope - sheer apricot with multi-pearl shimmer (Limited)

I personally don't love Stila lip glazes.  They're on the sticky side, and pretty pricey.  However, if you like these lip glazes, or if you want to try them out, this is a good option.  It's pretty cheap and you get a LOT.

Holiday 5-Piece Brush Set  $28

 This includes:

• #24a powder brush
• #6 lip color and liner brush
• #9 all over blend brush
• #33b domed concealer brush
• #5 eye shadow brush

This looks like a pretty good deal, but keep in mind these look like they're travel sized.  I will look into this set because I've been looking for some eye brushes I can carry with me for touch ups.

This collection looks pretty neat.  Good stuff to check out.  I believe for now it will only be on the Stila website (stilacosmetics.com)  where you can get 6% cash back from ebates.  The only thing is that if you live in Hawaii (and Alaska too I think) the shipping is redonkulous, so there's your downside.  If you're tight on shipping, I would say wait for it to come out at sephora, where it is actually 4% cash back from ebates.

Let me know if you pick anything up, or what you would want to pick up :)

Photos from stilacosmetics.com

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