Un-birchboxing

As I told you guys in my last post, I finally renewed my Birchbox subscription. This gives me something to review at least once a month, and a cheap way to discover new products. Baby products are always great for travelling if nothing else. When I renewed my subscription, I input a code in my cart for a 2 for 1 box, 1 October box and 1 "customer favorites" box, so I'm going to unbox both of these in this post! I haven't had a chance to try the samples yet, so when I've had a chance to try everything, maybe I'll revisit if there's anything noteworthy or if you guys want to hear more about the products!

October 2015 Box

Well, first thing's first, it's adorable. And all these cute boxes can always be re-purposed. I have saved all of mine and use them for everything from jewelry storage to gift boxes.

This month, the box is pink because they paired with Estee Lauder Companies' Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to help fund a year of breast cancer research lab hours, awesome!

As always, on the back is a list of the samples you're receiving, their descriptions, and their full-size retail value.

SAMPLES!

1. Amika Perk-up Dry Shampoo

When I received one of my very first Birchboxes, I had a sample of Klorane oat dry shampoo in my box, and honestly had no idea what to do with it. I had never heard of dry shampoo in my life, and I had to google it. I ended up falling in love with it, and now have a full-sized one as part of my beauty collection. I'm excited that I get to try and new one and compare. I've had Amika products in my boxes before, and all their stuff smells wonderful and works great. I sprayed a little spritz and it smells SO GOOD. And even better, it's color safe, woo! Can't wait to try this one.

2. Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre

Well, thank goodness for the sample card, because none of the product information is in English on this one. I love anything hydrating, and this supposedly heals dryness and "preps skin for foundation". I'm so-so about this one, because I'm not a fan of primers, and it sounds like that is what this is? I wish there were a little more information, honestly.

3. Eyeko Black Magic Mascara

When my mom tried Birchbox, she received Eyeko eyeliner as a sample, tried and loved it, and ordered a full-size version. I'm definitely excited to try this brand because I've heard great things about it. It's really cool that Birchbox put a mascara in everyone's box this month! This one has a curling shaped brush, which is nice, and it's water resistant, which is great for this time of year.

4. ModelCo Ultra Long-Lasting Lipstick

ModelCo has a long-lasting lipstick trio on the Birchbox website, so I was excited that I got one of these lipsticks (and you all know I'm lipstick obsessed). I received the shade 'kitty' which is a nude, kind of pinky color. The color is a nice fall neutral, and it looks like a hydrating lipstick. I'm definitely not a fan of how it sits in the tube though. The top sticks out (there's a photo down below), so when you put the cap on, it's easy to accidentally smear or chop off small pieces of the lipstick, which I already did...oops!

5. Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels

These are little gel stickies you put under your eyes for 10 minutes to relieve stressed eyes. I'm super excited to try these! I always have zombie-dark undereyes, and I'm always willing to try anything to de-puff, de-stress, and brighten them up.

Overall I'm very excited about my October box! A lot of people have been complaining about how they've had repeats of products by Birchbox, but I've never had that issue, and their customer service has always been great if any problems arise. Now I just have to very impatiently await November!

Customer Favorites Box

I'm a big fan of this fun and funky customer favorites box. Their boxes never disappoint!

When I opened my box, I was excited to see a 20% off coupon, but when I flipped it over, I found that it expired on September 30th. That was a huge bummer. I know the customer favorites box was probably already boxed and ready to ship out since they aren't personalized, but it sure sucked to have a coupon - PSYCH - first thing!

The note inside this box told me that each of these products were reviewed at LEAST 10,000 times by Birchbox customers, which is pretty cool.

Here is the product card that it came with, along with the stars that each product received from reviewers.

SAMPLES!

1. Beauty Protector Protect & Shampoo

I'm stoked about this, it's the perfect travel size for a trip. Also, the Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle that I've sampled before was incredible. All their products have wonderful reviews, and this shampoo smells like I could just eat it.

2. Beauty Protector Protect & Condition

Excited about this one too, for the same reasons as #1!

3. Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Starter Kit

So this one came in little plastic packaging with cleanser, and a little cloth, instructions to apply cleanser, and wipe off one at a time with the hot cloth, rinsing thoroughly in between sections of your face. It tells you to wash the cloth at 30 degrees C in a white bath often. Okay, what's a white bath? And in what world am I going to measure the temperature of the water I put a cloth in to clean it? I'm of course not cynical enough to not try this, but I am a little nervous. Obviously this cloth takes specific cleaning, and I'm just a throw it in the washer and wait an hour kinda girl. And my skin is very sensitive, so switching cleansers is an iffy thing for me. I just started a new skincare routine that has been working really well, so this one will be interesting. Also, I thought I took a photo of this one in it's packaging, but apparently I didn't...so here is a photo from sir google of what the sample comes like, hehe.

4. Harvey Prince Hello

Okay, when I first saw "Harvey Prince" I was super nervous because during my previous subscription, I got a Harvey Prince perfume sample that made me smell like I lived to cover myself in cloves. I'm all for cloves, the spice smells amazing, but minimally. I opted out of perfume samples for my renewed subscription. I'm actually so happy they sent me this one though, it smells fantastic! It's the perfect balance of light citrus and floral, and it isn't strong. I love it! These little samples last a long time if you use them sparingly, too, which is great.

5. Marcelle Mini Waterproof Eyeliner Travel Kit

I'm already in love with Marcelle, waterproof, and this color, so I couldn't be more excited about this sample. Marcelle is the brand of mascara I purchased on the Birchbox website recently and I'm in love with it. Waterproof is so great for this time of year. The color I got is 'mulberry', it's a really deep purpley color that is so pretty. And purple is the perfect color to make hazel eyes stand out, so this is probably my favorite out of all 10 things I got in my two boxes!

I hope you guys liked the unboxing of my October and Customer Favorites boxes! If you want to see the November box when it arrives, please let me know, or if you don't.

Do you have any box subscriptions? I've heard really great things about some other ones, and if there's some you love, I'd love to hear your reviews and give them a try myself! I've been looking into trying a new box - LaRitzy Box - that sends out vegan and cruelty-free beauty products every month, which is so cool!

Thank you for reading,

Xo