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The Birchbox I told you all was coming... arrived.
This was courtesy of my angel sponsor but, let me tell you what, I will be continuing this subscription. It exceeded my expectations.
The cute little collectible, um "upcycle-able" box is adorable and the contents were pretty awesome. For a $10/mo subscription, this is what the April 2018 box contained listed with the full-size prices:
1. Beautaniq Beauty Fill + Tame Brow Gel ($12)
This was one of my 2 faves in this box. Though I don't wear full-face makeup that often, I do like to do my eyes and lips. I hace unruly brows and I am a mess when it comes to shaping them. This gel has a brush that made it easy even for me to get my brows to behave. The shade would be best for when I over-pluck or shave the brows, but I would have preferred the Clear.
2. Briogeo Rosarco Blow Dry Perfection & Heat Protectant Crème ($24)
This was totally out of my beauty profile range. I wear my hair afro-curly and try never to use any kind of heat other than to deep condition. That being said, I can tell you that this product smells awesome. When I applied a little of it to my hand to check the texture, I found it to be very light and it didn't leave even the trace of a film on my skin. I hope that helps anyone who is looking for some kind of information about the product.
3. Clarins Multi-Active Day Cream SPF 20 - All Skin Types ($54)
First, let me say that I wanted to like this and I mostly did. Two things about it turned me off: 1 - there is a fragrance in it and I don't like fragrance on my face unless it's an essential oil I'm using for a specific purpose. 2 - Did ya see that price? OMG. If I had loved the crap out of this, I'd have to find it sold by a tenth of a milliliter.
I can say that it's the lightest and best-textured day cream I've seen outside of the Avon Anew that I typically use.
4. Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner ($22)
I love, love, love a good liner. This one is so easy to use because of the felt tip pen-like applicator. If you can write, you can use this. Mine came in black and it's a true rich black. I don't use eyeliner every day, but when I do, this will be the one.
5. Smashbox Cosmetics Insta-Matte Lipstick Transformer ($24)
This is another of the products that I wanted to like. I do like the way it goes on - very smooth and non-sticky - and I loved that, once applied, it didn't dry out my lips the way a lot of matte-ifying products can. The one thing that put me off is that I am so particular about the shades of my lip products and this changed the shade ever so slightly. Maybe it will work better with some of the shades I want to change anyway, but it's not for my regular lipsticks. On the other hand, this is a super product for those who can have a little bit of variety in the lip color.
6. BONUS Lipstick Queen Frog Prince Lipstick ($25)
Remember I said I had 2 favorites in this box? This is the other one. This is my top fave and it wasn't one of the box samples. It was the bonus gift.
You can see that the lipstick itself is green (frog prince green?) but when it reacts with my body ph or heat, it turns the faintest shade of blush red that's perfect for my complexion. I said today that I always envied people who have those naturally shaded lips. Now I can have that same look and the gift/sample is actually going to last me a while.
Free's Birchbox Rating
So that was my first box. It will be up to me to pay for it from now on and I think that, if I can swing it, it will be totally worth it. Based on this month's box, I give Birchbox a 5-star rating. It's affordable for most people, the samples are of a good size, and the items are all interesting.
If you are interested, you can use this link to sign up. Please do becasue I will get points as the referrer :-)
Another Plus to the Birchbox is that you get a discount when you purchase anything you have sampled. Also, you earn other rewards. This is from the Birchbox site:
"Each time you shop with Birchbox, you automatically get rewarded! The minute you create an account, you can start earning Points to spend on full-size favorites and gift subscriptions. Even better news: You’re on your way to bigger perks. The more you shop, the closer you’ll be to qualifying for our VIP Aces tier, which gives you access to exclusive added benefits."
Peace
--Free
DISCLOSURE The products reviewed in this post were paid for by an "angel" sponsor who is in no way affiliated with either product or brand or seller. My opinions are not influenced by the "angel".
