Beauty Subscriptions

Beauty subscriptions, like Birchbox & MyGlam, have so much going for them. But it must be so hard to come up with samples and themes to please all of your customers. So I think the key to finding the subscription for you is looking at previous months from the company and evaluate the overall products you receive. I was choosing between MyGlam and Birchbox and this month was going to be my last of receiving both of them - it's just too many samples every month to keep getting both.

This is the Birchbox...

1. Schick Hydro Silk razor - this was the extra
2. Eye Rock stick-on eyeliner strips
3. Viva la Juicy La Fleur sample
4. C.O. Bigelow lip gloss
5. Oil Free Moisturizer from Juice Beauty (yep, almost the same as from MyGlam last month)

Here is the MyGlam...

1. MyGlam lip gloss - this was the extra
2. Roll on Perfume Oil from Demeter (it seriously smells like deodorant)
3. Eye Shadow from s.a.l.t.y. cosmetics
4. nail polish from Circus by Andrea's Choice (super cute neon pink)
5. moisture therapy regenerative cream and cellular activator facial serum from Eclos.

To keep myself from rambling, I'll cut to what made me realize to continue with Birchbox and not MyGlam. Thinking back to all previous bags/boxes I realized that MyGlam usually had one thing, maybe two, that I was really excited about, but the other contents I hated and a lot sit unused. However, with Birchbox even when I wasn't thrilled with a box, nothing was unusable, just on the practical side and less fun. I will say, this month made me second guess this decision - when am I ever going to wear stick on eyeliner?! But for now I'm sticking to it, maybe in a few more months I'll decide that I've tried enough products and will cancel Birchbox as well. For now I'm happy with the decision.

July Birchbox

I wanted to start this post by talking about why I've come to love Birchbox so quickly, but I'm making myself wait one more month and then I'll do a whole post about monthly subscriptions. Just know that I'm really enjoying Birchbox, and this month's box seemed to be made just for me.

The box's theme was "the senses", so each item relates to a sense. Birchbox partnered with Glamour Magazine, their July issue is also all about the five sense. I've had opportunities to use some of the items, so for this month I'm going to talk about each item seperately.

Smell. I am overwhelmed by perfume samples right now! Between monthly subscriptions and a couple of orders form Sephora, I think I have six. From these samples I can tell you that I really appreciate the ones that have spray tops (like this one). Birchbox sent the scent Hello (that was too fun to say to not put it in here). Unfortunately mine leaked and I'm left with a lovely smelling box, but only half the sample. This is especially sad because I love the scent!

Touch. The next item is a hair mask from Amika. I haven't tried this yet, but the info card says it's a full of omega acids and vitamin C, all to help repair split ends. On the upside, this doesn't seem to be a protein mask which is interesting because that's all I've tried. On the down side I really don't like when products say they'll repair split ends, because that's just not possible. But, like I said before, this box is made for me - I love hair masks and deep conditioners and since this one doesn't have protein it can be used as a daily conditioner as well. I am also learning to like hair oils, which brings me to the next item...

Touch. This oil treatment is also from Amika and it says that it's made from sea-buckthorn berry and argan oil. I had never heard of this berry, so after some investigating I found out that it's full of antioxidants, vitamins C and E and can be found in many skin treatments. All of which sounds great and I'll be happy to try it.

See. This BB cream and the next item make me soooo excited! I almost always reach for my BB cream over foundation, but the one I have now is a heavier, creamier one and it also has a grey tint to it before it oxidizes. Even though this is a western BB cream it has more of the "true" BB cream components. As you can see, it has SPF, but it also hydrates, diminishes pores, fine lines and uneven skintone. I tried it on the back of my hand and it's really light and smooth, it also seems to have a red/warm base. After I've used it for a while I'll do a post on how it compairs to Skin 79 BB cream, which is what I use now.

See. I am SO excited to have another liquid liner to try!! It has a felt tip, which I like, and it seemed to dry quickly on the back of my hand. I don't have much else to say about it, other than I'm really, really happy to have it.
*As an update about the liner I got in the MyGlam bag, it has not held up so well. It dries nicely and doesn't smudge around my eye, but it transfers on to my crease - not cute. I'm going to use it up, but I won't buy it for myself.

Hear. These headphones were one of the extras in this month's box. They are really cute, bright colors; and the cord is suuuper long. To be honest though, the sound is not so great... I normally buy cheap $10 headphones, so if I can tell that the sound is poor, that's not a good sign.

Taste. This was a tasty little snack bar that I ate up after photographing it. It's defnitely a little snack, but it has some healthy things in and it's still sweet.

Birchbox June

I was so excited when I received an e-mail saying I'd be getting my Birchbox this month. I felt like I had just put my name on the waiting list!

Since I didn't get any comments on my last post about photographing preferences I thought I'd take the initiative and try something new.

Seriously though, leave a comment! You can even do it anonymously. It's not scary, I promise! :) And by the number of views I get I'm pretty sure it's more than just my family reading this. So I would love to know what you think, that way you're not such a stranger to me!

Hellooo Birchbox. First of all I am pumped for these boxes, I will be using them to sort art supplies. They will stack and look nice and I can write little labels on them. It will be wonderful.

Starting at the top and going clockwise, you can see there are two La Fresh make up remover wipes. I am currently on a kick of trying many different brands of cleansing wipes, so I am happy to add these to my little stash. These are also really intriguing to me because they're biodegradable and have various plant oils in them. Plus, a full-size includes 30 wipes for $9.99, which is the same price/quantity that I like.

Next is a sulfate free, volumizing shampoo from Hair Rules. I'm pretty attached to my current shampoo, but I think I'll try this and if it works well then I'll save it for traveling. A full-size is $15.00, although the info card does not say how many ounces that is. However, I really appreciate that Birchbox let's you know full size prices, and you can buy it from their store. Plus, when you buy from them you get points. I haven't looked into what those points get you, but I like that they're self-contained and you don't have to search around for the product.

The little red tube is a lip and cheek stain from theBalm cosmetics. I've been hearing really good things about theBalm lately so I'm happy to try out something of theirs, plus I like the practicality of a two-in-one. The color is a really pretty berry-red, it will definitely look good on both lips and cheeks.

The last item is a pair of lashes from Georgie Beauty. I've said this before, but I really like getting lashes, because I like playing with them and trying them out. I don't have places or events to wear them to, which is why I probably wouldn't buy them for myself. This pair is all-natural and the style I received is a glamorous, yet natural-ish looking. Meaning, they would blend well, yet really amp up your look. The crazy thing about these is that a full-size is $28. The only thing different between what I got and a full size set, is that the packaging is much nicer and the adhesive is an actual tube. Crazy!

The nice thing about Birchbox is that they usually (I think always) include a little extra.

This month it was this plastic baggie from tili. They're cute plastic baggies that come in either gallon or quart size, so they're airport friendly. This isn't something I would bother buying for myself, so for me this is a fun little extra.