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Birchbox
Cost: $10/month
Ships To: United States. However France, Spain and the UK also have their own Birchbox subscriptions.
I was SO not expecting this today, but my April 2014 Birchbox arrived! If you aren’t familiar, Birchbox, which is $10/month offers 4-6 hand-picked beauty and lifestyle samples, delivered to your door each month. You can review the samples you receive on a monthly basis to earn points in their shop, which makes the “real” cost of the box even less. Points accumulate until you are ready to spend, so you can stockpile and combine with coupon codes and get some complete steals (which I try to do).
Birchbox ships via UPS Mail Innovations. I got the tracking notification for this box on 4.10.14, however, my tracking never updated on it. The box just appeared! It was such a nice surprise to see it this morning.
This month’s Birchbox didn’t have a special theme, so it was the standard Birchbox box for April. I still haven’t found a perfect use for me for these boxes, so the search continues.
My April 2014 Birchbox was Box #41 (*). To find out what box # you got, go into your account (beginning on the 10th of the month) and click on “Box” and then “Women’s Box”. Scroll down to the “Box History” section and then click on “April 2014″. The last number in your URL is your box number (mine says “bb41″ – meaning I have Box #41). I explained how to review products for points here, so don’t miss checking that out if you have questions.
The April 2014 Birchbox theme was “Rainy Days” and gives suggestions on spending those rainy April days tucked inside with a good box or spending the afternoon playing with some luxurious new beauty samples. Here is what I received:
~Color Club Gala’s Gems Collection (Gold Struck) ($3.25): Love it! I actually love the entire mini set this comes in and may be just have to order it. I am such a complete sucker for mini polishes and since this isn’t my favorite color of the set, I feel like I am justified in getting the others.
~Fekkai Technician Color Care Shampoo ($5): I use this shampoo on a regular basis and am happy to get a travel size version. I color my hair and home and it doesn’t last as long as the salon color so anything I can do to stretch it out helps!
~Rose Terra Organics Rose Hips Black Soap Deep Pore Facial Cleanser ($4): As soon as I opened up this box I knew I had tried this before! And sure enough, it had come in Beauty Box 5 last June! I knew it! I recall really liking it, but I never ended up buying the full size. I will give it another go and decide if I want the full size or not!
~theBalm cosmetics How ‘Bout Them Apples? Cheek & Lip Cream ($5.33): I was SO hoping to get something from theBalm this month and here it is! I got the “Pie” shade and think it’s fabulous. I may have to splurge on this and get the entire set. The colors are great and I like that I can put a little color on my lips and then do my cheeks. I also love the magnetic closure on this a lot.
~KIND Snacks Healthy Grains Bar – Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt ($2): I am going to give this one to B. He’ll like it way more than I will and I don’t want it to go to waste. KIND bars are kind of growing on me (no pun intended) and I do think they are really filling!
All totaled my April 2014 Birchbox had a value of $19.58. Including the points I’d get for reviewing the products, (which is equal to $5) and the points I received for purchasing the box (which is equal to $1) (**) the box had a real total value of $25.58. And once again, I totally LOVED this month. Birchbox has been hitting it out of the park with my boxes lately and I feel like my profile is really being paid attention to, which I am happy about!
Do you subscribe to Birchbox? Did you get your box yet this month? What number was it and what was in it? If you don’t subscribe (it’s only $10/month) and are interested in learning more, click here. They have an awesome promotion going on right now that not only lets you skip the line, but also gives you 100 Birchbox points (which is equal to $10 to spend in their shop)!! Just use the code “BB100” on your subscription when you checkout! Or, if you are making a shop purchase of $35 or more, add a Mystery Sample Pack and then use the code “YUMIKIMCASE” to get a free iPhone case from Yumi Kim! Awesome deals!
I’m still waiting on my two Birchboxes this month, but I’m getting #37 (second account) and #42 (main account). But ahhh, the Rose Terra Organics Rose Hips Black Soap Deep Pore Facial Cleanser looks really amazing! I was hoping to get that in one of my boxes this month. XD Can’t believe you got yours so quickly!!
I think it’s funny to see what kind of boxes I get because on my main account I actually filled out the profile whereas on my second account, I only checked off “I like sweet treats” and left everything else blank. And I feel like sometimes the second account with the random profile gets me better boxes. (though not this month!)
Oh! Also, on a side note. I got my last men’s fancy mystery box (the $10 one before they added the new options) yesterday. I received: a Stay Hungry Stay Foolish Wall Sticker (lol another wall decal), a Game Day Aftershave sample, a Mustache Tie Clip Tsai Clip, and a Kikkerland Music Branches.
Photos are here! http://boxesfordays.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/fancy-mystery-box-mens-review-2/ (Hope you don’t mind the link) 😀
I don’t mind. You know how I love looking at those Fancy box reviews!
I may have to do a second Birchbox. They have been so good lately!
Definitely looking forward to your mystery box review on Monday!! I hope your mailman drops it off extra early. 😉 Maybe I’ll spring for one too (after seeing your review, of course), because I’ve seen what the medium women’s fancy mystery box looks like and it’s a bit meh.
Yes!! Definitely get two Birchboxes! Double the points each month. 😀 Also it’s easier to cancel and subscribe with every new code that comes out.
I always wondered how those information things really affected the box items. have you ever gotten two identical boxes with the two different profiles?
I didn’t update my credit card until the 10th so my box hasn’t updated to the April one yet. I got the Balm sample last month and loved it! Some of the best sample packaging ever.
Oh I agree. That guy on the inside didn’t hurt either 😉
I’m not getting the balm sample, but just seeing it makes me want to buy the full set…let us know how you like it!
Thanks for the code! Used your link to sign up so I hope you get the referral points 🙂
Thanks!
I got the Balm sample last month and it’s highly pigmented and so a little goes a long way.. Which I have forgotten each time I’ve tried it. I got the gold polish too.. And am planning to get the full set for the exact same reason you described..
Ha! I am sure I will do the same every time…
I got box #1. Its similar to yours,minus the nail polish and black rose soap. Here are the pictures: http://wp.me/p4lGPl-8g
That is a great one!
I got box number 33! We have in common the KIND grain bars and the Color Club polish, although I received “Breakfast at.”
Ohh, nice one!
Mine came today and I think it’s my best Birchbox yet. I got the Balm How ‘Bout Them Apples, Cynthia Rowley eye liner, Klorane dry shampoo, and a three pack of foil samples from nyakio. Those were packaged more nicely than normal, so I’m not going to complain too much about the size of those. I was out of eye liner and almost bought one last weekend but remembered that often subscription boxes come with liners so I decided to wait until BB and Ipsy came. So glad I did, got a black eye liner in both and both are higher end brands so it’s a win for me. I wish I’d have gotten a polish versus the foil packs but you can’t have it all!
Do you get to review each of those packets individually? I swear someone said that? That would be awesome.
Wow, that would be really cool! I didn’t know that, if that is the case I especially won’t have any reason to complain! They show up individually in my April products so I’m thinking there is a good chance you are right. Thanks for letting me know!
I love the KIND Bars. I wasn’t too impressed with my Birchbox items this month but overall the items I DID like at least total what I paid for it. Check out my review here: http://whattheschneck.blogspot.com/2014/04/birchbox-rainy-days-april-2014-review.html
If you cancel your subscription and then re-subscribe, do you lose your accumulated points? I would assume so, but I can’t find the answer on the BB site 🙂
I *believe* they are still there, but I have never done it myself so I don’t know. They are typically pretty responsive on FB, so I’d try asking there.
I got box # 14. I received the mini nail polish in a white color, a dark purple eyeliner(my favorite item), the kind bar, the yogini perfume, the reconstructing masque and a clarifying shampoo. I was actually pretty happy with my April box.
That sounds like a good one!