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Birchbox
Cost: $10/month
Ships To: United States. However France, Spain and the UK also have their own Birchbox subscriptions.
Coupon Code: Subscription Box: “BBSTORE100” to get 100 Birchbox shop points with any subscription purchase. Shop: Try “welcomeoffer20” for 20% off your shop purchase. And don’t forget to add a Mystery Sample Pack to your cart with your $35+ shop purchase!
Today was an insane mail day and it included the arrival of my January 2015 Birchbox! Well, one of them anyway. The other is still on it’s way to me.
If you aren’t familiar, Birchbox, which is $10/month, offers 4-6 (sometimes more) 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 Newgestics and took nearly a week to arrive to me. Last month it was just a few days. This box went from Tennessee to New Jersey to Indiana before it finally made it here to me in Michigan. Umm, you went the wrong way! LOL!
Birchbox announced in their January sneak peek video that all of the boxes this year will be fun new designs. They also mentioned that we should save them because they are going to have some ideas on how to use them down the road. Something like that.
I can’t figure out how to tell anymore what number Birchbox you received anymore. You used to be able to tell in your account and then you could peek at all the other boxes, but it doesn’t work like that anymore. That’s too bad because I did love to see all the box variations.
The January 2015 Birchbox theme was “Let’s Do This” and my box contained the following items:
~theBalm® cosmetics Stainiac ($2.27): Stainiac is fabulous. I like to use it on my cheeks, but it works on your lips as well. It’s one of my holy grails and I have loved it for ages.
~TOCCA Crema da Mano – Hand Cream ($5): The TOCCA was my sample pick this month. I wouldn’t mind if Birchbox sent me a TOCCA lotion every month. They are awesome and it saves me from having to buy them on my own (because I would anyway). Love the scent, how soft it makes my hands feel, everything.
~Neil George Shampoo ($4.50) & Neil George Conditioner ($4.50): These are a great size and I’ll be able to get enough uses out of them to really tell if it works. They smell good and help make your hair shiny and tangle-free.
~Silhouette by Christian Siriano Eau de Parfum ($1.44): This smells amazing but that sample bottle? What? It took me a good 5 minutes to figure out how it opened and once I did get it open, I was lucky I didn’t fling perfume all over the room. My goodness! If you got this, please tell me you had the same issue!
All totaled I came up with a value of $17.71 for my January 2015 Birchbox. Including the points I get for reviewing the items (5 items = 50 points = $5 to spend in the Birchbox Shop), sharing my review on Facebook (10 points = $1 Birchbox Shop dollar) and purchasing the box itself (10 points = $1 Birchbox Shop dollar), that brings the value up to $24.71. It was well over double the cost of the box and while it didn’t have a crazy wow factor, it was a solid box. Lots of staple items in there.
What’d you get in your Birchbox this month? If you are interested in subscribing you can use coupon code “BBSTORE100” to get 100 extra Birchbox points (which is equal to $10 to spend in the Shop) with any subscription purchase. Considering that the box itself is only $10/month, that’s a pretty hot deal if you ask me!
You arent alone. I tried twisting the tab off. Good thing I didn’t succeed or I never would have gotten it open.
That is exactly what I tried.
I got the exact same box. Like you, I love everything Tocca! So when I saw that was a choice, I had to pick it! I wasn’t a fan of the shampoo and conditioner. I don’t think the shampoo had a good lather, and this morning when I woke up it looked like I hadn’t washed my hair in days. I like the Staniac better on my cheeks than my lips. I can’t really tell a difference when I use it as a lip stain. And the perfume… I had trouble opening it as well. I had just tried the hand cream before, and when I finally got it open, it spilled all over my hands. Not a good combination! But it does smell good!
All in all, it was a good solid Birchbox! They’ve really been stepping up their game here lately and it has easily turned into my favorite subscription!
ITA about the Neil George products. Terrible lather and seemed like they did absolutely nothing to my hair.
Yes I got the same box and did in fact fling perfume across my kitchen when I finally got it open. At least it smelled good! Ha!
I’m glad someone else looks at the insane routes their Birchboxes take. Mine left from Tennessee on Saturday and is now on its way to Florida by way of Indiana. Who knows when I’ll actually get it?
They were on a wild wild ride this month!
I haven’t received the Stainiac in a while, but I really used to love it. Then I realized it was giving my huge blackheads on my checks, so I tossed it. It was sad, but the blackheads went away. Also, I choose the Tocca too this month, and I love how it smells. Now, it’s right up there with my long time favorite, Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream.
Birchbox was such a downer for me this month. My shampoo and conditioner were the foil samples, my lotion was naobay radiance lotion; both my other half and I agree that it smells terrible. But I did get a davines hair oil I really like.
How do you review?
It’s changed a little since I wrote this, but the idea is the same:
http://www.ramblingsofasuburbanmom.com/2014/06/last-chance-for-birchbox-plus-plus-a-refresher-on-reviewing-boxes/
How do you get the perfume open? This is killing me! TIA