Disclosure: If you make a purchase through the links posted below, I may receive a small compensation. Read the full disclosure.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Birchbox
Cost: $10/month
Ships To: United States. However France, Spain and the UK also have their own Birchbox subscriptions.
Coupon Code: Subscription Box: “SUBSCRIBENOW50” to get 50 extra Birchbox Shop points with your subscription. 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!
Birchbox 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). I have been subscribing to Birchbox for nearly 3 years now and would say they are one of the best known subscription boxes out there.
Birchbox ships via USPS and all boxes generally ship by the 10th of the month.
As I mention every month, I have two Birchbox accounts so I generally opt for that month’s curated box on one account (that was the box I reviewed here yesterday) and opt for the standard Birchbox on the other account. This review is on the July 2015 standard box.
I was quite pleased with this first look! You can peek at your box on the 10th (or before if you use the secret link), but the sizes of the samples are a surprise until the box comes.
The July 2015 Birchbox theme was “Go Bold” and included the following items:
~stila look at me liquid lipstick (~$5): I received the Bella (bright pink) shade in my other Birchbox this month and opted for the Beso (classic red) option in this box. It certainly is bold. Too bold for me, but maybe my SIL will like it. I tested the pink out yesterday and it stayed on forever. No joke, I had trouble getting it off! If you are looking for a long lasting liquid lipstick look no further than this.
~amika Un.Done Texture Spray ($3.40): This texture spray is fantastic. No seriously, the volume and texture it gave my hair was insane. I am super impressed with it and will be getting the full size of this. It smelled good and made my hair like shiny second day beach hair in like two seconds. This is a new holy grail product for me!
~COOLA Face SPF 30 Unscented Matte Tint ($3.60): I have gotten this in boxes in the past and like it well enough. The best part of this (in my opinion) is that it’s a BB cream and sunscreen in one. I don’t want any more on my face during those hot summer days than necessary.
~Marcelle BB Cream Golden Glow ($4.05): I was surprised to get two BB creams in my box this month, but this was different because it didn’t have sunscreen in it I guess. As a BB cream itself like this one better than the COOLA, but it’s more a night out item. It went on smoothly and blended in evenly.
~Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator ($5.67): I have always been a fan of Vasanti BrightenUp! and have bought the full-size of this a few times. It’s gentle enough to use everyday, but at the same time it’s powerful enough where you wouldn’t have to use it daily. I feel like it just cleans up my skin and makes it look healthy and glowing.
All totaled I came up with a value of $21.72 for my July 2015 “Go Bold” Birchbox. Including the points I get for purchasing the box (10 points = $1 to spend at Birchbox) and reviewing / sharing the items in the box (60 points = $6), the value increases to $28.72. I have been so happy with my Birchbox boxes this year and will always recommend this subscription. I think it would make a great gift for someone headed off to college in the fall!
Have you gotten your Birchbox yet this month? What’d you think? If you are interested in subscribing new customers can use the coupon code “SUBSCRIBENOW50” to get 50 extra points when you purchase a new Birchbox subscription! Or you can use coupon code “RIFLEBOX” to start your subscription with the gorgeous Rifle Paper Co. box from a few months ago!
I got the stila in Bella too and tried it on earlier this morning. Holy crap. I like the color, I’m not sure I like it on me though and the lasting power is incredible. Too incredible. I spent way too long scrubbing my mouth to get it off, and even now my lips have a slight pink tint (which I’d totally pay money to get a regular stain in the color they are right now).
I also got a They’re Real Pushup Liner in black, the sample is tiny but I think it’ll last long enough and the swatch I did on my hand looked good- I’d try it out for real but I have yoga class soon and don’t wear makeup to the gym.
Other things I haven’t tried were the Real Chemistry 3 minute peel, which I will probably use after class when I take a shower, Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin, which looks like some sort of medicine, and Oribe dry texturizing spray.
I’ve loved the majority of the items I’ve received since resubscribing in March. I hope I get one of the SPF setting sprays next month! Coola and Supergoop! both make one and I think both have been in BB’s so far. I think my favorite items have been the Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle (I’m probably going to use my points to buy the shampoo/conditioner/spray set), Whish body butter (probably get the 3 pack once I’ve used more of my existing lotion/body butter hoard), Cargo swimmables blus (won’t buy this though because while the sample is “tiny” it’s huge for me and even though I use it nearly every day, I’ve barely made a dent), Coola spf in mango. I really liked the Vasanti Brighten Up, but I’m still on the hunt for a perfect face wash. And the amika dry shampoo is nice too, I’d probably buy the full size if I didn’t have a million bottles of dry shampoo- and I rarely use dry shampoo in the summer since it’s so hot and gross that I feel like I need to really wash my hair more often than I do the other 9 months of the year. Hopefully by the end of the year I’ve used up a lot of the junk in my collection.
Box twins! I think the coola is supposed to be more of a primer as it really doesn’t have much color to it. Not sure why they call it a bb cream! I wore the Marcelle over the coola today and it looked really nice!
I got a stila lip stain too but I don’t like how it wears on my lips. The amika spray is AWESOME!! I also got a Coola makeup setting spray that I really like!