March 2014 Birchbox Review

Birchbox is a monthly subscription box service. For $10 a month, they will send you 4-5 'Beauty and Lifestyle' samples. 

They also have a points system, which is the best I've seen. 100 points = $10 to spend in the Birchbox shop. Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend (monthly boxes don't count, except for the first one) and they offer a lot of promo codes to get extra points. You can also earn 10 points for each review of your monthly samples. That's like getting $4-5 back each month! You also get 50 points for each person who signs up through your referral. If you would like to try Birchbox, please consider using my link: https://www.birchbox.com/invite/pdwbx

This month's theme: Spring Forward

I was so excited to try everything in my box this month! Yay Birchbox! I even thought I might want to buy all of these full-sized products before I even tried them. My disappointment came when I realized the Air Repair and Coola only had about one use in their actually decent sized tubes. I like trying things more than once before I decide to spend something like $30 on sunscreen!

Beauty Protector Protect and Detangle: ($21.95 for 8oz) For the blogger that wrote "If anyone has received this item in their boxes and cannot get the sprayer to work, untwist the cap and slightly lift the sprayer. Give it a few pumps while unscrewed, but still in the liquid. It should start to work." Thank you Harlot Beauty! It worked for me! The smell is really subtle - boyfriend said it just smelled like hair product. I have really short hair and don't need a detangler, but my stylist recommended I use a leave-in conditioner. I can't tell much of a difference right now, but I guess it felt nice.

Had to angle the camera to get rid of shadows

theBalm Cosmetics How 'Bout Them Apples?: ($32 for all 6 shades) First of all, the packaging is so cute! I didn't do a size comparison but it's super tiny. Some Birchboxers have said they should sell the samples in the shop because they're the perfect size for a pocket or purse. I love the color! I don't use cream blushes but I may end up buying this full-size and start. I'm not sure how well it works under the powder I wear daily for my oily face, but I guess it's buildable. It worked perfectly for a little color when I went to the beach and didn't want to wear a lot of makeup. It's so smooth on the lips too. One thing I've started to get into since moving to LA is lip color. I've bought way more lipstick and lip tint in the past 6 months than I think I have since high school. I don't know about justifying $32 for this... but I think I'll save my points and get it.

Air Repair Rescue Balm All-Purpose Skin Salve and Lip Balm: ($12 for .9oz) I was so excited for this, but sadly, my first squeeze only gave me a tiny dollop - not even a pea-sized amount. When I pushed from the back all the way to the front, one more dollop, same size and I'm pretty sure there isn't any left. I put the first drop on my lips and it felt nice but tasted really bad. The second drop I put on my cuticles since I have a habit of peeling dry skin around my nails. Then I went to bed. Didn't notice anything amazing. I wish I had more product to try again.

COOLA Tinted Matte SPF 30 for Face: ($36 for 1.7oz) SO excited for this. I'm planning on going to the beach a lot, and be outside at my lake place when I visit home again so this would be perfect. It's also supposed to mattify. There's barely any product in this tube either, but I did get one full face worth yesterday before I went to Santa Monica beach (and I'm pretty sure there's still some in there.) WOW! I loved it. To be honest, it really didn't have as much tint as I would've liked for a "BB Cream" but it went on very powdery and smooth. After 3 1/2 hours sitting in the sun and sweating, I felt like my face was less oily than it is sitting in my office during the week. I wish had more product in the tube to try it during the week as an experiment but I feel like the next time I use it might be my last. I think I may have gotten a little sunburnt on my nose, but maybe I should've known to reapply after a couple hours? Eh, not too worried. I usually only have SPF 15 in my moisturizer. Speaking of, people are referring to this as a tinted moisturizer? Did I miss something? I thought it was tinted sunscreen... I'm also a little on the fence about ordering a full size now, since I've read how terribly customers have been treated by the company when they try to ask why such a large tube with only a finger full of product in it? I'll probably break down and buy it anyway... it seems like the perfect product for me.
(BTW: wore this with theBalm's cheek tint and some under-eye concealer to the beach yesterday and still felt pretty put together. Even went shopping after and wasn't afraid to show my naked face :P)

Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream: This was a "find" this month, meaning it's a drugstore-type brand that Birchbox really liked and wanted to share with others. Haven't tried this yet but I am pretty excited to!