Birchbox October 2014

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: Fan-tastic

This month's theme was all about pop culture and what people are reading and watching this fall. I don't even think the beauty products really match with the theme that month, but usually an extra card or something does. Like this one:

I think I saw about 4-5 different cards like this, asking what we were reading, binge-watching or listening to. I wasn't actually watching Gilmore Girls, but because my card had "for the millionth time" on it, that's what I had to put. I could seriously watch that show a million times and not be bored. It's usually what I put on for background noise when I'm cleaning or baking. I own all 7 seasons but it was just added to Netflix so it's even easier to watch whereever I am. Side note about my love of the show: my mom and I used to watch the whole season after it was released on DVD when I was home for Christmas. We have a close relationship similar to Lorelei and Rory. (Another side note: I also got to meet Lauren Graham and take a picture with her last Spring. She's incredibly sweet and I wish I had more time to chat with her)

beautyblender Sponge + mini blender cleanser solid: It's hard to put a price on this sample because, as far as I know, they don't sell a set like this. Birchbox sells the PRO single (the black sponge) with solid blendercleanser for $32.95 and if you wanted to buy them separately, like at Sephora, the sponge is about $20 and the cleanser is about $17 I think - which is what I did. I already own both of these products but I was SO EXCITED to get this in my box. I seriously love my beautyblender. I bought some dupes before and they don't compare. I really wouldn't even call them dupes because they're nowhere near as soft. For those that don't know, the beautyblender is a soft sponge for blending makeup. You run it under water, where it expands twice its size, and squeeze it out. The water helps the product sit on the surface instead of being absorbed by the sponge. I wouldn't think of doing my makeup any other way. I'm so glad to have another one as a backup. And the cleanser and seriously magical. My sponges and brushes would never get fully clean until I started using this. So I'm really happy to get another one of these.

Camille Beckman Glycerine Hand Therapy: ($13.95 for 6oz) I fell in love with a different Camille Beckman lotion I was sent and this one is really good too. I love having small lotions like this. It's pretty thick, more like a body butter, but maybe a little greasy. You really have to rub it in. Overall, I really like it though.

dr. brandt pores no more vacuum cleaner: ($45 for 1oz) This is a mask that, when ready to wash off, turns blue (or at least a white-ish blue). It's supposed to suck out all your blackheads, but I read that it takes using it 2-3 times a week for about 2 weeks to notice anything. I've only used it a couple times and it seems to help a little. Maybe I'll actually try it a few times a week like it says.

SAGE + fasten Onward Eau de Parfum: ($50 for 50ml) I think some of the text was rubbing off my package... unless it's supposed to look like that? I can't really tell. But I really like that this is a rollerball instead of a spray. It's a nice fruity scent, but I haven't used it often enough to see if I really like it.

ModelCo Party Proof Lipstick in Kitty: ($24 for a trio, so $8) Oh the issues I've had with this. I can't give you a real review of it because I don't have a usable product. If you look in the top right picture, there is a small crack to the package. I didn't think anything of it until I opened it and smelled it. Everyone has been raving about how amazing this lipstick smells. That it smells like strawberries and blah blah blah. Mine smells a tiny bit like strawberries, then it changes and an overpowering smell of unwashed armpit takes over. Even my swatch smelled bad. I also think the color is off. It's supposed to be a pinky MLBB color, but mine seems really brown/orange, not pink. I think it turned bad because of the crack in the plastic. I emailed Birchbox customer service because they're always really good about fixing stuff like this. I got a response fairly quickly saying they would send a new one. 9 days after that email, I got a white envelope with Birchbox written on it. But sadly, it was very flat. I opened it and my assumptions were confirmed - the envelope was EMPTY! WTF?! So I emailed again, but they told me they were out of this sample so they couldn't send me another one. I think that's a bunch of BS. They did give me 100 points to make up for it, but this was my Sample Choice this month and I really wanted to try it. I'm not happy and am considering not partaking in any of their "extra" stuff anymore - sample choice, Birchbox extra, promo code bonuses (ones for an actual product), etc so I won't keep getting disappointed :(