February 2015 Birchbox Unboxing - Spoilers!

Hi everyone! Happy Presidents Day! In honor of this lovely Presidents day I am posting my unboxing of the February 2015 Birchbox (and the crowd goes wild). For those who do not know Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription box. For $10.00 a month you receive five sample to deluxe sized samples of various beauty products. When you first subscribe you will fill out a profile that will help them pick your samples – so every box is not exactly the same. If you want to check them out you can find them here www.birchbox.com. .

Real quick before we get into the unboxing I would like to discuss affiliate links. All of the subscription beauty services have what are called affiliate links. If you click on that link and subscribe the person who linked you will receive either a commission, points (which they can use for products), or a bonus of some sort. I do have affiliate links however I do not post them. If you click on a link in one of my blog posts I do not receive any sort of bonus. Why? I feel like if I’m going to review something for you I want to do it because I enjoy reviewing the boxes – not for monetary value. If and when I do post affiliate links I will let you know 100% that they are. I don’t ever plan on posting them in blogs but when my YouTube channel goes live I will have them in the info section. I just wanted to clear up any confusion – smile. 

Now - All The Things! 

Since this is Valentine’s Day month (does that even make sense?) I was expecting a cute pink theme to the box. I have to say I’m not a girly girly who likes all pink and fairy farts on my stuff. So I was really apprehensive about what would be in my box. I didn’t have to worry though. A unicorn didn’t fart into my box and I did not get glitter bombed! Yay! 

Also, I like that the boxes are all designed differently. Remember if you receive Birchbox they want you to save them for the whole year for something at the end of the year. Ooo the anticipation - ha.

The first product I pulled out was the Laura Gellar Beauty GlamLASH Dramatic Volumizing Mascara deluxe sized sample – Full-sized price $24.00. I have not used this product yet because I am currently testing out different mascara (spoiler it’s the new Benefit Mascara) which I will be reviewing soon on my blog. I’ll keep this this one until that experiment is done. First impressions though – the formula does not have a strong scent, does not seem very thick or gel like, and the brush is fairly standard. 

Next we have the Marcelle Gentle Make-Up Remover for Sensitive Eyes deluxe sized sample – Full-size $15.00. I did use this product and I really like it. It took off my eye make-up easily with no rubbing or pulling. I use waterproof/don’t move/sharpie type eye make-up because if I don’t I’ll look like a raccoon in 30 minutes. My skin is sensitive and my eyes can be but this product caused no irritation and didn’t have any type of smell. I’m happy to have this because I’m going on a trip soon so this will be perfect. 

This is a Birchbox exclusive - The PARLOR by Jeff Chastain Moisturizing Sea Salt Spray deluxe sized sample – Full-sized $24.00. This is a nondrying spray which gives you soft beachy waves. I haven’t used this product yet because I don’t want beachy waves in my hair right now. When I do use it (sometime in the summer) I’ll do a full review on the product. 

I have to say I don’t like perfume samples. I’m so picky when it comes to perfume and I feel like I can get perfume samples for free at the store. This sample is Harvey Prince Ageless – full-size price $55.00. It’s a citrus undertone mixed with sweet candy. It’s not a bad scent but it reminds me of something a tween would wear. Nothing I would wear personally but it’s not overpowering. Good scent if you have a teen in your home (and you want to spend $55.00 on that teen). 

The last product is theBalm cosmetics Read My Lips Lip Gloss – BAM! in Rose Pink deluxe size – Full-sized price $24.00. This product is said to be fortified with ginseng. The gloss is nice and when I put it on it is initially sticky but very quickly the stickiness goes away. It smells like the Sugar free Ice Breakers Sour Watermelon candy. Yes, the smell is that specific to me. The wear isn’t super long (3 hours) but that’s a good run for a lip gloss. I really like this product. I’ve wanted to try more theBalm products and if this is an example of theBlam’s quality - I’m impressed.

Birchbox is one of my favorite subscription boxes. 100% worth the $10.00 a month in my opinion. If I were to compare Birchbox to Ipsy, which is another subscription box at the same price of $10.00 a month, I would say that Birchbox wins hands down. I'm giving Ipsy a few more months to see if they up their game. What do you guys think about Ipsy versus Birchbox?