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My totally honest review of Birchbox

Birch Box

A few weeks ago I saw an offer on Swagbucks for Birchbox, a monthly beauty box subscription. My first box would be free after Swagbucks, so I decided to take a leap and try something totally outside of my comfort zone!

birch box

Birchbox subscription costs $10 per month and each month you receive five travel-sized samples of makeup, skincare, or hair products. You can cancel at any time through the Birchbox website. You customize the samples to some degree by describing your skin, hair and beauty style when you register.

The Goods

Here’s what I got in my first box and what I thought:

beauty products inside the birch box

I got one fragrance sample, mascara, a face scrub, lip pencil, and makeup setting spray. I also got a larger sample of a cleanser/makeup remover with this box (I entered a promo code I saw on the Birchbox site to add that to my box for free).

I should disclose that I am definitely a minimalist when it comes to a beauty routine! I have never used products in my hair and rarely blow dry or style it. Some days I put makeup on, which consists of concealer, mascara and eye shadow. So take what I say about this stuff with a grain of salt. 😉

list of beauty products

That said, I liked that a little cheat sheet was sent along with the products. I personally needed some description since I’m such a novice to beauty stuff! It was also nice to know the price of the full-sized products.

mommy daughter selfie

The first product I tried was the lip gloss pencil, with help from my little one, of course. As you can see, the color didn’t do much for me! While I’m sure there are some pinks that look good on a redhead, this just wasn’t one of them.

little girl

I reluctantly let my daughter try it on and I think it looked better on her than me!

woman with mascara

Even though I usually use a brownish-black mascara, I tried the black mascara that came with my box anyway. I was actually pleasantly surprised with how natural it looked. I just might change my tune about black mascara on gingers!

The perfume sample was actually really nice and I’ve been putting it on every time I sit down at my computer. I tried the pore scrub and it was just too intense for my sensitive skin. The “makeup setting spray”? Prolly not ever going to use it.

Lastly, I tried the “Micellular Cleanser + Makeup Remover” a few times, and while my skin felt refreshed, it didn’t do much makeup removing. It isn’t a product I would ever buy anyway so no loss there.

Conclusion

birch box cardsFirst of all, I usually don’t sign up for subscriptions that I don’t intend to keep because I hate the process of canceling over the phone. However, you can cancel a Birchbox subscription painlessly on their website, so that is a huge plus.

One warning, though: your credit card will get charged for the next box on the 1st of the month, regardless of when you get your first box. I would have been charged for a second box only a week after I got my first box if I wasn’t careful. So keep that in mind!

Next, a few of the products didn’t work for me because I have red hair, freckles, and sensitive skin. I’m in the small minority of women, though, so most others could likely get more use from the products.

birch box beauty box image

I thought that what was in the box represented a pretty good value for $10. I usually don’t spend $10 per month in total on beauty products, however, so this would be a “treat” for me.

As a treat, this could be REALLY FUN for someone who love to try out new beauty products. When compared to other things one could spend $10 on, I think Birchbox represents a nice bang for your buck.

birch box promotion

And while I’m not keeping a subscription for myself, I would consider giving Birchbox as a gift!

I can think of several friends and family members who would get a big kick out of getting a Birchbox for a few months. I think it is brilliant that they offer a gift subscription for only three months (so $30 total), since that is within our budget for a gift.

Have you ever tried Birchbox or another beauty box? Please leave a comment below!

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Vickie Gray

Thursday 27th of October 2022

DON'T subscribe to Birchbox for you or anyone else on the planet! I decided to cancel my subscription and ran into one brick wall after another. You cannot chat (as they suggest) without paying a fee, any email to them goes unanswered and any phone numbers listed are fake numbers. I have had to cancel my bank debit card and get another one as this was the only solution to keep from being charged month after month after month. Grrrrr!!!!! Save your sanity and DO NOT subscribe!

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