Again, another late post. I actually only ordered the box at the very end of June so it arrived at the start of July and this is the first opportunity I've had to sit down and blog about it.
Birchbox is pretty much the same idea as Glossybox, a monthly subscription to a box that contains beauty products and samples. I believe Birchbox does generally stick to the more high-end products so you are more likely to receive minis than full size items.
This was my first ever subscription to Birchbox and I wasn't really impressed with how long it took my box to arrive. It took around two weeks and during that time I was sent several different emails with different tracking numbers, none of which gave me the right information about where my box was. But eventually the box arrived. A cardboard box with the Birchbox logo, the same size as the Glossybox packaging. So I opened this to find another box.
The box itself was smaller than that of Glossybox, so I highly doubt I am ever going to get anything other than travel sized items of products I won't be able to afford to buy whether I like them or not. Regardless, these can be considered as luxury treats once a month if I continue with the subscription. The magazine included with Birchbox is much better than the one in Glossybox, but to be honest although it is nice to receive it I don't care about the magazine too much. It's what is inside the box that is important.
So inside the box are lots of little cards, some are little postcards, one is outlining the included products and one was a welcome note. Nice little touches and they do add to the experience of the box, but again I was more interested in what products they had sent me. Inside the box was a little cloth bag, and inside this (finally, it was beginning to turn into pass the parcel without the music and friends) were the products (although there was another small cardboard box inside containing another item, a bit excessive on all the packaging really).
Okay so finally onto the items. In the box there were six items. These were as follows:
Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle Spray for Hair
(Sample size, doesn't say how much is in the sample, probably enough for 4 or 5 uses, but full size retails at £15.00)
Color Club Nail Polishes from the Wanderlust Collection
Shades Reign in Spain and Pardon My French
(7ml, retails at £10 for the full pack of four minis)
Coola Classic Face SPF 30 Cucumber
(7ml Sample, full size retails at £26 for 50ml)
ModelCo Eye Define Pencil
(Full size product, £14.00)
Noble Isle Willow Song Bath & Shower Gel
(30ml sample, full size product retails at £20.00)
I thought the products selection was quite reasonable for the price I had paid (£12.95 including P&P - the same as Glossybox) but I would like to feel like I might receive a full sized item now and again to make it really worth it (okay so the pencil was full size but I can pick up a really good eyeliner for under £4 quite easily). So far I have tried the nail polish in Reign in Spain, which is the neon pastel (is that even possible? I guess so!) peachy orange, and I love the colour but find it doesn't last at all well on me (I got about 24 hours before it started peeling and chipping). I haven't yet tried the facial SPF as I already have two on the go and sunscreen goes off fairly quickly so I'm holding off on that.
I am keeping my subscription with Birchbox for now but as it stands I much prefer Glossybox. I feel I have more chance of getting value for money with Glossybox, but what I do like about Birchbox is that it gives me the opportunity to try products I couldn't usually afford or would want to part so much money for (I mean £20 for a shower gel?? Really??).
If you have a spare £12.95 one month and feel like treating yourself why not try one of these subscriptions? It's like a present to yourself and is even more exciting because you never know what you are going to get. It's really good fun when one of these turns up on your doorstep and you unbox it and find out just what goodies you have been sent. Give it a go, you can cancel at any time so you can even just treat yourself to a one off box for your birthday or just because you feel you deserve it.
xx