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Birchbox Subscription Box Review + Coupon – February 2016

Haley Faye
ByHaley FayeFeb 13, 2016 | 71 comments

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - box

Birchbox
3.7 overall rating
657 Ratings | 188 Reviews

Every month, Birchbox lets subscribers pick between a curated box (all samples revealed) or a single sample choice and be surprised by the rest of the items. This review is of the sample choice box.

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - all items 1

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - all items 2

The Subscription Box: Birchbox

The Cost: $10 a month (get one month free and $10 to spend in the shop with an annual subscription!)

COUPON: Get $5 (50 points) to spend in the Birchbox shop when you subscribe with coupon code SUBSCRIBENOW50

The Products: Beauty and lifestyle samples selected by the Birchbox team.

Ships to: US, FranceSpain and the UK and Canada

Check out all of our Birchbox reviews and the Beauty Subscription Box Directory!

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - info 1

Each box comes with a card that has a blurb of the month’s theme.

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - info 2

And on the flip side, it details the items included and some tips on how to use them.

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - items 1

Obliphica Professional Seaberry Hair Serum - .5 fl oz, value: $8.64

I’ve never heard of this brand, but I like this hair serum! I love using serums an oils in my hair. This says it’s for “medium to coarse hair,” but my profile reflects my fine, thin hair so I’m not sure why they picked it for me. But that’s fine – I like it!

Not Soap, Radio Body Was in Liquid Freud – 1.1 oz, value: $1.30

What cute packaging! I’ve seen this brand in a couple different subscription boxes before now, so I’m excited to get one myself to try. It smells really good, too.

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - items 2

ARROW BOOST Color Enhancing Lip Balm – .14 oz (Full Size!), value: $14

This is the lip balm from Birchbox’s new brand, Arrow. It’s one of those color-enhancing balms that reacts to the pH in your skin to turn a natural-looking pink shade.

REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask - .5 fl oz, value: $16.17

I’m pretty happy with the size/packaging of this mask! It’s definitely enough for a few uses. This mask is what’s called a chemical exfoliator, so there’s no scrubbing or anything – the chemicals break through your dead skin cells and you can just wash them away.

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - items 3

Here’s the balm swatched on my wrist.

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - items 4

And here’s the balm in action – the left photo is my bare lips, the right photo is my lips with this balm on. I think it works really well (I’ve tried this type of product before that went way too pink) and feels really moisturizing.

BIRCHBOX FEB 2016 - items 5

TOCCA Eau de Parfum, Emelia – sample

I don’t get excited about perfume samples in subscription boxes (unless they’re the little mini versions of full sized bottles! I actually collect those), this one smells pretty good! I like it.

Verdict: I’m really happy with this month’s Birchbox, even though I didn’t get any makeup. I’m excited about everything in my box, which it always a good feeling. This box has a value of about $40.11 – I’m happy with that!

What do you think of the January Birchbox? What did you pick as your sample?

Starting at $17.00
Subscribe Now

Birchbox ($15 per month) was one of the very first beauty subscription boxes—we’ve been reviewing it since 2012! Each month, subscribers get a new mix of 5 beauty samples, such as makeup, skincare, haircare, and fragrance items. Birchbox lets you choose whether you’d like a box of items picked ju... read more.

Haley Faye
Haley Faye
Haley Faye first discovered the wonderful world of subscription boxes in 2012 and began writing for MSA in 2014. Over the years, she has found many subscriptions to love. Now a mom of three, her favorite boxes are ones that dress her kids, help her get organized, feed her family, send her snacks, and offer educational fun for her children.

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71 comments

Alyce

I have only received one Birchbox, and am wondering if mine contained an assortment of odds and ends since the only match has been the box. Lol.

I would appreciate if someone could explain Customized Birchbox vs Featured Box vs Sample Choices.

Thanks!

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BonBon

Hi Alyce, each month birchbox gives you a sample choice or the curated/featured box option. So you pick one of the sample choices or the featured box. Or don’t pick anything and all 5 items will be a surprise. If you do a sample choice, you’re “guaranteed” that one item and the other 4 will be random, or like you said “customized”. Those words in quotes are used loosely. So because of that “customization” most boxes will be different, but lately it seems like a large amount of Us are receiving identical boxes. Hope That helps! Lol. Anyone please add your details.

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Alyce

Thank you for the clarification! Do I periodically check the site to mark my choice?

Taya

I barely got mine yesterday!!!

I just opened it. I like what I see, but who knows once I actually try the products lol

I received:
(MALIN+GOETZ) – clarifying clay mask
Beauty Protector – Protect & Detangle Leave in Conditioner
Coastal Scents – styleEYES Eyeshadow Palette glamourEYES sampler (there are no names, but I’d describe the colors as emerald & gold)
Color Club – Mini Polish in That’s My Jam
POP Beauty – Matte Velvet Lipstix in Cozy Crimson

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Shellie

I just opened my first birch box. I got the Not Soap, Radio Body Wash in Liquid Freud. It’s smaller than I thought it was going to be but enough for at least 2 showers. The smell is nice but very light.
The Beauty Protector hair detangler. It smells really good and I’m a suckered for hair products but it’s also small. In fact everything is smaller than I thought it would be.
The marcelle serum and the COOLA tint are downright tiny.
I got the POP lipstick in satin rose. It’s a dark pink on me. Too dark and pink for me.
Overall, I’m kinda meh about the box but I’m going to give it another month and see how I like it.

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Bree B

this was my first box and i honestly thought about making it my last, everything was sooo tiny and not appealing to me. i got the occ liquid lipstick small trial, small trial of arrow tint, the detangler and the soap..

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Jaye

Has anyone else experienced a problem with the Arrow lip balm? The exterior is scraped up, including a long thick line in the back. There are also black smudges! I can’t comment on the inside because neither my fiance or me can even remove the cap! This was my chosen item and I’m super disappointed – what do I do?

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roxxie

go through their facebook and message them.. i have had problems went through that and was sent a replacement within 24 hours…sometimes it takes them a few hours to get to you but i have always had a positive interaction with them

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Jaye

Thanks! I’m not really on facebook though – is there a better way to reach them? (really I just don’t know how to message a company page…)

Angie

I would’ve loved to have a not soap radio body wash instead of a tocca emelia perfume sample I could’ve got from the mall.

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Shellie

This will be my first month with Birchbox. I haven’t gotten the box yet but they sent me an email linking to seakpeeks at my box. I’m getting;
Not Soap, Radio Body Wash,
Marcelle New·Age 8 in 1 Power Serum,
COOLA® Face SPF 30 Unscented Matte Tint,
POP Beauty Matte Velvet Lipstix Trio,
Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle.

I’m pretty excited to try them all!

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Emily

The Hey Honey face peel, Pop lipstick and dry shampoo I loved, my other samples were extremely small! The body lotion sample was enough to moisturize my elbows… maybe one time. The Aarow cheek tint – which I don’t use anyway- was the smallest tube I have ever seen in a Birchbox. I know you don’t need much when applying cheek tint but it may as well have been a foil packet for the amount of product. I have learned to expect one or two micro-sized samples each month from Birchbox.

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Beatrix

My Birchbox was also terrible this month. I got Beauty Protector detangler that smells like burnt cupcakes, the meh Catherine Maladrino perfume, ModelCo lip liner I’ll never use, SkinClinical body cream that stings, and the Ren mask. The mask is the only item I love, but everything else is so terrible that I’m giving Birchbox one more chance before quitting.

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Katie

I loved my Birchbox samples this month. They beat my February Ipsy bag by a mile. I think my Ipsy bag this month was possibly the worst one I’ve ever received and was finally bad enough for me to cancel.
I got:
Color Club nail polish–very happy to get this since Ipsy totally jipped me this month by not putting a nail polish in my bag. No matter how many times I give the good reviews to nail polishes I receive, they still love to send me some other product I hate and have reviewed negatively over the three nail polish options they have available this month.
Arrow Lip Balm (my sample choice)–Like this, but it has a weird smell.
Not Soap, Radio Body Wash in Freud–Super excited to try this brand finally.
Whish Oil Cleanser–Glad to get this as I have been wanting to try an oil cleanser. Doesn’t have the best smell though.
Obliphica Hair Serum–another product I was excited to try since I bleached my hair a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the sample I received was spilled all over inside the box. The tissue paper, cards, bottom of the box, and all my samples were soaked in it. The lid was not screwed on properly.

I also received Birchbox’s excellent customer service due to the spilled sample. They replied back to my email within an hour at 11pm at night saying they would send me a replacement asap. I love Birchbox.

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Kay

I received the exact same box as you. While I am happy with overall curation of the box, I was disappointing that almost all of the Whish Oil cleanser was empty. The nail polish was a mini with deep red color. While I don’t wear red nail polish in general, the color was on the cooler tone versus warmer like coral toned red, I might be able to feel comfortable trying it. I wish like samples of body wash was a little larger. I don’t know how many uses I get out of it…

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Paige

Same box for three of us(: I was not impressed with the body wash at all! It smells good but I get no lather out of it. A body wash needs to be creamy and moisturizing for me to use it. The lip balm does smell weird! And I was kind of disappointed to get another nail polish, since I got one from Ipsy. Overall this months box just doesn’t float my boat.

Jillian

I got the same box except for a different scent of body wash. My profile also says I have fine hair, so I don’t know why they’d send something for coarse hair. I didn’t get the curated box this month because of the perfume sample, and wouldn’t you know it? I get a perfume sample. I LOATHE perfume samples. Every single one BB has ever sent me has smelled awful to me. I sincerely wish they would bite the bullet and make a no perfume sample option. This box is just okay for me. I’d been choosing the curated box for months and had been pretty pleased with them, so this is a let down.

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Sarah

This box would have been a huge disappointment for me. So glad you liked it!

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Sarah

I got a Color Club nail polish is the exact same shade that I got the OPI color in a few months ago. That was disappointing. I will probably give it away.

Corlioliss Argan Conditioning Mask- I always like masks and this one looks like it will fit my hair perfectly.

Hey Honey Take It off Exfoliating Peel off mask- Again I love masks

Naobay-HydraPlus Cream- I love little containers of lotion and I stash them everywhere. This one is not super moisturizing but okay it keep in my purse or at work.

Pop Beauty-Mattle Velvet Lipstick-Cozy Crimson-This was a total miss. My kids said I looked like a scary clown when I wore it. It was also so dry and hard to apply, not my type of lipstick at all. So a miss for me.

Overall, I liked most of my box, just the lipstick was a miss,

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Amber

I’ve not gotten mine yet but I got the super popular balm,oil,hair serum,nail polish and body wash box. I complained about the fine/coarse hair “mix up” originally, its nice to see if subscribes reach out they’re accommodating , I can say I’ve always been pleased with BB’s customer service.

I’m so happy the balm is full size and I can’t wait to try it but beyond that I’m planning to cash in my points and cancel after this month. It just isn’t doing it for me anymore and I really just do not see the point in doing the questionnaire and surveys every month if they’re not taking note of them. I’m bummed to say good bye because I love getting these boxes every month but it seems like every month I’m disappointed upon opening them…and that’s just not a fun way to spend $10 a month!

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Chelsea

Birchbox has been terrible for the last six months. I think a lot of people will switch to Sephora and Macy’s when they finally come out.. If ever.

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scarlett

Not more Birchbox for me: /, I’m going to cancel. the last few months has been a real disappointment.

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Jen J

I chose the Ren mask. Also received the Catherine Malandrino purfume, the argon oil, the Model Co. lip liner, and the Coola BB/sunscreen. I find it a bit disappointing that so many people received full sized products other than the lip balm, while others didn’t. The purfume went to my mom. The argan oil smells great, but is nothing special. The lip liner is an odd color. It is so hard it actually hurt trying it. Not sure I get the sunscreen in the dead of winter either. At least no dry shampoo. Have gotten those two of the last six months.

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Paola

I got the same box as you….?? not excited either ….. I got that same liner in my Ipsy bag last year (Full size). and still haven’t use it…

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Beth

I also have fine, thin hair and got the serum for coarse hair. And my Whish facial oil cleanser was almost empty. I like the arrow lip balm. Love the scent of the Liquid Freud shower gel. Will not use the red nail polish I got. Like others noted, this box is kinda meh for me. (Typo on front of info card for occasion cracked me up!)

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Jessvii

I didn’t like the curated options this month, but my (regular) box was pretty good – a moisturizer, a conditioner, the Arrow balm, the Tocca perfume, and the Radio body wash.

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Laura

My profile says I have thick, wavy, coarse hair, and I got the serum for fine hair. I still like it, but I had to use a lot–thick coarse hair can take the heavier stuff.

I also have on my profile that I don’t wear lipstick. So they sent me a hot pink lipstick & a nude lip liner. So weird. Sucks that those took up 2 of my 5 spots. 🙁

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Laura

I lied. It was ipsy that sent me the hot pink lipstick. I just went in to double check my birchbox profile and there is no place to say “no lipstick”. I know I told one of them no lipstick…

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asagaobalcony

I picked the REN and got the identical box. I have fine hair and got the medium/coarse serum, too. I was happy with it, other than that.

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Sonja

I received yet ANOTHER dry shampoo. Never use so am tired of getting them frequently in my subscription boxes.

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Jessvii

I like dry shampoo and have gotten it once in two years. What the heck? :-p

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Sonja

Would be happy to sell/send you some of mine…if not all!

Meri

How could they spell occasion wrong on the card?

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Susan

The same way they missed people’s hair type on the serum samples.

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Beth

We have the same box! I also have finer hair, so we’ll see if the serum works for me. But overall I’m very excited. Every single thing in the box (including the serum) is a win for me.

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vicki

I too was underwhelmed with my February Birchbox. I don’t have a real use for the Shine & Define styling gel that enhances curls and waves (I am trying to get rid of my curls and waves). I liked the scent of the dab of my perfume sample (too bad there wasn’t enough to actually use). I got the La Chasse Aux Papillons (don’t know if that’s the scent or name) it took a minute for the scent to become nice. Coola…another face cream, o.k. I guess. I chose the Arrow lip balm and I like it. Then I got another face mask, I haven’t tried it yet, it says it’s for oily skin and zits. I’m 58 and have outgrown zits and at my age most women don’t have a real issue with oily skin (we are more concerned about wrinkles. So this box was a real disappointment.

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Paige

I got my box today. I received the Radio body wash in a scent called Liquid Freud that smells really nice. I got a Living Proof hair mask (like a once a week deep conditioner). It also smells really good and it was a really nice deluxe sample jar not a little foil pack. I think I will get at least 3-4 uses out of it. I got the Pop Beauty lipstick in Cozy Crimson. It was full sized and a true matte blue-red color. I would probably have preferred one of the lighter pinks but it’s good to have a nice red on hand. I got the Coola tint, which is a bit too matte for me. My final item was the True Moringa Lavender facial oil. It was a small sample but it says you only use a drop each day so it should last a while. That said I am unsure about putting oil on my face but I am willing to give it a whirl. Overall, I am pretty pleased with my box especially the hair mask, radio soap, and full sized lipstick.

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lisad

I can’t wait to try the lip balm!

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