Birchbox Review – November 2013
Birchbox is one of the original beauty sample subscription boxes, and will always be one of my favorites to receive each month! This month’s theme is More Good, and Birchbox is donating a portion of the proceeds from the Birchbox Shop to No Kid Hungry, a nationwide organization that works to end childhood hunger.
I bought a lot of Snow Day boxes in the past few days for holiday gifts, so I’m thrilled to find out that a portion of those sales goes to this great cause!
The Subscription Box: Birchbox
The Cost: $10 a month (get one month free with an annual subscription)
The Products: Beauty and lifestyle samples selected by the Birchbox team.
Ships to: US, France, Spain and the UK
Check out all of my Birchbox reviews and the Beauty Subscription Box Directory!
Each box comes with a card detailing the items you received for that month. (Birchboxes include 4-5 samples plus sometimes a bonus Birchbox Find!)
Miss Jessie’s Leave In Condish – 1 oz Value $1.40
Ghirardelli Mint Cookie Chocolate Bar – Value $2 (Birchbox Find)
I like that this leave-in conditioner is free of parabens, phthalates and sulfates, plus I love abbreviations! I’m excited to give this a try, although I wish it had come in a resealable container so I can get a few uses out of it.
This Ghirardelli bar is a Birchbox Find. Birchbox Finds are mass market items that Birchbox includes as a bonus to your 4-5 samples. As long as they don’t replace a sample with a Birchbox Find, I love this perk!
Eyeko Black Magic Mascara – 4 ml Value $10.75
Dr Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips – 3 ml Value $3
This mascara is phthalate, sulfate and paraben free, plus it gets good reviews. We’ll see if it can dethrone the Tarte mascara from the October GlossyBox as my new favorite. I’m also excited I got to try the Dr. Lipp balm. It’s a super rich formula, and I’m very impressed with the results after applying it to my cuticles!
Vasanti Brighten Up! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator – 20 g Value $5.70
Joie Folle de Joie eau de parfum – 2 ml Value $1.70
FYI – if you don’t like getting perfume samples in your Birchboxes (I don’t), you can adjust your account settings to request no more than 6 perfume samples in a year. I wish you could request no perfume, but I’ll take this! Here’s a screenshot from my account settings page:
Verdict: The November 2013 Birchbox was definitely a great Birchbox for me! I paid $10 for this box and received about $25 worth of products. I’m happy with the value, and with the exception of the perfume, I will use every item and I already love the items I’ve sampled.
What did you get in your Birchbox this month?
Written by Liz Cadman
https://www.birchbox.com/shop/birchbox-1/november-2014/november-2013-bb56 – I received BB #56. This was my first one. I was a little disappointed in my contents. The only things I was pleased with were the Ghiradelli chocolate and the Eyeko liquid eyeliner. Hate nail polish, face creams, and perfumes. I will be giving them one more chance though! I would have loved to receive the Nipple Cream Lip Balm!
I got shampoo, conditioner, mascara and two opened empty chocolate wrappers. I cancelled my subscription and email the company. They gave me 100 BB points. Whoopie! I’m happy I cancelled.
So really, I’m the only one who got stuck with shampoo & conditioner…again? I also got the mascara and a Mox bath milk. Bet it smells great but I only take showers. The one good thing in my box, the pop corn chocolate, did not make up for the rest. Think I gotta cancel this one.
I got the shampoo and conditioner, too. I did NOT say I was interested in hair products at all, either.
Same with me! (Not to mention the highlighter pencil I got didn’t have a protective seal and it got all over everything)
No chocolate and no conditioner for me. I think I need to redo my profile. I do like my box this month, but would LOVE to try Miss Jessie’s.
I liked my box this month!!
Loving the Cleopatra Tocca hand cream (grapefruit and cucumber), WOW smells luxurious, and so do their other scents. They really know their fragrances. This was my favorite item in the box, and I favorited this item for future reference.
I also got the Vasanti papaya scrub and it’s nice it’s labeled 99% natural which is a plus, it’s similar to the Glossybox’s Sesha Renu exfoliating gel but I prefer the smell and texture of the Sesha one.
I also got Atelier Orange Sanguine Cologne – I do love fragrances as they are an essential beauty item, but this one wasn’t for me, smells like I just peeled an orange or eating orange candy.
I got Chella highlighter – hmm this product is raved about but I think it will just do as a quick concealer or cover dark spots.
I also got Supergoop – will probably just use it as spot concealer so still useful
and Chuao chocolate bar in honey, wish I got to try one of the more exotic flavors
I just got my box tonight, I received the Color Club nail polish in Dark’n Stormy. It’s a dark gray metallic color that seems to cover fairly well with one coat. The Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter which I will give to my daughter because I received one in my Blush.com monthly box. A super tiny, 1/4 of an ounce, Tiossan body cream. It has no definite smell, maybe like cold cream my mom used eons ago. A two ounce spray It’s a 10 miracle leave-in product. It doesn’t say what it’s supposed to do to your hair. I also received the Chocopod in popcorn, it was pretty gross. The chocolate was good, but the popcorn stuff made it awful. I would have loved the mascara and Vasanti BrightenUp.
I’m still going to keep my subscription for now. I’m enjoying trying out new products out.
How do you find out what you will be receiving?- I tried looking on my profile page, but I didn’t see it.
It’s under the BOX tab.
That’s where you must go through to post reviews and earn points, too.
Thank you! Now I can find out what is in my box before it arrives so that I can prep myself for the lousy contents. I will not be renewing my subscription to Birchbox.
I just received my box today with the following:
– Chella Ivory Highlighter pencil
– Color Club nail in polish in “Top Shelf”
– Tocca Crema de mano Cleopatra (hand cream)
– Vasanti Brighten Up! Face rejuvenator
And the “Lifestyle Extra”
– Chuao Honeycomb mini chocolate bar
I think I will use all the items, so this month was pretty good. I love the highlighter pencil.
OMG…the chocolate is just TO DIE FOR! (I think I need to buy these…and they’re only 50 calories!)
I got the same box as you Liz. I almost died when I saw the lip balm’s name… luckily the back of the bottle explained it.
I received the Black Magic mascara in my September box and I absolutely adored it! I had been using Tarte’s Lights, camera, flashes! Mascara and I think I’ll stick to Eyeko’s. I’d really like to know if you liked it or not.
BTW, I have not gotten my BirchBox but I peeked and I know I’m getting a gorgeous silver nail polish, a beauty balm and Juicy Couture’s Viva La Juicy Noir sample -which make me really happy because I’m curious about its smell- and Beauty Protector shampoo and conditioner that I’m not happy about but I’ll live with it. Thanks for the review, Liz!
Count me among the disapointed, I didn’t get a single featured product. Why do they show us this things then?
Mine’s coming with tea, not chocolate. BITTER. Another thing to put in husband’s/MIL’s pile.
I haven’t received my November box yet but I couldn’t resist looking at the sneak peek and I’m so excited! My box includes the Vasant Brighten Up!, Ahmad Teas, Tiossan Body Cream, Laura Mercier Lip Glace, and Eyeko Black Magic Mascara. I don’t think I could have asked for a better box (even though I really did want the Tocca hand cream).
How do you know what you you are getting in your Birchbox if you haven’t received it yet? How can you get a “sneak peek” at your specific box?
It’s under the BOX tab.
I get both women and men’s so I sneak peak both heheheh.
After 3 straight disappointing months I was thrilled with this box. The ten dollars was justified by the Color Club polish in Dark’N Stormy (a gorgeous metallic gray) and the Chella highlighter pencil alone. I also received the BeeKind body lotion and a sample of Paula’s Choice Resist BHA 9 for stubborn imperfections and of course the chocolate honeycomb sample. My only complaint is my Chella pencil cap came off during shipping and the tip had broke off and was all over the other samples. After cleaning everything up and trying to fix the pencil I realized I should have taken a pic to send in because in my September box I had a bottle leak open and destroy product that I contacted customer service about and now I dont want them to think I’m just trying to con them for free stuff. But I can’t really be mad at Birchbox because I know mail handlers aren’t the most gentle folk around.
Ugh this happens to me all the time with their stuff… I’ve contacted customer service like 2-3x in the past 9 months! They do always give me credit or replace my box. But it is annoying. I got a blush once that was totally shattered and a lipstick that was all broken… and one time i didnt even complain about it but they forgot to pack one of my items… I never have these issues with IPSY
I wasn’t happy with this month either 🙁 I was really disappointed to see that nothing from the sneak peak was in my box. Why did they send those ghiradelli bars when the sneak peak says every one will be getting other brand of chocolate…every one has tried ghiradella I I was excited to try the new bar.
I can’t stand Birchbox at times, It makes me so sick!!
I switched up my profile after being disappointed the last couple of months, and this month was still just OK – I’m getting the Stainiac, a Color Club polish, Tiossan body cream, DDF Amplifying Elixer, Folle de Joie perfume, and Ahmad tea. It’s strange that I’m receiving perfume and nail polish, since I didn’t select either for my preferred items. I really wanted the Vasanti scrub and Eyeko mascara…changing my profile again…
That’s so annoying because I did put nail polish as a preferred product and I didn’t get one 🙁 this is my first birchbox and I’m kinda disappointed. I got shampoo and conditioner, tea, perfume, and the highlighter pencil. I’ll give it a couple more months and see what happens.
I hope I got my birchbox soon. It seems like it shipped after everyone else’s!
I didn’t receive any of the items that you or anyone else posted. I’m really disappointed and cancelled my subscription. I don’t know why they differentiate so much.
I disliked almost every product in my box. I will be canceling after December. I received Color Club’s Top Shelf polish, Pop Beauty Aqua Lacquer,Tiossan Body Cream in Femme, Assorted Tea from Ahmad and Vasanti BrightenUp. The nail polish color is hideous. The lip gloss is too full of bad chemicals and the body cream smells like flowers, which I am not a fan of at all. The tea is nice but I was looking forward to the chocolate.
I have been more and more disappointed by Birchbox over the last few months. When I looked at all the products I have received, I have liked such a select few it does not seem worth the $10.
My box was far worse than yours! Novembers box was horribly disappointing!!! My subscription ends after the December and I will not be renewing my subscription after that.
In Novembers lousy box, I received Bee Kind Body Lotion which is thin and watery, Chella Highlighter Pencil (this is the only good product that I received. However, the insert card says that it can be used 10 different ways and to look on their website to find tutorials- I can not find them anywhere), WEI Purifying Mud Mask (one tiny little pod), Joie perfume (itty bitty sample-I hate getting perfume samples anyway), WEI pomegranate Buffing Beads (they should be embarrassed of the size of this sample), and Mighty Leaf Tea bags.
Had I received the items listed in the November Spoiler video I would have been very happy.
I’m sticking with Glossybox. So long Birchbox!
Ugh! I got the same box! I hated it. We need to realize that this blog author receives awesome boxes because of her blog, but still, I feel like I have been a subscriber with Birchbox almost since Day 1 back when I received a “special invitation” and my boxes have been going steadily downhill for the last six months at least. I already received the Chella highlighter in a past Ipsy Glam Bag and while it’s a cool product, I really don’t use it much. I prefer other highlighters. I understand it’s only $10/month and I’m not complaining about the product value, I just don’t understand how many times I need to switch up my beauty profile in order for me to receive items I will actually ENJOY. I see all these women who get wonderful Birchboxes and I am always stuck with crappy ones. Oh! And the biggest F-You this month was that they forgot to add one of the WEI products. I might call up and let them know but I feel like I shouldn’t even bother since it’s just a small sample packet of something I’m going to use once and I’ll most likely never buy the full size product. I know anyone else in my position would have unsubscribed at this point but I keep holding out, hoping the next month will be better. -_-
try youtube, i found a video that shows you ten different ways to use that highlighter pencil. i’m glad i found it otherwise i would have had no clue what to do with it.
We need to start some sort of group where we can trade birchbox items if we have something we don’t like. I would have loved to get the nail polish!
Ohhhh….I love that Vasanti scrub! Received it from one of these boxes and used it this summer. A little goes a long way and it really does brighten. I would consider buying a full size but am trying to get through my mountain of other scrub samples 😉
Mmm Mint Cookie sounds yummy 🙂 I’m rather curious about Eyeko products too.
My box was really different. I got the Chella pencil (already had one from ipsy but I use it so much that I’m happy to have 2 now), Vasanti BrightenUp, Tocca handcream (I really wanted this) in Cleopatra, Color Club Nail Polish in Top Shelf (Champagne color)and a Chuao Chocopod in Orange/Dark Chocolate which I also enjoyed getting as I’m thinking about getting a multi-pack for stocking stuffers but wanted to try them first.
Overall I was really happy with my box this time 🙂 I’m excited to see what new stuff they have in December.
I got the same box as Rena 🙂
My chocolate was melted, but I live in Phoenix so that’s how it goes. I love grapefruit sent so the lotion was a win. And bonus, no foil packs. All my samples were delux or full size. I had two bad boxes but this one was great.
I loved my Birchbox this month! My all-time favorite, I feel like they are getting to know me better every month 🙂
I hope that happens with mine! This was my first one and I was kinda disappointed. I got tea, shampoo and conditioner, perfume, and the Chella highlighter stick.