Birchbox Review – June 2014
Birchbox is one of the original beauty sampling subscription boxes, and I think it will always be one of my favorites. Sometimes the samples are smaller than I would like, but I’ve discovered a ton of my favorite beauty brands thanks to Birchbox, and they have one of the best reward systems. (For every item in your box you review, you get 10 points ($1) to spend in the Birchbox shop).
This month’s theme is Away We Go – travel-ready products for summer adventures!
The Subscription Box: Birchbox
The Cost: $10 a month (get one month free and $10 to spend in the shop 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 included and some tips on how to use them.
Cynthia Rowley Beauty Creamy Lip Stain in Sugar – 2.25 g Value $9
Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream – .25 oz Value $3.25
I really like the shade of this lip stain – it is just slightly darker than my natural lip color – perfect for easy summer makeup. And I’m excited to finally try the cult classic Egyptian Magic cream!
Antica Farmacista Bergamot & Ocean Aria Body Wash – 1 oz Value $2.50
Miss Jessie’s MultiCultural Curls – 1 oz Value $2
Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Starter Kit – 1 oz + 1 Cloth – Value $9.50
I love the packaging of this little set and the product too! I’ve tried the cleaner before and really like it, so I’m happy to have another one, and my mom swears by Liz Earle moisturizer, so I may have to try that too!
Verdict: I am very happy with my Birchbox this month. I paid a little less than $10 for this box (annual subscription) and I received about $26 worth of items, plus I’ll get $5 to spend in the Birchbox shop once I review my items (This money stacks, so you can save all your points and get items completely free). I’m also really happy that I didn’t get any perfume or tiny samples this month!
What did you get in your June Birchbox?
Written by Liz Cadman
My sister and I both subscribed on the last day of the bonus points. We received Junes’ box today and will be receiving July’s box about a week after everyone else. Then August it will be regular shipping.
1. Davine’s Love trio.
2. Egyptian Magic Cream – excited about this.
3. Folle de Joie Eau de Parfum
4. LAQA 7 Co Sheer Lip Lube Pencil
5. Suki Exfoliate foaming cleanser
It is so weird to me that birchbox curates stuff different for UK than they do us. Wandered to a UK review site, and their june box had a world cup theme. Which is quite different than our travel box. I just found this kind of interesting. I liked my US box, but while I was looking at the UK box I realized I liked that one too. And it seems that the UK boxes get drawstring bags regularly with theirs (something similar to ipsy, but not a makeup bag) The differences are kind of interesting
Hi Kayla,
I just googled the uk boxes.. I like the pouch they receive with each box. They also seem to get bigger samples/ more full size items. They got the beauty blender in their June box. I wish our boxes were more like that. I love birchbox for their point system more than the samples themselves. But the uk boxes look awesome!!
Am I the only one who hasn’t heard about the Egyptian Magic Cream? I got it in my box yesterday and realized I know nothing about it. Is it a hand cream?
It’s a moisturizer for hands and body. It has the consistency and texture more like vaseline. But it doesn’t leave the ooey gooey feeling on your hands like vaseline. It works great.
Can someone tell me how to review the items in your box to get points? I have not been able to figure it out.
I received the Davines Love set, Joie, LAQA Lip lube, supergoop and BrightenUP!
The bottle of shampoo was broken (email sent to BB). It leaked all over everything. Sad.
Loved the Joie and lip lube and am looking forward to using the BrightenUP.
What’s odd is the fact that when I look at my account it doesn’t show the June box and there is a comment stating, “Sent extra box, sorry.” They also added 100 points. The only thing that shows in billing history is my May box (first box) for $5.
Am I missing something here?
Thanks!
Unfortunately, there is no necklace. Got that in an email. Instead it’s $20 off a full size item or subscription. Does not equate to free gift so I’m disappointed.
I know, me too :(.
I called twice about the necklace. Was told it was mailed out and should be receiving it any day. Then I was told that they haven’t left the warehouse and are being prepared for shipping days later 🙁 does anyone remember the aprox value of the necklace?
Hi,
This is my 2nd BB.
My items were different than yours. I’m happy with mine with the exception of the perfume samples. Not a huge fan of those.
1. Coastal Scents revealed 2 eyeshadow palette.
2. Egyptian Magic
3. Harvey Prince hello perfume
4. LAQA & Co sheet lip lube pencil.
5. Vasanti Cosmetics brightenup
I had also won the contest they had so I received “they’re real! Push-up liner. So that arrived with my box. I can’t wait to try it!
Does anyone know how many box variations BB has a month?
I received a different box from most of you, but I’m really happy with it!
1) Antica Farmcista bergamot and ocean aria body wash (I love the scent),
2) Cynthia Rowley Creamy Lip Stain Valentine, (dark pink) but should be ok and I love Cynthia’s lip stains),
3) Evologie Cleanser, non-drying
4) Phytolisse Finishing Serum
5)Aloe Source Vitamin C antioxidant Creme
They are all deluxe, even travel-sized, so I am very happy! I’m not familiar with Egyptian Magic or French Laundry perfume; I’ll have to watch for them!
That does sound like a good box. I tried an Evologie product once (not the cleanser) and it was very nice. Love dark lip stains, too.
I got the same box as sneaky burrito, and am happy with it. What I am not happy with, as I renewed a one year subscription and used the kate spade necklace code(which was accepted) instead of the mobile 20%.
My birchbox came without a necklace, I was informed that it would be shipped separately and I would receive it within 4 weeks of placing my order (May 8th). It has been 6 weeks now. Has anyone else received the necklace?
I am ok with this box. I like yours better and my sister’s is I think better too. She received hers several days earlier than me (even though we ship it to the same address). She received the Liz Earl cleanser set (which I love and already have a full size, plus a travel size from another order), the LAQA & Co Lip Lube in a pink color, and a Davines shampoo in Love with two foil packets for the conditioner and an Oi treatment. She also got a sample of the Hello Harvey Prince perfume. She got some other stuff but I don’t remember – I thought her box was awesome.
I received the following:
1. Davines Love Shampoo
2. Foil packet of the conditioner
3. Foil packet of the Oi Treatment
4. A sample of the Egyptian Magic
5. A tiny sample of Caudalie Anti-aging Serum
6. Harvey Prince Perfume Sample
7. A full size (I think its full size) Perfection Eye Cream and Concealer by Eleven Skin
I would have liked an eye liner or the lip stain, but I think this is not so bad.
I will see how this eye cream works. The perfume smells good, but I don’t like perfume samples. Not sure if I need to change my preference settings, but this isn’t too bad.
The settings don’t really mean anything – I get 3-4 nail polishes a year even though I have never had nail polishes checked in my settings, and Birchbox customer services has said it’s more of a “loose guideline” – they don’t check everyone’s specific settings.
Whereas I’ve never gotten nailpolish from Birchbox and I DO have the box checked. Meanwhile, I unchecked the hair products box (because they had sent me some things I would never use) but they still send me hair products every month (although they’ve gotten better). I think the only thing they pay attention to is the perfume setting because I really do only get those about every other box.
I have always loved Birchbox because of the variety, quality of the products, and the points system. I second the opinion that their customer service is great! I have been a subscriber since 2012 and I loved this box! I received:
Benefit Cosmetics They’re real mascara – have used this before and loved it
Caudalie polyphenol c15 anti wrinkle defense serum
Davines hair product trio – was able to complete 3 separate reviews. The shampoo is a great size but the other 2 are foil packets
Perlier Shea almond scent- this smells awesome! Similar to locitanne almond sented products
Catherine Malandrino- smells good but the full size is really expensive
I’m happy overall.
I was wondering if anyone else has had problems with shipping/receiving their birchbox in a timely manner. This is the second month that it has taken nearly 2 weeks to get to me (I live on the East Coast) after I received an e-mail that says it’s been shipped. I just checked the tracking and they said it’s being sent to a forwarding address (there is no forwarding address, my address hasn’t changed). I like birchbox, but am frustrated by this. Just wondering if I’m the only one experiencing shipping issues.
If you contact them about it I am sure they will fix it. I have had nothing but amazing customer service from them. My first box never showed up and I ended up with 100 birch points ($10.00) and a free box. They also had a mix up and my products arrived a week or two late and they reimbursed me and gave me another 100 birch points. 🙂 Never hurts to try!
I’m in CT and I got mine two days ago. I’d contact customer service and ask them what the issue is.
I did contact Customer service. The first two months were great. Prompt shipping, but May & June have been crazy. Really frustrated.
My last two months boxes have had nothing but trouble, last month I had to call 3X and email twice before I ever got my box and add on.. This month I did not order the add on, but my box just got here today, I never got an email to tell me it was shipping, and when I contacted customer service ( over a week and a half ago). they told me it was an IT error but my box was in the mail.. I love BB but they are starting to frustrate me.
I noticed that they use a different shipping service every month. The service they used in March & April was great. The service they used in May & June has been awful. Their customer service is great. They’re sending me a new box free of charge. The crazy thing is I finally got the original one they sent yesterday
I had two months where it actually shipped late … but I got a notice in my email saying it would be late. You might want to just contact Birchbox to see what the deal is. Sorry to hear that you’re having some difficulties.
My box was very late last month. Birchbox sent me an email letting me know that it was shipping late and gave me 100 points to make up for it!
I received the Liz Earl, Egyption Magic, Cynthia Rowly Eyleiner, Nexxus 3-pack, and English Laundry Perfume. The Liz Earl is something I’ve been wanting to try and I love the scent of the English Laundry. The Egyptian Magic is something I wish I had back in January. The black eyeliner will get used eventually, and I learned that shampoo primer is a bad idea for my hair. Overall, I’m happy with this box.
I was sceptical when I first subscribed to BirchBox because of the tiny samples, and often I see samples that I’ve received before directly from the manufacturer (like your Miss Jesse’s) but I’ve found that it’s totally worth it if you review the products. I paid $8.25 for this box with a promo code for an annual sub, and I received $7 back in points that I’ll use on my next purchase. (Which makes my box cost $1.25!) In a few months, I’ll have enough points to score a full-size bottle of English Laundry!
My favorite box yet! I don’t know if I’ll love everything, but aside from the perfume they are all products that I’m interested in.
Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator
Folle de Joie eau de parfum
Egyptian Magic Skin Cream
Cynthia Rowley Beauty Eyeliner in silver
Davines OI / All in One Milk
Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo
Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner
I’m getting the same box as you and I’m excited to try everything out!
The only product in my box that meant anything to me is the COOLA Tinted Matte SPF 30 for Face. I had to cash in my meager points and get a full size! The Folle de Joie perfume sample smelled okay, but the Number 4 shampoo/conditioner smelled like you were slowly suffocating on flowers. I wish I had more stuff to trade for more of that Coola though!
I’d love to trade the Coola – what’ve you got?
I was supposed to get this same box but Birchbox made a mistake and sent me TWO of the Liz Earle cleanser/cloth sets. They left out the Miss Jessie’s and lip gloss and I was ok with this until seeing the lip gloss color and now I’m kinda bummed cause it looks awesome. I could care less about the hair stuff as I have stick straight hair and this would not have worked for me at all anyway.
You should email them, Holly! They are usually really good about sending replacement items if you don’t get the right thing/your product is damaged.
They sent me a product in this month’s box that I got last month, and they pointed out the problem to me before I had even received this box. They gave me 100 extra points at the store. If they do not give you a whole new box, you might at least get lots of points. Sweet deal for me, because it’s a product I like!
I somehow ended up with two boxes – one was connected to the email they sent me with the tracking number, and the other arrived the next day. I’m not complaining though – I absolutely LOVED my box and am more than thrilled to have duplicate items.
-Number 4™ Hydrating Shampoo
-Number 4™ Hydrating Conditioner
-COOLA Tinted Matte SPF 30 for Face (LOVE)
-Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator (LOVE)
-Folle de Joie eau de parfum
-Gilchrist & Soames London Collection Body Lotion
I got the Egyptian Magic, the Catherine Malandrino Perfume, The Davines hair trio, a LAQA & Co Lip Lube, and the serum featured in the spoiler video. I got three things in the video! That’s never happened to me before. Usually I get one, if any. The Davines hair trio counted as three separate reviews too, so this is the second month in a row I was able to review 7 items. And I didn’t even hate the perfume. Another first for me. I was especially pleased with my box this month. Even though the Davines hair stuff made my hair look like frizzy garbage. I don’t know who the curly hair stuff works for, but the Davines, Deva Curl, and Miss Jessie’s were both a bust for me.
We got the same box this month! Which I’m happy to see because mine hasn’t arrived yet, it is taking forever. I “added” the scarf and Whish CC Cream, so I’m wondering if the bigger box is taking longer? But thank you for this review, now I’m looking forward to finally getting it even more!
Mine was totally different this month. No “lifestyle extras” but 7 things I could review:
Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator
Gilchrist & Soames London Collection Body Lotion
Davines OI / All in One Milk
Coastal Scents® Revealed 2 Palette Set
Catherine Malandrino Style de Paris – 3.4 oz
Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo
Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner
All-in-all, I’m happy with it. I will be able to use everything and the perfume isn’t bad. I did go back in and change my profile to say I didn’t want hair products, though. They used to send me all kinds of hair products I’d never use (dry conditioner, sea salt spray). Since I did that, I’m still getting hair products, but they’re more suitable for me (shampoo, conditioner, leave-in treatments, etc.). Only two things were foil packets. The eyeshadow (4 colors) was tiny but I don’t use eyeshadow that often so it’s not a big deal.
I didn’t actually get 3.4 oz of perfume. I got a sample size. (I just copied the list from my Birchbox account page and pasted without checking too closely…)
Your box is better than mine I have gotten perfume samples in every box since I subed even though all perfume is off my profile I’m highly sensitive and can only wear one brand of perfume that doesn’t give me a headache I got the jasmine wipes number 4 prep and protect leave in conditioner joie perfume sample supergoop SPF 30( I don’t wear anything this high in spf) and coastal scents revealed 2 palette sampler which is 4 colors and its the only thing I really like at all I would have loved to try the hand cream and the Liz Earle and I’m still waiting to get on the swap board
My sister got the exact same box as you – I love the Liz Earle set. I got the Cynthia Rowley lip stain in a bright pink color, that I don’t like as much. Also got Gilcrist & Soames lotion which I’ve been wanting to try, fragrance sample (my first in 6 months so I guess it’s okay), a full package of fresh feet wipes (10 wipes), and a Full Size Mascara (Malle $20)! I’ve never gotten a full size item from bbox before so I was shocked and I’m really happy about it
Wow – 2 full sized items in one Birchbox! I think that’s like hitting the subscription box jackpot! 🙂
WOW! What a great box. That magic hand cream is amazing. I tried a foil sample of it, and it went on like a cream, yet felt like an oil. This box makes me wish I would have subscribed to birchbox. I like everything in this box….Now time to be looking for the stuff on the swap board 🙂