Birchbox Vs Ipsy – June 2014
This is the sixth post in the Birchbox vs Ipsy series!
FYI – I pay for both of these subscriptions, and as a regular customer I get one of many variations available each month. So while one month alone might not be enough info to make a decision, looking at the results over several months should give you a good picture of what to expect with each box.
Birchbox June 2014 (Check out the full Birchbox review)
Number of items: 5
Full size items: 0
Deluxe size items: 2
Brands featured: Liz Earle, Cynthia Rowley, Egyptian Magic, Miss Jessie’s, Antica Farmacista
Categories featured: Haircare (1), Skincare (2) Body wash (1) Makeup (1)
Total Value: $26
Ipsy June 2014 (Check out the full Ipsy review)
Number of items: 5
Full size items: 3
Deluxe size items: 1
Brands featured: NYX, Be A Bombshell Cosmetics, Nicka K, Marc Anthony, Laneige
Categories featured: Makeup (4) Haircare (1)
Total Value: $30
Verdict: Birchbox is my pick for this month. I like all the brands they included, and the Liz Earle and Egyptian Magic sample sizes are great. Also, from reading the comments on my Ipsy review, it sounds like a lot of the mascara sent out may not be safe to use? I ended up throwing mine out before trying it, so that took away form the value of the bag for me.
Which was your favorite box this month – Birchbox or Ipsy? Any new favorite product discoveries?
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Written by Liz Cadman
My step mom (30) and I (15) love reading all your posts! We were stuck on which to subscribe to until reading your reviews and decided that she would go with Ipsy and I would go with Birchbox and we could compare! Hope you keep posting!
Ipsy wins everytime
I find I ALWAYS choose Birchbox over Ipsy. I have bought so many products that I have tried in my BB’s, –that new product I never knew I could not live without. Not every month has that new– must have –product, but that is part of the program and the fun. I have never found one must have product from Ipsy so far, but still hopeful. That being said, I would buy any product I found from an Ipsy bag from BB anyway! BB’s customer service is awesome and you cannot find the points program and promo codes anywhere. Additionally, I am a tad soured w/ Ipsy for banning me from posting on their FB page. Oddly after posting an honest, but truthful, yet negative post on their page, I suddenly became unable to post, like, reply or enter a contest. Their customer service assured me it was a FB issue, not Ipsy. I checked my settings and contacted FB, who said it wasn’t a FB issue. Months later, I still cannot participate on Ipsy’s FB page, yet have no problem posting on any other FB page. I do have have a problem with that, but they have a right to control their page, as well as I have a right to post. It is sad for them that they cannot accept that. I have continued with the subscription for now, but if I don’t find a must have product soon, I am going to look for a new box to replace Ipsy. For all these reasons, I see myself being with BB forever!
For me it was Birchbox. I got the same face cleanser and Egyptian Magic cream as well as a hair care set, perfume sample and mini eyeliner. This month was my first Ipsy and I wasn’t thrilled, I already had the lipgloss, the spray won’t work in my hair and that mascara, oh man! Plus I did not love the bag. I can’t wait to see what next month brings though!
I’m going with Ipsy. I didn’t get the same BB as you and I was pretty disappointed in it this month. Ipsy didn’t really knock my socks off either, but I do like the hawaiian bag.
I really liked my BB this month. I got two samples for products that I actually wanted to try w/ the Egyptian Magic cream and the Liz Earle cloth. I also think BB’s customer service is amazing – I have never had any problems with getting anything replaced and they have always replied super quickly.
While the mascara from Ipsy did smell strong…i wore with no problems and I actually really like the formula. The lip butter was also excellent.
Ipsy’s weekly “Ipsy Me” event is BaB stuff. I wonder how many takers they’ll get after the mascara fiasco…
ipsy continues to outweigh birchbox for me. i thought it would be the other way around, originally.
This is me exactly!
I value full-size/deluxe products way more over samples.
Ipsy was a winner this month. Even if you exclude the mascara (mine was fine, but let’s just exclude it), I like it far more than BB. I loved the green liner & the NYX was a great color. I got a Dermatologic DD cream which fit my skin color perfectly & I wore it to the pool all weekend with no issues. The salt spray does not work for my hair type but I love the smell so I spritzed a little bit on to act as my “hairspray”. And I love everything tropical so even the bag was a win (which more times than most is just a perk). Ipsy wins for me month after month.
“Ipsy wins for me month after month” – totally agree 🙂
I canceled both. Ipsy sent me another stank product plus that horrible Realtree perfume that smells like some 70s Avon stuff. Birchbox is okay except that I’m tired of hoarding small samples for the sake of store points, so I’m on hiatus with them as well.
First time I picked Birchbox. But I went back through my Ipsy Glam Rooms and realized how many products I hadn’t used yet. Plus I got the stinky mascara (although apparently a replacement product is on the way). I decided to cancel Ipsy. BB, meanwhile, has given me 7 products each of the last two months. Some were foil packets, sure, but they’ve stepped it up lately.
You contacted them about the mascara and they’re sending you something else? That’s good to know! Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, their reply made it sound like they were making some big exception for me, but I’ve seen posts of their replies to other people here (on the Ipsy review for this month) and elsewhere (I think the makeup talk forums) and it looks like they are sending a lot of replacement products. No idea what it’ll be (hope it’s not more mascara, I’m swimming in that at the moment) except that it’ll be BaB something or other.
I made sure to mention the lot number and the smell in my message to them. It took a couple of days for them to get back to me.
I also got an email that made it sound like this was an exception they were making for me, since Be a Bombshell has declared the mascaras safe to use. I asked for a replacement from a different brand, but the email indicated it would be another Be a Bombshell product. I haven’t gotten a tracking number for the replacement yet. As much as I like my Ipsy bag most months, even more than Birchbox, this is two times I’ve gotten potentially unsafe products from Ipsy. They need to step up their quality control, or they’re going to lose me as a customer. Birchbox has much more pleasant customer support, too.
I’m getting a replacement product too…they also made it sound like a big exception, but it would be pretty absurd if that wasn’t standard operating procedure.
My ipsy value was around $40. I got the same box as you, except instead of the Laneige product, I got a cleansing balm that smells like orange cream-cicle! Its wonderful. The smell of the mascara didnt bother me, but it didnt anything for my lashes. Ipsy wins for me this month.
My Birchbox value this month was around $19. Even though the value is so low, its one of my best looking birchbox’s yet.
Like you, I didn’t really notice the smell of the mascara but it was so worthless on my lashes. It was like wearing nothing. Very low quality. I really enjoyed my BB too.
I loved my IPSY bag this month. Got NYX (Eclair), Realtree, Carol’s Daughter, Nicka K (blue), and OFRA. I love the first two products, really like the middle two, and gave the last to a friend.
I got all the same products and totally agree. Ipsy was the winner for me! My BB was pretty boring – Gilchrist body lotion, No4 shampoo, another Folle de Joie…
I hope I don’t get any more Folle de Joie samples. That fragrance just does not work with my body chemistry. (I got Catherine Maldonado (sp?) this month and I like that one fairly well but the full size is too expensive.)
That’s how I felt about my Birchbox this month: boring. All of the products are nice, and I have 7 things to review for points, but it’s all kind of bland: three hair products, Gilchrist body lotion (which I also got last month… Everyone seems to be getting the Folle de Joie samples except for me, and I’m really curious about that perfume now!