Birchbox Review – February 2015

I’ve been a Birchbox subscriber for a year and a half. This February was a customer service disaster. I requested the Rent The Runway box, had it confirmed, and then it was lost somewhere in their warehouse. End result, I got the standard box, without my permission, one month later. I can’t begin to describe how disappointed I was when instead of the lovely promised body wash….I got soap. Eye make up remover instead of eyeliner. Conditioner instead of dry shampoo. To make matters worse, they failed to deliver my Birchbox plus items. They had two replacement orders to get it right and failed. I’m considering cancelling my subscription and am looking for a replacement beauty subscription.

This was my first box, and they are really not impressing me so far. My first box came in a plain brown box instead of the pretty red box ( I know that is a small detail but I was disappointed to see this after seeing so many of the boxes on line.) As far as what I got, I saw other people this month were getting beauty blenders and benefit mascara… the best thing I received was a small sample of leave in conditioner. I am not sure that it even really works, but it smells good. The other items were mostly unmemorable, except the itty bitty bit of CC cream that i am not even sure is enough for one application. Oh well, they have about 2 more months to pull me in. I have a lot of subscriptions and was on the fence about this one, and am even more so now that I have received the first box.

This month was pretty good for me. I didn’t pick any of the choices ahead of time because I received this subscription as a gift for Christmas and just got the email sign in information after the February boxes were already sent out – but I still really like what I got.

My favorite is the full-sized Eyeko eyeliner pen. I also got the eye makeup remover sample, which I’m happy about because I’m almost out of my current bottle. I’m also excited to try the Klorane dry shampoo sample and the Obliphica Intensive Hair Serum sample. My only wish is that the Obliphica contained an ingredient list, because there are some ingredients I don’t like to use.

The only thing I didn’t like seeing in my box at first was the Coola SPF/matte face tint, but since others are raving about it here I’m interested in trying it.

I also was very disappointed with my February Birchbox (my daughter got me a 6 month subscription for Christmas). One sample was the Rita Hazan Root Concealer for Gray Coverage; the color sent to me was Dark Brown/Black (my hair color is Medium Brown; hair color is one of the questions asked when you set up your personalization). I was curious about the color choices for this product, so I went online to Birchbox and read the reviews; not only is there no color choice for this product that comes close to Medium Brown, but there were several comments from other women who have Medium Brown hair color who questioned why they were sent a sample of this product when no color is offered that comes close to Medium Brown.
Another product sample included in my February Birchbox was COOLA Face SPF 30 Unscented Matte Tint. Before opening the tube, I happened to notice on the crimp this product comes in that the expiration date was December, 2014!!! – Birchbox sent me an expired product!
I was thinking about getting my daughter a subscription to Birchbox for her birthday in June; now, I’m thinking, maybe not!

This was my first and last month. I tried emailing,got no response. I actually liked the perfume sample and the hair stuff. I was very disappointed by the makeup samples. They were high quality…but the colors!!! A blue eyeliner and an orange lip stain. I would have loved them in ANY other (perhaps more normal) colors. Moving on to trying ipsy.

This was my first birchbox and i was so disappointed that I cancelled getting any more.
I got:
1. Hand Cream. I’m meh on this. It’s hand cream.
2. Nice quality lip stain but in a god awful shade of ORANGE.
3. Nice quality eyeliner in BLUE.
4. A perfume sample I liked.
5. A leave in conditioning spray I liked.

So…yeah. I feel like the colors they picked for me were beyond tacky. :/

Just got a gift subscription and I got nothing like what everyone else got. I got a perfume sample, tea, teeny cc with less then a pea size sample in it, leave in conditioner, and the Cynthia Rowley tint. I have to say this was a bad start for my first birchbox.

I finally received my box today!! I’m even more disappointed with it in person. I got the Essentiel Elements lotion, I hate the smell of it, I don’t like rose scented stuff. The Parlor sea salt spray, which does nothing for my curly, frizzy hair, and the Supergoop CC Cream I was most excited about, the light to medium shade is too dark for my fair skin, plus the sample is sooooo small. The Beekind conditioner I’m really excited about, but again small sample size and no shampoo to go with it. I picked the Laura Geller mascara, but haven’t tried it yet. This month was a loss for me 🙁

I feel like I got a totally different box than everyone. But I do love it! I got full size eyeko skinny liquid eyeliner in black, Coola face spf 30 unscented matte tint, amika nourishing hair mask, Harvey Prince Sincerely perfume sample, and Marcelle gentle eye makeup remover. I love everything but the perfume. I can NOT wear any perfumes, they give me an instant headache. But I love love love that tinted matte spf!! Best thing ever. No greasy gross feeling whatsoever. Love the eyeliner, and will definitely use the other two items. So I’m happy with my box this month!

I didn’t opt for anything but I got a full size eyeko liquid eyeliner in black. AWESOME.

This was my first Birchbox month in a LONG time. I was actually really surprised at how much I liked it.

Cynthia Rowley Beauty Cream Lip Satin <– a nice rose/red color.

Essentiel (yes, spelled like that) Elements wake Up Rosemary Body Lotion <– smells like lavendar oil.

Harvey Prince Petaly Noir <– this was SO strong. Awful, and I love Harvey Prince!

Benefit Roller Lash <– amazing! I really like it.

Dr. Scheller Argan Oil Hand Care <– a big sample. I really like it a lot! I have super sensitive skin and it's lovely. I actually added it to my favorites, which means it's super special.

My box was completely different, but it was almost the exact same box I received last winter. The exact same perfume sample, a hair heat protectant product, hand lotion and an eye liner pencil. The only thing that was different was a lip sample. I had cancelled my subscription for a bit, and now my renewed one isn’t off to a good start.

I still haven’t received my box yet. It seems like once they send it out it takes over 2 weeks for me to receive mine. Is anyone having the same problem? I live in Washington.

I got the curated box for my 1st birchbox, and my 2nd birchbox account I’m getting the benefit mascara!!! But you can walk into any Sephora or Ulta & they will give you that mascara sample, for those who aren’t getting it.

First time I just picked a sample and let BB pick my other samples in months, I’ve been getting the curated boxes. Super disappointed, I don’t know how everyone else gets lipgloss all the time from BB, I love it and never get it. I’m getting Supergoop CC cream, Rosemary body lotion (I hate getting lotions or anything rose scented), the Parlor sea salt spray (my hair is already thick and curly), and Beekind conditioner. I hate getting lotions and don’t use the sea salt spray at all, my hair is already really textured.

I’m getting a juice beauty face wash, the marcelle eye makeup remover (which I chose), an eyeko liquid eyeliner, bee kind body lotion, and the juicy couture perfume. I HATE perfume samples and every juicy couture sample I’ve been sent reeks. I leave terrible reviews. I really wish they had a no perfume option. I always feel cheated. It goes right in the trash. Ugh. Sometimes I wonder how the logorithm works to decide who gets what because it seems like more often than not other people get the things I really want. Like the beauty blender. Dang it!

I just received my 2nd box. It was missing the eyeliner. I notified them on their site. I received a response in less thn an hour with apologies and a promise to send out a replacement. 🙂

Now I have a question. I’ve searched their FAQs but don’t see anything there. Lisa and others mention picking out their boxes or products in their boxes. How do I do this?

Thanks!

I got a Birchbox subscription as a gift for my sister at Christmas and she is very disappointed in it. She doesn’t have a computer at home so she has to wait until a break at the office to sign into the Birchbox site. She is never able to opt for a pre-curated box or pick an item for her box because they are always out. The samples that she has received so far are very tiny. I will not be renewing that subscription for her.

I can’t wait to get mine, but I live in MA so the snow’s made it later than normal – it won’t arrive until the end of the week. I love subscription boxes, but I’m so impatient haha.

I got this exact box, and I kind of felt like you, not crazy excited, but I find I’m liking the face perfector 🙂

I recently resubscribed to Birchbox and I love the fact that you can at least jump in and choose your own box occasionally – when I make it in time. (I’m always pretty happy with Ipsy’s surprises, but BB’s, not so much sometimes.) I picked the Rent the Runway-themed box this month and was really happy with everything in it.

I love to read your reviews here though to see what other people are getting in their boxes. I’m happy to see that Paula’s Choice is a featured brand. Her line has done wonders for my skin – I’ve been using just about everything in her Resist line (I’m 43) for about a year and I own this exfoliant as well. I always get questions about what skin care products I use. Can’t rave about her enough — she also has a great sister website with unbiased reviews about cosmetics and skin care products – Beautypedia, like a Consumer Reports for beauty – and it’s awesome if you want the truth behind a product’s ingredients and marketing hype. I wasted so much money in the past buying stuff that turned out to be meh before I found it. (And speaking of marketing hype, I swear I’m not a PR shill for her. Heck, I should be though.)

OK, but yeah, now I totally want to try that Rollerlash mascara.

I’m getting a Number 4 hair protector spray, which apparently is a good detangler so that will go to my daughters. A lime green eye pencil (I can’t imagine what one would do with that, is it eve swappable?), Cynthia Rowley lip stain (always glad to get those type of products), Gilchrist & Soames body lotion (sort of blah about that) and a Harvey Prince Hello perfume. I love perfume samples, so that excites me.

What would be ideal is if I could find someone who likes colored pencils but dislikes perfume – then we could save a bunch of each and trade.

In the year and a half I’ve been subscribed to BB I’ve had two boxes with leaky things – and BB immediately sent out two fresh/full boxes. I say this part just so some subscribers know that if you have a problem – tell them! They are great IMO at handling things.

I recently ordered through the ACE sale they were having and when I received my box I had 2 extra freebie packets (both tea – probably about 10-12 packets in total, which is great because I love tea, which BB knows based on my purchases). I really appreciated the extra freebies, as my purchase was all with points and only about $18. I emailed them to thank them for always having amazing customer service and doing nice things randomly (and having a great point system!) and they gave me 100 points for being a happy customer!

I think most people are happy with them, and I mean this comment not as a brag, but as a “positive review experience” of them because I wanted to do something in return for how nice they’ve been to me – and a good comment on a popular blog sounded appropriate!

I also got the Rent the Runway box and it is probably one if my favorite boxes , received it on Monday Feb 9th !!

i’m really really disappointed in my box. after many emails to birchbox to try to get the guest curated box i didnt get it. so annoying their customer service with the emails (lack of emails!) sucks ! i emailed my selection 3x and still didnt get it. I’m getting an ugly lime green eyeliner, eye makeup remover, lip balm, hair mask, and shampoo. : ( at least no perfume ! off to try to find out if the benefit balm is GF.