Birchbox Upgraded Beta Box Review – April 2015

I received my boxes today (10-11 days after they shipped); Mad Men CA box and I decided to get a new account for the regular box . My regular box has the Beaver products and they are getting tossed. I asked them why I was receiving hair and makeup products in this new box when they aren’t checked and they offered me the chance to try out their beta product choices limiting them to 4 a year. Haven’t seen positive things about this, hope it works out.

I also received both the Jouer tint and Pop Beauty palette and the palette is missing the small brush. I’m not a fan of the tint on my lips, but love the hint of color it gives on my cheeks. The only item I’m really happy to receive is the Paula’s Choice Vitamin C Spot Treatment. I had signed up for the upgraded box and my account reflected it, but they never charged me for it and I did not receive the 2 items. I had them cancel it as I realize I don’t need more makeup or nail items.

I did ask them since I live in CA and now pay tax if that means my boxes will be shipped from CA and they said:

“Thanks for reaching out and I am so sorry for any confusion!

That is definitely an option and something that we may be working towards in the future. At this time, we are still shipping out of our warehouse in Tennessee, but we do have other recent new business operations in California.

If you have any other questions or concerns from here, please don’t hesitate to reply to this email and I’d be happy to help!

Have a great day!”

If I knew that this box came with Lord & Berry Back Mascara I would have order it! Darnn!!

I received my box on the 15th. I’m not excited about it. The Beaver products, the Jane Iredale PYS which stung, LA Fresh Body soothers and Harvey Prince Hello body butter. My sister gave me her Harvey Prince Hello shower gel 🙂

I’m on the fence with this. I received the exact box that Liz did. My initial reaction is $20 is pricey for nail poilsh and mascara. But I love that the nail polish is 5-free and the blue color is very pretty. And I needed to buy a new mascara so the timing worked out. I plan to give it another month to make my decision.

I received the same exact box but, instead of the eyeshadow I got the Jane Lip and cheek which was choice. Also my nail polish was pink which I loved. This nail polish is so big, and the container is adorable, the color is gorgeous! I really loved this box, I know some didn’t but I love mascara and trying new ones! The only thing that upset me was the way it was shown was that we was getting The Lord and Berry set which included an eyeliner too, did anyone else think this? I’m still really happy with it and will continue it! Great value I think!

You could just take those $20 and pick what you want in the Birchbox store.

I wonder if the upgraded selection will be successful. BoxyCharm is a dollar more than the upgrade cost.

I think I’ll stick with the regular birchbox. I’m usually happy with what I receive unfortunately the upgrade box isn’t appealing to me.

I’m glad I didn’t upgrade. I had a feeling that full-size items were going to be mascara and/or nail polish and it turned out to be both! I’m completely over getting nail polishes and mascara in subscription boxes (and scarves)! lol For those who actually need and want those items it is a nice set.

I received the same upgrade items except my nail color was the pink “pillow pie” and the mascara is Alchimia from Lord and Berry instead. I haven’t received either one yet because Birchbox lost my order for the upgrade (but did charge me) so they are being sent separate then my normal box which came yesterday. My normal box had the same pop eyeshadow, whish shave cream (repeat in a different smell, bleh :(), real face peel, hair serum, and the lip and cheek stain which I LOVE (my pick). That stuff packs SO much more color than you would think looking at the color in the tube but once on it is PINK. Overall not a bad box but the value I would like to see go much higher for the extra $20, otherwise I could just go buy boxycharm! I will try one more month then cancel if needed.

I almost did the upgrade but I’m glad I chickened out because twenty dollars for the nail polish and mascara is not worth it for me. Besides I have so much of both. I really wish they do an upgrade like the $20 men’s box. I would love to have a monthly box with a mix of makeup and lifestyle products.

I upgraded to the $30 box but there was no eye shadow in it for me.

Disappointing. I received a teeny tiny Jane Irdale lip/cheek stain that is so sheer it could never be used as, a cheek stain and only a sheer lip color.

This $20 upgrade really doesn’t appear to be good value. For not much more it’s possible to sub to an entire boxful of beauty products. Glossybox or Boxycharm, for instance.
Birchbox would have to begin sending out something really spectacular to tempt me into coughing up an extra $20, and they aren’t doing that so far.

So you paid $10 for a mascara and $10 for a blue nail polish. I’ll pass.

(I got the Mad Men California box, and I like it very much).

I’m so happy I upgraded my box!! To me, the smith & cult alone is worth the 20 upgrade. Their nail polishes are beyond fab!! And such a gorgeous designed bottle to have on your vanity!

I’m glad I didn’t go with the upgrade. So far it doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade. It seems like a waste of money.

My box is still halfway across the country, but the box reveal shows I’m getting the pink version of the polish and the same mascara. Is it just me, or does this feel like a weak showing? Mascara and nail polish – the two most over-sampled box items of all time.

I certainly didn’t need to pay 20$ for that (and actually canceled my entire BB sub yesterday after seeing the reveal).

Hmmm… so many mixed reviews for the upgraded beta box. I jumped on this with the hope of receiving a better “version” of the monthly sub. Although I haven’t recived mine yet the nail color is exciting, providing I get “she said yes” one. And I have been eyeing the full size of Paula’s Choice spot treatment, so I’m happy that I get to try it and decide if it works. Having said all that I can’t justify the extra $20 for only 2 more full size products. Plus shampoo that I don’t/won’t use ( wen girl, here) is in just about every box so I have already canceled my next shipment. But I did order the Lovely day box and now I’m just going to stick with LE boxes or quarterly subs as they are more of a welcomed surprise for me than getting too much of the same each month.

I got this same upgraded box yesterday and am so excited to try the nail polish. The mascara is good, not great and I like the eye shadow. I’m not overly excited about the other items. I personally find the value of the upgraded boxes to be great so far.

This was my first beta upgrade box. My full size items were the same, although my polish was pillow pie, a really light nude pink. The bottle top/lid was dented.

My other products were the same, except I got the Jane Iredale lip/cheek stain instead of the pop palette.

I am not sure yet of the $20 upgrade was worth it. I will keep it and try for another month or two. I really like my regular Birchbox already so much, and the great points system.

Oh man, what a great box! The full size items get two thumbs up from me. I can never get enough mascara, and I too am obsessed with the bottle design of that polish! Polish for me doubles as decor, so I only by nail polish that has gorgeous packaging, LOL.

However, I’m still on the fence about paying an extra $20 for 2 full sized items. I use Birchbox more like a savings account and use 100 point codes and discount codes often (thanks to this site, hehe), so I still feel like I get a better value from paying with points and discount codes.

My full size items didn’t arrive because of a mixup with my add-on subscription. I’m honestly glad they didn’t.

I hate that you can’t get the upgraded subscription if you already have a yearly sub. I’m always amazed at the boxes Liz gets, my Birchboxes, the samples are never that big. Glad I didn’t get this because I have a yearly sub, I couldn’t, I wouldn’t want more mascara and nail polish. I wish it were like the Birchbox men’s sub, that’d be awesome.

I got the exact same box as you, or I was supposed to. I didn’t get the mascara *full size item. For whatever reason it was missed from my box. I emailed customer service yesterday but didn’t hear back yet. I got that shampoo and conditioner too… 3rd month in a row to get shampoo and either conditioner or a hair serum/mask. I’m ready for something other than shampoo next month. 🙁 And I’d really like my mascara, hopefully customer service is helpful.

I got the exact same box as Liz yesterday. I was not overly impressed by it. One thing I did not like is that the whole box had a very strong perfume smell and I had to take Benadryl twice after handling it. I had to put the lid back on and put it away after viewing the contents as the smell is that strong… The funny thing is that I don’t even know where it’s coming from… I’m almost wondering if they sprayed the box with something before they shipped it – it’s very strange. I will definitely be swapping/selling/gifting some of these items, including the box, as my nose cannot stand it unfortunately. It was so bad it almost triggered a migraine and I’m hesitate to even open it again…