Birchbox Curated Box #1 Review + Coupon – November 2019

Marne, great review as always. Do you think the perfume resembles “Replica by fireplace” in a much more subtle way? To me it smells similar, but minis the smokiness and much less strong. Love both scents.

This was the box I picked and was happy to see this review. I enjoyed every product except for the off putting lip stain. As an Ace, I’m locked in to the 10.00 price point and feel the value is there. Lately I have been enjoying the curated boxes. The second option for December looks great and this one was a winner for me. Birchbox continues to be my favorite cosmetic sub box. I like the new choices.

Yay! This is the box I chose and I loved it! The only exception being the lipstick as well.We pretty much felt the exact same way about everything in this box.

That lipstick…oh my! I got my box at work so at lunch I decided to give the lipstick a try because I was already thinking the color was going to be a no but I wanted to give it a try anyways because sometimes looks can be deceiving. I also want to state for the record that I LOVE matte lipsticks and wear them all the time and have tried many! This formula was like nothing I’ve experienced before. It STUCK to my lips immediately to the point where I couldn’t even really get it on well before it was dried. And the color was a big no as well. I think it would be lovely on the right complexion but mine isn’t it! LOL! I’m not upset though because at least now I know that formula doesn’t work for me and I can move on to the next. I was thinking maybe a gloss on top would help as well but the problem for me was in trying to apply it without it drying first so I don’t think the gloss would have helped.

As far as the rest of the box goes I was thrilled! The only thing I had tried before was the “Not a Perfume” and as far as I’m concerned you could send me a sample of that every month in every subscription box I receive and I would be fine with that. That stuff smells
awesome. It’s very light but in a rich way if that makes sense. It is not floral or fruity, it just smells warm and again the word I want to use is rich. Not like wealthy but deep I guess. Although I just said it was light so I guess I’m terrible at describing scents! Anyway, I love it.

The shampoo and conditioner were very nice, and I love having travel sizes. I also love the shape of this little bottle so I know I will refill it and continue to use it for travel even after the shampoo is gone. The blue tansy oil is right up my alley and I am enjoying it very much. Just like you I am so glad the roller ball controls how much I put on my face because I tend to be heavy handed with products and while I was a little annoyed at first with how little it put out I realized that was probably the correct amount I should be using.

I am always happy to try a new retinoid product and I while I know there is not enough to give you real results, I feel like anyone who has been using skin care and especially retinoids for awhile can glean from this sample if this would be a product they would like to continue using so I am fine with the size. As much as I keep trying (I even bought a full size CEO Turmeric night oil) I just can’t make Sunday Riley products work for me. But I am very happy to get these trial sizes so I can keep reminding myself of that and not waste money on larger sizes again. LOL, does that make sense?

I know I am in the minority here but I LOVE Birchbox. They are by far my favorite subscription and I actually have two subscriptions to them and I am thinking of getting another. I had the hardest time this month choosing between this box and the gorgeous full sized blush that was an option or using my money for points or picking the Sunday Riley sample and letting them pick the rest! I decided to get this box with one subscription and the blush with my second but by the time I finally decided the blush was gone so I used my money for points. I’m really glad I did because I ended up ordering 6 boxes of things from the Fall Clearance Sale. 🙂

Ha! Marne, I had to have that roller too! I happened upon it right when Sephora started selling it and knew I probably didn’t need it consideringI had no idea what I would use it for. But it was one of those MUST OWN THIS type of products and at only $10 I didn’t feel too guilty. I still don’t even though it’s still unopened. But it gives me joy each time I open my obsessively extensive lip balm, scrub, oil, treatment, etc. drawer, where I put all my hard-to-categorize beauty and beauty-ish treasures. Initially I thought I would use it for a fragrance oil but that’s a big commitment given that it will forever smell the same even if you do everything possible to clean it.

I also had that Tansy oil roller but found that it was just more oilyish than I could handle. A tiny bit got on the bottle and took the label right off. I found it difficult not to use too much and it just felt gross sitting there on my face just waiting to catch cat hair and all other manner of debris.

I find the ratio of shampoo to conditioner from that brand so very odd. I like the brand and have received it in different boxes but always the same sizes. Theoretically you’re really only supposed to use shampoo on your scalp and conditioner on your hair. I understand some people may take “on the ends of your hair” very literally, although most people I know go at least halfway up whether they have thick, long, curly or even super straight fine and thin hair like mine. No one wants their hair weighed down but if it’s fragile you want to moisturize it (and anything else you can do to stop the breakage 😩) and if it’s thick or dry or there’s just a lot of it (🍀) you’re going to use significantly more conditioner than shampoo. Maybe it’s just me but if you really want me to test a brand’s system send me enough of both. If you just want me to smell it, feel it or get a partial sense of how it may perform if used regularly just send two packets. Just a personal pet peeve I probably shouldn’t have such passionate feelings about. 😸

A 1.7 mL of the perfume sample should be $2.30 and not $22.95.