Saturday, August 18, 2012

Birchbox - August

Though I didn't expect it until Tuesday, I got my August Birchbox today!

August has a fitting theme of "Beauty School" and promises must-try essentials and exciting new products for fall. I love back to school shopping, so I was excited about this theme! Here's what I got.

How cute is this month's outer packaging? As well as being pencil yellow with a cute design, it's also a different size and shape than the usual Birchbox, very reminiscent of a pencil box. The box is super heavy for a Birchbox, too!

The cute theme continues with the card - it's covered with doodles. The other side has the welcome note and the "supply list". Adorable. I got four items and an extra this month.

The main item in my box this month is this Brightening Cleanser by DDF. It promises to lighten discoloration and even skin tone. I do have some mild acne scarring, so I am definitely excited to give this a try. Also, the sample size is HUGE. It is 4.5 ounces - more than half the size of the full sized product (and larger than some other full sized cleansers I have.) The prorated value of this sample is $20.22!

I also got LiQWd Professional Volumizing Catalyst. I love the cute purse-friendly bottle it comes in! Now, my hair is already pretty thick and full, so volumizing products do very little for me. In general, you can't see a difference, since my hair is already full. This also promises to contain high-tech moisturizers, though, so I intend to try it for it's other benefits. As a bonus, it smells really nice! The value of this sample is about $1.47.

This is a product I have already tried a few times and know that I love: Dr. Jart+ Waterfuse Beauty Balm. By now, I think everyone knows what a BB Cream is - a combination of moisturizer, serum, sunscreen, and tint, in a nutshell. This one is nice, it suits my pale skin very well. It's not too greasy but it does keep my skin nice and hydrated and dewy. It has the perfect amount of coverage for me. I'm currently trying out a bunch of the different US versions of BB Cream out of curiousity, but once I finish those off, I fully intend to buy the full size of this. 

This is a welcome addition to my box, but it's a seriously tiny sample - .1 oz. Since I already know I like the product, it's okay for me...but if this were a new product for me, I would be frustrated at not getting enough product to truly try.

The value of this teeny sample is $1.88.

This is the new scent by Juicy, Viva la Juicy La Fleur. To be honest, I didn't have high hopes for this one. While I haven't tried the original Viva La Juicy, I have tried Juicy Couture the original and I dislike it. On top of that, I'm just not into florals. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, though! It's sweet and fresh, and yes, floral, but not in a bad way. It also has a fair amount of fruitiness to it! This sample has a prorated value of $1.50.

My extra this month is a Larabar Uber. I have to say I was a little disappointed by this, as Birchbox made it sound like everyone would be getting the Venus razor as their extra this month...and frankly, I could really have used a new razor. That said, I do find that the uber bars are actually pretty tasty compared to the nasty originals. This one was the Apple Turnover flavor, and it was basically apples and nuts. Tasted good...but not what I want out of my beauty subs, you know? This bar has a value of $1.80.

In all, I'm not super excited about this month's box...with only four actual items, one of which was a tiny perfume sample, another being the Dr. Jart+ that is basically a foil packet's worth of product put into a tube, and getting the bar instead of the razor, this is definitely lackluster for me. I am excited to try the cleanser. The value of my box is $27.84, so I did get my money's worth...I'm just not as excited about it as I have been most of my boxes.

(If you haven't joined Birchbox yet, my referral link is here. It's a lot of fun, even on the lackluster months!)

So, what did you get in your Birchbox this month?



2 comments:

Becca said...

Hmm, I got the DDF cleanser in a different box and mine was 2oz. At the same time, I did receive the razor, perfume sample, hand soap samples and a teeny mascara with it. Seems like the DDF cleanser is about the only thing of real "value" in your box. I can understand why they sent the larger cleanser.

yousoldtheworld said...

Yep, I basically feel like my box was "here, take this cleanser...and a few tiny things we have lying around..." I remembered that the other cleansers I'd seen this month were smaller, so I was surprised by the size.