Birchbox September 2014

I love the beginning of the month because that's when subscription boxes start coming in! Birchbox is always the first to arrive and it's usually pretty awesome! For details about Birchbox, see my previous post or the Birchbox website.

Here is the box upon arrival:

They changed up the look of the inner boxes because of the 4th Birchbox anniversary and I really like it! I usually save the inner boxes for wrapping gifts and this one looks really pretty!

Here is the box just opened. I could already smell something perfume-y coming from the box making me worried that something had spilled...

Here is the description card for the items in the box and the price of the full-sized items.

Acure Organics Day Cream

Harvey Prince Ageless Liquid Loofah (explaining the perfume smell)

Macademia Healing Oil Spray

Real Chemistry 3-Minute Peel

Temptu S/B Highlighter in Champagne Shimmer

And all laid out in the box!

The first item is the Acure Day Cream. This is a pretty good sized sample for a face cream, but it is not something that I see myself using. First of all, I am suspicious of anything that touts the brilliance of plant stem cells. Second of all, my skin is very sensitive so I don't like trying new moisturizers.

The second item is the Harvey Prince body wash. I already got the body lotion last time and I really like the smell. Unfortunately, the body wash was not closed completely and some of it did leak out. I do look forward to trying out what is left!

The Macadamia Healing Oil is the sample I picked out for this box. I recently colored my hair, which always makes it a little extra dry and frizzy and I thought this could help. It is silicone-based which means I will have to shampoo my hair after using it, which is kind of a bummer because I do like to shampoo my hair as little as possible. I sprayed a little onto the end of my hair to see what it smelled and felt like. The smell is way more overpowering than I expected! I am not sure if I really like it since it smells kind of cheap perfume-y and lingers quite a bit.

Next up is the Real Chemistry 3-Minute Peel. I have read some good reviews over at the skincare sub-reddit. It is a physical exfoliater, which is generally not my thing, but I am willing to give it a try once in awhile. The sample is pretty tiny, so I don't think I will get many uses out of it.

This tiny bottle is the Temptu S/B Highlighter sample!

I swatched it on my arm to get an idea of the color and texture. It seems really dark to use as a highlighter on my pale skin, but it might work out as a light creamy blush! It took only the tiniest amount to make this swatch and it was really easy to blend out, so I am excited to try it out on my face.

Last but not least, I got an extra in this box, which was a sample of a new type of Chapstick with two sides: moisturize & renew. It looks pretty hydrating on both sides, but I don't really understand the intended difference between the effects of the two sides. I'm always glad to have another lip balm around though!

Overall, I was moderately satisfied with this box. I don't really like getting skin and hair products since I am so picky about them, but I am actually looking forward to the exfoliater and definitely the highlighter and Chapstick.

What also arrived today was my Hada Labo Gokuhyn Hyaluronic Acid Lotion. It's supposed to be a really good pre-moisturizer for people with really dry skin. I have found some really good Asian skincare products recently and I am hoping this also lives up to the hype!