May 2013 Birchbox

I have slacked off big time on Birchbox reviews and for that, I am sorry. I had actually contemplated cancelling my subscription after receiving one too many itty bitty foil packets of moisturizer, but I am really glad I didn’t.  I fall more in love with each passing month. They seem to be doing a better job of tailoring my box to my needs, and have even revised their beauty profile to be more specific.

 

This month, one of the items I received was Marvis Italian toothpaste. I wasn’t excited about getting toothpaste in my box, but not exactly bummed, either. The mint flavor was very strong as promised, and I loved the vintage-looking tube. The brand offers a few different flavors, and I am really tempted to order a tube of the Jasmine Mint. Each tube retails for about $10, so I certainly won’t be sharing that with the family.

I also received Cotz Face Natural Skin Tone SPF 40. I loved this. I wish I could shout in a blog post without being obnoxious. This stuff was amazing. You have probably heard me complain before about sunscreens that resemble diaper rash ointment. That was not the case with this. It went on nice and light and truly did dry to a matte finish. I was nervous about the color because the sample I received was a little darker than my own skin tone, but it worked out perfectly. Now, I look like I have a nice, natural glow. The SPF retails for about $15, so I will definitely be adding it into my skin care regimen.

The Sumita eyeliner was really nice. It went on smoothly with no tugging whatsoever, and really made my eyes pop. I think I liked it as much as my Urban Decay liner. You can snag four mini pencils for $21.

I feel like this next product deserves its own separate blog post. The amika Obliphica Nourishing Mask was my favorite product by far. I haven’t used it on my own hair yet, but I did get a chance to use it on my daughter’s. I’ll go ahead and give you a little background. My daughter has very course hair. Shampooing is something I dread because I know it will turn into an all day affair. I don’t do the best job at styling either, but that’s another story. Anywho, I ran out of shampoo and forgot to grab more. Thing One couldn’t possibly go without having her hair washed any longer, so I went back to my old school roots and grabbed the bottle of dish washing liquid off the kitchen counter. I can hear you all gasping now. I promise you, I didn’t wash my baby’s hair with Dawn. It was actually Seventh Generation. Lavender Floral and Mint to be exact. And funny enough, I actually liked it better than the L’Oreal Hydra Curl sulfate-free shampoo I had been using (which I didn’t love at all). After washing it, I loaded her hair up with the amika mask and added in a few drops of the amika Obliphica Hair Treatment I received in a bonus packet. After letting it sit for a while, I rinsed. Not completely, though. Leaving a bit of conditioner behind makes her hair much more manageable.

I was so amazed by how soft her hair was. I was able to section it off and comb through it without using a detangler, and it even had a shine to it. I normally use coconut oil in her hair, but decided this time to use the Argan oil sample by Healthy Sexy Hair that I received in April’s Ipsy bag. It actually dulled the shine a bit, so I don’t think I will use that on her hair again. Sorry that the before picture didn’t turn out well. I don’t do pictures very well. As you can see in the after pic, I just sectioned her hair and gave her two-strand flat twists. I had this idea in my head of a ‘Katniss Everdeen’ for natural hair, but you can see that the idea in my head didn’t quite make it to Thing One’s head.

Now that I’ve finished going around the mulberry bush, let’s get back to Birchbox. The nourishing mask sells for $35, and the oil treatment sells for $40. It’s a little more than I would like to pay for hair products, but I can’t get over the feeling of my daughter’s hair after I used it. The smell was nice, too.

Lastly, I received another perfume sample. This one is Fabulous by Isaac Mizrahi. I have to admit, I haven’t tried this one yet. I have not liked any of the perfume samples I’ve received so far, and I’m really glad Birchbox changed the beauty profile so I could opt out of receiving so many. I will give this one a go soon, though.

That’s it for my May Birchbox. I have also received my very first Curl Box any , so I will be sure to review that as soon as I get a chance to try everything out. Stay tuned!