Birchbox: April 2015 Review

Hello, friends! Happy Sunday! Today I'd like to share with you my April Birchbox. I got mine pretty early this month, around the 10th, so I've had a lot of time to play with all of the products. 

Birchbox? What's that?

Birchbox is a monthly beauty and lifestyle subscription service. It sends 4-5 deluxe samples that are curated to your beauty profile. It is $10 a month, and has a wonderful rewards program, in which you can earn points for reviewing products and making purchases in the Birchbox Shop. You can then redeem those points for full-sized products! It's probably the best rewards program out there, in my opinion, which was one of the big draws in me signing up. If you're interested in subscribing to Birchbox, I would love it if you used my referral link. Thank you!

Yes, I went with the featured curated box, YET AGAIN. There were actually two choices of boxes this month (A "New York" Mad Men box and a California one), and it was really hard for me to decide between them. I finally went with the New York box (and not just because I'm from New York!). Also, the box looks pretty cool this month--a little psychedelic in a subtle 1960s kind of way.

Both curated boxes are Mad Men themed. Now, I don't watch Mad Men, but from what I hear about it, I can say I wasn't expecting the box to look like this at all. I was picturing something more classy and reminiscent of the 1940s, maybe in a red/black/white color scheme. But, as we establish every month, the theme doesn't really affect the products in the box at all, so why get hung up on it? 

Here's the info card! It brings information to people everywhere!

But enough about that. Let's get to the good stuff~

ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS Clear Brow Gel
(SAMPLE-SIZE value [.08oz]: $6.70) (Full-size cost [.28oz]: $22) 

As I have previously mentioned, Anastasia is the queen of my brows. Now not only do I have her Brow Powder Duo and Brow Fix wax pencil, but now I also get to try her clear brow gel! I'm pretty satisfied with my $2 one from e.l.f., but I've heard this is the best out there in terms of staying power, so I'm excited to try it out. I'm also really close to being out of brow gel, so this came at a good time. 

BEAUTY PROTECTOR Protect & Oil
(SAMPLE-SIZE value [.5oz]: $3.25) (Full-size cost [4oz]: $25.95) 

I got this in last year's February box and I JUST finished it last month. How about that? Granted, I wasn't using it every day from February 2014 until March 2015, (because as you all know, things take a little time to move from my stash to my current product rotation), but the timing of this is still funny. You only need a few drops, so this will last you a long time.

I really liked how soft this made my hair feel, and I adored the scent. It's hard to describe, but once you smell it, you're hooked. It's the signature Beauty Protector scent that's in all of their products, so they'll have you buying everything.

I'm going to put this away and use it after I've given some hair oil samples my attention, but this gets two thumbs up!

CARGO Swimmables Water Resistant Blush in Los Cabos
(SAMPLE-SIZE value [.11oz]: $7.75) (Full-size cost [.37oz]: $26) 

I don't hear much chatter about Cargo in the beauty community, though I have seen them in super Walgreens stores (you know, with the large mid-range makeup section and at least one man in a suit who greets you as you enter....or is that just my store? Okay then).

I have gotten a warm coral blush two months in a row from Birchbox, which I am happy about! My skin is fair, but has yellow undertones, so I always find that peach, tangerine, and coral colors look great on me. This one has some shimmer in the pan (not glitter, don't be alarmed) but I wasn't able to make it out in my swatch. I'm still addicted to my Laura Geller blush from last month, but I think this would look especially lovely with some bronzer brushed on to the tops of the cheek bones, or if you have tanned skin! 

I forgot to mention: this blush has good staying power, and is water-resistant, so don't mess up when applying it! 

LIZ EARLE Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion
(SAMPLE-SIZE value [1.6oz]: $8.30) (Full-size cost [5oz]: $25) 

I liked the last Liz Earle product I tried, but this product is so confusing to me. Not only is it not a lotion (it's a clear liquid--I mean, who named this??) but I also didn't find it very soothing. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't irritating, but I just didn't feel like it did anything. I would pour it onto a cotton pad and hold it up against my undereye area, and then as the instructions stated, apply it to my eyelid and lashes. Meanwhile, it has a warning not to get it in your eyes. Maybe it's just me, but if you're putting something on your eyelids and lashes, I feel like there's a good chance it's going to get in your eye.

But, anyway, the only real effect this had was that it felt sightly cool against my tired, puffy eyes in the morning. I actually found it to be a little drying, so I was sure to put on eye cream afterwards. I get much better results just running a washcloth under some cold water and holding that up to my eye, and then I don't have to worry about getting chemicals or anything in there.

WHISH Shave Crave Shaving Cream in Blueberry
(SAMPLE-SIZE value [.75oz]: $3) (Full-size cost [5.1oz]: $20) 

I was actually pretty excited when I saw this in my box, because I'd been using hair conditioner for the past two months as shaving cream. Why didn't I go to the store and pick up some more shaving cream, you ask? Because I'm cheap, that's why.

I've gotten Whish products in the past from Birchbox, and even this shaving cream in another scent back in August. The shave cream itself works fine--it has a formula that's creamy and thick enough to help protect the skin when shaving. The scent, however, baffles me. When I unscrewed the cap and smelled it out of the tube, it smelled like a weird blueberry candy scent mixed with something else that was artificial. However, now that I've been using it in the shower, I feel like the scent is even weirder. It actually reminds me of the popcorn flavor of those Dum Dum lolipops I used to get at the doctor's as a kid. Maybe my skin chemistry just does not work with it, but this scent baffles me. It doesn't smell like blueberries, or blueberry candy, or anything that I would consider delicious/blueberry-inspired.

The product worked fine, but it wasn't worth spending $20 when I can just get a huge can of Skintimate at the drugstore for $3 and get the same effect. Or, you could even do what I was been doing before I got this box, which was using my hair conditioner as a shaving cream. So many cheaper options. I don't understand who would pay $20 for shaving cream. Someone please enlighten me.

The Stats:

• Anastasia Clear Brow Gel: $6.70
• Beauty Protector Hair Oil: $3.25
• Cargo Blush: $7.75
• Liz Earle Useless Eye Liquid: $8.30
• Whish Popcorn Shaving Cream: $3
• TOTAL: $29 (almost 3x what I paid)

The Best: 
I'm excited about three of the things in this box, but I think I'm most excited to test the brow gel. My eyebrows better be bulletproof next month!

The Worst: 
What does the Liz Earle eye liquid do??

The Verdict: 
Overall, I'm really happy with this box! I was able to restock a lot of products that I was just about out of (or was already out of) and try some new things! 

What did you get in your Birchbox this month?

Want to see more Birchbox reviews? Click here!  

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Disclaimer: Not sponsored. I paid ten whole dollars for this. So, there.