February 8, 2016

The Beauty Box Breakdown

BirchBox Review – February 2016.

Last week my February edition of BirchBox arrived! (Whoo!) I have been subscribed to BirchBox since September 2015 and have received some amazing products as well as discovering so many hidden brands!

I love receiving my BirchBox each month as it’s like a mini Christmas present arriving at your front door- you know who it’s from, but you’re not sure what’s inside the box! (I try to restrict myself from checking BirchBox’s’ social media when it comes to the end of each month as, I like the surprise of what new products are in the box!)

If you were wondering about the price; well … Birchbox only charge £12.95 per month, which includes postage and packaging. The box always includes five luxury beauty samples and a beautifully designed menu card, which provides information about the products and gives best tips on how to use the products. (They sometimes add a sixth ‘Beauty Bonus’ product too!)

For more information and to become a subscriber to BirchBox click on the link – https://www.birchbox.co.uk/subscribe

This month BirchBox are encouraging all of us to ‘Shine Bright Like A Diamond’, and with all of the gorgeous products in this month’s box, I’m sure we will all be feeling like a million dollars in no time. So let’s shine ladies!

★      1. Spectrum Collections – Tapered Powder Brush / RRP £7.99

*Ladies! – This is a full size product*

This beautiful full sized brush has super soft bristles and feels like it will be durable when it comes to cleaning it. Birchbox suggest that it’s great for ‘setting powder, shimmery highlights, or applying your fave bronzer. All thanks to the precisely- shaped tip and super-soft tapered bristles’.

After using this brush to apply a light coat of translucent powder to set my base makeup, I would agree that is a make-up bag must have! It looks beautiful and adds a pop of colour to my makeup brush collection.

Personal rating of the product: 4.5 out of 5!

★      2. LOC- One and Done Shadow Stick in Perfect cents / RRP £8*

*Ladies! – This is a full size product and a BirchBox Exclusive*

This month all subscribers were given the opportunity to pick what shade they would like to receive. I chose perfect cents, a beautiful shimmery copper colour, as I though it could work for both a day and night look. BirchBox say that the product will give you “11 hours of creaseless, waterproof colour in one handy stick”. Personally I think the colour is alluring and the product is simple to use. I have oily skin and when using this product I forgot to use a primer, so after a long day I found that the shadow did crease and didn’t look how it should.
Make sure you don’t make the same mistake as me and have a primer at the ready before applying this product.

Personal rating of the product: 3 out of 5!

★      3. Ole Henriksen- Truth serum Collagen booster / RRP £47*

I don’t currently have a serum built into my daily skin routine, so this Ole Henriksen collagen booster was a real treat. I think I was a little hesitant to use this product at first, as I wasn’t sure how I would incorporate it into my routine, but the menu card within the box explained everything. BirchBox suggests that ‘after cleansing, massage a small amount into clean skin both day and night’.

I decided to use this product at night (after removing my makeup) and I loved the cleansed feeling it left on my skin. It also smells AMAZING! It’s hard to describe but it smells so fresh and I think it has a hint of citrus to it. The serum also sunk into my pores quickly and didn’t feel too sticky or heavy on my skin. The great thing about this product is that a little goes a long way, which means the sample size will last me months!

Personal rating of the product: 3.5 out of 5!

★      4. Ayres- Body Butter in patagonia / RRP £19.50*

*Ladies! – This is BirchBox Exclusive*

In a funny kind of way I really like the packaging of this body butter, It’s not overly attractive with their brown choice of pot but, it carries a hint of class and luxury with it. I have tried hundreds of body butters in my time and I wasn’t sure if the butter would be as good as my personal favorite; Soap and Glory – The Righteous Butter.

BirchBox tell us ‘ this luxurious plant-based formula is brimming with shea butter, Vitamin E and antioxidants to soften and hydrate, but the mix of jasmine, lavender and ylang- ylang leaves behind a serene scent that lingers on your nourished skin’.

After using this body butter to moisturise my legs, I can definitely say that it does the job and left my skin feeling smooth and healthy. It also wins points by sinking into my skin quickly, and not leaving a sticky residue for hours. However, the initial smell wasn’t pleasant! The only thing I can compare the scent to is a a tub of Vix! After the butter is applied to my skin, the smell did settle and wasn’t too invasive. So if you can get passed the first initial waft you will love this hydrating body butter.

Personal rating of the product: 3 out of 5!

★      5. theBalm cosmetics- Frat Boy Blush /Shadow / RRP £15.50*

I love blusher and when I read that this was a blusher and eyeshadow combined, I was so excited to try it out! The sample size is quite small but the colour is really pretty. This shade would be perfect for a spring makeup look as it’s the perfect pinky/peach shade to give a healthy glow.

The BirchBox menu card says ‘ it might be small but prepare to be surprised by the super concentrated pigments!’

I would have to agree with their point on this product being really pigmented! After trying to grab a little product on what seemed to be a big blush brush – it did look fresh and gave me a healthy glow. It was nice to receive a matte blush as most blusher samples have a trace of glitz and glamour.

Personal rating of the product: 4 out of 5!

★      6. L.Erickson – Grab and Go Ponytail Holder / RRP £11.50* for a set of 15

*Ladies! – This is a Beauty Bonus*

I think we can all agree that when we are in desperate need of a hair band, they all have seemed to have grown legs and magically hidden! So it might seem a little boring to have a hair band for a ‘Beauty Bonus’, but at least it’s handy and useful product that will save us in our time of need!

BirchBox say that ‘ you’ll never be caught short with this handy, metal-free, hair-tie in your bag’.

I used this hair band to pull back my hair to cleanse my face and it was great! It felt weightless in my hair and didn’t pull or slip. The only negative is that it is white. I would definitely prefer a brown or black band to hide my hair, although overall it’s not a bad beauty bonus!

Personal rating of the product: 4.5 out of 5!

Verdict:

BirchBox has not disappointed and receiving February’s box for a reasonable price of £12.95 has been a pleasure to review. I think this month’s box is definitely worth the money as, I received two full sized products and discovered some new BirchBox exclusives. Apart from the Vix smelling Body butter – I really love all of the products and I especially love the Spectrum Powder brush! I hope BirchBox include more makeup brushes in the future. I look forward to receiving the March box next month.

Written / Photography by Holly Palmer.

@hollypalmerxxx