December Birchbox

I joined Birchbox in November and really enjoyed my first shipment. I even purchased the full size of the Avene cleanser, which I love. I really cannot recommend it highly enough. The bottle says it's for oily and blemish-prone skin, and I am not either of those, but I have been remarkably and happily blemish free since I began using it. My skin is really soft now, too.

My December Birchbox was more hit-or-miss. It included a fragrance sample, for one thing, which...eh. I'm not crazy about most perfumes, and even less crazy about the sample of Harvey Prince Ageless I received. I would never buy this.

This month, all Birchbox subscribers got a tiny sample size of Jouer lipgloss in a signature color (although it looks suspiciously like the Peony color Jouer always offers) designed especially for Birchbox. It's a very bright pink, though less pink on the lips than you would expect, and shimmery. Not my taste, although it wasn't horrible looking. I doubt I will use it, though.

I have been using my sample of Orofluido Elixir and thus far I can't really see that it has any lasting wonderful effect, other than making my hair smell really really nice. Which is lovely but I'm not going to pay $30 for just that. I have yet to try this on wet hair, but I have no great enthusiasm about buying this.

I'm still undecided about my sample of Benefit The POREfessional. I've used it on the areas of my face that are the most...uh, pore-y and it...kind of works? I have some spots on either side of my nose and right above my eyebrows that kind of bother me, and I've applied this over makeup and I do find that it sort of diffuses the appearance of larger pores. However, the last thing I need is another pricey ($29) product to slap on my face every day, so I'm not at all sold on this. It just seems like a large investment for a minimal payoff.

Truly, I could care less about the Showstoppers fashion tape I received. I'm not a 19-year-old starlet nor in desperate need of attention so I don't wear stuff that's in danger of exposing my breasts and I doubt I will ever use these. But you never know! So I'll hang onto them just in case.

The last item in the box was a packet of EBOOST natural energy booster. I gave this to my boyfriend because he said he was super tired this morning. I'll have to ask him if he felt invincible after drinking it. I like the opportunity to try little things like this, but honestly, I would probably never buy something like this. I'd be more likely to have a glass of ice water or take a nap.

So that's it for this month! We'll see what January brings. If you're interested in signing up for Birchbox, it's $10 per month. You can use this link to sign up (if you subscribe, I get Birchbox points.)

Birchbox!

My pal Cookbook referred me to Birchbox and I finally joined up last month. I've had a few days to tinker with a couple of the products so I'll share my thoughts.

Avene Cleanance Soap-Free Gel Cleanser

I was actually very pleased to get this, because I've been considering a different face wash (currently I use Cetaphil, which works fine but I'm not married to it). I think this smells wonderful, like clean water and fresh air.

Thymes Body Lotion in Kimono Rose and Eucalyptus

 I got a small bottle of the Eucalyptus scent but just a little packet of the Kimono Rose scent. I wish it was the other way around, because I really like the Kimono Rose. The Eucalyptus is...fine? I guess? It just smells like hotel lotion, which is to say, like nothing specific. I'm not a big fan of scented body lotions usually, but I'd love to try the Kimono Rose cologne or even the candle.

Minerologie Ultimate Cream Concealer

I'm a sucker for a good concealer so this was a nice perk. The product information states this can double as an eyeshadow primer. I'm running out of my Urban Decay Primer Potion so this seemed well-timed. I do like this as a concealer but this far I'm not blown away with it vs. my usual, which is Maybelline Dream Mousse (though this has sadly been discontinued and I'll need to find something else). I tried this as an eyeshadow primer on one eye with the UD primer on the other eye as a sort of comparison test. I used UD shadow because I know how it performs over the primer. After eight hours of wear, the Mineralogie held up well, though with slightly more creasing than the UD Primer Potion.

Anyway, I started using the Maybelline as a less expensive alternative to my favorite Laura Mercier concealer, so switching back to another expensive product seems annoying. 

Zoya Noel from the Gems & Jewels Collection

Finally, I got a mini bottle of Noel from the Zoya Gems & Jewels holiday collection. It's not a color I would have gone out of my way to buy, but I'm delighted with the sample and I'll certainly wear it during the holidays. It's a very pretty blue shot through with silver - it even looks great in the bottle.

There were also a couple of cute letterpress coasters in the box, which is fine, but I would probably buy something like that locally, if I were going to buy it. (Not to sound twee or anything.)

In any case, I think I'll stay signed on for another couple of months at least. It's fun to get presents in the mail.

I have a couple of nail product reviews coming up for you, so stay tuned!