Beauty Review: Birchbox April 2011

After reading some blogs and seeing some YouTube videos on Birchbox, I finally decided to subscribe to it last month. The premise of Birchbox is similar to a magazine subscription: for $10 each month, you receive a box of around 4 deluxe-size samples of beauty products. This sounded like a promising service for me. I love beauty products and trying out new things, but I'm often hesitant to sample the unknown since I don't want to risk dealing with the insanity of Sephora or the department store makeup counter only to purchase something I won't like. Also, since these samples are larger than average (they are around the size of a 100-point gift from the Sephora Beauty Insiders program), they allow you to get a much better sense of what a product is like over the course of time versus regular samples, which are good for one or two uses at most.

From left to right: Zhena's Gypsy Tea, Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser, Zoya nail polish in Dove

I finally received my first box today, and while I am intrigued by what I received, I must say that I'm whelmed. Maybe this is because I had hyped up the service in my mind or perhaps it's because I previewed some other people's Birchboxes online (I never claimed that patience was my strong suit). Or perhaps it's because I received a rather large tin of tea, which is nice but not quite what I was expecting. However, I think I can safely say that I did get my money's worth with this box...

This month's box had an eco-friendly theme in honor of Earth Day. These earth-friendly products include:

• LIV GRN eau de parfum
• Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser (no microbeads - yay!)
• Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Lotion
• Zoya nail polish in Dove (a soft gray)
• A Bllomin wildflower seed card (this was an extra)
• Zhena's Gypsy Tea in Italian Chamomile (this was also an extra for the box)

In the cute pink packet: LIV GRN parfum, Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Lotion (wildflower card is under the perfume)

As I said, I did check out other people's Birchbox hauls (there is often some variation in the boxes), so I was a little bummed by some of the products (gray nail polish? for spring? really?). However, I am definitely looking forward to the Suki cleanser, and I will even give the gray polish a try.

Please let me know if you have questions about Birchbox or if you'd like to see more Birchbox hauls (or reviews from my Birchbox hauls). As I said earlier, I'm playing with this blog's content, so constructive feedback is welcome.