Birchbox Excitement

Happy Saturday blogosphere! It was a great Friday here yesterday because:

A. It was Friday, duh.

and

B. B is for Birchbox arrival!

Since O told me about getting me the subscription for Valentine's Day I have been anxiously awaiting my first box and what better day for an arrival than on a Friday afternoon!  (Not to mention Saturday mail is gone, so that would have been a bummer to wait through a whole other weekend - boo!)

So, I have read some mixed reviews on Birchbox and I couldn't wait to see for myself.  Some people have complained that the box isn't worth the $10 subscription sometimes - i.e. not "deluxe samples" as they have claimed to provide.  The anticipation was killing me, but I stalled a bit in opening my first box to enjoy the excitement of the possibilities awaiting me inside.  And then, I finally opened the box.

I must admit, at first I was feeling a little ho-hum about things.  Like, that's it?  A freaking chocolate? Who wants a chocolate?  Ok, I know most people love chocolate, but I just really don't even have a sweet tooth. And if you put a $2 value on everything in that box, I was feeling a little ripped off.  Mainly due to the glaring disappointment of seeing a Ghiradelli square in there.  I tried to brush off the initial sads and dig a little deeper and here is what I discovered:

Item 1 - Perfume Sample Juicy Couture La La

Buy here

Eh.  I avoid the perfume aisle at the mall like the plague.  Headaches galore up in that place with everyone spraying stuff at you as you make a beeline for the exit.  Nope, I just head to a different floor entirely.  I put myself through hell recently on the grand perfume search of 2012.  I was thrilled to finally find one I loved - you can read about that here.  So, I didn't really care about the perfume sample.  $2 value?  Not really. 1  out 5 stars.

Item 2 - Beauty Protector, Protect & Detangle

Buy here

I pretty much decided to take another shower yesterday just to try this product out.  It is a leave in conditioner/detangler/shine producer.  Currently my hair is in a state of disrepair, in desperate need of a cut and style.  It is soooooo long and sooooo thick - basically just unruly in general.  This stuff is incredible.  It smells amazing - like edible amazing, didn't make my hair greasy and my hair blow dried nice and straight and not frizzy at all.  Win! $2 value? Yes, yes, yes! This is definitely a 5 out of 5 star product for me.  I was ready to get online and buy the full size immediately (which I think is the point right?).

Item 3 - theBalm, Hot Mama Shadow & Blush All in 1

Buy here

I am embarrassed to say that I know literally NOTHING about cosmetics.  I buy what I think looks ok and usually at the local CVS.  This is why I was most looking forward to getting this subscription - to discover things that I wouldn't normally find.  Those people at Sephora intimidate the hell out of me.  I never know what I'm looking for and I hate being harassed.  Inevitably I end up just buying something I think I will like, paying $50 bucks for it and hoping for the best.  At least this way, you can sort of try it (at home!) a few times before you commit.  In this case, I LOVED the color and look of this blush.  I'm confused about the shadow thing, because this doesn't look like something I would put on my lids, but I am definitely happy enough to swipe this on my cheeks.  $2 value? Maybe, it was a pretty tiny sample.  I'll give this 4 out of 5 stars - great color, tiny sample.

Item 4 - Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvinator

Buy here

Well, who doesn't love a little face rejuvenation? This is apparently a dermatologist-quality scrub to slough away the dead stuff and brighten the skin.  I used this in the shower as well right after I used my Clinique facial cleanser (which I love).  I haven't really formed an opinion quite yet, probably because I think you see results over time with something like this.  However, I will say that it is a much softer slougher than most exfoliating scrubs.  I didn't feel like I was rubbing my face off and my skin definitely felt softer after use.  Brighter? Eh, not yet.  Time will tell, I will keep using the sample.  $2 value? Maybe.  I should  get at least a few uses out of this sample size.  I don't know that I can give this a proper star rating yet, but it looks promising.

Item 5 of course was the chocolate. Definitely NOT a $2 value and besides the perfume sample it was the only real disappointment of the box.  Supposedly the boxes get better the longer you have your subscription (i.e. they give the leftover crap to the newbies like me).  Overall, I enjoyed trying the new things and there are at least two things I was ready to run to the computer and purchase so I would consider that a success.  I don't think this box met it's $10 value necessarily, but my initial disappoint definitely faded once I moved past the chocolate upset (can you tell I was upset? ha).

O says he could have walked the mall and collected free samples and put them together in a pretty box for me.  And it is, sort of, true.  Except you would have to know what samples to choose and you would have to walk the mall.  No thanks.  I must say I'm looking forward to my March box!

Also, should you decide to Join Birchbox, make sure you use my referral and get me some points? K thanks.