Birchbox August 2015

I got my first Birchbox in July and I wasn't really impressed. It had Super Goop (which I actually love), a foil sample of Kérastase that didn't do much for my hair, Julette's Got a Gun Not a Perfume that I never wear, Clarisea exfoliant (it's okay), MDSolarSciences Mineral Crème (soo sparkly), and Stila liquid lipstick I can't even begin to describe. I can't handle the coral (let's face it, it's orange) lipstick.

I unsubscribed after one box. Yeah. But this isn't about July's box. They lured me back with the promise of sea salt spray and the Candidly Nicole guest editor box. Sadly, by the time I got my email to choose the box I wanted, they were sold out of the guest editor box. My heart broke (yeah, again), as I picked a sample of Rusk mousse to go in the August box. Good news, though, I was able to order the guest box using a different email. So you should see that box review coming soon.

This box is really decent. There's lots of hair care in it and I'm totally happy with that.

The more you know: Birchbox is $10 per month for 4-6 items. Sometimes they're deluxe samples, sometimes smaller or foil packets.

Rusk Volumizing Mousse - A whopping 8 oz. can. This is a great deluxe size sample. Smells fanc-ay. I didn't need to use as much of this as the mousse I normally use. Most of the time I let my hair air dry. It got a little crunchy toward the top as it dried, but I don't feel like I needed to add salt spray as I sometimes do for extra texture. With a few swipes of my brush, the crunchiness went away. My hair feels soft and flexible and looks thick. The fragrance might be a little strong on this one, but I'd still give it a thumbs up.

LAQA & Co. Cheeky Lip Pencil in Humble Brag - I was hoping for Cray-Cray (yeah, yeah, it says it's a coral, but it's also a peach) in this box as I know Humble Brag is in the editor box too. But this lip and cheek color was one of the items I really wanted, so two is okay. I was shocked by the bright pink color when it went on my lips. I blotted a couple of times and decided I could definitely live with the shade. The first time I wore it, I threw some OFRA gloss in Sunshine over it--lip perfection. Later, I tried it as a blush and while I don't normally wear pink blush, I really liked it. It was a sort of sun-kissed pink that gave me a healthy glow. Nice one, Birchbox.

I have Luxe Pineapple lip gloss in Confident over LAQA & Co. Humble Brag.

Dr. Brandt Pores No More Cleanser - I wasn't really looking to see how my pores appeared after I used this the first time. I was more concerned about how clean my face felt. On a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (really clean), I'd give it a middling 5. I followed up with my regular cleanser. It's probably because if I don't feel scrubby micro-beads, I don't feel clean. The smell was all right. It reminded me of juniper or evergreen shrubs. Kind of manly, but in a good way. I used it at night and the next morning as I was applying concealer, I thought maybe my pores looked a bit tighter. I forgot to snap a photo because it was in my shower.

Air Repair Complexion Boosting Moisturizer - This has a wonderful scent. It's a bit thicker than the moisturizers I've been sampling and the one I regularly use. It had good coverage though and my face feels nice and fresh after using it.

Oribe Shampoo for Beautiful Color - Kudos to Birchbox for seeing my profile and saying, Hey, this woman has color treated hair. She needs shampoo and condition to treat her color right! I loved the way this shampoo felt while I was pulling it through my hair. It smells kind of like a fresh-cut apple.

Oribe Conditioner for Beautiful Color - I was a little surprised the conditioner didn't feel as silky in my hair as the shampoo. I left it on for a couple of minutes, because I like to believe my hair is being penetrated by all the good stuff in here. It washed out pretty well. My hair is soft and fluffy, even though I let it dry naturally.

Oribe Mask for Beautiful Color - I haven't tried it, but it smells great. I was impressed by the sample size of this too. I figured it would also be a foil packet, but I can get probably 2-3 uses out of it because my hair is pretty short right now.

What about that Parlor Salt Spray they promised? It wasn't in the box. Sad face. I contacted customer service, though, and *boom* the next morning, I had a processing order. It's on the way, free of charge. Thanks, Sheryll at customer service.

I'm sorry I doubted you, Birchbox. I'm dying to get my guest editor box now.