Retrospective: Birchbox May 2012

See my first Retrospective for the answers to the quiz that I used.

May 2012- Month 3May is my birthday month!  I was hoping for something extra-special that month.

BVLGARI Omnia Crystalline Eau de Toilette
Photo from Birchbox

This was a pleasant surprise for me. It is very woody, with a little fruit at the top, which gives it a very "green" scent.  It isn't something I would buy a full size of, or something that I would want to wear every day, but it is nice every once in a while.  I think it would be perfect to wear to an outdoor wedding.  Not a bad perfume sample, if they had to send me one.

Full size $64.00/40 mL.  Sample 1.5 mL, $2.40.

Dr. Jart Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25
Photo from Birchbox

This BB cream was one of my Birchbox Top 5  products, and I still use it (or one of the other BB creams from Dr. Jart) every day.  It's awesome.

Full size (I'm on my second one!) $32.00/50 mL.  Sample size 3 mL (I think), $1.92.

Ojon Volume Advance Volumizing Conditioner
Photo from Birchbox

Oh yeah, I remember this now! It was pretty adequate for a conditioner.  Did it add volume? I don't really think so.  I don't really remember, though, to be fair.  All in all, forgettable.

Full size $23.00/250 mL.  Sample size 30 mL, value $2.76

Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Flash
Photo from Birchbox

Happy birthday to me!  I was super excited to receive this product.  It's a sparkly olive liquid liner, and it is easy to apply with their felt applicator.  It stays put all night... glitter, too.  I like it, I just don't wear it a lot.  Sparkly eye liner is a little impractical when your work uniform is a lab coat and safety glasses!

Full size $22 for 1.7 mL.  This was a full-sized product that they sent! Woo! (My first one through Birchbox)

Twistband Hair Tie (Emerald-colored)
Photo from Birchbox

This was my first Twistband! I like them a lot, but I make my own now.  Fold-over elastic is very cheap on etsy and you can make a ton for the fraction of the cost.  I made about 100 for Christmas gifts for my friends.

12 pack is $18 on Birchbox.  Value of a single hair tie is $1.50.  

Birchbox Notecard (1, purple)
Photo from Birchbox

The "extra" this month was a random notecard with xoxo on the front of it.  I attached it to my mothers' day gift that year.  Another weird thing to include.  It was not terrible quality, but not the best, either.

Full set of 12, $10.  Value of single card, $0.83.

Total value: $31.41.  Add that to the $6 from the 60 points for reviews and this was a great box!

Birchbox costs $10/month, including shipping and sends you a box of 4-6 samples and sometimes full-sized products.  You can review the products you receive for 10 Birchbox points each.  For every $1 you spend in the BB shop, you also receive 1 BB point.  For every 100 BB points you accumulate, you get $10 to spend in their shop.  If you would like to sign up, my link is here and I will earn 50 BB points at the end of your first month.

This post contains products I purchased with my own money.  No compensation was received for this post and all opinions are my own.  This post contains a referral link, see above for details.

Birchbox Top 5

These are my top five favorite items received from Birchbox:

Photo from Birchbox

#5: Color Club's Wanderlust collection (June 2013)
'Reign in Spain' is THE PERFECT CORAL COLOR. I have been searching and searching for this color nailpolish. Julep's Alicia comes close, but isn't quite as bright as this. The other colors are fab, too, but Reign in Spain is my holy grail coral nailpolish. Seriously. I have 10 or so other corals that just aren't quite right. I bought the whole collection and was given an extra RiS by a friend. That makes 3 bottles, and you can bet I will use them all until the last drop.

Photo from Birchbox

#4 Harvey Prince's Ageless (March 2012- my first box!)
Until I got this sample, I didn't wear perfume every day. The closest I got was Demeter's pomegranate cologne spray. I liked that even though it was a single note, it was stil complex. Ageless has become my new favorite: it is clean and fresh and the grapefruit makes a unique statement. I try out new perfume samples when I get them, but none of them have come close to capturing how I feel about myself in a fragrance. Ageless does exactly that.

Photo from Birchbox

#3: Beauty Protector's Protect and Detangle (April 2013)
This spray smells like vanilla and harp music. It does it all: detangle, condition, protect from heat and UV, and make my hair smell good enough to eat for over 24 hours at a time. This stuff is amazing. It is expensive, so I have been only using it before straightening my hair and not every day when I wear it curly. If I had a million dollars, I would fill a swimming pool with this and just soak in it all day, every day.

Photo from Birchbox

#2: Orofluido Elixar (March 2012- another from my first month!)
Hecho en España, esto producto es maravilloso. Huele de miel y vanilla, orofluido suaviza el cabello antes y después de estiliza con calor. ¡Es tan bueno que tengo que escribir en español para describirlo! But seriously, I need to use my B.A. in Spanish for something... A little of this goes a long way, and complements the scent of the beauty protector spray perfectly.  I've given some of my friends little bottles of this to try to convert them; it's that good.

#1 Dr. Jart Water Fuse BB cream (May 2012)
I have nice skin. I'm not a freak of nature, I've just been on constant antibiotics since I was young- this means no acne and no acne scars. I have freckles, yes, but that's it. I don't need a heavy foundation for every day, and I like the convenience of a tinted moisturizer, but they don't often cover quite enough. Dr. Jart's BB cream blends into my skin perfectly, provides just the right amount of coverage, and maybe it's my imagination, but my skin tone has become much more even over the last year of using this. It provides an extra layer of sunscreen (I still use some as a base layer), and a little goes a long way. I bought a variety pack of their other BB creams and love them all. If I need extra coverage, I use a little Bare Minerals powder over the BB cream and I'm on my way. No concealer necessary. I'm sure this wouldn't work for everyone, especially those who aren't as fair-skinned as I am, or those who need something to control oil, but this is my favorite. It is amazing and I regret nothing!




Birchbox costs $10/month and this is my referral link

This posts contains products that I purchased through Birchbox.  All opinions are my own.  This post also contains a referral link.  For every person who signs up for BB using my link, I get 50 BB points.