7.25.2011

MAKEUP MONDAY ♥ BIRCHBOX REVIEW

I was kind of interested in trying out this BIRCHBOX program. But honestly, I think someone is pulling something on all these girls out there and getting a ton of free advertising for it. Because, you see, when you write for a publication, you get loads of product to review for free. To ask people to pay $10 a month would be good if all of these were really legit "deluxe samples"...but a lot of them aren't, and a lot of the brands they feature aren't deluxe, either. Maybe it's just me....maybe it's because I'm or I was used to receiving good samples to review them, use them, spread the word about them. Getting a giant box of Dermalogica or L'Occitane on a regular basis might indeed make me a little bit pickier when I do a review of a program like BIRCHBOX. But then again, I've done and writes about marketing all the time. AT THE VERY LEAST, I think if you are going to charge the companies to be part of Birchbox (if they aren't charging companies, then someone is being stupid) and then you're going to ask the kids out there to all pay for their boxes of samples, then make the samples ALL WORTH THEIR WHILE...ie, good deluxe sizes and good deluxe luxury brands. Now onto my review of JUNE and JULY's Birchbox packages........

THIS IS SORT OF WHAT MY JUNE BIRCHBOX LOOKED LIKE. SORT OF MEANING, THE FIRST SECOND THIRD PRODUCTS WERE TINY IN COMPARISON.
JUNE BIRCHBOX....
I received (for my $10 subscription for the month...it's $10 a month or you can pay for a year and get one month free, basically, so you're only paying for 11 months):

1. a sample of Kate Spade's Twirl fragrance. It was no big deal. It could have been a cute little atomizer or a cute little mini bottle, but it ended up being one of those typical perfume samples in those dumb little folded paper things. I mean, get some Bvlgari or something and have it be an actual tiny bottle. This had no excitement to it. It was like bleh. You can get 10 of them from the counter at the mall.

2. a Shu Uemura Essence Absolue Nourishing Protective Oil....okay...this is how all the samples should be...luxury product and a nice little vile of good stuff that will pretty much last a bit. I loved this one. 

3. Sircuit Cosmeceuticals Molecular Mist...this was a good sized atomizer, but this doesn't come off to me as quality product. I'm trying it out, but it just seems kind of hokey to me.

4. Deborah Lippmann Stripper To Go Nail Polish Remover...OK...maybe kind of OK to try. But 2 dinky samples does not a deluxe sample make. I'm just say-in'.

5. The main thing that we all got was the Laura Geller Baked Blush N Brighten...I got one that's pretty gold and bronze and not pink at all. It's a sample...because it's regular size and costs a bit if you purchased it from a store...but I don't think I'd even buy this product for $10. So is it a rad sample? Maybe. Maybe not. We shall see. 

THIS IS MY JULY BIRCHBOX...SORT OF. ;) THIS MONTH WAS CURATED BY CYNTHIA ROWLEY. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING BY CYNTHIA ROWLEY. BUT I RESPECT HER AND LIKE HER AS A CREATOR. WOULD LOVE TO WORK FOR HER MAYBE.
 JULY BIRCHBOX...
1. JOYA PARFUM...This was a tiny little roll-on...it's kind of cool looking. But TINY. And not really my kind of scent. 

2. NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Multi-usage Dry Oil....this looks good. It's a tiny bottle, but a nice bottle...it's a nice luxe product and a nice luxe brand. I love this. 

3. PHILOSOPHY Purity facial cleanser...I dunno. It's a nice size. But you can get these samples going to the Philosophy counter in any department store. So dunno why this is in the package.

4. REDKEN Shine Flash...it's a good size. But Redken always hands out truckloads of product at every fashion event and fashion show. So getting even more Redken product is like...so like whatever.

5. YBF Beauty eyebrow pencil...this is a good-enough-to-use product...I mean, I'm using it. It's a normal size. Looks like a Korean cosmetic brand. But mine already broke. And the packaging seems cheap. So is it OK...sure. Is it amazing. No. 

Then as a bonus we all got one of those yummy Almond and Apricot nuts and stuff snack bars. It was good. I buy those from Starbucks. But how does that even fit into a beauty program?

My thoughts are if anyone wants to hire me to oversee one of these programs, I will. Because there are so many beauty brands like Sisley or Metier De Beauté or Fresh or L'Occitane or or or....that there could be really gorgeous packages in the future. I think the UK has something called a Glossy Box that has gorgeous product including Nars in there. I wish we had that. I don't know if I will continue with Birchbox. Maybe if I was 13 it would be rad. But it's not a big deal thus far to me. I'd rather get in the car and go to the beauty counters I love and ask for samples that way....because they'd be amazing and FREE.♡

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