january birch box

After over a year of lusting after this little pink box I finally took the plunge and signed up for a month-to-month subscription to Birchbox. For those of you who aren't familiar with Birchbox it is a monthly subscription service that sends you 4-5 handpicked deluxe beauty samples right to your door for only $10 (no shipping) a month. If you are a beauty lover the big appeal is trying out products that normally run around or over the $20 price point before splurging and buying them. Plus I LOVE samples, real samples like these, not the kind you tear out of magazines. And I have the best way to utilize samples, which I will share in an upcoming VLOG.

Anyway, back to Birchbox... it finally came and to say I was excited is a severe understatement. It came in a pink outer box and then inside a beautiful letter pressed box with pink writing. The products were wrapped nicely in pink tissue and some were even bundled together and tied with a ribbon. It also came with a card describing the contents and what the full size product would cost.

In my specific Birchbox I received the following products:

Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss

Zoya "Feel" Collection Polish

C.O. Bigelow Shampoo + Conditioner

Lara Mini Bar

Juicy Couture "Viva La Juicy" Perfume

...and a cute little magnet with the BB logo on it. I'm not sure if this only comes in the first shipment but it's adorable.

I was really impressed with my first BB, and it's contents. And after seeing the 19 different boxes that went out I believe mine was best suited for me, thanks to the beauty profile I filled out before receiving my first box.

I love the mini lip gloss, it might possibly be the cutest little gloss I have ever seen. I was hesitant at first because the shade looked so pink but it ended up not so bright on. Plus it has a great texture and not sticky at all. I had never heard of Jouer before this BB and definitely will keep an eye out for them now. 

The Zoya polish is by far my favorite part of this BB not only because of its size (it's practically a full size bottle), and color, but because it is the sample that is most relevant to me. I love new polish colors and this shade isn't like any others I have to date.

Did I mention it's practically full size?! Look at it next to a full size Essie!!

The C.O. Bigelow set was something I was definitely excited to try out, especially because I have heard a lot about the brand. I tried it for few days but was not all that impressed with it. The smell was really nice and natural but I had to use quite a bit (1/4 of the mini bottle) to even get the slightest lather going (although I do have long hair). I think I like the conditioner better and might possibly even consider trying out a full size version. I will have to wait and see how I feel once there is no more left.

I was underwhelmed with the Juicy fragrance but probably mostly because I had just received the exact same sample in my Sephora order the day before and didn't enjoy the smell. I also felt like it wasn't that "deluxe" of a sample because you could easily get this kind of sample from a department store. But that being said, it was the spray version sample and not just a vial which was nice and had it been a fragrance liked I might have been happier.

Last but not least was the Lara Bar which is actually considered a "Lifestyle Extra". I quite enjoyed the little thing but I already purchase Lara Bars so it was nothing new to me.

One of the cool things about Birchbox is that they allow you to get free shipping on any of the BB products that month, you can also buy them direct through the BB website. Another neat thing is the Birchbox points. You earn points for your first box, a yearly subscription, referring friends, buying products, surveys and more. Then you can cash them in to use towards a product of our choice!

Overall I loved my January Birchbox and can't wait to get next months already. I think i got my $10 worth, considering the Zoya practically paid for the box itself. It is always nice to get something through snail mail and especially when it is wrapped so pretty too. My plan is to continue until July with the month-to-month if I am still happy, and then ask for a year subscription for my birthday.

If you decide to try out Birchbox because of me, won't you so kindly use my referral link HERE. Then you can pass your own referral links on to your friends. 

Do any of you lovelies subscribe to BB, if so which box did you get?