What's in My July Birchbox

When I got home from work today I was suprised to see that my July Birchbox was waiting for me. The tracking said it would probably be delivered on Friday but I'm starting to notice that I can't go by the tracking. This month Birchbox partnered with Glamour magazine and the theme is celebrating the five senses of summer.

This is what the package looks like when it arrives in the mail each month. Its fun to get a pretty pink package each month even though the people that work in my building are always wondering why I always get these bright little small boxes in the mail. All of you beauty addicts out there can relate I'm sure.

Sometimes when Birchbox partners with magazines, tv shows, etc, they will do a different cover like the one you see here. I think its fun and summery. 

When you first open the box you will see a card that explains what this months box "theme" is. 

This months card is focused on the five senses and as they state in the card, "This month, we've teamed up with Glamour whose July issue celebrates the five senses of summer, to bring you a Birchbox that guarantees a multi-sensory experience"

The back of that card then talks about the products. You typically will get 4-5 products in each box and sometimes full size products as well. The cost of the box is around $10. They also always include lifestyle extras like mints, tea, gum, hairbands, etc. Personally I could do without the extras as I really signed up for these boxes to get makeup, beauty, skincare, haircare items and not gum but thats just something that they do and I guess some people enjoy it. 

So now onto the good stuff, the box! Here is what I received in my July Birchbox. I will show you pictures of each product individually and let you know what I think.

The first product is a "lifestyle extra" that are neon earbuds. I tend to just use the headphones that I enjoy but I guess these are good as an extra pair in a pinch. They are a fun color for sure though. There is no retail value for these headphones according to the Birchbox card. 

The other "lifestyle extra" are these Tea Forte minteas. Mints are always good to have on hand so these are a nice extra. 3 tins of mints retail for $9.95

I also received a 0.9 oz sample  of the AHAVA Purifying Mud Mask. This is thick with Dead Sea mud and Kaolin white clay, fast-acting, and will detoxify the skin in the amount of time it takes to catch a commercial break according to Birchbox. I find that AHAVA is a popular brand that Birchbox puts in a lot of its boxes. They have pretty good products so I'm ok with that but I just feel that this mask isnt suited to my skin but more to acne prone skin. Sometimes I feel that Birchbox could do a better job of tailoring the products more to what we fill out in our online profile. A full size retails for $30. 

In my box was the Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner. I swatched this on my hand and the line is extremely precise, fairly black, and doesnt budge. I tried rubbing my hand and it seems to be staying put which I love. I am really looking forward to trying this product. It looks like it is a full size which retails for $15.

Birchbox always wraps part of the box contents in a little package like this. It's kind of fun so that even though you open the box and see what you got, you still get to open a little present like this one. 

So what was inside my little package? I got an Alterna Bamboo UV+ Color Protection Fade-Proof Fluid. Birchbox says that this finishing gloss prevents UV rays from fading color while organic bamboo extracts keep hair strong and soft. A full size is $24. Birchbox used to tell you the cost for the size of your sample but stopped doing so. I wish they still did so that we could know that we are getting a good value for our money. 

And last but not least, what would be a Birchbox without perfume. They seem to love to put perfume in just about every box. I have so much perfume because of Birchbox and Sephora orders I dont need to buy perfume for at least 6 months. This month they included a sample from Harvey Prince called Hello. While I usually dislike almost all of the other Harvey Prince samples that I got in previous Birchboxes I actually kind of enjoy this one. It is described as a blend of juicy Meyer lemon, white grapefruit, and pink plumeria. I love it for summer. This perfume retails for a full size between $26-$55.

So thats it for my July Birchbox. Overall I am pleased with what I received and while there are a few products that I could do without I am happy. Also after I do my online reviews of these products I will have enough points to buy something for $50 without having to spend any money. Thats one of the perks of Birchbox, their points system.  I am psyched about that. Any recommendations as to what I should order?

xx

Meredith