Price: (as always) $10
My November Box.
November’s theme is “The Finishing Touch,” which is fitting as I’m probably not going to renew BB in 2017.
Before I delve into my review, I wanted to inform you guys about the new points system in Birchbox.
Although I’ve loved BB for nearly two years now, I will probably cancel my subscription after my December box, and here’s why:
- They changed the point system. Now a review will not get you extra +10 points (which ends up being equal to a dollar). That’s 50 extra points ($5) gone.
- You will earn points for spending money in the shop and referring friends. (+50 points for the first five reviews you make after the changed system)
- You don’t have to wait until the points accumulate to 100 to spend it. But again, it’s much harder now to earn points.
- Tiny samples + Not the best customization system.
The reason I swore by Birchbox was because of the points. The tiny samples in itself didn’t justify the $10 price tag for me, even with free shipping. The extra 100 points you used to get for every two box equaled to $10, a nice sum that could be used towards purchasing tried-and-true samples.
Now those perks are gone.
There’s no reason for me to fork over 10 bucks for minuscule samples, especially as the only “big” samples I get are stuff I don’t even use, like dry shampoo and hairspray.
That being said, I will miss the old system where I used to wait for every box, mulling over what samples to purchase. That notion of the unknown was a part of what made this fun for me. But as of now, I can’t justify its price tag. That’s $10 more that could’ve been spent on something I definitely know I’ll enjoy.
On to the review.
What I got.
I’m actually pretty happy with all the product choice this month. It’s something I know I’ll use up.
- That tiny Jane Iredale sample makes everything look big, but I assure you, everything is tiny (with the exception of the hair conditioner). Nice balm though.
- The Gimme Brow is absolutely adorable, and props to the cute packaging, but it’s the size of my index finger. (But lovely product. I have used a FS Gimme Brow before, and it helped my sparse brows a lot)
- The Juara sample smells lovely, a bit like a mix of vanilla-chai & almond? I should look into this once I power through 2 years worth of body cream.
- I’m wary of the Marcelle, as I’ve broken out before, but I’m always game for moisturizer. Especially one that’s multi-action.
- The R+Co cleansing foam conditioner felt a bit heavy on my hair, but it seemed to clean everything pretty well.
Comparison with my other tiny lip samples. You’ve got to admit they’re adorable.
With the Marc Jacobs sample, you get 1g (0.03oz) of product.
With the Jane Iredale, it doesn’t say… I’ll have to bury it in my front yard and hope that come next spring, it would’ve grown into a wonderful lippie tree. (=lipstick seed goals)
Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful day 🙂
PS: They changed up the packaging! The tabs make it much easier to take apart. Nice touch.
How was your November Birchbox? Did you enjoy everything in there? Will you renew for 2017? What do you think of the new points system?
I love the box design. It’s adorable, like a bubblegum wrapper or a kitschy wallpaper.
This month’s curated box is titled: “Ready For Anything.”
This is the list of the five DS samples:
Save for the Parlor hairspray (I have way too many samples now), these were all items I was excited to try/receive. Despite that spray, I should’ve been pleased with this box.
For example, Kiehl.
Wilma Schumann eye pads. I love receiving eye pads because I know they’ll get used. Never seen a dramatic change, especially with onetime use, but they feel very refreshing, nice and cool.
Smashbox Trio. Color scheme is a tad bit boring, but I like boring, neutral palettes. Plus, this apparently doubles as a contour palette.
Meh, but generous size. I could give this away to a friend who likes hairsprays.
Which brings me to the Milk lipstick in color “C.R.E.A.M.”
I swear, that picture gives me the illusion that the other samples are huge, or FS. But you’ve all seen how small the Kiehl cream is.
… it’s so small!
The amount of product we receive is “0.4g/0.0014oz.” For comparison, the amount of product in a DS size Bite lipstick, is “2g/0.07oz.” Meaning this sample is 1/5th the size of a regular DS lipstick.
Whomp whomp.
That being said, “C.R.E.A.M” is a rather pretty color.
This goes on creamy matte, meaning it does accentuate my lip lines. But as long as you don’t have horrible dry lips like I do, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Because I won’t be doing a separate review for this, here’s the ingredient list for the lipstick.
sokobaby.com 