July Birchbox 2014

For those of you who don't know, Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription service that sends you  4-5 "deluxe samples" very month for $10. You can subscribe on a month by month basis and pay $10 a box and opt out after any month or get a 3-month, 6 month, or year long subscription for flat rates. The yearly subscription is $110 making it slightly less expensive.

This month they partnered up with Women's heath. The box included a little booklet challenging you to "POWER UP" with 12 bite-sized challenges to complete. They include things like eat outside, writing down a workout log, and upping your sleep quality.

As for samples this month I received one sample I liked a  lot and the others were alright.

The Super Comb Perp & Protect by Number 4 worked really well as a detangle spray and I did feel my hair was soft after I let it air dry (which is pretty normal as I have healthy hair). The smell was very  chemically but reminded me of the way  hair salons can smell sometimes. My hair didn't smell  at all after it was dry so I imagine if you blow dried it the smell would disappear quickly. The product claims to be  "A sulfate-free leave-in conditioner that safeguards color, strengthens, and nourishes." and should be applied to towel-dried hair while it is still damp. Full-sized product is $32

The Luminous 3-minute Peel by Real Chemistry was an interesting experience. It is a clear jell you put on your face, wait and then massage for 2-3 minutes to exfoliate (peel) your skin. After massaging it there were little balls of skin on my face that came up but Im not totally convinced it wasn't just product balling up. After washing my face  it felt clean and did not have any residue but my cheeks burned a little. Full-sized product is $48

The Hello Body Creme by Harvey Prince is an amazing smelling lotion. I almost got the perfume version. It is very citrus smelling and fades to a sweet floral. The lotion is a bit thin for me to think of it as a cream. Not sure if a creme is different, sorry about it. It is definitely moisturizing. I find on me the scent lasts for about 10 minutes which is a bit of a bummer but not the end of the world. The lotion itself is a light yellow color. Full-sized product is $22.

The Creamy Lip Stain by Cynthia Rowley Beauty I received in the shade Valentine. It is a creamy pink lip stain that didn't do too much for me. I think it is more of a cream gloss to be honest. The texture is really nice and it has decent color pay off. It doesnt every dry down but its not at all sticky.

The Beauty extra this month was one of the items I was really excited about but sadly it was a let down. I was sent Gingerade Shower Gel by 100% Pure. This is a Birchbox exclusive. In the packet it smelled amazing and very refreshing/invigorating. It is an all nature product which gets 2 thumbs way up from me. However, once I got it into the shower the smell disappeared and it had almost no noticeable lather on my shower poof or my body after being applied. Sad times. But  did feel clean after my shower and there was no residue.