Birchbox - December 2012

The December theme from Birchbox is All Wrapped Up. I'm not sure I see the correlation between that and what I received, but it does make sense for the holiday season.  Regardless, the box this month wasn't the standard brown. As you can see, they prettied it up with pink and gold stripes.  Nice!  And the contents?  Well...

This was a 50/50 box for me: 50% I was happy to try, 50% worthless.  Let's get the worthless stuff out of the way.

The Juicy Couture signature fragrance is already boxed up and ready to go to my sister.  I do not wear anything from Juicy ever.

The ModelCo SHINE Ultra Lip Gloss in striptease would have been a nice, full sized gloss to add to my collection had I not already received it from Glossybox in October.  Ok, so I received the lipstick/gloss duo from ModelCo, not just the gloss but I don't need two, even though it is a good product.  This went with the Be a Bombshell gloss I received from Ipsy to a family in need we sponsored at work.  Mom asked for beauty products - Mom's gunna get some good beauty products!


A $50 credit to Rent the Runway.  I currently have $80 worth of credits to rent party dresses between Birchbox and PopSugar.  If you could see my face right now, you'd see the most unenthusiastic facial expression in the history of mankind (unless you also watched the Packers vs. Titans football game this week).  I've read that some women really like RTR and I can see why they do, but I don't have a need for it.  RTR does sell makeup and accessories, but these credits aren't valid on those useful items. Sad.

Moving on to good things.



I love the Obliphica Nourishing Mask from amika.  I use a clarifying shampoo about once a week (from Pureology) and like to follow it with a rich, deep conditioner and this fits the bill.  It leaves my hair so soft, so smooth, and smelling so very good.  The Obliphica oil nourishes and moisturizes without weighing hair down - particularly important for those of us with thin, lifeless locks.  Pairing the mask with the amika oil treatment I received from the TotalBeauty.com HSN Collection makes my hair look and feel pretty incredible.  It's a truly amazing product and I have already cashed in some Birchbox points to get a bottle of it.  amika is cruelty free and PETA certified!




I've been interested in Juice Beauty products for a while but hadn't tried anything until now.  The Stem Cellular Repair CC (color control) Cream has been of particular interest to me since none of the BB creams I've tried have provided the tone correcting I'm looking for.  CC cream, for those unfamiliar, is supposed to be a thicker cream providing better coverage than BB creams.  Juice Beauty's CC cream comes it 2 shades, Natural Glow and Warm Glow.  I received Warm Glow which is for medium and darker skin tones.  This stuff is a true multi-tasker, with a list of 12 benefits. Those twelve can be summarized like this: Juice Beauty CC cream will improve your skin while giving you an even, glowing appearance. So?  So. My first experience was lackluster.  It went on pretty smoothly but I didn't notice that it made my skin feel or look great.  In fact, after it settled in, my skin felt a bit chalky and by mid-day, my foundation was fading and I needed to blot.  The next time, I put it on immediately after I got out of the shower (I read one review that recommended applying a fair amount to damp skin) and used OC8 primer before applying my foundation. That made a big difference and my skin did look really good.  Sadly, I think my skin doesn't like grape seed oil which is an ingredient in this cream.  To be fair, I'm not sure if it's the CC cream or holiday stress causing the eruption on my chin, but I'm going to give my face a break for a few days.  I will say that for those looking for something that provides better coverage the BB creams and has more benefits than tinted moisturizers, check out the CC Cream from Juice. Oh! I've read some people are turned off by the smell.  I wouldn't say it smells good, but I wasn't all that bothered by it.  Juice Beauty is also PETA certified and most of their products are vegan.

Finally we have a little treat from Emily's Chocolates: dark chocolate peppermint holiday fortune cookies.  I'm not super picky when it comes to anything covered in chocolate, that's for sure, so send me a choco-coated cookie and I'm probably going to love it. And I loved this. It was crunchy, not at all chewy, with the right amount of mint flavor.  The dark chocolate was smooth and delicious.  I would easily eat a box full of these.



As for my fortune, I'm not much for the ghost of friendships past so this did not fill me with joy, but no knocks on my door yet.

$10 for Birchbox. Did I get my $10 worth?  No, not really. I'd say $5 worth.  I loved the amika and the cookie enough to keep me happy, though.  I know there are some who feel that they need to like everything they receive every month, but not me. I enjoy trying new things and if it turns out that I don't like the product then I've answered that question for myself.  I don't mind spending $10 to experiment with samples that are delivered to my doorstep so Birchbox & I will continue to be friends into the new year.