The September Birchbox had the theme ‘Heroes,’ with them celebrating heroic women who
inspire everyone. The box is packed with hero beauty treats, picked out to optimise
our beauty routine, including one full-size make-up product.
This month’s box was inspired by subscriber
Philippa Colliass, who’s mood board inspired the box’s design. Philippa says
she gets her inspiration from places like Instagram, Pinterest and
Designspiration. Her hero woman for 2016 is The Queen, for keeping it real for
90 years! The box is a gorgeous combination of pastel colours, including pinks,
lilacs and yellows, with a simple gold ‘Birchbox’ logo. Rather than their usual
box style, Birchbox have styled this as a drawer, much like another box a few
months ago, which I think is a nice change. Does anyone else keep all their
boxes, just in case they could be used for something else?!
For anyone that hasn’t heard of Birchbox
before, it’s a monthly beauty subscription service. Each box usually consists
of five beauty treats from a range of both well-known and emerging brands, and
occasionally there is a lifestyle item thrown in too. As well as the monthly
beauty box, the website also consists of a shop where you can purchase all the
brands that have been featured in their boxes. Every time you shop, you earn
10% of your final total back in Birchbox points, and when you have 100 points;
you’ve got £10 to spend! Subscribers also get free delivery on orders over £35,
or when you buy any of that month’s beauty treats in full-size.
Jane Iredale Smooth Affair Facial Primer & Brightener – Full size RRP £36
This isn’t a brand I had really heard of
before, but I love a good primer, and anything that helps to brighten my skin
is a bonus! It’s packed with ultra-nourishing ingredients like grapefruit,
apple and antioxidant white tea, as well as soothing royal jelly. As well as
smoothing your complexion and minimising the look of pores (yay!) and wrinkles,
it also provides intense hydration and anti-aging benefits, leaving skin
naturally luminous. You can either use it on it’s own, or as a primer before
make-up.
STARSKIN Eye Catcher Smoothing Bio-Cellulose Second Skin Eye Masks - Full size RRP £8.50
This was another new brand to me, although I’ve
heard a lot about face and eye masks recently, so was excited to find it in the
box. This bio-cellulose mask has been specifically created for the delicate eye
area – brightening, rejuvenating and soothing tired eyes with vitamin-rich
coconut juice. According to the website, your eyes will instantly look more
wide-awake. Considering one of my biggest skin issues is dark circles and
constantly looking like I feel (exhausted!) I’m hoping these eye masks will
work their magic and at least make me look a bit more fresh faced!
Amika Bombshell Blowout Spray – Full size RRP £14.99
Another product in my box this month was a
hairspray from another brand I’d never heard of. Up until fairly recently, my
hair care routine consisted of shampoo and conditioner. I didn’t understand
what all the different serums, sprays and mousses did, so just stuck to the
basics. But more recently I’ve started to experiment a bit more, and now I
quite enjoy testing out new hair products. This lightweight spray works on both
damp and dry hair to give you the perfect blowout; protecting, nourishing,
smoothing and volumising hair. I have particularly fine hair, so anything that
promises volume is worth a try in my eyes! It also serves as a light hold mist
for dry hair and can help with re-styling.
NUXE Prodigieux Shower Oil – Full size RRP £10
NUXE is quickly becoming one of my new
favourite brands, so finding another of their products to try out was
definitely a bonus. This shower oil is infused with NUXE’s iconic Huile
Prodigieuse scent (a delicate blend of orange blossom, magnolia and vanilla)
and gently cleanses your skin, leaving behind a satin finish with a lingering
fragrance. It comes with the added bonus that it’s brimming with sweet almond
oil and golden shimmer to leave skin looking radiant.
ModelCo Highlighting Trio – Full size RRP £17
The final product in the September box was a
ModelCo Highlighting Trio. We were actually given the opportunity to choose
between two products from the same brand – the highlighting trio (which I opted
for) or Crème Rouge, which I’ll admit I was almost swayed by. The Trio contains
three shades – a peachy-pink blush, a pearlescent highlighter and a coppery
bronzer. These creamy pigments can be used on cheekbones, brow bones and
eyelids to add a subtle glow wherever you need it. They’re ultra-creamy in
texture for easy blending but they transform into a powder on your skin for a
velvet-soft finish. I can’t wait to give them a try!
As well as the beauty products, there was also
a little bonus surprise for us to use – a voucher from LALALAB for a free LALABOX,
worth an amazing £12.69! I’ve been meaning to try out their photo boxes for a
while now, as my sister ordered some and I was really impressed, so I will
definitely be making use of this added extra!
Overall, I was really happy with this box. I
love the drawer idea and the design of the box is right up my street. I don’t
think there are any products that I won’t use, but I’m particularly excited to
try out the shower oil and highlighting trio. And I also can’t wait to nab
myself a cute box of photos!
Are you a Birchbox subscriber, and if so what
do you think of it? Or are there other subscription boxes that you’d recommend?
I’m always interested to try new ones, beauty or otherwise.
