My first experience of Birchbox was the Harper’s Bazaar collaboration (post here) which was a fantastic box, then I received last month’s box (post here) which was quite possibly the best beauty box selection I’ve ever received, so those were some very high standards to meet. Sadly, the July 2014 Birchbox isn’t really doing it for me, as on a personal level there are quite a few products I can’t see myself using.
I think all products in the Birchbox July 2014 are sample sized which is likely to miff a few people, but there are six products in the box in total and none of them are mean sample sizes. As usual, here’s the contents in order of my favourites:
Laqa & Co. Sheer Lip Lube Pencil in Bees Knees
I’m always happiest with make-up items in beauty boxes and I do love a balmy lip product. I don’t think I’ve tired Laqa & Co. before (although, having checked their website which is seriously full of cuteness, I think this might change soon) so I’m keen to give this chubby-style lip pencil a go. I’m not thrilled by the name as I think I’ve hit that age where I’ve becoming a fussy prude (plays on anything sexual to sell products winds me up) but that isn’t a big deal. This is a mini with the full sized pencil costing £14.
Weleda Millet Nourishing Shampoo
I’ll always have a bit of a soft spot for Weleda since it was their baby wash that was the first ever product I used on Teddy, so I’m always happy to try something from the brand. I do wish they’d included a mini of the conditioner too as I hate trying one and not the other, but I’ll give it a go with a deep conditioner (probably the Shea Butter Hair Mask as featured in last month’s box since I forgot all about it until today) and see how I get on. Full sized this is £8.95 and I got an 18ml tube in my box.
Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream
Everyone goes a bit mad for Balance Me products so I’m guessing the inclusion of this eye cream will be a people-pleaser. I’m being rubbish at applying eye products lately (still working on it and I have a gadget that I’m hoping will kick-start things) so I’ll add this to my list of eye products to try. It’s a lovely little travel-sized 7ml which I think will be ideal for a week or two away. Full-sized this is £20.
Ultradex Oral Spray
This is a lifestyle extra rather than part of the box itself, but I love a good mouth spray for a quick post-coffee refresh. I quite like the idea of lifestyle extras in beauty boxes as a way to introduce us to things outside the beauty remit, although I would still technically count mouth spray as relevant in the beauty world since dental hygiene definitely is. This is full-sized and worth £3.65.
Whish Three Whishes Lavender Body Butter
The inclusion of a body cream will almost always slot in at the bottom of my favourites as I find it sooo annoying that they appear so regularly; to me they’re like perfume samples in that they’re box filler. This is lavender scented which made me groan on first inspection, but having given it a whiff it’s actually really nice! It’s got a slightly sweet, almost cocoa butter scent with just the tiniest hint of floral, so that was definitely a surprise. The box contains 22ml and the full-sized this is £14.50.
Gilchrist & Soames English Spa Sea Kelp Extract Mineral Bath
The last on my list is this mineral bath which sounds fab, smells rather nice and I think it would make for a lovely, calming bath, but all bath products do is remind me that I live in a home without a bath (I only have a shower but I’m hoping to move soon…) so there’s absolutely no way for me to give this a go, although I’m sure it’d be pleasant enough. You get a fairly decent 40ml in the box and full-sized it’s £11.25.
There we have my rundown of Birchbox July 2014. It isn’t the greatest of boxes, but to be honest I don’t see how they could’ve topped the last two months no matter how hard they tried! It’ll be really interesting to see what other people got in their boxes, so I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for that. For more info on Birchbox, head to their site here – link – where subscriptions cost £10 per month plus £2.95 p+p.
*PR Sample
