October Birchbox Review
Happy 4 year anniversary, Birchbox! It has been quite a fulfilling relationship, but I was a little disgruntled this month. On Customer Appreciation Day, there were no clear directions on how to order the products I wanted and receive the discount. I reached out to them and it took 2 days to respond, which is obviously after the day of excitement and celebration is over. I was not pleased about that and then that day I also found out that they stopped giving reviewing points!
Their customer service team did eventually respond and say they'd honor the discounts, but it kind of lost its excitement by then so I didn't bother. I also had a broken product this month and because they had already ran out of it, they gave me points instead. While I have not been the happiest, they do try to remedy and unpleasant experiences when they occur so that is a big plus. And now on to the good stuff - this month's products!
Madison Reed Nourishing Color Enhancing Shampoo and Conditioner: The shampoo seals in shine and protects against UV rays and the conditioner works to keep color from fading. I really liked the way they made my hair feel - it was clean, soft and rinsed out nicely. The major downer of this product is that I did not like the scent at all! To me, it smelled like bathroom cleaner... I prefer a nice coconut or floral scent. I will definitely enjoy the samples and my color did look brighter, but the scent will not fly.
*Bonus Madison Reed Root Touch Up Makeup for Hair: This was a sample so I received applicator sponges instead of the brush. It comes in 7 colors, and I received 4 in my sample. It is rain-proof, sweat-proof and pillow-proof and is to be used to cover roots and grays. I love the concept behind this so you can still feel good between colors! I think it worked, however I recently colored my hair and it's close to my natural color so I don't have many roots to test it on! Depending on your level of roots or gray, I think this would be best used on the part only, so schedule that color appointment and use this to get by!
MAKE Silk Cream Lipstick in Magnolia: This was my broken product this month. The lipstick was not in the holder and was smushed against the top lid. I did managed to get some out to try it though! It was a very hydrating, rich formula with a creamy consistency. I don't wear lip color much, but I did really like this formula and it was fairly long-lasting. The color choice was not for me but overall it is a good product!
Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask: I was super excited to try this! Birchbox had a huge Instagram story of going behind the scenes at Tata Harper while they made products and this was one of them, so it was really cool to see hows it's made and then get to try it. It evens tone, rids excess oil and sheds dead skin so you have a natural glow. I liked the way it felt while on (it was tightening) and the way my skin looked and felt after! My skin has been dull lately and this helped bring it out of its funk.
Hustle Butter Luxe: This is a healing balm with hyaluronic acid and algae extract that supposedly has a slew of uses such as hydration, makeup removal and bug bite relief. I'm not sure how I feel about those products being rolled into one? But this did smell great and reminded me of summer. It was a really moisturizing formula and I tested it on my hands and lips. It's a tad too greasy for me to want to put on my face, but I will use it for dry skin in the winter or on the next ski trip.
The theme of this month was soothing and restoring, which I was in need of! If you only check out one product from this box, let it be the Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask.