I'm back! I'm sorry I've been away for awhile. The end of school got in the way and I've been adjusting to life post-undergrad for the last month or so. But I'm here with a brand new comparison post for you!
My Birchbox arrived yesterday, a day later than the tracking had indicated, but it did arrive safely with all its features intact.
This month's birchbox was based on a magazine issue type theme it seems, and the birchbox team came up with a fall lookbook that they included with the usual literature. Very Cute. It's sort of like advertising with tips scattered in, but the layout is easy to follow and attractive.
In my box this month came
- An exclusive nail polish by Color Club. I received the color "Insta-THIS" which is a beautiful blue cream with a glossy finish. I painted it on last night and I love how the color is dark yet vibrant. It also matches my computer cover!
- A small sample of the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint. This sample is housed in an adorable yet TINY little tube. I'm looking forward to this sample because I generally like the matte look over a glowy one, but this doesn't look like it'll last me more than maybe three uses at most. Enough to see if I like the finish and the texture, but not really enough to see how my skin reacts to it.
- A fragrance sample of kate spade new york's "Twirl". I have no idea why the company name is in all lower case letters, but that's how they wrote it. It's described as "A blend of fruity and floral notes, this modern classic feels joyful and carefree." I look forward to sampling it.
- A sizable tube of Soy Body Whip in Poppy by Skin, An Apothecary. I really like the smell of it. It's noticeable but not too overwhelming. My hands were unusually dry last night and this worked wonders. They claim that it doesn't leave behind a greasy feel, but I found that the residue lasted for maybe ten minutes. Not a problem since I was going to bed, but I wasn't keen on typing on my keyboard.
- A hair tie from twistband(r). This is cute. I've seen pictures of these and they're designed to go well around your hair and cute as a bracelet as well. I can say that on the wrist it the elastic doesn't dig into the skin and yet snaps back into shape well enough. I haven't tried it on my hair yet, but I don't think I will without a traditional hairband underneath so it doesn't stretch out too much. (My hair takes two hair bands to hold up into a semi-stable ponytail. and those get stretched-out/broken in no time.)
- The lifestyle extra was a sample of some Fashion tape from Hollywood Fashion Secrets. (not pictured because it was under the tissue paper, oops!) This was an interesting thing to put in, but I feel that a lot of times even though they're 'extras', they really improve my opinion of the overall box. This one certainly did.
I have to say that my initial impression of the box was disappointed. I got all excited after watching the sneak peek video that the company put out for this month. I REALLY wanted the rose gold polish and the brush guards. But the blue polish is actually very pretty and quite unlike any thing I have so far in my collection (which is growing far out of control...). The polish and the body whip are the stand outs of this box. I suppose you could say in that way that this box was better than last month's, but I think mostly I was psyched that they sent a Gillete razor in that box (which I promptly lost when I moved back home. =(.)
Overall this box is OK. I guess I think the $10 is worth it, but it didn't get me all that excited. Will I purchase any of these in the full-size? Unlikely. The Jouer sample isn't really big enough for me to invest in something that important. The hair tie is a novelty but overpriced, I think, for what it is (basically a cute elastic ribbon). I purchased a few packs of similar hair ties at the Dollar Tree before I ever saw this trend (mind you- I was just looking for elastics for a quick fix for my car, they did become quite useful as hair ties too). The color of the blue polish is amazing I admit, but I rarely, if ever pay more than $3 for a bottle of polish, and have enough nail polish that I won't miss this one particularly, I think, if I ever DO use it up. I have enough perfume in my cabinet at the moment to last me ages and I want to be able to use SOMETHING up before I invest in anymore (for fear of something going off). The Soy Body Whip is nice, but I think far out of my normal body products 'acceptable price point', especially since I generally only by things on sale, I MIGHT go for it later as a gift for a friend though. As for the fashion tape- if I really needed the stuff, don't you think I would already have invested in it?
End story- for the purpose of the box- that is to get cool stuff and try new products to invest in, this month's failed. Spectacularly. I got the 3-month anniversary coupon this month too. That's rather disappointing. I'm always looking for that next wonderful thing.
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ON TO MYGLAM!
I was subscribed to MyGlam first before I got a sub to Birchbox, and have been a subbie since their 2nd or 3rd month and seen them go through some ups and downs. After the last few boxes though, I gave in and got the annual subscription. I hope that they keep coming out with good packets! This month definitely did not disappoint!
Note that MyGlam recently changed their company name to Ispy. I'm going to continue using the term MyGlam for the while. The bag is still called the Glam Bag and us fans (as far as we know) are still called Glammies.
This month's bag arrived early! I was surprised because it wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow! Well.... This month's bag is very... pink.
- We got a brush! First thing is a smudge brush from London SOHO New York. I love getting brushes. This one is pretty soft and has a lovely metallic pink handle that is nice to hold. It's also small enough to actually be good crease brush for me, although maybe too large as a smudge brush. I assume that it is a synthetic hair brush, but I don't know for sure.
- This month's CIRCUS by Andrea's Choice nail polish was a vibrant (probably neon) purple color called Tightrope. I know that it seems to pull pink in the photo, but its undertones do run decidedly more pink than blue. About these polishes... I have to say that I don't know about the neon. It's a fun and interesting trend, but also last two times the polish practically peeled off, in great big chunks, and not too long after application. I'll try this one on MAYBE after a few days of the blue, but it might end up going to my sister. I just don't feel too comfortable with neons while job hunting, especially because I naturally tend to gravitate to darker colors. It is a very lovely color though...
- A sparkle gloss by jane.(r) in Sparkle Pink. This is pretty. Another thing I love receiving is lip products. Especially since I've only seen jane products sold at one Rite Aid, and then they pulled out of Rite Aid so I was never really able to get a hold of their products. I heard though that the brand recently underwent a whole repackaging of their products, so hopefully they'll come to some local drugstores soon.
- A sample of Carol's Daughter's Monoi Repairing Split End Sealer. Definitely an interesting thing to include. I don't know how much use I'll get out of it because I have course thick asian hair that doesn't really split, even though it hits mid-back on me and I get it trimmed rarely. But the packaging is very pretty. I think fine-haired ladies would get better use out of this.
- An eye shadow! by Mirabella in Semiformal. This was an exciting find! I missed out on their very first glam bag when they included an eye shadow but I find myself excited. They also sent a loose eye shadow last month, but I haven't a chance to try it out yet. This is a pinkish brown color. I have to track down one of my ELF palettes to stick it into, but this has potential!
Overall I really like this month's Glam Bag. I have to say that there are some things that can be good and some I might not use. But this bag overall gets me more excited than the Birchbox for this month. So I have to say the prize goes to MyGlam's bag for the excitment factor, and Birchbox for the 'things that are actually useful/I will use' factor. I think I prefer the glam bag more though because I really felt like the products are sizable enough to actually use or get the feel of the product to see if I'd want to repurchase.
I'll have to try the products to see if I like them enough to look into the other products by the company. Something I appreciate about MyGlam/Ipsy is that they actually give us full-size (or at least sizable) products more often then not, and encourage us to explore the rest of the products the company is offering, which I think is much more effective than the Birchbox system- which is to get us interested in specific products. More than that they're promoting beauty and they're promoting companies, not quite like Birchbox who has their own store (and in consequence seem to be promoting their own bottom line.) I'm for sure going to check out other brushes from SOHO and the Mirabella beauty products. For this month- WIN for glam bag!
I hope this post was helpful for those of you trying to decide between the two subscription services, or for those simply interested in what people got. I love reading and writing haul posts and for me this counts as quite a haul. It's quite wordy, but that's just how I roll.
Ta for now!
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