Birchbox | April
This month I received my first Birchbox. I love surprises, I love beauty products, and I love miniatures (perfect for sticking in your handbag or taking on holiday), so you can imagine my excitement. Firstly, I love the way it's presented. The little cardboard box with a drawstring bag is very cute and feels personalised. Opening up a teeny tiny hamper of beauty goodies is is a great monthly treat so if you're stuck for gift ideas I'd recommend a Birchbox subscription - the hard work of choosing products is done for you and it doesn't stop with one so it's a gift that keeps on giving (3 month, 6 month, and 1 year subscriptions available).
I was expecting it all to be topical beauty supplies but this month there was a little snack in the form of popcorn. I love evenings in with a soft blanket, tea in hand, and a good movie so this will definitely be part of a lazy Sunday movie-marathon. I received the 'Fiery Worcester Sauce & Sun-Dried Tomato' flavour, which sounds yummy.
The Laura Mercier Ambre Vanillé Soufflé Body Créme smells like absolute luxury (think warm but light floral vanilla). It's the perfect size for sticking in my handbag ready to whip out and apply to dry elbows and knees in the summer months when I'm sporting a dress or shorts. Because it's lighter in texture than a hand cream, it'll soak into the skin nicely and hopefully leave me smelling vanillery, too.
The N.4 Jour d'automne Non Aerosol Hair Spray is also the perfect handbag companion. I never fuss with my hair (I prefer natural, tousled looking hair and, quite frankly, most of the time I can't be bothered to much more than leave it down or stick it in a ponytail), but with a few weddings lined up this year I'll be making more of an effort and I'm sure this little one will come in handy to keep my hair in place. It smells quite fresh and a little fruity and, from first tests, doesn't leave a sticky residue.
I received the Color Club Nail Lacquer in the shade 'Heirloom Pearls'. Because it's quite shimmery I thought it would transfer fairly thin and be used as a topcoat or need a few coats to show the colour but this little guy is opaque and could even be used as a white tip for french manicures. I'm weary of painting my nails white for fear they'd look tipex-ed and tacky, but the slightly off-white colour teamed with shimmer spins this trend more classy.
The Balm have outdone themselves with adorable packaging on the 'How 'Bout Them Apples' Cheek & Lip Cream. It looks like a vintage book and opens with a little magnet to reveal a sample-size disk of the colour - mine is in the shade 'Pie'. On the inside there is a picture of all 6 colours available. They all look beautiful, but I'm mightily glad I received 'Pie' because it's the perfect bright peachy colour. This will definitely be making it's way into my handbag in the summer months when the makeup gets lighter and peachier.
The last product, and the one I'm arguably most excited about, is the One Love Organics Skin Saviour Waterless Beauty Balm. I've been loving using cleansing balms to remove my makeup in the evenings; they remove makeup effortlessly and give my skin a boost of moisture. Paired with a muslin cloth, this will be the perfect cleansing balm for holidays and weekends away. It's multi-fictional so can also be used as a moisturiser which will pair down my travel beauty bag tons (I love to pack as light as possible). It says on the pot, 'cleans, moisturise, condition: this balm does it all'. It smells like spiced oranges (so good) and is cruelty-free so I'm hoping I love it so can buy a larger tub for at home. I'll be sure to get back to you on this one.
What did you get in your beauty box? Have you tried any of these products yet?