Birchbox December 2012

Every day that I come home to a beauty box in my mailbox is my favorite day. Period. This month was no different, especially since I'd peeked online and knew ahead of time which samples I was getting. 

Click below to see what what inside mine this month!

Hello, goodies. Welcome to my life.

Number 4 Clarifying Shampoo (full size is $32)

The first thing I noticed for sure was this product. I have a hair masque by N4, one that I bought (with my Birchbox points) because I sampled it in my Birchbox a year or so back. I used to be really into it, though it doesn't seem to be helping my hair as much as it used to (although I am bleaching it lighter than I used to..). But I'm excited to try this shampoo, because it might make the masque I already own work better!

Next I pulled out this perfume sample. As I've said before, perfume samples sometimes make me feel kind of cheated because I can always get them for free at any Sephora or wherever, but this one at least has a spray nozzle. Which makes it extra awesome and extra travel-able. The smell is a little too floral for me up front but I like the smell it fades to.

Tweezerman Filemate (full size is $5)

Let me state here in a public forum something that I need someone, somewhere to hold me to: do not ever let me buy those crappy pack-of-ten-nail-files-for-$2 again. This nail file changed my life. Is that dramatic? But seriously. I usually can only get a nail file to last through two manicures, if that, but this thing is like, industrial and cannot be defeated. Amazing, is all I can say.

Mox Botanicals Pomegranate & Fig Lip Butter (full size is $16)

I unwrapped the little package wrapped in tissue paper and found a couple other little gems. One of which was this pot of lip balm. I have the perfume next to it to show it's little baby sample size. I'd say it's about the size of a quarter. Which is still a great sample size!

Unfortunately, though,  I am a crazy germ freak who refuses to dip my fingers into a pot of something to put on my lips. Germs, ew, gross. But! Fortunately, this lip balm is ridiculously good and moisturizing and light, and I can put away any germy tendencies if the end result is a love affair with a good lip balm. I've decided to keep this lip balm on the nightstand next to my bed and use it at night, which is actually incredibly convenient, so that I don't have to get up and get the lip balm that's in my purse. Seriously though, if you don't mind pot-styled lip balm, this stuff is amazing. And the pomegranate & fig scent is subtle but yummy!

the Balm cosmetics Hot Mama (full size is $20)

The Balm is one of my favorite cosmetics brands, but I've never tried a blush of theirs until now. I've not tested this on my face, but it seems to be a universally flattering warm, coral shade with tiny gold shimmer. Swatched below, it looks beautiful. The sample size is barely larger than an eyeshadow though, so it may be hard to get my blush brush in there, but not impossible.

There were also a few cute extras!

This is a cute little gift tag! Very sweet. Birchbox asked us to attach it to our most "creatively wrapped present" and snap a picture and share it on some social forum with the hashtag #bboxholiday. Though to do that, I would have actually had to have purchased gifts for people already. Which I refuse to answer if I have or have not yet. Whoops.

And one of my favorite extras they've ever included:

A $50 credit towards a $125 rental purchase from renttherunway.com! Very awesome. While I love beautiful dresses, my least favorite thing is dropping the money to buy one that I'll only wear once a year or less. And having a husband who is in ministry at a rather large church, it's not uncommon for me to find a reason for a nice dress every so often. And unless I want to repeat the same nice one, Rent the Runway will be a much appreciated option!

So that's everything! Last month, I showed off my Birchbox while also reviewing the service, and comparing it to Ipsy. I won't be doing that every month, but if you would like to see that, it's right here. I'll be posting my Ipsy bag soon, because that's come in as well. After two months of great Ipsy bags though, I still have to say that Birchbox is my favorite. Not just because I can always count on high end samples from them, but because of their incredible point/reward system! By reviewing the 5 products I got in my box, I earned essentially $5 in their store. So my box was technically $5. You dig?

And I also always let my points rack up for a while, so I can do things like this:

Pay $5.20 for $69 of products. You jelly? Don't be. Just sign up for Birchbox and never look back, my friends! :)

*This post was not sponsored or endorsed by Birchbox. I just am ridiculously obsessed and it's not their fault that they're awesome. Just sayin'.