Birchbox - March 2013

MARCH MADNESS

Helloooo ladies! I recieved my Birchbox a few days ago and I'm FINALLY getting a moment to review it! So this month's theme is entitled March Madness and features what they call their ultimate beauty starting lineup, from "up-and-coming rookies to veteran all-stars" .....and here I thought I was being all girly and chic with beauty subs only to find sports has somehow made it into that area of my life as well! Gracious! Well, my hubster is quite amused. 

After watching their Sneak Peek March 2013, here's a list of products that they featured:

Serge Normant - Dry Shampoo
Whish Shaving Cream in Blueberry
Incoco - Nail Polish Appliques
MAKE - Matte/Satin Eyeshadows or Silk Cream/Silk Satin Lipsticks
Elizabeth Arden - 8 Hour Cream Skin Protectant
Stella Cadente - Miss Me Discrete? Eau de Toilette
Twistband - Headbands (pastel shimmers)

 and heeeeere is what I received!

Shall we begin at the beginning then? Yes, yes we shall....
 
ITEM 1 - SERGE NORMANT DRY SHAMPOO 

This was a fun little product! At first I thought...ugh, dry shampoo, never used one, what on EARTH will I do with it?! I'm one of those strange females who washes her hair every day, so honestly, I have no need for a dry shampoo. My hair is thin, and has a tendency to get oily so I just have to wash it since I put so much product in it to make it big & flouncy. HOWEVER, after trying this product out I realized aha! (serious moment of amazement and awe, along with a little lightbulb flickering and bursting into light above me!)...where was I...oh yes, AHA!...this item is peeeerfect for when that unexpected guest arrives at your house, or say, an emergency arises and you must get dressed in 5 minutes but not look like the Bride of Frankenstein...voila...Serge Normant Dry Shampoo! Allow me to demonstrate in visuals...please disregard the complete lack of makeup in these, I do apologize.

 

I know what you're thinking...you're thinking...Why Cookie, you've obviously styled your hair and then sprayed a teensy bit of the dry shampoo in it!...no ma'am! THESE pictures were taken after a whole night of sleeping with product filled hair, waking up, hair all flat and soooo un-fabulous, then following the directions on the bottle and BAM!, look at that volume! This is seriously one of the best emergency beauty-fix products I've ever owned! 

I just sprayed, let it set, and hand combed it out! The ONLY thing I will say about the product is that, being a dry shampoo, it does make your hair a little dull and powdery looking. I would recommend (if you have time in your emergency situation lol) to use a shine spray spritzed very lightly over it. 

ITEM 2 - INCOCO NAIL APPLIQUES in FRESHLY PICKED

Tell me, were you one of those girls who thought: Nail Stickers/Appliques! Well that's cheating! and lazy! I will never do this! and then loved them? Yeaaah, me too lol These Incoco appliques are really quite fabtabulous...great quality and super easy to put on. I also love how they have a side for whole nail coverage or just french tips. They claim to have base coat and top coat on them as well and are supposed to be real nail polish, which I thought was interesting. They have a few different options on Birchbox's website but it seems the ones they sent out in the boxes are this one and a tiffany blue one with white pattened swirls called Spring Vines. In an attempt to not sound snotty, lol, I reaaaally wanted Spring Vines, alas, I'm just not a flower-ish gal...but it's Spring, ahem...and my mother and I want to go pick out some flowers and plants to put in my front yard tomorrow, so in the spirit of things I used them! Here ya go...

I just couldn't go put them on ALL my fingers lol, I've just gotta maintain my edginess. I used OPI's You Callin' Me a Lyre as my whole nail color (which was very very close to the background color of the Incoco applique) and OPI's Come To Poppy for the tips, which looks very very red-ish in this picture but it matches the pink flowers very well. I think this is definitely the Spring-y-ish looking manicure I've ever given myself! 



ITEM 3 - MADEWELL FOR BIRCHBOX EMERY BOARD

Heavens, what can I say about this....it's a nail file. Haha! It's ok, I'm a bigger fan of nail files that have buffers on them and I never misplace mine, so I don't really need extras, plus I'm the type of girlie who has leopard print, black and white striped, silver sparkles or teal diamond patterned nail files instead of, well...flowers....have I mentioned I'm not a big fan of flowery things? Spring just isn't my season I do believe lol

Pretty simple and straightforward....one side is floral and the other is solid pale pink (the lettering is on the plastic). I will probably be gifting this or giving it to my mom who loves flowers and gardening!



ITEM 4 - SILVER METALLIC TWISTBAND HEADBAND

Color? Silver - AWESOME. Quality? Not so much. It's actually pretty thin and flimsy feeling. I'm also not impressed with the tied up end, which I realize is a way to ensure that it can fit everyone, since there are so many different sized heads.  I'm sure it's that way to be adjustable, but still, I could easily go buy material ribbon and MAKE one of these that would be better quality. Also, not to sound negative, but I don't wear headbands (cloth, elastic or any other) except for when I'm washing my face and need to hold my bangs back ...unfortunately I already own a pack of elastic headbands from Krogers that I much prefer to this one...which is a shame, because I am totally diggin' the silver shimmer. Here is a comparative pic of quality between the one I use currently and the Twistband:

 The brown one even can slip back sometimes depending on how much I move and it's thicker, with better elasticity. I'm thinking I might use the Twistband for something other than it's intended purpose...such as holding items together or using it as a bow for decor....hmmm...thoughts galore...what do you think? I'd love to hear everyone's ideas!



ITEM 5 - WHISH SHAVING CREAM IN BLUEBERRY

  Saving the best for last....hello you gorgeous little blue bottle of scrumdiddlyuptious smelling goodness! I used it today to give my gams a smooth delicious shave and although I don't love absolutely everything about it, I also feel I cannot live without this item! lol The blueberry smell is DIVINE. One of the things I'm not fond of, though, is that it goes on more like a lotion instead of the fluffy creams that I'm accustomed to. What makes this a negative to me is that I like being able to clearly see where I've shaved and the fluffy creams help since you can clearly see what's left! With the lotion texture you have to be paying good attention and feel it out a bit. Also, along the same lines, since it has shea butter in it, it can build up on your razor, so you need to constantly rinse it back under the water before you can continue. Not a major boo-boo, but some people may find it annoying....BUT since it DOES have shea butter in it, your lovely legs will stay nice and smooth all day long! No joke, I shaved about 5 hours ago and my legs still feel like I put on amazing moisturizing lotion just a few minutes ago. I'm just sad I can't smell the blueberry anymore! The smell didn't last very long, but it's still an amazing shower pick-me-up! Go get it! You heard me! 


WORTH AND PURCHASE: 

Reading the card that Birchbox sent with prices as well as going online to the product's websites, Birchbox's website and Amazon, etc., here's what I came up with: 

Incoco Nail Polish Applique: $9-11 fullsize 
         I'm assuming the one I received is fullsize, so I'll just go along and say $10

Serge Normant Dry Shampoo: $25 (4.5 oz)
          I received 2.0 oz, so gracious me, that's $11.12! Not bad!

Twistband - Silver Headband: $19 fullsize (*EDIT 3/14: Fullsize SET of 6)
         I totally don't understand this, because I looked on Twistband's website and it says $12, so hmm....dunno. Well, I'm going to go with the benefit of the doubt and GUESS this is full-size and that it's around $15.50 (in between) (*EDIT 3/14: Thank you ladies for correcting me on this! I don't know why I totally didn't figure it out, I had a ditzy moment lol, the $19 is a fullsize set of 6 bands, so this single twistband is valued at around $3.17!)

Whish Shaving Cream in Blueberry: $20 fullsize (5 oz)
          I received .75 fl oz, so roughly $3. 

Madewell for Birchbox Emery Board: $5 fullsize

Total worth of box: $46   Edit 3/14: $32.29 

WOW! That's pretty darn impressive Birchbox, if I do say so myself! I may not be fond of all the products, but you can't argue with that price! EVEN AFTER THE EDIT! 


FINALE

A little nay and a little hooray, this box is definitely mixed for me! Still, I'd say an interesting month with a few new favs. I hope you all enjoyed this review and please be sure to let me know what you think, comment, etc. Also! Give me some great ideas of what other things you would use the Twistband for! 

Happy Makeuping ladies!
Love, Cookie <3