Birchbox: September 2013

Oh, how I love Birchbox.  This month's theme is "Heritage", which I adore because it makes me think of vintage flea market finds and family heirlooms.  The theme is also appropriate for Birchbox as a company, with September being its 3rd anniversary.  It's cool to be a part of its journey and growth.  If you want to subscribe to Birchbox, check the company out here.  Now, on to this month's goodies!

Davines This is a Sea Salt Spray: "This styling spray gives you beachy texture and megavolume without any stickiness." Full size- $27.00, Sample size- $10.80.

This actually arrived leaking a bit, but nothing else in the box was ruined by it.  To me, sea salt spray is more of a Spring/Summer product.  I know it's still technically summer (I'm so ready for fall weather!), but I don't know that I'll get much use out of this product in the coming weeks and months.  Nevertheless, I am excited to try this since it's supposed to be moisturizing.  Most sea salt sprays I've tried leave my hair feeling parched, so it will be interesting to see if this does the opposite.

Ruffian Nail Lacquer in "Fox Hunt": "Vibrant orange from the fashion label's first lacquer collection. Exclusive to Birchbox!" I seem to have received a full size lacquer, valued at $10.00.

Gotta love nail polish. Of the crowdsourced shade selections, this would not have been my pick.  It is a nice shade for autumn, though, so I'm sure I'll be using this soon.

Paula's Choice RESIST BHA 9 for Stubborn Imperfections: "Whopping 9% salicylic acid spot corrector for everything from blackheads to wrinkles." Full size- $40.00, Sample size- $3.95

Isn't that just the tiniest little vial you've ever seen?  Lately, Birchbox has been sending me skincare items that are supposed to be do-it-all products (see the Vivant cleanser in this post).  Maybe it's because I have my profile set to "Low Maintenance"...perhaps I should look into tweaking that.  I guess most people would think these kind of products are convenient, but I just find them slightly confusing, honestly.  I don't know, I guess I'm weird.  I'll definitely still try this out, though. 

Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Luminous Lip Gloss in "Precious Petal": "Long-lasting, vibrant color and shine that moisturizes and plumps the appearance of lips." Full size- $18.00, Sample size- $11.08.

Oh, lip gloss.  I'm generally not a huge fan of this product category as they are usually sticky.  Any girl (or guy?) who has ever felt the struggle of getting strands of hair stuck in goopy lip gloss feels my pain.  I just prefer to stick to lip balm or lipstick.  As soon as I got my box, I tried it out to see if this one would be different, and unfortunately, I was not impressed.  Pretty shade, though.

Lifestyle Extra:
Borracha Pearly Wipes: "Peppermint-infused wipes that whiten teeth and freshen breath with hydrogen peroxide." Full size- 15 wipes for $7.95, Sample size (2 wipes)- $1.06.

What a neat idea.  I feel like everything comes in wipe form these days, and Birchbox is, once again, surprising me with these innovations.  Last month, it was a deodorant wipe (which worked well, by the way!), and this month we have wipes for teeth.  I feel like these will be like those Colgate Wisps, just in wipe form.  On Birchbox's site, they are also selling a variation of these specifically to be used after a night of drinking red wine.  Pretty cool.

And, that's all!  The grand total value of my Birchbox this month is: $36.89--definitely worth the $10.00 paid for the box.  And, even though these things aren't products I'd necessarily pick out for myself, the whole point of Birchbox is to try new things!