Tag: Birchbox July 2015

NYC Beauty & Fashion: The Birchbox Flagship Store

In July, Birchbox had a great promotion for longtime subscribers. If you went down to their store in Soho you could build your own Birchbox for free. I knew I had to take advantage of that fabulous offer so I took my camera down there and snapped some pictures for all you folks who don’t live close enough to visit.

I snapped a lot of pics so you could feel like you came along with me.

First the outside:
Outside
When you step in, the first floor has makeup and lots of specialty displays.
Makeup Makeup 2 Tata Harper The Balm
Kbeauty Skincare
Tata Harper The Balm
Library of FlowersBalm Display
It also has this cool interactive computer that can help you pick products that will work best for you.
Product Matchmaker
In the back we have the infamous Build your own Birchbox.
Sign Build Your Box
Stacks of Birchboxes, including the super pretty ones!
Boxes
They have samples in different categories, and while you can’t get two of the same exact item you can pick two from the same category. The normal cost is $15, but with the special promotion I snagged one for free!
Bins 1 Bins 2
Build your own bins
The downstairs has a salon area, nails, fragrance and body products along with the Men’s area.
Nails Polishes
Perfume 1 Perfume 2
Skincare Bumble & Bumble

MY HAUL
Build a Birchbox
Box 2 Box
They had some awesome full sizes in the build a box section and I grabbed a couple items for me and to add to some gift boxes for friends.

I decided I’d treat myself to one new item during this trip and what do I choose? Polish of course!

Smith & Cult Nailed Lacquer – Lovers Creep (Retail $18.00)
Smith & Cult Open Bottle
Lovers Creep Swatch
Description: “Created by the beauty icon who launched Hard Candy (and sparked our polish obsession in the 90’s), Smith & Cult strikes that perfect balance between gorgeous and edgy (just look at their shade names to see what we mean). Each shade of this covetable polish is vibrant, chip-resistant, and 5-free.”
How amazing is the packaging on Smith & Cult polish? It’s my favorite bottle in this pricepoint. I fell in love with their topcoat and I knew I had to try out one of their polish colors. Dark red is my favorite color and I love the 90s vibe of Lovers Creep. It applies like a dream and the color is amazing. It’s a great Fall red. I want *all* their polishes but I’m poor so I’ll have to settle for the occasional treat.

BB Haul
Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to the Birchbox store, although it is a bit of a hike from the subway stop, it’s a fun place to try out products and get yourself a treat.  I recommend all beauty junkies visiting NYC stop by.

THE BACKSTORY
Birchbox NYC Flagship Store
Location:
SoHo
433 West Broadway
New York, NY 10012
646-589-8500

Hours: Monday – Saturday: 10am – 8pm
Sunday: 11am – 6pm

Birchbox: July 2015

Along with the sample options for July, Birchbox offered their Beachy & Bright curated box. “…this collection is full of products perfect for a weekend at the shore—or for achieving that back-from-the-beach look.”
Box
“Beach look” works for me, so let’s get to the goods.
Open Box

Juara
JUARA Radiance Enzyme Scrub
(Full Size: $38.00)
Description: “Gentle exfoliator that minimizes imperfections and leaves skin glowingly smooth..”
Verdict: Okay
I like scrubs but I’ve tried the Juara brand before and found that it’s not particularly impressive. It’s not terrible or anything, but it just doesn’t do much for me. I use exfoliators regularly so I will definitely give this one a try even if I’m not wowed by the brand.

Oribe
Oribe Aprés Beach Wave and Shine Spray
(Full Size: $39.00)
Description: “This spritz delivers beachy, texturized waves—plus , it hydrates summer-dry hair and boosts shine.”
Verdict: I think I love you too much
Oribe is an awesome brand and every product of theirs that I’ve tried has been amazing. They have somehow managed to combine beachy waves and shine in one adorable little spray. This has made it onto my Birchbox list and I think I’ll be hoarding some points in order to pick up a full size.

Supergoop
Supergoop!® Anti-Aging City Sunscreen Serum SPF 30
(Full Size: $42.00)
Description: ”This antiaging serum blocks UV rays while hydrating skin and preventing future sun damage.”
Verdict: Is anyone besides me super annoyed with the ! Is it really necessary?
What would happen if sub boxes just stopped including Supergoop!? Would the entire industry collapse? I am so damn tired of this brand. SPF 30 is too low for a ginger like me so I’m just going to set this aside and give it to someone else who doesn’t hate Supergoop(!) as much as I do.

The Balm
theBalm® cosmetics Balm Desert® Bronzer/Blush
(Full Size: $21.00)
Description: ”A blush and bronzer in one, this velvety powder gives a long-wearing fresh-from-the-beach glow.”
Verdict: Hit!
This shade was easy to apply and worked well with my complexion. I also used it as an eyeshadow and it gave this great bronzey summer vibe.

Stila
Stila Stay all day liquid lipstick
(Trio Set: $20.00)
Description: “This creamy, matte formula glides on like a gloss and yet lasts (and lasts and lasts) like a stain…”
Verdict: Miss
I love Stila so I wanted to like this, but the consistency just doesn’t work for me. I swatched it on my hand and found it to be drying so I tried it with a moisturizing primer. Unfortunately the primer takes away from the staying power and I had hot pink lipstick all over my water glass after an hour of wearing it. It did leave behind a stain on my lips, but not the rich saturated color that you would expect. I also think the red shade probably would have been more appropriate for my skin tone. It’s definitely a bright, saturated fun color for summer and if you use it without primer it should have more staying power.

Swatches of the bronzer and the lipstick:
Swatches

OVERALL
Birchbox 7.2015
Verdict: Hit!

I chose this box (despite the Supergoop!) so I knew what I was getting. I love the Oribe and the bronzer and those two products alone make the box worth the $10.70 I paid for it. After reviewing my products, I received $5.00 worth of credit so the cost to me comes out to only $5.70. This box for that price is really amazing.

Have you tried any liquid lipsticks?
What do you think of the texture? Do you find them drying?

BIRCHBOX NEWS!
Birchbox is offering two new specialty curated boxes for sale:

cew_massbox_press_04_900x900
Mass Appeal Beauty Collection – Birchbox for CEW
(Retail: $15.00)
Description: “This exclusive Birchbox collection features drugstore-available honorees from the 2015 awards—you’ll get a luxurious overnight mask, a lip pencil that packs a wallop of creamy color, and more. A $68 value!”

cew_prestigebox_04_900x900
Prestige Headliners Beauty Collection – Birchbox for CEW
(Retail: $18.00)
Description: “This exclusive Birchbox collection features honorees from the 2015 awards—you’ll get an indulgent glow-ifying face mask, a legendary liquid liner, and much more.”

THE BACKSTORY

Birchbox subscriptions cost $10 per month or $110 per year (Women’s Sub)
$20 per month or $195 per year (Men’s Sub)

Points System:
Whenever you buy something at Birchbox they give you Birchbox points. $1.00 = 1 Birchbox Point.
Each 100 Birchbox reward points can be redeemed for $10.00.
You can also earn points by reviewing the samples they send you (10 points per sample) and referring/subscribing friends.

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