Birchbox Beauty Box February 2018 – Unboxing and Product Reviews

February is already here and although I am still wondering where January has gone, I was excited to open this month’s beauty boxes. February is often referred to as the month of love and although I agree that Valentines day is a highly commercialised celebration, I personally love every opportunity that comes along to show ourselfs and others some love. Whether you choose to buy yourself or your close ones a gift or celebrate at all, I think it makes a great beauty box theme. A makeup or skincare love box would have been the dream and I’m sure it would have put a smile on everyones face. Whether single or not, love can be about loving yourself too, experimenting with some colours and playing with makeup and skincare.

With that being said, unfortunately, this month’s Birchbox had nothing to do with that. There was no love theme and the products didn’t really fit “Valentines day”. Of course, Birchbox doesn’t have to follow that but I feel that it is a lovely theme opportunity lost.

This month’s VIP Birchbox customers could have chosen the print design of their box between three given desings which followed a “beauty through the decades” theme. The box I went for was the 80s (the other options were 70s and 90s) simply because I liked the design and the colours a little bit better. I do love the “beauty through the decades” theme but unfortunately, I still think they should have done that another time and the products contained didn’t really match this theme either.

With all that being said, the contents were not bad, it was just a normal Birchbox. Nothing special, nothing too disappointing.

This month’s box contained 5 products as always of which 2 were full size and the other 3 were travel size! In terms of product sizes, this box was great. The products were, as seen in the picture, from left to right: a hair mask, a hair styling cream, an eye cream, an eyeshadow palette and a tinted lip balm.

Let’s have a look at the products in more detail. Bear in mind that these are my personal opinions and that beauty is a very personal thing, we all have different skin, requirements and biological build which can influence things. What worked for me might not work for you and vice versa, please leave your comments below!

 

Luseta Coconut Milk Hair Mask

Admitedly, and correct me if I’m wrong, hair masks do not tend to be the products that excite us. Personally, I think full size eye shadow palettes tend to be the most exciting products that give a beauty box the “wow” factor. However,  I have come to love hair masks. Belive it or not, they can actually make a huge difference on the feel and quality of your hair, so that annoying wait in the shower is worth it.

I was strangely excited to receive this hair mask and I really enoyed using it. It smells absolutely gorgeous, it has a coconut meets cream meets hair product type of scent. I don’t know if it moisturised or nourished my hair, these type of claims are almost impossible to tell without proper laboratory analysis, but my thick, unrully hair definetely felt nice after using it. Whether it worked or not, sometimes it is the experience that makes all the difference, and this was lovely to use.

This hair mask comes in a pretty looking baby blue tube of standard quality. The tube holds 30mL and the white cream product lasts 12M. It is color safe, sulfate, paraben and gluten free and is recommended for normal to dry hair. It has some interesting and nourishing ingredients and it only needs to be in your hair for 5 mins.

I defientely enjoyed using this product, I just wish there was a more obvious way of knowing if it works. SCORE = 8/10

 

Percy & Reed Quite Frankly Flawless Finishing Polish

Well, I love Percy & Reed products. They rarely dissapoint and they always look so cute. This hair styling cream was no exception.

It’s a white thick cream that has a super faint smell which cannot be defined. It almost smelled like nothing really. That’s not nessecarily bad, however, it was a little strange as hair styling products tend to have a characteristic scent.

The product comes in a cute tube of standard quality with the typical Percy & Reed branding. I love how it looks, I only wish there was a little colour.

Like with any hair styling product, all you need to do is use a small amount (usually pea size but judge for your hair type and length) and work it through the hair. This product is designed to smooth, control and groom unrully hair and it definetely did that for my thick hair.

This styling cream contains sunflower wax and horse chestnut amongst other ingredients. It doesn’t specify it is designed for specific hair types and it is paraben free. This product lasts for 12M. SCORE = 8/10

 

Balanceme Wonder Eye Cream

Well, Birchbox, Glossybox and Look Fantastic and the brand of ourse, are doing a good job at promoting the Balanceme product. I’ve never bought a single one myself but I think I almost have the entire range. Balanceme has a “99% natural” moto however I can’t say that I am a big fan, as the products tend to smell a little off to me.

Thankfully, this eye cream has a much more pleasant scent with a strong hint of lemon but not just. The white cream is absorbed quickly by the skin and it leaves it feeling soft and smooth without any sticky residues left behind. I haven’t noticed any reduced puffiness or improvement in my dark circles however, skin care and especially eye care, is a long term business. I’ve only been using this cream for a few days and therefore, I could not judge the results with certainty.

There are a lot of interesting ingredients in this cream, including hyaluronic acid and vitamins and so I must say, this might be the product that positively changes my impression of Balanceme products. I will defienetly use this up until it runs out and if I notice considerable benefits, I will dedicate a detailed functionality and ingredient analysis post on it.

This cream comes in a tube of standard quality with the typical Balanceme branding. It has a small nozzle type opening, typical of eye cream products, so that you only get a small amount of the cream out. This product lasts 6M. SCORE = 8/10

 

 

The Beauty Crop Eyeshadow Trio In Love You So Latte

Well, eye shadows is something I was thinking about, when it comes to creating a love themed beauty box, however, I had more soft and romantic shades in mind. Nevertheless, this is a nice addition to the box.

Sadly, I personally really don’t like small eye shadow palettes like this one, simply because I just never use them. I always go for the full palettes and forget these small ones at the back of a drawer. However, If you are the type of person that likes to travel light, these small trio palettes might be perfect for you. I never travel light…

Anyhow, I really tried to love these but unfortunately, it just didn’t work out. The quality of the shadows is not great. They are very powdery and do not blend as smoothly as other branded shadows. The colours are ok, not super pigmented but not bad in that sense either, however, the two browns are very similar when swatched.

The main difference seemed to be the texture of them, rather than the actuall colour, which means that this little trio is not as useful as a trio needs to be. In my opinion, as long as you have to mix these colours with other palettes, in order to get a nice look, it beats the point of the little trio palette. Might as well use the full size palette then.

The packaging is plastic of standard quality. I can’t imagine this lasting all year long without breaking, even though the shadows are good for 12M. It also wasn’t very easy to open the top lid, I ruined my nails while trying and got my partner to open it for me.

This little trio is a Birchbox exclusive and a full size apparently. It retails for £7 and even though, with beauty price tags in mind, that’s not a lot of cash, I wouldn’t pay for it. For better or for worse, this little shadow pack reminds me of my teenage, drugstore, cheap makeup. SCORE = 5/10

 

Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm In Pixi Pink

In my opinion, this is the most fitting product, out of the ones contained, for a February love box.

I love the product packaging, it looks really simple but elegant and to the point. The pink suits the Pixi green and it stands out nicely. Although it is made of plastic, it doesn’t feel thin or cheap, it is rather thick and sturdy.

The bullet is just pinkilishious. There is a lot of product in it, 2.8cm to be exact and even better it lasts ages, for 18M.

It contains shea butter and it is obvious. It left my super dry lips feeling increadibly smooth and baby like. It trully did deeply moisturise without feeling thick or heavy or unatural. The little pink hint gave my lips a nice warmth to them without looking like I’m wearing a heavy lipstick. This would work nicely for those “no-makeup makeup days”.

The colour is a fuchsia pink and it is buildable. However, it is still a lip balm not a lipstick so don’t rely on this if you want a solid fuchsia lip.

The only drawback is that because it is tinted, you probably should apply it while using a mirror to avoid any over lining. As a result, it’s not as “easy to use” as a non-tinted lip balm, which you can use without a mirror at all, but for me atleast, that’s not really a major disadvantage as I would probably use a mirror for both anyways.

It has a faint cosmetic scent which I can’t quite put my finger to it which gives a feminine feeling when placed on the lips. It retails for £8 and although that is a lot for a lip balm, it is worth the cash for sure.

It contains vitamine E, shea butter and other ingredients, I wish it also contained SPF.

If you have dry lips you have to give this one a try. SCORE = 9/10

 

Overall, I liked the box design (although I chose it) and the products contained were not bad at all. It was Birchbox business as usual which would have been perfect at any other time but unfortunately, it wasn’t what I thought was fitting for this month. A love yourself and others, romantic box was what I was expecting which unfortunately, is not what Birchbox went for this month. Such a nice theme wasted.

Initial box score, in terms of products and first feelings = 7/10

Overall box score after product testing (a sum of product scores) = 7.6/10

Star product = Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm In Pixi Pink

 

 

Did you get this month’s Birchbox box? What did your box contain? What did you think of the products? Have you tried any of the products listed? Let me know your experiences!

For all the details on how Cohorted, Glossybox, Look Fantastic and Birchbox performed in 2017 and which one is worth your money, check out “Battle of the Beauty Boxes – Conclusions from the 2017 unboxing and reviews on Cohorted, Glossybox, Look Fantastic and Birchbox!”

For general Subscription Box reviews see my: Birchbox, Glossybox, Look Fantastic and Cohorted general review posts. For help on how to choose the right subscription box for you check out “Which Subscription Beauty Box is right for you?”.

I am not affiliated with any company or brand. These are my views and experiences.

 

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