This month rather than selecting a sample choice, I went for the curated box. After all, it has two of my absolute favorite brands in it - Nuxe and Davines - so why would I take a risk? It turned out to be a really nice variety of makeup, skincare, and haircare. Everything sort of had that natural, effortless feel to it.
Davines Authentic Cleansing Nectar for Hair & Body (Full Size, $28.50)
Davines Authentic Replenishing Butter for Face, Hair, & Body (Full Size, $38.50)
Admittedly I haven't used either of these samples yet because I want to save them for when I really need a high-end travel size shampoo & conditioner for a trip. However, I have to say that the Italian haircare brand Davines is my absolute go-to for the most incredible hair days. I regularly use their OI and MOMO, and MINU collections. They are better than any other shampoo or conditioner I've ever used. The down side is that they are quite expensive. However, I have to say I think they might weigh down your hair a bit if you use them every single day. I try to rotate them into my haircare routine about 2-3 times each week to keep my hair looking fresh, shiny, and sleek. This set has a really nice light herbal scent.
LOC One & Done Shadow Stick in Haute Cocoa (Full Size, $10)
One application and I'm absolutely sold! This is a fantastic on-the-go eyeshadow. I was in a rush to get to a birthday this weekend and was able to steadily apply this on a moving train.
The crayon glides so smoothly but is very easy to control and doesn't smudge or get too blunt. This was the perfect shimmering shade of brown that works for both the summer (bronzed/golden look) and the autumn. It is long lasting and doesn't seem to easily melt or smudge. The concentration of pigment is relatively intense and the application is pretty exact, so I intentionally smudged it with my fingers just a little bit after applying it to avoid the crisp lines and to take away/lighten some of the pigment.
Nuxe Reve de Miel Facial Cleansing and Make-up Removing Gel (Full Size, $19)
I am absolutely obsessed with French hair and skincare brand Nuxe. It is such a great, high-quality brand offered a reasonable mid-tier prices. It's also so easily accessible in the US now - available through Target, Birchbox, and their own site (which offers free shipping pretty frequently and lots of great gifts with purchase)!
Everything in their "Reve de Miel" line has the most heavenly scent of honey. I have been using their Reve de Miel Hand and Nail Cream for years. This product is also very impressive. It still has the lovely scent but comes out as a medium-thick translucent gel. It's really easy to apply to your whole face or just one particular spot. You just rub it in a circular motion to massage it into your skin a bit and rinse off. It removes all kinds of makeup really easily - even gel eyeliner and mascara. It's important to note though that this product is not recommended to use around your eyes - trust me, I had a bit of an oopsy trying to remove some eyeliner from near my tear duct, it will definitely sting! I would recommend putting some on a tissue and dabbing it on your lids and lashes keeping your eyes completely closed the whole time, if you plan to use it to remove eye makeup.
Air Repair Complexion Boosting Moisturizer (Full Size, $21)
I was pretty excited about receiving this product in my Birchbox because I have very dry skin and am always looking for effective moisturizers. The active ingredient in this one is Hyaluronic Acid which isn't something overly unusual. You can find it in a lot of drugstore brand moisturizers like Neutrogena. The texture was pretty average as well. It's not thick like a Nivea cream, in fact it's a bit runny. I found that my dry skin seeped it up right away. So, I needed to use about half of the sample just to cover my whole face. Even with that, my skin didn't feel particularly soft or dewy to the touch. It still felt very matte and dry. I will say that my complexion did look pretty even - perhaps it calmed some of the redness. However, I wouldn't count on this as a staple moisturizer for those with really dry skin.
The Beauty Crop PBJ Beauty Stick in Raisin the Roof (Full Size, $14.95)
The "Raisin the Roof" color is a nice sort of purplish light pink. It goes on relatively sheer, so if you want some real pigment, you will need to apply several layers. The product glides on really nicely and feels really moisturizing. Unfortunately, I found that the pigment kind of stuck to certain parts of my lips vs. others (i.e. especially to any chapped/dry parts) so the color looked uneven, kind of light purplish clumpy spots sitting on top of the majority - the natural color of my lips which is darker than this. It looked pretty awful and the color wouldn't blend at all. So, as much as I loved the slick moisturizing feel of this product, I definitely didn't like the look.
Here's a comparison of the Raisin the Roof PBJ Smoothie Stick (top) vs. Guava Nice Day PBJ Smoothie Stick (bottom). Since I received the Guava Nice Day one in my Rifle Paper Co Birchbox just two months ago, I thought I'd point out that they are two different colors - but not super distinct from one another. The Guava one is a bit more reddish pink rather than purple, and a bit more bold.
So long for now, BB!
Unfortunately since Birchbox changed their points system this month and I recently started the Sephora Play! subscription, this may be my last Birchbox monthly review for a little bit. I can't believe it's been so long. I bought my first Birchbox back in 2012! Sadly, my annual subscription ends this month. I may get a few more boxes on the monthly subscription basis at a later date, but I'm having trouble justifying the annual subscription again (between the change in the points system and my accummulation of so many sample products I haven't used up yet or need to swap/sell). It's nice to end this 33 box, 183 sample journey on a high note though! Of course, I'll still buy full-size products from their website and Soho store. They both have excellent selection and superb customer service!
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