Birchbox December 2012

Remember when I said December's boxes fell into the categories of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly? Birchbox managed to get themselves into The Ugly category - surprise, surprise.

Now, I sometimes wonder if BB reads my reviews and retaliate by sending me crap. Or maybe they think they're Santa, and instead of rewarding me with a stocking full of goodies, they give me lumps of leftovers instead. I dunno - all I know is they had at least 29 different December box combinations and I got one of the suckiest ones.

Here's what was in my underwhelming box:

1) Frownies: All I can say is that I'll definitely need to use this product after reviewing this box. I have a frown the size of Texas right now. Supposedly one can use these 2-4 times - and that's quite a window, considering the size of the product. That's kind of like saying you can use a diaper 1-3 times... okay, maybe not.
Retail price: $29.95

2) Juicy Couture fragrance sample. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it, but I was so happy to FINALLY get a fragrance sample from Birchbox that wasn't a man's that I did a little dance.
Retail price: $19 for .24 oz in a roller ball bottle

3) Number 4 Clarifying Shampoo: Okay, this product was what really made me say "Eff you, Birchbox!" Never in my year and a half of subscribing to sample boxes have I not received a shampoo and a conditioner together. Every company I know of wants the consumer to try both of them together, so they can see how they work in unison. How in the heck am I going to know if this product really does what it says when I can't use it with the conditioner?
Retail price: $32

4) Per-fekt Beauty Lash Protection Gel: It's a primer. It's a conditioner. It's a mascara. What it isn't is a generous sample. Strange, since most mascara samples from Birchbox have been full size or at least generous sized.
Retail price: $28.50

Also in the box was a Lifestyle extra of - take a guess - TEA SAMPLES. Yes, some fucking tea samples. Again. I'm so sick of tea samples that I think I'm going to scream. Can you hear me? I'm doing it now.

Nitpicks: Oh ye gads... everything except for the fragrance. Sure, I didn't love it, but finally Birchbox gave me a fragrance! It's like they said "Okay, give the whiner the fragrance, and then give her some tea samples, too. Happy Holidays, Sucker!

Lasting impression: Well... basically my lasting impression was one that they don't care about me as a subscriber. I've done a fairly good job of letting them know what I'd like to see in my boxes, and yet they pretty much ignore what I want.

I honestly don't understand why they have their subscribers fill out a beauty profile if they do not pay attention to what their subscribers want and don't want. There are a ton of people out there who - unbelievably - do not want fragrance samples. Then give 'em to me! I told you I want them!

I will say this: They have the best rewards program ever. I was able to use my bonus points to get almost half off of my beloved Kerastase hair masque - and then I said "Good-bye."

I'll probably be back - I get suckered in by all the people who post these great reviews, showing off their wonderful BB products. Then I think, "Hey, I want those, too!" and sign up - only to receive a box of fucking tea samples and Frownies. Yay me.

Eco-Emi August 2012 Box

Of all the subscription boxes I receive, I love Eco-Emi the most. It’s the perfect mix of beauty, home, and health products all in one reasonably priced box! They do what Conscious Box does, but Eco-Emi does it better and cheaper!

This month’s box tickled my fancy! Here’s what was inside:

Orchard body glitter by Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques: Okay, I’m not a body glitter girl. But, I do like Lauren Brooke products so what the heck? I’ll give this a whirl the next time I go disco dancing with the Bee Gees!

Retail price: $12 for 4 grams/$6 for 1.5 grams

Tin Slider Lip Balm in French Vanilla by Naiad Soap Arts: Ooooh, the memories! I had something almost exactly like this when I was a teenager, only it wasn’t chockfull of natural ingredients, like this one is. I will be keeping this baby for myself, thankyouverymuch. But… my only gripe with lip balms like this is that it’s applied with a finger, and then you have to wipe off your finger, etc. And this is what I remember about this type of product from my teen years – the girls’ bathroom was FULL of finger swipes on the wall next to the mirror from girls who used the wall as a finger wipe after putting on lip balm/color.

Retail price: $4.00 per tin

Organic Hydrating Sugar Scrub by Moody Sisters: This is my second product from Moody Sisters. I love that Eco-Emi is supporting small businesses – this one is on etsy.com. This is a good size sample, and so I expect to get either one very generous use out of it, or two very stingy ones!

Himalayan Rose Soap by Auromere Ayurvedic: If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: I am a gel kind of gal. The soap I have to wash my hands on my kitchen sink is a gel. The soap I use to shower with is also a gel. I rarely use soap… but this one, oh this one I can’t wait to use! It smells wonderful and is reminiscent of this store I used to go to when I was a kid called House and Garden. It smelled great – and this soap smells like that store!

Retail price: $2.95 for a 2.75 oz bar.

Soothing Organic Milk & Oat Bath with Calming Chamomile by Aura Cacia: I love Aura Cacia products! I was tickled pink to see this in my box. You probably don’t know this about me yet, but I am Bathtub Girl™. There is nothing I like more than a nice, long soak in the tub with a glass of wine and a good book. I’ve used the Soothing Organic Milk & Oat Bath with Healing Helichrysum and it was wonderful. I can only imagine this one is as good – or better!

Retail price: $3.29 for one 1.75 oz packet.

Organic Raw Pecan Butter by Artisana: The December 2011 Eco-Emi box contained a packet of Artisana’s Raw Cacao Bliss. Let me tell you, it was heavenly. Seeing a new product to try from Artisana gives me the happies.

Retail price: $10.20 for an 8 oz. jar

Cool Calm & Collected Citrus Mint hand & body lotionby Better Life: Damn, only one little packet. No fear, your homegirl has already tried this product and can say with absolute certainty it’s wonderful! It reminds me a little of Deep Steep products – so if you like Deep Steep, you’ll also like Cool Calm & Collected!

Retail price: $6.99 for 12 oz

French Green Clay Facial Mask by Rainbow Research: Masks are the one product homey doesn’t use – I don’t have breakouts or pimples, so I don’t use them. I know, I know – that’s not the only thing they’re good for. Still, facial masks are not my bag. Too much trouble for too little payoff. I might be using this in a future giveaway package – keep your eyes peeled.

Retail price: $8.49 for an 8 oz. jar

Lettuce Mesclun Q’s Special Medley Organic Seeds by Botanical Interests: Woohoo! Seeds to plant! This makes me very happy! This is the first year I’ve had any success whatsoever in my garden, and I can’t wait to plant even more stuff! Nothing gets you in touch with yourself as much as gardening (you thought I was going to say something else, weren’t you?).

Retail price: $2.39 per packet

Four herbs from Frontier Natural Products: The packets are small – approximately 1/8^th of an ounce each. The herbs received: Lavender, Rosemary, Mint, and Lemongrass. The herbs were packaged in a beautiful purple organza bag, along with a card with some suggestions for use. I was really happy with this product, although I would say of all the products, this seemed to be the most controversial on the blogs/reviews. Some people are totally unhappy with it – and those tend to be the make-up people – you know, the people who subscribe to Eco-Emi, even though they know it’s not a beauty-only subscription, and then find some reason to whine about the fact that they received herbs and tea and stuff instead of make-up products. Boo the frick hoo!

Eco-Emi is a subscription I won’t be giving up any time soon. It’s the one subscription box that consistently delivers fantastic products. Plus, they always seem to have a waiting list, and I don’t want to have to wait again to get a box (I waited about four months before there was an opening to subscribe). Yep, homey isn’t going anywhere – Eco-Emi, you have a fan in me!

Interested in Eco-Emi? Sign up here - it's $15 a month. This box does what Conscious Box does - only better and cheaper!

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