Birchbox-January 2014

It's finally here! After two emails and almost a month of waiting, my January Birchbox has finally arrived. Unfortunately, this has probably been my worst experience with a beauty box to date.

 

I had already decided that I was going to subscribe to Birchbox in January, but seeing that they were going to be including a Benefit product really spurred me on! I waited a couple of weeks and began seeing other people receive their boxes, but mine still hadn't arrived. I complained to Birchbox and they said they would send a replacement, which arrived over a week later.

The items in the box do not correspond to the surveys I have been given to fill out. I was meant to receive: Philip Kingsley Elasticizer, Laura Mercier body butter, Delarom Aquaconfort Mask, Benefit's Porefessional (which I did actually receive) and Premae Instant Renewal Body Oil. I'm not too bothered about this (apart from I will obviously be filling out surveys for things I haven't received) as the only thing I would have been really interested to try would be the Laura Mercier body butter. I'm just kind of irritated that I've obviously been sent a reserve box because Birchbox didn't plan ahead and think about how many extra subscribers they would have, after advertising that January would feature a Benefit product. Extremely poor planning on their part. I did eventually receive compensation for all the hanging around in the form of some extra points for my account, which I'm very grateful for!

Anyway, onto the contents of the box! The box comes with a super cute drawstring bag inside, and an adorable little booklet with ideas for tiny tweaks for the new year. Obviously this is kind of redundant, as it's now February. But still a nice touch.  
 

First up, Benefit's Porefessional. I already knew I'd be happy to get this in the box, as I've got a sample in my 'How to Look the Best at Everything' set. It is a small sample at 7.5ml, but if I like using this enough as an every day product, I can see myself purchasing the full size.

I also received yet another hand cream. This is the Lavera Basis Senstive cream, which features shea butter and almond oil. It smells and feels quite similar to sun cream, and it doesn't seem to absorb into my skin very well, leaving quite a greasy feeling. I'm not really a fan.

I did receive a Philip Kingsley product, in the form of this moisture balancing conditioner. I'm quite interested to try this out, certain conditioners can make my hair quite greasy though, so I'm hoping this will be a good one!

One of my favourite items from this box is this cute Beekind body lotion. A portion of the proceeds from this product goes toward supporting Honey Bee and sustainable pollination research which is super important. This smells fantastic, very lemony! Just testing it on the back of my hand, it sinks in very quickly and leaves behind that gorgeous scent. Very nice.

I also received a sample of Blanc Cachemire's Crème de Jour Protectrice. This came with a little card explaining in English how to use it and the ingredients as the packaging is entirely in French. This is a moisturiser, and I can't seem to spot any explanations as to why it's so popular, but apparently it's really big over in Paris at the moment!

Finally as a little extra, we received a little sachet of miso soup.This isn't really my sort of thing, so I gave it to a friend to try and she really enjoyed it. I like the idea of receiving mini food samples in boxes, I think it adds something a bit different and more lifestyle oriented, but hopefully next time it'll be something that I'll like!

The January Birchbox isn't a terrible box. These are all samples I can use or give away, but I have just been left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth over having to complain and how long my box took to arrive. I think I'll stick around to see what February's box has in store, but if there's no improvement I may very well end up just subscribing to Love Me Beauty!