August 2014 Birchbox Swatches, Review & Photos

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For July I was left feeling pretty good about Birchbox. I was especially digging those eye gels from Skyn Iceland. This month Birchbox let me down when a product exploded all over everything. I actually filmed an open box video for this, and you’d have probably loved to have seen my face when I opened this box. The quality of the video ended up being really bad. I tried to film at night and the indoor lighting I have just isn’t there yet. However, Birchbox more than made up for it! Let’s get into the review… the theme for the August Birchbox is Keep Calm and SPF On.

As you open the box the card resting on top gives you a little explanation and greeting on one side and a run down of what is in your box on the other side. As you may be able to tell, something exploded.

Let’s see what’s going on for August!

From Vasanti Cosmetics, Detox Nutrient-Rich Purifying Facial Cleanser. Sounds good, right? I can’t review this for you, unfortunately, because this is the item that exploded and left my entire Birchbox a gross, sticky mess. The color is pretty (pink) and it smells nice. The packaging was probably faulty, I don’t see how something inside of a box could shatter like this did. The entire bottom blew out and I had little white plastic shards stuck to everything. Now for the best part. I emailed them right before I wrote this review (ON A SUNDAY) and they replied within 30 minutes and credited me 100 Birchbox points (equal to $10 in their shop). GOOD CS.. no GREAT CS.

From Amika, Perk Up Dry Shampoo. Now this is a product I’m always on board with. I’d love to get a dry shampoo in my sample boxes every single month. Dry shampoo is fantastic for hiding oil at the roots or for amping up the volume of your style. I use it daily, sometimes 2-3 times a day!

From Harvey Prince, Ageless Body Creme. This body cream smells so good and feels wonderful. This is great for dry spots on the elbows and knees.

From Noir Cosmetics, Long-Wear Eyeliner. This is a full sized item that retails for $15.00. The formula is really nice and smooth. It smudges well but still sets and lasts the day. I didn’t swatch it because it’s just your everyday black eyeliner, but it’s definitely a nice one!

From Dr. Jart+, PORE MEDIC Pore Minish Primer. First off, great scent. I didn’t feel like this hid my pores too much, but it made my t-zone look really matte. It’s a little slick but I had no issues applying makeup over-top of it. My makeup stayed/faded as usual. For this I would use it to hide shine if I was having a minimal makeup day. I don’t feel like it works well for heavy makeup.

I was okay with this months shipment. Birchbox has been wonderful these last few months but I really thought this particular month was way too skincare heavy. I still think it was worth the $10.00 because of the full size eyeliner (which would retail for $15). That being said I’m still looking forward to see what’s in store for September and hopefully it’ll contain no more than one skincare item (oh please oh please oh pleaseeeee).

Wanna sign up for Birchbox?  (Click for referral) If you like what you see in this post go to the website and fill out the form.  It’s just $10 a month (free shipping too!) and you get some cool stuff, tho I will warn you, you’re going to get stuff you hate as well.

***Disclosure – I buy my own Birchbox, but the links posted here do give me referral points which I can use towards product on the site.  Once you sign up for your own Birchbox, you’ll also get a referral code to send out to others and get some points of your own!

9 Comments / Filled Under: Blushing Noir, Review, swatches