I am one of those poor souls who never really learned how to style my
hair or put on makeup like the sophisticated grown-up woman that my childhood
self had imagined I’d be. Until I
had a job that I had to wear a blazer for, Chapstick was about as complicated
as it got- maybe a single eyeshadow shade. Despite that, however, I have never been able to resist the
cosmetics aisle, making impulsive, aspirational purchases that often languished
in the bottom of my bathroom drawer after a few uses. With the budget as tight as it is for so many of us, I
haven’t been able to indulge myself to my expensive habit as much as I’d like,
until I ran across birchbox.
I read about birchbox in February in Bloomberg Businessweek. Two women attending Harvard Business
School came up with the idea, and began the company in 2010. The gist is that, for a $10 monthly
subscription fee for the women’s box or $20 for the men’s, you get a small box
with samples (usually six) of luxury beauty and ‘lifestyle’ products. Then you return to the birchbox website
to buy your favorites, and earn points on your purchases good for discounts in
the future. They also offer the
ability to gift a subscription (I have always loved gifting subscriptions- it’s a little reminder to the
recipient each month that you care!).
Available in 3, 6, or 12 month durations, it’s especially affordable in
the realm of recurring gifts.
For me, $10 for a box full of the very sorts of items I usually buy on
impulse is great, even though the samples are selected for me based on my profile.
My favorite birchbox discoveries have been Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Cleanser (full size $22),
Orofluido Elixer ($29.99),
Vapour Organic Beauty Siren Lipstick ($22),
and Harvey Prince Hello fragrance ($55). There were also many other samples, but
they just didn’t become favorites. As you can see, even just these items would have cost $129.99! Plus, my typical impulse buy is in the
individual range of $5 to $9, so I never would have discovered these products.
As I said, those are my favorites, but there were many other items- in
all of my boxes, I have received 48 products to date, at a total cost of $80. If, hypothetically, these were the
typical impulse buys, even if only $5 each, they would have cost me $240 total. With a satisfaction rate among those purchases at only 8%, I
would be pretty upset with myself!
This is not to say that I am only 8% satisfied with birchbox, however; I
still enjoy trying out the products, getting a little ‘gift’ from myself in the
mail each month is fun, and the things I really have no interest in go into my
stockpile for guests or care packages for friends.
As far as customer service goes, I have been satisfied. It is a little odd that you are on a
waitlist before your subscription begins, as I was for one month, but it makes
sense. It’s still a growing
company, and they primarily send boxes out in one wave each month. I suspect that beginning subscriptions
willy-nilly would add to their costs, and $10 a month is a nice, widely
accessible price that I hope they are able to keep. Since beginning my subscription, I moved across the country,
and apparently did not update my zip code when I updated the rest of my
address. When I contacted birchbox
to let them know that I had not received my shipment, it did take a few days
for them to get back to me. They
apologized for the delay, however, and they immediately sent out a replacement.
Bottom line- I like birchbox.
Have I gotten a box without anything that I absolutely fell in love
with? Yes. But I feel that I’ve spent less at the
drugstore because I know I will have some surprise guilty pleasures waiting in
my mailbox within a few weeks.
And as I’ve said, even the items I don’t
like provide the enjoyment of trying them out- or at least goodies for my
friends! Plus, I’ve gotten to try
products that my makeup & hair challenged self would have been too
intimidated to pick out on my own, like eye crayons and UV hair serum. I’m slowly developing those
sophisticated techniques I always thought I’d have (although Chapstick will always be part of the regimen)! I’d love to try the birchbox man, too- please post in the
comments if you have! Their
October box seems to have included whisky stones, how cool is that?!
So what are you waiting for? Give birchbox a shot!
****birchbox has not provided any consideration for this
unsolicited review. I have not
received any payment or free products.
This is my honest and personal opinion. I will, however, get birchbox points (to spend in their
online shop) if you join through my links within this review. Thank you!
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| Here are some of the goodies from various birchboxes. |
