Birchbox
Birchbox is a beauty box that sends you monthly goodies so that you can sample new beauty products on the market without breaking the bank. You can send the boxes as gifts, buy them for yourself, or even just head to the Birchbox website to get beauty tips from their blog or watch some of their useful video tutorials.
Within the box, you'll receive 5 different beauty products and any of the ones you absolutely love, you'll be able to purchase the full-sized versions on the Birchbox website. From lip gloss to tanning products to haircare and more, Birchbox is a great way to test some of the products out there on the market.
| At A Glance Info | |
|---|---|
| What's in the box? | Receive 5 luxe beauty products tailored to your beauty profile with tips on how to use them |
| How often does it come? | Once per month |
| Sent from | UK |
| Options | There's the option to purchase full-size bottles on the Birchbox website |
| Website | www.birchbox.co.uk |
How Does It Work?
Like most of the beauty boxes on the market, the system for Birchbox is a simple one. You sign up for a pre-determined period of time, paying the amount required plus postage and packaging. You then receive a box filled with beauty products every month.
The Birchbox is able to personalise your beauty box depending on your own specific needs. You simply need to fill out the ‘Beauty Profile’ online and they’ll then send you more of what you love. Do you have curly hair? Light skin? Are you adventurous or trendy? These are all the sorts of things Birchbox want you to tell them so they can find the best products to suit your needs.
The boxes tend to feature sample sizes of the various beauty products, rather than the full things. The idea being that you get a small amount of lots of things for the price of a large size of one thing. The Birchbox website, you probably won’t be surprised to learn, can supply you with the full sized version of the things you get sent, should you think that one or two of them are right up your street.
Normally you get sent your chosen box every month without much say in the matter, but every now and then Birchbox make special offers whereby you can choose between a selection of different boxes. Once you’ve subscribed it’s always worth keeping an eye on the website for that sort of thing.
What Do You Get?
Every month is different, which is part of the fun of getting monthly supplies of beauty products. The idea is, though, that you’ll get a mix of different things every time. According to the website, “Your Birchbox will include a mix of well-known, exclusive and cult makeup, skincare, fragrance or haircare samples – sometimes full-sized! Plus, earn credit to spend in the Birchbox Shop by reviewing your products each month with our loyalty programme!”
So one month you might get a shampoo by L’Oreal, a perfume by Liaison and a skin cleansing product by Liz Earle. What you get depends largely on what they have in stock at the time, one imagines, but the brands they use are all top quality.
Options
The options are somewhat limited apart from the length of time you’re able to subscribe for. We’ll discuss prices in further detail later on, but as far as the boxes themselves are concerned they tend to be sent you to you without the option for you to specify what you want in too much detail.
You can sign up for a 3-month subscription, a 6-month subscription or a yearly subscription. You can gift the box to loved ones, too. There’s also the option, on occasion, to buy boxes as a one off.
Examples
In October 2015 there was the opportunity to get a box that the company promised would contain at least five of the following products:
- Eyeko - Fat Liquid Eyeliner (Black)
- Seche - Seche Vite
- Bioderma - Sensibio / Hydrabio / SébiumH20
- 100% Pure - Pure Fruit Pigmented Lip Glaze (numerous shades)
- Parlor by Jeff Chastain - Moisturising Sea Salt Spray
- Beaver Professional - Moisturising Shampoo
- Rituals - Shower Foam In Yogi Flow
- When - Travelmate Sheet Mask
- English Laundry - No. 7 For Her EDP
- Beaver Professional - Repairing Conditioner
A look on the Birchbox website will give you a good idea of the type of stuff you’re likely to receive in your box, plus you can have a look at their shop and see for yourself what you can buy direct. At the time of writing, there is a Limited Edition Birchbox for sale which was a ‘Selfridges Discovery Box’. It contains the following:
- Nuxe - Masque Creme Fraiche de Beaute
- Cowshed - Knackered Cow Bath & Shower Gel
- Philip Kingsley - Body Building Shampoo
- Philip Kingsley - Body Building Conditioner
- Soigne - Nail Varnish
- Eyeko - Fat Eye Stick in Gilt
- Wild About Beauty - Lip Pencil Duo
- Regenerate - Enamel Science Advance Toothpaste