This month's Birchbox was Spring-themed and titled 'In Bloom' and included a blossom tree on the front of its glossy magazine. To me, Birchbox is by far the most aesthetically pleasing box out there - however, I do have a gripe with it. After watching numerous Birchbox videos on YouTube over the past few years, I've come to notice that although seemingly identical, the US Birchbox design is far superior to our UK boxes. Aside from the missing pink border, the lids on the US boxes are more shallow and therefore easier to take off. I have been struggling with the lids on our UK boxes and feel this should be looked into as I have resorted to shaking the box incessantly which may potentially damage the products inside. Better yet, have the boxes designed like the men's drawer-pull Birchboxes. That way, they can be glued on top of each other and used as storage drawers.
The magazine is great as always, it's packed full of information on the products in your box as well as other complimenting products that you can buy from the Birchbox website. It also comes with helpful tips and tricks. I find that the magazine usually fits the theme of the box more than the items itself. I particularly like this month's magazine as it features the handsome Ryan Gosling (who I am currently obsessing over) and Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones.
Products In Box
S Gerda Spillmann - Renaissance Age Serum
F La Societe Parisienne De Savons - Soap
F Mirenesse - Glossy Kiss
S Weleda - Skin Food
S Green & Spring - Relaxing Shampoo
Lifestyle Extra
F Birchbox Paname Paris - Mirror
The Gerda Spillmann Renaissance Age Serum, I was very disappointed with. While 20 is the age you begin your lifelong battle with ageing, I assume that this minuscule sample is less than enough to show any visible improvement. It has a slight nutty scent which I find very nice and its watery gel consistency means that it sinks into the skin immediately which is exactly what you want from an anti-ageing serum.
As for the soap, again I was disappointed. Firstly, I assumed it to be a pressed powder, with the box almost resembling Benefit but I was sorely mistaken, for it was only soap. I am not a fan of bar soap as it is and hoped the scent would at least be enticing enough to excite me but alas, it just smelt like any regular soap. The brand is La Societe Parisienne Des La Savons and this particular soap is called Savonia.
The Mirenesse Glossy Kiss is by far the product I most enjoy. Similar to the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains, the Clinique Chubby Sticks and the Barry M Lip Lacquers, the concept is not unique but safe. The colour is a deep pink with a peach undertone and gold shimmer. I can only describe this as NARS Orgasm in lipstick form. It's very soft and glides on beautifully. It's very pigmented and evenly distributed. The only problem I find is that you can't twist the product up and although the Birchbox card says to sharpen the crayon, I find this is near impossible as the crayon packaging itself is hard plastic.
I'm always happy to receive lotions and moisturisers as I feel you can never have too much. I've never tried anything by Weleda but have heard very good reviews of their products. Reading that Victoria Beckham uses their products is comforting to know too. The cream is very thick and does require some working in for it to sink into the skin. It has a lemon grass smell which I really like and comes in a sealed metal tube.
The Green & Spring Relaxing Shampoo however is very pungent and very floral; too floral. It almost stings my sinuses and I don't have a sensitive nose. The combination of lavender and rosemary amongst many other smells makes it very offensive to the nose and overpowering. I keep smelling it in hope that perhaps I had put too much to close to my nose but every time I open it I make a really un-sexy face.
The lifestyle extra was the Birchbox/Paname Paris collaboration mirror which I found to be a nice touch but merely that. This is not be the type of mirror I would carry in my bag as the mirror is exposed and is prone to damage and dirt. I also find that it is too small to be used as a dressing table mirror so I will probably gift this to a friend.
Now, because I am a nerd, I created this chart on Excel that is to be filled in for each box received. I don't trust that the RRP's on the card are 100% accurate 100% of the time so I decided to work out the value of the box per single unit in accordance the the actual RRP. In terms of researching RRP, I do not use sites like Amazon or eBay where the item may be found discounted, I will look either on the product's official website or through an official online stockist.
Calculations
Gerda Spillmann Renaissance Age Serum - This is a sample size of 3ml with the full size working out to be around 30ml. The Birchbox RRP is £69 making the 3ml worth £6.99. I actually found the RRP to be much higher at $129 which makes the 3ml sample worth £13.07. However, I do believe the value has been lost in translation as this is a US product.
La Societe Parisienne De Savon Soap - The Birchbox flyer assumes that this too is a sample size as it has stated the full size costing £8.50 which is true for the 100g. But this is a 50g soap which is also a full size item on the official La Societe Parisienne De Savon website stating that is costs 5 Euros which is roughly £4.31 which is half the RRP stated on the flyer.
Mirenesse Glossy Kiss - This is another tricky one too as it is a 4g product yet the official website states the full size is 3g. At first I thought that grams may be different in different countries much like fluid ounces but this turns out not to be true. With this aside, I worked out the value per unit and found that the 4g product is worth £19.64 as opposed to £17.50 stated on the card.
Weleda Skin Food - The RRP for this product is spot on. Per gram, this sample is worth £1.19.
Green & Spring Relaxing Shampoo - Again, the RRP for this is correct. Per gram, this sample is worth £2.66.
Birchbox Paname Mirror - This is a full size product and estimated at £7.50. This is 10 Euros and I have worked it out to be £8.66 so not far off the stated RRP.
In total, there are 3 samples and 3 full size items. The card states the box's worth to be £40.09. I have actually calculated the box to be worth more at £49.48 according to current conversion rates. The previous month, I worked out the box to be worth a lot less than it's perceived and stated value so it must vary between boxes.
£49.48
Overall, I'm content with this box. There are six items altogether and there is an even and balanced number of samples and full sized products. Although there are a few products I wont use, I am happy with the majority of items. However, I would have liked a more interesting variety of products in my box other than shampoo, moisturiser and soap. I think I would've preferred the Natio products that other people received. The box doesn't particularly fit in with the theme but the magazine does have some Spring-themed topics.
