june birchbox 2011

I received my June Birchbox in the mail today! Birchbox is a $10-a-month subscription service that sends you deluxe samples (meaning no one-time use foil packets, unless they're little extras thrown in) of beauty, hair, and skin products. The products are a good size, and they more than make up for the price! As someone who spends more than $10 a month on a beauty product shopping addiction random beauty treats for myself, this is a great way to try a few new products without breaking the bank. I'd encourage anyone who's interested to sign up for a month and see how you like it; you can always cancel any time!


This is my third box, and I've loved my previous two. I'm writing this as I'm opening it, so these are my first impressions!

Everything is so prettily wrapped, it's like getting a present :) There's also a little card included that explains the "theme" of each month's box. The first sentence starts with "we've got a serious case of wanderlust-" If you follow my twitter, you've seen a couple mentions of my own wanderlust. I think I'm going to like this month's box, it's travel themed! Perfect, since I go on vacation in less than a week!

So here are the contents of my box:

1. Laura Geller Baked Blush N' Brighten in Honey Dipped
2. Pangea Organics Toner for Normal/Oily Skin
3. Travel spray top (and yes, I'm proud I got it to stand up like that)
4. Amika Obliphica Oil Treatment 
5. Kate Spade Twirl
6. Pangea Organics Balancing Oil
7. Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pad

The Pangea Organics balancing oil counts as being an extra with the facial toner, and the glow pads are the extra thrown in. What blew me away is the Laura Geller baked blush- that baby is full-sized, and retails for $29.50! See what I mean about the price being made up for?

Anyways, there's not much I can review off the bat cause the oils and toner require a few uses, but I'm excited to try it all! The Laura Geller baked blush is really pretty and reminds me of MAC MSFs. Mine looks more like bronzer than blush, a gorgeous light golden-brown with a rich copper veining throughout. I have an NC40 skintone so on anyone lighter it would definitely be bronzer, but on me it gives a gorgeous honey glow to the cheeks and works well to add a bit of highlight and warmth with the subtlest touch of shimmer. I really love it!

The Pangea Organics toner smells a bit funky out of the bottle. It's supposed to be Italian green mandarin and sweet lime. However, when sprayed the smell is much more bearable and even pleasant. It feels really nice, though like I said this is a product that will take several tries to really form an opinion on.

The Amika oil treatment promises to be an anti-frizz, shine, and nourishment treatment- a tall order, especially for this girl's hair. My hair is wavy going on curly, and although the messy, just-rolled-out-of-bed look is how it looks best, I am no stranger to fly-aways and frizz. My hair is about to be subjected to chlorine and pool water, so I'll be waiting to try this later, and I'm hoping it lives up to what it promises!

The Kate Spade fragrance is pretty, not something I'd go out and buy, but I'll enjoy using it while the sample size lasts.

Overall, I really like this box and I'll be taking a lot of this on vacation next week!