Birchbox October '13

HEY!
I received my first Birchbox this week, and I'm pretty excited!
I love the idea of Birchbox, because I don't wear makeup everyday, but I do want to use quality products. It's nice to be able to try things out in small sizes before you decide whether the full-size is worth the money. I also like it because sample sizes always last a long time with me because I only wear makeup about twice a week.

[SMALL TANGENT ALERT]

The Sephora Favorites set from a couple years ago completely ruined me once I realized what I had been missing out on all these years. I was introduced to moisturizers and primers and all sorts of wonderful things I hadn't even really considered necessary like I do now.
I began moisturizing twice daily...cleansing and moisturizing your face is especially important before putting on makeup, in my opinion. I really love the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, and I believe that was the one in my SF set. It is not cheap, but it works amazingly, it's light and you can feel the transformation of your skin immediately. For a cheaper moisturizer, I use St. Ives Timeless Skin Moisturizer. This is less than $5 and comes in a 10 oz container which lasts FOR-EV-ER. I currently have two nearly full ones because they were on sale and I probably won't need to buy moisturizer again for at least a year. This moisturizer does work well in that it soaks in quickly and there is a visible and tactical difference, it's also very light and doesn't feel greasy or heavy when applied. But still, nothing compares to the quality of Laura Mercier.
Anywho, once I began using higher quality makeup and skincare products, I started to see my complexion improve and my makeup stayed put so much longer. Now, this is not to say that every expensive makeup item is going to be good, or that all the cheapy ones are bad (because I have definitely found some very inexpensive favorites that I can do a post on another time if anyone is interested..) but that's why Birchbox is great. You can try out those expensive products and decide whether or not they're right for you.

[TANGENT OVER]

Ok, back to Birchbox. Here's what I received this month! (Apologies in advance for the horrible lighting of these photos. I was in a rush when I took these. Promise they will be better next month!)

Lovely, simple packaging

A "Beauty Buzz" card explaining some of the products

Peeling away the tissue paper...

The first thing I picked up was the Benefit Fake Up Concealer. 

Cute packaging! 

A look at the uncapped concealer stick.
I've never used a stick before, always a cream, so I'm excited to try this out!
I have yet to find a concealer that I like, so I hope this works out!

Inside the orange envelope were these two items. Evologie Stay Clear cream and Ruffian Nail Lacquer in "Hedge Fund".
I'll start out with the good... I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color of this nail polish. It is perfect for fall, and being someone who LOVES green nail polish, this is a shade I've never seen before and it is absolutely perfect. It's sort of a metallic olive green with hints of gold, and one coat of it is all you need.
It also looks beautiful on the nail. (I will post pictures with my hands fully painted once I make it to the drugstore to pick up more polish remover!)
And the not-so-good... I was really excited about this Stay Clear cream, because I have been breaking out lately after *STUPIDLY* trying a new facial cleanser that did not make my skin happy. I applied this as directed, and once it soaked in, I happened to rub my fingers just under my chin and there was this weird glue-like residue that rolled off in my fingers. I really do not like that, it makes me feel as though I'm slapping Elmer's on my face. and no one should pay ($62!!!!!) for that feeling. I may try it one more time on the off chance that I applied too much (which I doubt) and see if I change my mind. On the bright side, I did notice one of my more prominent chin blemishes was nearly gone the following day, so in that regard, it is functional. But, to me, it has to look good AND feel good to justify that price. What are they making this with, babies? Anyway...

This is Pop Beauty Aqua Lacquer in Flowering Fuscia gets a mixed review from me as well. I will preface this by saying that I would never normally wear gloss of any kind. It's either lipstick or stain and balm. I have small lips, and making them shiny draws attention, and makes them look even smaller in my opinion.
When I received this, I figured I might as well give it a try and see if it could turn me into a gloss lover. I don't hate it, but I noticed on the Birchbox product description of this, it praises it's non-stickiness. Most of the customer reviews also say it's not sticky. Maybe it's just me, but it defintely feels sticky. It may be that since I normally wouldn't wear it, gloss of any kind feels sticky, but I don't love that feeling. That being said, I do think it looks good. It doesn't have much pigment, so your lips won't be bright pink or anything, this looks surprisingly nude with just a hint of pink on my lips. It also doesn't smell like much of anything, which is kind of nice, because that's what I have perfume for. I also hate when gloss has that fake plasticky kid makeup smell. Big turn-off. This does not smell like that at all. One last thing, the applicator was another turn off for me. It is a small, narrow plastic paddle, and just looked and felt kind of cheap. That's all.

They also threw in this "hydration lock" Chap-Stick, which I actually thought was kind of nice because I keep forgetting to pick up lip balm, and WINTER IS COMING, so I needz dem. We all know what Chap-Stick is like, right? It was like that. Moving on...

So that's it for the first month! I'm so happy with the nail color, which redeems the entire box, and I still have hope for the concealer, which I haven't tried yet, aside from a skin swatch that looked promising. I will get back to you on that soon! I will try the Evologie one more time as promised, and I will probably continue using the gloss whenever I get that rare glossy feeling, and of course will be using the Chap-Stick daily.

Thanks for reading this far, hope this helps you decide if Birchbox or any of these products are right for you! If you have any questions, comment here or email me at Quirkabillity@gmail.com.

I look forward to doing more makeup reviews in the future! Hopefully I can wrangle one of my Make-up artist buddies to do a guest post or Q & A here soon! It would certainly be nice to learn a few tricks of the trade! 

Adios!

-Meagan