January 2011 Birchbox!

Hello, Beautiful!

I finally joined Birchbox! My first shipment arrived on Saturday, and I have to say, it's a little bit of a snooze fest for me only because there are no makeup products in this month's shipment (I know previous months had included great makeup items; like a NARS multiple or a Stila Lip Glaze). However, that doesn't mean I'm disappointed with this month's box. There are products I will use, but let's say I knew ahead of time what was in this month's box... would I have purchased it then? No, I would have skipped this month, but only because I'm more into makeup than I am into skin care and hair care. However, the value is still good (which I will break down later in this post).

*** Before I continue, if you don't know what Birchbox is then you really should check out their website. You pay $10 a month (or you can sign up for a year and get a slight discount). Each month you're sent between 4 and 6 deluxe samples of various products and brands. You do not receive any full sized products, but you can buy the full sized versions from Birchbox (you earn points for doing so).

*** And by the way, ValentineKisses.com offers a similar program - Treasure Box Kisses - which is $14.95 a month (including shipping) and you receive all full sized products. Our Treasure Box Kisses shipments go on sale around the 1st of each new month and remain on sale through the 10th of the month. They're available only during that time and only a certain number are available each month. February's shipment is just around the corner - check out more details by clicking here.


Okay, back to January's Birchbox shipment...

For January 2011, Birchbox says this month is the "Reset & Recharge" month (and by the way, they put January 2010 instead of 2011 at the top of their info card instead of 2011, hehe). Based on this month's theme I can understand the products they included with this month's shipment.

* click on photos to view them larger *

Here is what it looks like:

The included info card:

Now I'll break it down product by product...

Oscar Blandi Olio Di Jasmine Hair Serum

Size: 0.169 fl. oz. / 5ml

Full Size: 34 ml @ $24

Sample Size Value: About $3.53

Ahava Dermud Intensive Nourishing Hand Cream

Size: 40 ml / 1.3 fl. oz.

Full Sized: 4.2 fl. oz. @ $28

Sample Size Value: About $8.75

Zhena's Gypsy Tea - Coconut Chai Black Tea

Size: 4 tea sachets (Net Wt. 0.42 oz/12 g)

Full Sized: 22 tea sachets @ $7.99

Sample Size Value: About $1.43

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel

Size: two applications

Full Sized: 10 applications @ $35

Sample Size Value: About $7

Myfaceworks Sheet Mask

Size: one mask

Full Sized: 6 masks @ $55

Sample Size Value: About $9.17

Total Sample Size Value of January 2011 Birchbox shipment: $29.88

Not bad, when you look at the overall value!

Based on the items I received, which ones will I actually use? Probably all - minus the tea. I'm not a tea drinker, but my grandmom might like to try them. If anything, they'll go in my guest room for guests to enjoy.

The Ahava hand cream I think will be good to nourish my nails/fingers after manicures, but my husband already plans to steal this (he has really dry skin).

The Oscar Blandi hair serum looks like a product I would use and I look forward to trying it out at some point (although most serums/oils can make my hair too greasy or weighed down since I already have long, fine, thin hair that gets oily easily).

The myfaceworks mask is something I think I will use tonight - I'm probably most excited to try this one out.

And finally, the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel is something I already have samples of (from Sephora's free samples) and I haven't used them yet - but maybe I should give them a try in the near future.

Since this is just my first Birchbox shipment I can't make a judgment just yet of what I think of the program, but so far I'm very much looking forward to future shipments and have no plans of cancelling!

Are you a part of Birchbox? If so, what do you think? If not, will you sign up for a future shipment?