April Birchbox! 2011

Hello, Beautiful!

I'm lovin' April's Birchbox! The very first thing I saw was a mini Zoya nail polish and I became all giddy! Continue reading to check out all the details of April's Birchbox shipment.

You can check out past Birchbox shipments here: January 2011 -- February 2011 -- March 2011

*** 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 from various 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).

Okay, onto April's Birchbox shipment...

* click on an image to view it larger *

Here is what April's box looks like:

The included info card:

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

Zoya nail polish in Caitlin

Description: Green is glam, especially when it comes to Zoya's super glossy lacquers. This lovely violet gray hue is your new spring go-to.

Sample Size: 0.25 fl oz/7.5 ml

Full Size: 0.5 fl oz @ $8

Sample Size Value: $4

Zoya packet of info & color spoon swatches

Description: This included a packet of info on Zoya, including all shades. Also included was a swatch plate/chart, which include six pre-filled color spoons of the Zoya Intimate collection. On the other side is six empty color spoons.

Sample Size: Six filled color spoons, six empty color spoons

Full Size: each color spoon costs $0.50 on Zoya's website

Sample Size Value: $3 (based on the filled color spoon cost; not on actual total cost)

Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel 

Description: This organic peel doesn't mess around: natural fruit acids dissolve even the most tenacious dead cells for an immediately brighter, smoother complexion.

Sample Size: 0.5 fl oz/15 ml

Full Size: 2 fl oz @ $45

Sample Size Value: $11.25

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Repair Eye Treatment

Description: This is a bonus extra item included in this month's shipment.

Sample Size: 0.035 fl oz

Full Size: 0.5 fl oz @ $45

Sample Size Value: $3.15

LIV GRN Earth Eau de Parfum 

Description: Made from biodegradable and sustainable ingredients, this lush scent is laced with jasmine and sandalwood. Plus, ten percent of sales go directly to Global Green. 

Sample Size: 1 sample vile of parfum, no size listed but generally these are around 0.05 fl oz

Full Size: 3.4 fl oz @ $60 

Sample Size Value: $0.88

Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Lotion

Description: A silky lotion that adds major hydration without feeling heavy. Organic rosehip oil is rich in antioxidants and vitamins A and E, which work to soften and protect skin.

Sample Size: 0.17 fl oz/5 ml

Full Size: 1 fl oz @ $28

Sample Size Value: $4.76

Bloomin Seed Paper

Description: This was a bonus extra in this month's shipment. Even better than recyclable: Plant this handmade paper in soil, give it a little water, and watch it sprout into wildflowers! 

Sample Size: n/a

Full Size: An enclosure seed paper card (approx. the same size as the one I received) sells for $1.50 on their website).

Sample Size Value: $1.50

Total Sample Size Value of April 2011 Birchbox shipment: $27.66!

Considering you only pay $10 for a shipment, it's not a bad value! Plus it's a great way to try out products. Last month's shipment was worth just a couple dollars less than this month's shipment. February's shipment still holds the highest value out of the four Birchbox shipments I've received so far.

Based on the items I received, which ones will I actually use?

I actually think I will use everything in this month's shipment! Which is a first, since past shipments there has always been at least one item that I wouldn't use or want to try - which is to be expected. After all, if it were made up of all items I already love then I would never get to try anything new!

The Zoya nail polish is my favorite item out of the entire shipment! As most of you know, I'm a huge nail polish lover yet for some reason I do not own a single Zoya nail polish. I was going to make a Zoya purchase a few weeks ago, but changed my mind because I couldn't decide on which shades I wanted. However, the shade Caitlin was one of the shades I had planned to order! It was a pleasant surprise to receive that shade in this month's shipment... in fact, I'm going to do my nails in that shade right after I make this blog post!

The Zoya color spoons swatch chart is a nice item to have, especially because I don't own any of the shades (except for Caitlin, of course).

Juice Beauty has been a brand I've wanted to explore, so I'm excited to try the Green Apple Peel! It smells a little fruity too, although a rather strong fruity smell mixed with a typical skincare type of smell (nothing horrible though). I love doing peels and masks, so this will quickly tie into my current skincare routine.

The Juice Beauty eye treatment is something I will try, but probably not at this very moment. I'm using an eye cream I really love but will give this a try in the near future.

The Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Lotion may be th only item I'm up in the air about using. It has a definite rose smell, and I'm not fond of rose smells. I'm curious about using it, so I may give it a go some day.

The LIV GRN Eau de Parfum smells light and fresh... a scent I could actually see myself using. I'm not a big perfume or body spray person (scent lotion is usually as far as I go since I am prone to headaches from most scents), but this fragrance was lovely. I'll definitely wear this in the near future!

And the fun part... the Bloomin's handmade seed paper. I've seen these as wedding favors, but it's nice to see they have a wide selection - including wedding invites and regular party invites. Right now my son is really into planting flowers so when I tell him he can grow flowers from a piece of paper I'm sure he's going to scratch his head in confusion and then want to see how it works. I know we'll have fun making the flowers grow from that paper.