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Subscription boxes: Birchbox, Ipsy
Check out the below video for a detailed comparison and swatches of Color Club Wanderlust Collection “Pardon My French” for Birchbox vs Sinful Colors Sweet Tooth. Both are pastel purples but with slightly different looks.
Trying out the Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Lip Crayon from this month’s Ipsy bag. “Coral Crush” is only a hint coral and only if you’re heavy handed in the application. The coral aspect might be more obvious on someone with paler complexion though.
Unboxing video for both the July Birchbox as well as the July Ipsy:
In my July 2013 Birchbox:
0/5 stars 0/5 stars (Can more companies or Birchbox start posting full ingredient lists online in a way that’s more accessible? This gets frustrating even outside of Birchbox at times.) 0/5 stars 0/5 stars
5/5 starsIn my July 2013 Ipsy:
3/5 stars 0/5 stars 5/5 stars 0/5 stars 5/5 starsBirchbox 05/25 stars = 0.2 stars total
Ipsy 13/25 stars = 1.92 stars total
If I had to choose between the two boxes, month after month Ipsy has been winning hands down for me personally. It’s just those occasional gems and finding out about new brands along with Birchbox’s points system…. and well basically all the things I wrote about in this post that’s keeping me with Birchbox. It is what it is. 🙂
PS – my fun and funky straw fedora came from Kohl’s. Since Birchbox mentioned Power Plays being “A move that puts an individual in a position of victory and strength and/or maximizes one’s happiness or confidence and allows for extreme freedom”… I would have to say this hat would be my current power play. I hate having to dry my hair in the summer and this hides the fact that I keep washing and running or going to the pool and then not having styling tools with me… or for today it was an instance of not washing so I could make it to an early morning meeting and then my hair looking a little frazzled by the end of the day but I still wanted to get this video done so I plopped on the hat. I also wore it to Forecastle Music Festival so my forehead and ears didn’t get burned (with or without sunscreen my forehead seems to burn if out way too long) but I do think I need to find a hat that has a bit better ventilation because this one has a tendency to heat up when it’s 85+ degrees outside! 🙂
Jewelmint and all of the “Mint” family sites are running a 50% off sale items deal right now.
Also, if you buy two items you get free shipping. On sale + 50% off + free shipping (assuming you order at least two things) so it’s an amazing deal.
They’re probably hoping you can’t resist picking up something for full price as well. I think all of the “Mint” companies are a little on the high side since I can get similar quality costume jewelry at a locally owned store near me for about $15 apiece full price. But I stay subscribed, click “skip month” each month when I get the notice and watch for specials and have been able to pick up some really nice pieces when they’ve either gone on sale or they run a promo.
I’ve been somewhat interested in buying something from ShoeMint and StyleMint but kept putting it off.
JewelMint’s Trove Hoop earrings are normally a $29.99 down to $10 on sale. They look like a good wardrobe staple and I don’t often see good two tone jewelry. Customer live chat said they aren’t a heavy earring so here’s to hoping that that’s correct.
I’ve had my eye on the ShoeMint Hejsa neon pink sandal for awhile but again didn’t think they were worth the $80. At $31.99 PLUS 50% off they are just $15.99 – yeah no brainer. Neon and neutral!! Yay!
Same went for the Stylemint Broderick T in Lilac Rose (another hot pink) normally $29.99 and only $11.50 on sale. This one I debated for a little longer because of fit and because it looks like it could be sheer. A shirt that isn’t worn still isn’t worth $11.50 but I thought it was worth the risk. Their return policy looks like it involves a restocking fee so you hit a point where something is not worth returning. I guess if it doesn’t fit I’ll throw it in a giveaway (I plan on doing another giveaway soon so keep an eye out here and don’t forget to subscribe via bloglovin’ or other rss reader.)
There were no sale items from IntiMint available in my size so I just skipped that one.
All in total I spent $37.48 including free shipping for a pair of shoes, shirt and earrings.
I’ll be doing reviews when I get them in here. I was having a hard time coming up with reviews of the StyleMint shirts in particular so hopefully I can help people out on that front by sharing some video on that when I get it in.
Oh one last thought. I hadn’t realized that Jewelmint had started doing something similar to Birchbox where your purchases build points towards a jewelmint credit aka freebie. Granted at my snails pace that might be awhile. 🙂
Have you bought anything you loved from the Mint stores lately?
JewelMint + StyleMint + ShoeMint + IntiMint
I was just asked why stay subscribed to Birchbox and Ipsy?
“Just curious, why order these boxes if you have such strict qualifications for products? Why don’t you order the organic specialty boxes or just handpick your products? Seems like a waste of money, and products. And being wasteful doesn’t seem very healthy for the environment either.” — Sarah
It’s an excellent question and the answer is not as simple as simple as just liking or disliking/having problems with the products in the boxes. It ended up being long enough that I thought I should write a blog post quickly instead of simply responding in the comments.
I should do a post soon on what has made it into regular use from these boxes and what I have gone back and purchased just as a sort of summary of how much I have found and love from these boxes.
I do know that I have become a bit grumpy with Birchbox. There was a period of about 6 months where nothing was exciting or usable for me in the boxes and it made me just a bit sour on them. I’m trying to be aware of that.
I did do this sort of breakdown in my head before this post and felt like for $10 it was still worth it to stay as long as I got one ok product per month. Another 6 months stint of nothing that I can use and I will probably switch from Birchbox to another subscription. It will probably be Eco Emi or Goodebox unless they take a dive in quality or unless something better comes along before then (via recommendation or a new company.)
As for being wasteful, I don’t toss the unused products. I usually either give them to friends or run a giveaway of these products. I know that some of them I’m not using simply because I have a sensitivity and that other people won’t have a problem with them. Others might be in different places and priorities and would LOVE to have things I consider not healthy enough to use myself. Plus there are some products that I wouldn’t recommend using daily but every once in awhile it’s not going to have a significant long term affect so I’m not going to be a Debbie downer – have some fun! But here’s the educational PSA portion: look for healthier everyday options where you can. So bottom line, these samples aren’t going to waste just because I don’t want them! 🙂
My Birchbox unboxing AND my Ipsy unbagging in the video below along with some swatches and commentary. AKA June 2013 Birchbox vs Ipsy Glambag:
My June 2013 Birchbox:
0/5 stars 0/5 stars for the Mirenesse (would have been a 5 star if it had been without dimethicone and fragrance … or if it had been the other product.) 3/5 stars (I’m just not a big purple fan plus my comments about the collection above and no full size products even available. For purple it’s an excellent shade and always love the Color Club polishes.) 0/5 starsMy June 2013 Ipsy Glambag:
0/5 stars 5/5 stars 5/5 stars 0/5 stars 0/5 starsI also just realized that people were commenting below the products on ipsy (linked to in the glamroom) if they wanted to trade. OR there’s also http://mygl.am/glammieswapforum (though the other seems more efficient… or makeupalley would also work better than the facebook page.)
And I’m happy with the leopard bag with the neon zipper. I’ve been leaving the chevron bag in my swim bag recently just to throw my jewelry in so it’s not lost at the bottom of the bigger bag. I’ll probably find a use for this one too.
So there you have it … another mildly disappointing month with Birchbox and a good month with Ipsy. I think I wouldn’t even be saying this if I had received the Reign in Spain polish and the other lip gloss Birchbox had promoted on facebook. Actually I’d probably have been happy with just the other shade of nail polish just because the swatches I saw of it looked like a nice bright fun summer color. The creamy shade is one that I already own something similar and the green … meh, not as versatile. Actually the purple I already own something similar to as well just the that Color Club purple is just a hint better actually.
Swatches of some of the products from these boxes: 