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.
Category: Subscription boxes (page 10 of 16)
Subscription boxes: Birchbox, Ipsy
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:
- Marcelle BB Cream Golden Glow – perfume free is a pro on this one … but there are two forms of dimethicone in this. Some good ingredients in this and some ingredients I recognize to not be so healthy. I can’t find the ingredient list online to copy and paste and it’s rather lengthy so I’m not going to run it through the cosmetic database for a score (it’s not in there without the custom report.)
0/5 stars - Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Cream – I don’t know how accurate or current this ingredient list is but it does say there is dimethicone which rules it out for me personally. There are too many ingredients here for me to type it all into the cosmetic database for you to check the score to see if it is otherwise healthy for you. Generally it doesn’t look too bad but for me this is a 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.)
- Beauty Protector Protect & Shampoo – fragrance and two types of dimethicone. Custom cosmetics database report on the ingredients brings it up as a 6 which is not exactly healthy either. 0/5 stars
- Beauty Protector Protect & Condition – fragrance and dimethicone. Custom cosmetics database report on the ingredients brings it up as a 5 so again not exactly healthy either. 0/5 stars
- FRAIS™ Towelettes Individuals – amazing ingredients but I think this has to be one of the most expensive per use products to date. Cosmetics database ranks it a 2 which is excellent and there are a lot of healthy oils and other ingredients in this AND it’s supposed to remove waterproof mascara. However most makeup remover, moisturizing facial towelettes come in packages of 30 for between $6-$10 (so at most about $0.33 each.) This is $8 for a package of 7 towelettes! ($1.42 per use!) Since it’s individual packets I do think this might be good for travel but … I just can’t see using this regularly. Then again Birchbox hooked me on the LA Fresh nail polish removers for $0.50 a pop when regular bottles of nailpolish removers are only a couple of dollars and last an untold number of uses. So we shall see. Since I haven’t docked any others for price I’m going to leave this at
5/5 stars
In my July 2013 Ipsy:
- POP Beauty – Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush – No dimeticone but it does use fragrance and petrolatum and mineral oil. A custom cosmetics database report brings it up as a 4. Between that and the fact it doesn’t have dimethicone I’m going to give it a try. It’s not super healthy but it’s … ok. If the manufacturer would skip the fragrance it would bring it’s score down quite a bit and be healthier even though it still would still not count as a natural product. I have tried this on and the shade is a little odd on me … I’m still undecided on it. 3/5 stars
- BH Cosmetics California Collection Eyeshadow Sample – mineral oil, talc, parabens. Meh moving on. I know I don’t want to use it. 0/5 stars
- COOLA Mineral Face SPF 20 Unscented Moisturizer – I checked out this company’s full line back when I received the COOLA Classic SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for Face back in the May Birchbox and pretty much everything looked awesome. So good in fact that I bought the unscented sport sunblock already but had been hoping to try the unscented face spf at some point. Scents right on your face can get a little old quickly if you aren’t in love with them and I wanted to see if this was something that worked better for say somewhere you might be out all day that isn’t the beach. 5/5 stars
- Sexy Hair – Weather Proof Humidity Resistant Spray – at first glance I thought “well it’s only the fragrance I’m annoyed about. Then I ran it through a custom report with EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment.’s skin deep cosmetic database and ended up with a 10 … TEN out of ten for highly hazardous ingredients. Bah! Ten is the worst possible score! But no dimethicone in this one… ugh. 0/5 stars
- derma e – Microdermabrasion Scrub – 100% vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, sulfate-free, mineral oil-free, glycol-free, lanolin-free, gluten free, GMO-free. No dimethicone or synthetic fragrance either (it does have a natural scent to it that smells fairly lemony.) And it ranks a measly 2 with the cosmetic database so this is a winner for being a healthy product and I look forward to trying it. Fingers crossed! 5/5 stars
Birchbox 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.
What I ended up ordering from JewelMint, StyleMint & ShoeMint today:
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.
Here are my top 10 reasons that I stay subscribed to Ipsy and Birchbox:
- I DO like trying new products.
- They’re only $10 each.
- The natural / organic boxes still have some of the same problems – dimethicone and other cones. These ingredients aren’t toxic, they just break out my skin. I suspect other people may also have this problem and not have pinpointed it to the ingredients in their hair and skin care (even if it’s something other than dimethicone causing or increasing acne problems.)
- Many of the natural / organic boxes aren’t focused on makeup and beauty products. I have food allergies and sensitivities too and what I’ve seen of food in these boxes I’m not too interested in. I have almost bought Eco Emi before but Ipsy won out. I had a lot of people recommending Ipsy after I complained about Birchbox a bit on instagram. When I reviewed previous box contents, that’s what sold me. There’s at least one exclusively natural makeup subscription box but I think it’s $45 a month which is in a range where I might as well just buy a full size product. And the last time I looked at it, the number of brands in that expensive natural box was very very limited.
- To bring awareness to products that could be healthier if they made a few minor changes.
- To bring awareness to individual products in a line of otherwise not-natural products that are actually nontoxic and quite good (I don’t want to just stick to brands that market themselves as natural / organic.)
- I have received products that I love or have had an interest in trying that are worth WAY more than that $10 price of the subscription. Just going and hand picking products to try it would have cost me more to try them.
- I end up with brands I’ve never heard of and might never have found on my own..
One example that covers a fair number of these reasons is an eyeliner I received in an Ipsy box. I wear it daily now. It’s healthy and it alone is worth $30+shipping. Would I have tried a product for $30 if I wasn’t sure I would like it? Not as likely. Plus I had never heard of the brand so it wasn’t even on my radar to try.
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Same will probably go for the highlighter pencil. Never heard of the brand or the product but I’m likely to add that to my routine and likely to re-purchase it when I run out.
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Color Club would be another example from Birchbox, and I haven’t found those polishes locally yet. And there are some products I will also compromise on IF they aren’t something I’m going to use daily (and if they don’t break me out … as I said, dimethicone is a deal breaker.) They have to be awesome though in order for me to compromise.
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Two Birchbox Specific reasons: - Birchbox exclusive items. I sometimes want them and there’s no way to get them outside of Birchbox (ok maybe a swap site or ebay but there’s less risk and money to just staying subscribed.)
- Birchbox Points for reviews. This one is a bit lame on it’s own but I do leave my feedback to get points. This means that every two months I’ve earned back one month (so essentially my boxes end up being $5/month. Or you could say I spend that $10 a month and get even more free products.) I recently ended up with a 20% off for some reason that I can’t remember and combined with points rewards I bought an expensive shampoo I had been putting off buying (because it was normally $55 a bottle!!!)
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:
- Davines 3-Step System – Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo, Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner, Davines OI/ OIL. dimethicone… 0/5 stars
- Mirenesse Glossy Kiss in “Quick Kiss” – the color was growing on me and at first glance I thought that the ingredient list looked ok. Not super healthy but not super toxic. What I missed was that they include fragrance AND dimethicone. The dimethicone is a deal breaker for me personally. And it’s a gorgeous color.Argh. Cosmetics database custom report has it about a 4. Since I had already swatched on my hand, I tried on my lips just because I was curious about the color. I think it might be a little hard to wear but I do think it might have certain occassions that it would be nice to have that extra pop. Then I washed my face intensely and I’m hoping that a limited test isn’t going to cause cystic pimples anywhere near my mouth. I was thinking of the Laqa & Co Lil’ Lip Duo when I was doing the video so I’m frustrated I didn’t get this product. 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.)
- Color Club Wanderlust Collection – I received “Pardon My French” which is a nice lavendar but I was hoping for “Reign in Spain” because I have a thing for corals. My problem with this isn’t that I have to buy the nail polish color I want, it’s that they don’t have full size bottles and you can only buy the set. Since you already have one of the colors, then you’re buying a second of that color no matter what you got in your box. The purple is a good enough color to have as a mini but I don’t need two and I really wish that they offered these as full sized individual bottles instead of the collection. I will probably buy the collection though at $8 and free shipping, so whatever. 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.)
- Oscar de la Renta Something Blue – synthetic fragrance. They now have a new check box for “don’t send me more than 6 fragrances a year” but I really wish I could make that setting “don’t ever send me fragrances” …. maybe with the additional of “I’m allergic to half of them and I don’t want to use the other half and this is such a waste. One even gave me a headache just from opening the box so please stop sending perfume already.” Sigh. Just know, unless it’s natural / organic and it doesn’t give me a headache (which does exist, just rare) I’m not going to give a fragrance a positive review. 0/5 stars
My June 2013 Ipsy Glambag:
- Starlooks Lip Pencil in “Bare” – I had high hopes for this one. However the color made me unsure if it was meant to be a lip liner or a light eyeliner (though lip liner makes more sense …) Nothing jumped out as obviously bad ingredients that I could identify. No dimethicone, no frangrance, no parabens. But the custom report, it ended up a 6. (pdf linked on this one.) 0/5 stars
- J.Cat Beauty Eyelash + Eyelash Glue – even the glue on this isn’t bad for you. I may cut these apart into individual lashes instead of trying to use the full strip but I’m happy enough with these. Until you get into some really specific eyelashes, those in the under $8 price point are all fairly decent and your biggest factor is lash style / cut. Latex free glue. And these are human hair … ok so a little higher quality than your average drugstore lashes but also a little creepy in that sense. Cruelty free (not tested on animals.) I don’t wear false lashes maybe more than … once every three years but I will be using these for an upcoming special event probably fairly soon. 5/5 stars
- Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter Pencil – AWESOME no cones. Turns up a 3 in a custom report. Talc is the worst ingredient and in this case I’ll forgive it since it’s not going to go on my eyelids (where talc tends to crease) and it’s not filler reducing impact of some other pigment. I love this in the inside corner of my eye and this looks perfect and natural. No shimmer so it can be used easily and I wonder if it might make a good concealing pencil as a result as well. 5/5 stars
- J.Cat Beauty Sparkling Cream Palette – this is categorized under “body glitter” instead of eyeshadow. It’s a chunky glitter so this makes more sense. No, just no for so many reasons. Plus there are the ingredients which aren’t good as well. Kind of on par with petroleum jelly mixed with glitter. It even says “This product should be used on the body and not on the eye area.” I’m not sure what they were thinking. Halloween? Rave? 8 year old girls? I don’t know and this just really doesn’t seem like a great fit for an ipsy bag even ignoring the ingredients for a minute. Yes it’s wild but… Might have made more sense it to be sent out in October just for the Halloween reason. 0/5 stars
- NYX Blush in “Pecan” – awesome bronzer shade but there’s dimethicone and talc so I won’t be using it. I haven’t swatched this but I suspect the color is excellent for a beachy summer look. 0/5 stars
I 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: 