A Year of Birchbox Gifts Volume Seven

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Welcome back to the year of Birchbox gifting. This is the year I decided to send all of the women in my immediate family three-month Birchbox gift subscriptions for their birthdays. My sister was about to turn 40 when I ordered her gift on 04/26/15. Seeing what comes in their welcome boxes, which are never customized to a profile, would be fun for me and hopefully helpful to someone thinking of purchasing a gift subscription for a family member or a first subscription for herself. Everyone was told about my plan to write an article on their welcome boxes before the purchase was made. It has not been worth mentioning up until this point, because I did not want to bore any of you with minute details (my articles are detailed enough). I told them my plan, asked them for their email address and mailing address which Birchbox needs to fulfill the gift.

They all knew that they needed to fill out their beauty profiles if they wanted their second and third boxes customized to their needs as well. Each sister was asked to send me a picture of the product card and box contents upon arrival. That is all I asked was a picture be sent to me. Anyone who reads my personal box reviews knows that I share how much I either like the item or am looking forward to trying it. I break down the value of the items and my personal value. The reason I have not valued any of these welcome boxes is because I thought it would be way too much of a hassle to give someone a gift and demand they review it or provide product sizes for me to calculate value.

I already learned in Volume Six that code 100FORME provided 70 bonus points. The code had already been redeemed on my main account, and I had another order to place on my second account using that code. Thus, I made the decision to open a third account. Admittedly, the thought of 3 boxes did not sound appealing. However, my plan was just to order the remaining gifts for the year early to close the third account as quickly as possible. The GAP10 code used in Volume Four had expired, so I used BBJETBLUE10, which is still active, to set up a new month to month account. Always check codes here before placing an order.

I paid $10 to start the first month and was immediately rewarded 100 points. To purchase this gift subscription I redeemed the $10 in points, and paid $20. You cannot count points toward your discount as you earn and redeem, so I will only count them as I redeem them. That means the $7 I get back on this order will be used on a future order just as the $10 I applied on this order was earned on the initial start up for this subscription.

My sister agreed to send me pictures of the contents when the box arrived. Of everyone I sent a box to, most did not send the pictures until after I reminded them once I confirmed their box was received (I get a tracking email). I usually waited a few days after the email confirmed it was delivered and sent a reminder text. Yes, I only waited a few days, because if they started using the items immediately, some could be gone before they remembered to take pictures. Plus, if I contacted them too soon there is a chance they may have not retrieved it yet. Birchbox delivers to mailboxes and most people do not get their mail daily. Also, if someone does wait a long time to get their mail, a message before it bakes in the sun for a week is best. In other words, I think three days or so is the perfect amount of time to follow up.

Three of my sisters and one sister-in-law sent me pictures of all of their boxes even though I only asked for pictures from the first box. My assumption is they wanted me to see what was in them, because they know I am not posting anything other than welcome boxes for them. This sister responded to my text by saying gifts are not supposed to be hassles. It is a hassle for her to text me the picture, so she will not do it. She agreed to do so before I sent it, so the text threw me for a loop. It is not like she did not know what I had in mind. Everyone is different, but I sometimes even take pictures of my kids playing with gifts people bought them and text them over. I do not think it is a hassle at all to text someone a picture of the gift they bought you.

When I sent her a follow up to see what was going on, she replied that it was also a hassle asking her to fill out her beauty profile, so she refused to do that as well. Reminder that welcome boxes do not reflect beauty profiles, so that had nothing to do with her welcome box. Rather than continue that conversation, I wrote Birchbox to see what was in her box. Although, the quality is not the best, I did get a picture. Birchbox really has great customer service, so I was happy with the response.

This also happens to be the exact same box Recipient Six received, so I have a better picture (minus the perfume) in that article if you want to see it. For anyone keeping track, this means recipients two and three shared the same box. Recipients four and five shared the same box. Now, recipients six and seven shared the same box.

As you can see from the email Gina sent me, she was serious about not updating her beauty profile. I hope she actually got samples she could use on her second and third box, because Birchbox really uses my beauty profile to customize my samples. Since texting me a picture was too much of a hassle, there is no way I am going to ask her down the road if she found anything she liked. The moral of this story is do not send someone a Birchbox subscription who does not want to do anything. Without filling in the beauty profiles, the gift will not be as tailored. She’s had an extremely rough year and of everyone, I wanted to put a smile on her face. Next time, I will send her something that requires zero thought or effort on her part.

This box is actually a really nice one, and I would have been happy to receive it.  Though I have more mascara than I know what to do with, I am a fan of the natural W3ll People brand and would gladly try this mascara.  Sunscreen in eye cream is a huge plus, because it is an area many of us forget to cover.  Supergoop is fantastic in the way of sunscreen, so I hope the eye cream is just as nice.  Who can ever have too many candles?  I cannot be the only one obsessed with candles, right?  Tocca Isabel is nothing I’ve tried yet (although I think I own a sample vial).  I’d certainly try it.  Assuming she got the 10z Macadamia Professional Nourishing Moisture Oil, that is a very generous sample on a wonderful item.  Though I have not tried my own Vasanti BrightenUp! sample yet, it is one I look forward to trying. Five of her six items look exciting to me. The Tocca does not excite or disappoint me, because I am not really into getting scents.

I answer more questions regarding the program if you want more details on how it works. You can review other welcome boxes I’ve sent and received this year. Ready to send a Gift Subscription? If you want to subscribe, remember to look at start-up offers and all available offers. When you’re ready to spend your rewards points, remember to add your free two piece sample pack when spending $35 from the Bonus Shop. See other Birchbox Subscription articles. View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.

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