Birchbox July 2018 Subscription Box Review

Birchbox gives at least 5 deluxe beauty samples each month for $10. Some boxes have more than 5, but anything over 5 is usually a foil. Boxes get customized to your beauty profile, and you can opt out of one type of sample per box during sample choice. All boxes are a mixture of haircare, makeup, and skincare. There are times when body care items pop up, and you can select an option to receive no more than 6 fragrance vials a year in your profile. You could get a box with 2 haircare items, 2 makeup items, and 1 skincare item or any similar variety, but you will rarely see more than 2 items from any category unless the third is a foil. If you are looking for a box that is mostly makeup or mostly skincare, this is not it. Those looking for a well-rounded sample box may enjoy this subscription.

The $10 charge processes immediately for new subscribers and on the 1st in succeeding months. Boxes usually ship from the 8th through the 12th. At the end of every month (actual date varies), Birchbox will email an option to select a sample (from a choice of 3-5 items), or the featured box where you know all samples up front. Those who respond to that email can also opt out of one type of sample. If you want a sample choice and the featured box, read this article. Subscribers can review 5 samples for 10 points each once during the lifetime of the account. Those who pay full-price for their subscriptions up front get points to use toward shop purchases. People who use a discount code on up front subscriptions will not get points. No one on a month-to-month plan gets points for the subscription either. The amount spent for the subscription goes toward the $300 annual minimum to achieve Aces status.

Birchbox makes a custom box design for each month.

The first thing you normally see when you open a Birchbox is a product card. It lists the items in the box and the price to purchase the full-size.

The back of the card goes over the theme, How to Hack Your Summer.

Contents are loose inside the box with a single piece of black foam at the bottom. As you can imagine, fragile samples move around too much inside the box and are subject to breaking.

In February, we were able to skip product type. It was the first time it ever happened, and I have not seen the option since. I made a point of triple checking the email and selection screen. It makes me wonder if February really was the only month it ever happened. Birchbox should bring that option back. If it does, I will skip perfume most months. The three items to choose from were: amika Velveteen Dream Smoothing Balm, ARROW Cooling Cheek Tint in Berry Flush, and Vasanti Magnet Makeup Wipes. This was actually a hard choice, because I did not own any and would not mind having any of them. Those who selected the featured box got all five of these samples: MakeupDrop™ The Original Silicone Makeup Applicator, Bumble and bumble. Don’t Blow It (H)air Styler – Fine, Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional Face Primer, W3LL PEOPLE Expressionist Mascara, and Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser. Subscribers can always purchase a featured box separately for $10 if they want that and a sample choice. Everyone else can purchase a featured box for $15.

The Box I ended up with is 57122891. It has one hair product, two skincare items, one makeup product, and one makeup/skincare hybrid.

The 0.5oz Real Chemistry Fresh-Start Foaming Cleanser is worth $2.86. I adore the peel from this brand, and this claims it is hydrating. That makes me look forward to trying it.

The 0.04oz ARROW REVITALIZE Undereye Brightening Serum is worth $8. I recently purchased two eye serums I had never sampled, because eye serum samples are hard to come by. As such, I really wanted this. Then, I looked it up and realized it is more makeup than skincare, and my excitement dwindled a little. I will still try this, but I cannot (or will not) use it on makeup free days. That is most of my days unfortunately.

The 0.67oz amika Velveteen Dream Smoothing Balm is worth $2.50. I ultimately selected this over the other two items is (as I mentioned above), because I have worn makeup less. This will likely get used sooner. Every time I wash my hair I use a smoothing agent, and this is one I have not tried yet. My hair has a lot of frizz, so I love testing products like this.

The full-size 0.1oz LARITZY Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in Tidal retails for $20. Getting a full-size item in a Birchbox does not happen often. When it does happen, it is almost always a house brand or a relatively unknown brand. This fits the latter. I’ve never heard of LARITZY, but I have purchased liquid lipsticks lately. Leave it to me to wait until a trend has passed before I am finally ready to give it a real try. Liquid lipsticks dehydrate my lips. As soon as I’ve tried all the liquid lipsticks in my collection, I will write an article going over which one is the most hydrating, lasts the longest, and wears the best.

I really like this mauve shade. Once I wear this, I will edit in a picture and review.

The 0.23oz Marcelle City 24H Anti-Pollution Day & Night Moisturizing Emulsion is worth $4.09. Emulsions rarely have enough moisture for my very dry skin so I will not even try them outside of spring or summer. As I have an open moisturizer than will bring me out of summer, I will not get to this until next year.

This box has a $37.45 value. That brings the value of the average box for 2018 to $30.73. My personal value is also $37.45, because I will probably keep everything in it. All of these samples are new to my collection. I’ve noticed that happens more lately with Birchbox than any other subscription I own. While I always love trying new things and that is the number one reason I subscribed, nothing here makes me think, yes, thank goodness I got this box. Upon seeing the items, nothing seems terrible, and nothing knocks my socks off. Of course, that can change as I try the items.

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. Tips For Getting the Best Deal lays out all the ways I know to save money at Birchbox. Product reviews do not always make it into the haul article, but you can always type the product into the search bar to see if I’ve mentioned it or reviewed it elsewhere. See other Birchbox Subscription articles. View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.

Disclosure: Affiliate Links