Birchbox January 2019 Review and Subscription Box Offers

It’s time for my January 2019 Birchbox review! Birchbox gives at least 5 deluxe beauty samples each month for $10, and I received 5 in my 2019 January Birchbox. 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.

Annual Birchbox Review

See a synopsis of a year of Sephora Play Box reviews vs a year of Birchbox reviews. Every year, I review my $10 boxes against each other, so I can declare the annual winner. This is also helpful for those who would like to see a year of reviews for either box in one place.

About the Birchbox 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, I suggest making a choice and purchasing the featured box separately. 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.

January 2019 Birchbox Theme

Birchbox makes a custom box design for each month. This is the first one I’ve really loved in a long time. It is a striking and inspiring box.

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, which is, Hello 2019.

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.

January 2019 Birchbox Sample Choices

The three items to choose from were: Sand & Sky Australian Pink Clay Porefining Face Mask, Coco & Eve Like a Virgin Coconut & Fig Hair Masque, and ModelCo Baked Highlighter in Moonshine. I already owned the face mask and would not mind the hair mask or the highlighter. Either would have been fine, and Birchbox must have read my mind. Those who selected the featured box got all five of these samples: BLAQ Peel Off Mask, ARROW ENHANCE Waterproof Eye Brightener – Bright Now, [ comfort zone ] Hydramemory Cream Gel, Design.ME FAB.ME 18-in-1 Leave-in Treatment, and M·A·C Cosmetics In Extreme Dimension 3D Black Lash Mascara. As I already owned 3 of these, I chose to try for more new products with sample choice. Subscribers can always purchase this curated box separately for $10 if they want that and a sample choice. Everyone else can purchase a featured box for $15.

My January 2019 Birchbox Subscription Review

The Box I ended up with is 61655554. It has two hair products, one skincare product, and two makeup products.

The 1oz Coco & Eve Like a Virgin Coconut & Fig Hair Masque is worth $6.93. My hair is dry, so I love trying new hair masks. This would have to be incredible for me to pay nearly $7 an ounce. It claims to repair damage, improve texture and shine, deeply hydrate, fight frizz, detangle, and seal split ends. Those are all the qualities I look for in a hair mask, so I hope it lives up to the promises.

The Beautaniq Beauty Nourishing Mascara does not list a size. That means I (and anyone else who blogs about this has to guess) to assign value. My guess is 0.07oz, which would make this worth $9.95. This mascara claims to thicken, lengthen, and strengthen lashes while volumizing so they look bigger and fuller. It has an oversized brush designed to grip each lash from root to tip so they’re separated, defined, and evenly coated. If these claims are true, this sounds like a fantastic mascara.

The 0.05oz ModelCo Baked Highlighter in Moonshine retails for $25 if you believe this is really the full-size. Birchbox lists the full-size as 0.05oz, but it shows a picture of a see through container for the full-size powder. ModelCo does not list a size on its site and every Google search I can find claims this is the full-size. If I ordered a $25 highlighter and it came to me this small, I would be furious. That is $500 an ounce. Even super prestige brands do not charge that much, so this is either a sample or ModelCo is tripping. When I opened the package the first time, it opened up easily. Every time I’ve tried to open it since has been an ordeal. How can I use a highlighter when I cannot open it?

Once you finally get the package open, you will see there is no mirror, but the powder itself looks very beautiful in its pan. I really like the champagne color, but there is a lot of glitter in this. Glitter in highlighters is not my favorite look, but I will try this. Once I try it (may take a while because I am only trying to open it for 30 seconds before grabbing something else), I will edit in a picture and review.

The 0.5oz Blaq Peel Off Mask is worth $7.25. I purchased this mask as an add-on with the Summer 2018 FabFitFun box. Whether I keep this duplicate or not depends on how much I like the original once I finally try it (or I might try this instead so I can gift a full-size if I dislike it). Peel off masks are fun, unless you get one that hurts like hell. One day, I will find one that really feels like it does something other than rip every ounce of peach fuzz off my face one hair at a time.

The 0.17oz Design.ME Fab.ME The mother of all hair treatments is worth $0.53. I’ve heard of this product before, so it excited me to see it. My excitement wavered a bit when I saw that it is only worth $0.53. I want all my products to pull their $2 weight. Nevertheless, I finally get to try this. It claims to reduce frizz, protects against heat damage, smooth split ends, prevent breakage, and more. If this delivers on its promises, I am sure I will love it.

Was the January 2019 Birchbox worth it?

This box has a $49.66 value, if you believe the ModelCo Highlighter is full-size. Until proven otherwise, I will go with the masses. That brings the value of the average box for 2019 to $49.66, because this is the first one. My personal value is at least $42.41, because I might not keep the duplicate item. The other four items are all new to my collection and things I will try. Only the Design.ME is one I would have considered purchasing, but finding new things I would not have received otherwise is my favorite part of this subscription. It’s even better when I love them. I think this box puts the year off on a great start, even if the value of the highlighter is off. It is definitely worth the $10 I paid.

Subscription Start-Up Offers

See my list of Birchbox subscription offers. Want to subscribe? Click that link to see the current start-up offers. If you’re reading this around the time I’ve posted it, the one I posted below will work.

Subscribers can also use the code SAVE10 for $10 off a $50 purchase through 01/31/19.

What are your thoughts on the January 2019 Birchbox? Let me know below. If your purchase is over $25 (longer subscriptions or purchasing something from the shop with the subscription), you can pick a free item from the bonus shop if you do not use a subscription start-up offer or discount code, which I cover on my Birchbox Deals Page. Some discount codes on that page will not work on subscriptions, but I will post any that work on my Birchbox Subscription Deals Page. You can always add a free two piece sample pack when spending $35, because it combines with any promo code. 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. View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.

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