Birchbox June 2019 Review of Curated Box Making Waves and a Sample Choice Plus Subscription Box Offers

I have two June 2019 Birchbox reviews, and I am placing both in this article. Once I learned of the price increase, I purchased two extra three month subscriptions. That way I could write this article comparing more new Birchbox offerings to the Allure Beauty Box. My three month subscriptions on my second and third boxes ended in May, so I expected to return to just my main box for June. When I wrote in to cancel Box two and three, Birchbox told me I still had one more left on subscription two. Considering I paid for the same term on the same day, I knew that was a mistake. If Birchbox wanted to send me a free box, I am not going to argue though. So, I paid for Box One, but I did not pay for Box Two. This is also the last time I will have Box Two.

Birchbox subscriptions get customized to your beauty profile. 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

This is my June 2019 Birchbox review, but you can see a synopsis of a year of Sephora Play Box reviews vs a year of Birchbox reviews. Every year, I review my $10 boxes (for me at least) 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. Birchbox did raise its prices for select members, but it is still $10 for me. For those who are not ACES on the $10 plan, I will consider that when I do the annual comparison for 2019.

About the Birchbox Subscription

The $10-$15 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.

June 2019 Birchbox Theme

Birchbox makes a custom box design for each month. The box designs represent Pride Month. It looks like there are three different designs and I received two of them. This is the first time we have boxes that pull out like a drawer. That is how the men’s boxes always were, but I am not sure how I feel about this change. If this makes it cheaper for Birchbox to produce, I guess that is good.

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. This is my product card from box one.

This is my product card from box two.

The back of the card goes over the theme, which is, Be Good to You. It mentions that self care is different for everyone, and it is important for all.

Contents are loose inside the box with a single piece of black foam at the bottom and a single sheet of tissue paper encircling the items. The tissue does seem to help the items from moving around a lot. These are the contents of box one.

These are the contents of box two.

June 2019 Birchbox Sample Choices

The three items to choose from were: Wander Beauty Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks, Winky Lux Latte Kitten Palette frothy with the Luxie Beauty 239 Precision Shader Rose Gold Brush, or the R+Co SPIRITUALIZED Dry Shampoo Mist. There were five options for the curated boxes. Curated Box 1- Fountain of Youth includes: Oribe Supershine Moisturizing Cream, PETERTHOMASROTH Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel, Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Serum, Specific Beauty Advanced Dark Spot Corrector Pads, philosophy ultimate miracle worker fix eye fill & firm treatment, and Marcelle Ultimate Volume Mascara. Curated Box 2- Fun in the Sun includes: Oribe Balm d’Or Heat Styling Shield, No4 Sugar Texturizing Spray, Jouer Cosmetics Long-Wear Lip Topper, Touch in Sol No Poreblem Priming Water, Coola Classic Body Sunscreen Tropical Coconut, and Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real Mascara. Curated Box 3- Birchbox x Out Magazine includes: Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Serum, Oribe Maximista Thickening Spray, Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser, Acure Incredibly Clear Sheet Mask, MAC Prep + Prime, and Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real Mascara. Curated Box 4– Making Waves includes: air repair Complexion-Boosting Moisturizer, Smith & Cult Nailed Lacquer Psycho Candy, OUAI Wave Spray, Makeup Eraser The Original Makeup Eraser®, Jouer Cosmetics Sheer Pigment Lip Gloss serrano, and butter LONDON ShadowClutch Wardrobe Duo Lush Tropics. Curated Box 5- Customer Favorites includes: amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo, too cool for school All-in-One Egg Mellow Cream 5-in-1 Firming Moisturizer, ARROW BOOST Color Enhancing Lip Balm, eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner, Wilma Schumann Skin Care Hydrating Collagen Eye Pads, and Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle. Subscribers can always purchase these featured boxes separately for $15 if they want that and a sample choice. Everyone else can purchase a featured box for $20.

I selected Curated Box 4 on my main sub, Making Waves.

I selected the Winky Lux Eyeshadow and Luxie Brush on the second sub, because I love the Luxie brushes and can never have too many.

My June 2019 Birchbox Subscription Review Box 1

My first June 2019 Birchbox review is from box version 64573344, which is Curated Box 4: Making Waves. It has 1 skincare product, three makeup products, one beauty tool, and one hair product.

The 0.24oz air repair Complexion-Boosting Moisturizer is worth $2.76. I enjoy this moisturizer, so I never mind getting more samples of it. It delivers moisture beautifully to my dry skin.

The full-size 0.5oz Smith & Cult Nailed Lacquer Psycho Candy retails for $18. Even though Smith & Cult polishes chip faster than I’d like, I find the bottles beautiful. They are also really heavy, so I know a lot of the cost goes into packaging. This is an 8 free formula.

I like this bright coral for summer fun.

The 1oz OUAI Wave Spray is worth $5.20. I have an open bottle of this I am trying to work through. While I would stop short of saying I hate it, I do not care enough for it to keep this duplicate. My hair just functions better with less texture and more softenss. This does not add a ton of texture, but my hair is not as soft as it usually is when I use this.

There are 2 3.5″ x 3.5″ samples of the Makeup Eraser The Original Makeup Eraser® in the box. A single 7″ x 16″ towel retails for $20. Even though the 2 towels together equal the width of the full size towel, they fall short on the length. The ends are also unfinished, so these are not constructed as well. That will lead to them falling apart faster. As such, I would value each sample at no more than $5. Thus, the two in this box are worth $10. I really like how soft this fabric is. Getting a sample of this is the main reason I grabbed this box. If I like the sample, I can justify purchasing the full size. Otherwise, I could not bring myself to pay the $20.

The full-size 0.21oz Jouer Cosmetics Sheer Pigment Lip Gloss serrano retails for $17. I’ve enjoyed Jouer lip glosses in the past, so I think this will be nice.

This is yet another coral shade. I like that the color coordinates with the polish, but they did not coordinate with the eyeshadow.

The full-size 0.08oz butter LONDON ShadowClutch Wardrobe Duo Lush Tropics retails for $15. It disappoints me to see flimsy packaging on a full size product, but the product swatches nicely. If it works as well as it swatches, I can forgive the packaging. I would not travel with it though. Puncturing the top would be way too easy.

Even though this palette did not take on the coral theme of the other box items, I love the green in here. It looks even better on my skin than it does in the palette, so I cannot wait to play with it.

My June 2019 Birchbox Subscription Review Box 2

My second June 2019 Birchbox review is from box version 64921559. It has one hair product, two skincare products, one beauty tool, and two makeup products.

The 0.25oz Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream is worth $4.41. I have other samples of this. Until I try it, I am not sure if I want to keep this duplicate or not. It seems like it will be nice.

The 0.17oz COOLA® Mineral Sunscreen Matte Tint SPF 30 Unscented is worth $3.60. This is a BB  cream I’ve used before. It has a nice, light, matte finish that I enjoy. I will keep this.

The 0.75oz amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo is worth $3.54. This is one of the better dry shampoos I’ve tried. It removes oil with no residue. I do not mind the smell, and it does not leave texture in my hair. There is a really good chance I will keep this.

The 2 packages of Wander Beauty Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks are worth $8.33. I love getting eye patches in boxes, because I do not use them often enough to justify purchasing them separately. This is one I have received before but have not yet tried. If I love them, I will probably keep these duplicates.

The 0.05oz Winky Lux Latte Kitten Palette frothy is worth $2.36. I really picked this sample for the makeup brush, but I think this could be nice.

It is a really stunning champagne shade that could double as a gorgeous highlighter. When it catches the light, it glistens and sparkles. I love the wet look it gives.

The full-size Luxie Beauty 239 Precision Shader Rose Gold Brush retails for $14. I’ve received this in a box before and purchased two of my own, so this is my fourth. None of my Luxie brushes have disappointed me. They are all worth it. From the quality handle, to the soft luxury brush feel, they are nice. Whenever I have a chance to grab more, I probably will. This one does not have my favorite shader shape, but it works.

Were these June 2019 Birchboxes worth it?

These June 2019 Birchboxes have a $67.96, and a $36.24 value. That brings the value for the average box (only including Box one in the average, because it is the only one I’ve had all year and the only one I will keep for the rest of this year) in 2019 to $46.50. It seems like the curated boxes have a consistently high box average, but the average dips considerably when you make a sample selection. This comes down to a number of factors, but the biggest issue at play is full size products. While every box since the April price increase has at least one full size item, the curated boxes can easily have two or three. The one I picked this month has three.

My personal value is at least $60, and $23.50. Box one would go up if I decided to keep the moisturizer, but I will definitely not keep the wave spray. If I keep the eye masks and moisturizer from box two, I would retain full value. For now, I am not sure. It is easy to say I made out very well on Box one, but Box two could have been better. I’d say grab a featured box if you want to get the highest value. Of course you should select the sample choice if you see something you really want to try. After all, isn’t that what this is all about!

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.

Get a free full size Jouer lip with a one-month sub or a free limited edition box with a six month sub.

What are your thoughts on these June 2019 Birchbox reviews? Do you think they are better than past boxes so far? 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. Subscribe to the blog to get updates on all posts. View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.

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