October Birchbox Rant

Courtesy of  Tiffany @ mymakeupboxes.blogspot.com

So my Birchbox came today and I couldn't even post pictures of it because it was a leaky, gooey mess. And you know what? I was kinda happy that it was - Why, you ask? Because the thing that caused the mess was a sachet of Ouidad Climate Control anti-frizz gel for curly hair.

Um. I don't HAVE curly hair. This is clearly stated in the profile every beauty subscription box makes you take and almost every single one ignores afterwards.  This is the 2nd Birchbox in the last 3 months where the main sample in the box is absolutely useless to me. 2 months ago I got 4 - FOUR!!!! - self-tanning products.  I'm an NC 42 complexioned lass - I have absolutely no need or desire for tanning products. And yes, that is also indicated on my personal profile.

Other than tanning products, the only thing I hate worse in my subscription boxes are perfume samples. OH, guess what? I got 2 of them in this month's Birchbox as well....actually, I should say one and a half - because one of the vials was already more than half empty upon arrival.

Other than the leaking, oozing, useless anti-frizz gel for curly hair and the pathetic half-full vial of perfume oil from Lucy B, I got a highlighter from theBalm which, if it wasn't covered in slimy stuff, might be pretty nice, a pack of Vitivia Pro-Vitamins A15 and C10 which I can salvage and a random Luna Bar, which seems to come in every other Birchbox these days.

The theme of this month's box was "Transformations" - that is, if you didn't opt for a GOOP box, which many other subscribers complained about, but I digress.  This one is a bit of a head scratcher for me. What, praytell is transformative about anti-frizz gel, a Luna Bar, and perfume oil?  Surely a highlighter is great for spotlighting features...but transformative? Hardly.  Vitamins? Great, I can actually see where that could help transform one's skin surface and texture.  But come on, it takes more than 1 product in the box to be able to call this month's theme "TRANSFORMATIVE".

This box was a huge fail for me - and I'm not even talking about the product spillage.  I signed up for Birchbox 2 years ago with the promise of deluxe-sized samples.  Did you know that Birchbox no longer promises "Deluxe" samples, as some eagle-eyed bloggers were quick to spot on the website?

I'm tired of the Birchbox envy.  Thanks to Tiffany at mymakeupboxes.blogspot.com - you can see all of the other Birchboxes you didn't get. I've never gotten one of the super primo boxes even after two years.

I feel like there's been a bait and switch here. I used to look forward to my monthly Birchbox. Now, the box I so delighted in has time and again failed to give me any products which I'm at all tempted to buy full-size.  This is why I'm cancelling my subscription.