battle of the boxes - July Birchbox

I remember as a kid, I would snag all of the little beauty samples my mom received whenever she ordered from AVON. I adored the tiny little lipsticks and mini bottles of perfume.  What is it about beauty samples that we love so much? The beauty box craze is here, and has hit online consumers with full force.  A reasonable monthly fee for a box full of samples of products that otherwise full-sized would never fit in our budget? Yes, Please! I received four boxes this month: 1. Julep Maven 2. Birchbox 3. Beauty Army 4. Glossy Box  Recently I wrote a post about how obsessed I am with my monthly Julep Maven box, you can see my July box and read the review here. The second box up for review today is my July Birchbox. BB. is a monthly beauty box subscription where you receive 5-6 samples of beauty products for $10.00. Sometimes they throw in "lifestyle/health" products(last month I received a reusable sandwich bag?). Each month BB has a theme, and this month's theme was the 5 senses, and the box was sponsored by GLAMOUR magazine. 

In my box: 1. Tea Forte' Minteas - Lemongrass Yuzu - $9.95 for 3 I really like these mints, strength of an Altoid but yummy. The tin has 75 mints, so it will last me awhile. 2. Annick Goutal Eau d'Hadrien - Fancy Schmancy name for "perfume" - $85.00 - full size The one item in my box that I didn't care for. The citrus notes and lemon smell lovely.... just not on me(darn you PH balance!) 3. Color Club Summer Pastels Collection - Blue-Ming - $8.00 - .5 fl. oz.  I love the Color Club polishes, quality is equal to OPI and Ellie and cost is just about the same. The hue is aquamarine-ish. Very summery indeed. 4. boscia BB Cream SPF 27 - $38.00 - full size Another beauty craze this summer was the attack of "BB" creams. For those of you who don't know, "BB"stands for "Beauty Balm". Basically an "All-in-One" concoction that is a moisturizer, primer, foundation, concealer, filler, sunscreen, bronzer or highlighter all in a single cream. There are various formulas and some claim to do more than others. I found that this formula was a bit watery and hard to blend in. Once blended, I was satisfied with the look and feel on my skin, but honestly I prefer my usual and much cheaper BB cream; Maybellines "Dream Fresh BB" . 5. stila "It's Go Time" Lip Glaze - Camera - $12.00 for trio I'm not a lip gloss gal but I do like stilas glazes. "Camera" adds some extra umph if I layer it over a lipstick. It also has a pretty reddish tint and adds some volume if applied alone. $12 for a set of three minis is a great deal. I was happy to find a FULL SIZE one in this months box. 6. Birchbox Exclusive Earbuds - $10.00 - available in various neon colors Each month BB tosses in a nice little "extra". These buds are super cute and I love the fact that they come in trendy neon colors. The only thing is the sound quality was kinda dull when i used these with my ipod. All in all it was a nice addition.  Stay tuned for my BeautyArmy box review later this week, its definitely going to a "winner"(hint, hint... wink, wink)