Birchbox

So, does anyone else here read The Small Things blog? She's been a fantastic resource for me in learning how to (finally) do my hair at the age of 29. Each month, she blogs about what she gets in her birchbox. What is birchbox, you ask? It's a subscription sample service. For a small fee each month, birchbox sends you beauty/lifestyle samples in a pretty little box. You then in turn give feedback about the products you've sampled, which earns you points; the points act as credit in their online store. The samples are tailored to your personal tastes, and the brands are premium brands--you always recoup the cost of your box. Aside from the frugality, what I LOVE about birchbox is just getting a surprise each month. You never know what you're getting until it arrives. Anyway, I like seeing what Kate from the The Small Things gets each month, so I thought it'd be fun to post what I receive, too!

This is what the box looks like:

Here's what was inside this month:

(A facial scrub, eye cream, and lip balm from Pangea Organics, a facial cream from Weleda, a facial scrub from soin, and a sample of Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck; my faves so far are the lip balm and perfume sample, though I LOVED the Pangea facial scrub--just wish there had been more of it!)

My first box was last month in March; I opted for the Teen Vogue box, and I'm so glad I did. I got some hair ties that I've been trying to find around town for a good price, a full-sized nail polish and some other fun things. This month's box, in honor of Earth Day, all the products are natural/organic. In May, the box is teaming up with Gossip Girl, so you KNOW I'm excited about what's to come!

I think there's a waiting list for birchbox subscriptions right now. Some people seem to have to wait longer than others. There's talk in the blogging community that bloggers tend to get higher priority. I don't know about that. But I WILL say that I had a friend sign up for the waiting list a couple weeks before I did, but I got an invitation before she did. ALSO, that invitation happened to come within just a few days of following them on social media sites AND writing a blog post on another site about how to save $$ at Sephora. Coincidence? Maybe.