Beauty: Birchbox

I first heard about Birchbox from my sister in law, and then from another blogger friend. Though I'm not the girliest of girls, there is a lot of appeal in getting a cute little box with goodies packaged inside. I couldn't resist any longer, and signed myself up for the waiting list. 5 weeks later...I finally got my very first Birchbox. It was everything I had hoped for.


First, I open my mailbox to find this adorable pink box:

I open up the pink box to find an even more adorable cardboard box inside with the pink Birchbox label. Inside is pink tissue paper folded around 6 delightful samples. There was even a helpful welcome card that listed the items in my box, as well as how much each full-sized item costs. Another plus- you get free shipping if you order any of the items that came in your box. 

When you first join, Birchbox asks that you fill out a profile so that they can do their best to customize your box. I think they did a really great job, as I just about love everything that came in it. Mine contained 5 beauty samples of the following products:

Color Club Nail Lacquer in "He Loves Me"- This is a pretty, Spring pink color (it reminds me of Easter), and not something I would normally choose. (I usually stick with OPI Red. End of story.) So I'm excited to try this fun, light color. Now if only I could get a little color on my legs.....

Harvey Prince "Ageless" Pink Grapefruit Scent- This is the only thing that I was a little meh about. It's not that I dislike the scent. It's just a little sweeter than what I usually wear. Besides, I'm 100% dedicated to my Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb scent, and not really looking for something new right now. But this is (again) something that seems perfect for Spring. Light, and a tad sweet.

Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint- This product is by far my favorite, and I'm likely to order it next paycheck. At $38, I think it's a very reasonable price. It's extremely lightweight, but gave my skin a wonderful dewy look. Given that I'm battling dry skin/aging issues, I think this is a really good match for me. It also received Allure magazine's "Best in Beauty" seal. Good enough for me!

Orofluido Beauty Elixir- This oil serum is supposed to strengthen, smooth, and shiny-up your hair. Given that I have really fine (and sometimes oily) hair, I'm not too sure about this one. I'm worried that it's going to weigh mine down, so I haven't tried it yet. It sure does smell good though!

Stila "Smoky Eye" Card- I'm saving this one for a fancy date night. The colors look fantastic, but not something I would use everyday. I love that the card has instructions for how to apply. Given my limited make-up application skills, that should come in handy.

Last but not least, each box contains one "lifestyle" sample. I've heard they have included music downloads before, which sounds great. In my box, I got 3 samples of Tea forté skin smart teas. Since I'm not drinking soda or any other artificially flavored drinks right now (and hopefully never), this was a welcome surprise. I've already tried the Cucumber Mint (for youth recovery) and the Cherry Marzipan (for anti-aging) and both were delicious. A box of 16 bags cost $6, which seems a bit pricey. But if they can reverse aging, I'll pay whatever!!!

Overall, I was really pleased with my first Birchbox, and I can't wait until April for my next one. Signing up is easy, just be prepared to wait for a bit.

Week 1: Skin Care in your (upper) 30's

Getting older sucks sometimes- no doubt about it. It gets harder to lose weight, parts start hurting that didn't hurt before, and if you're like me, you're also getting wrinkles. At age 36, I am entirely too old for my skin to look as bad as it does. I've noticed it recently, but just haven't done anything about it. I've never been one to be all that much into make-up, and honestly all the choices for skin care are a little overwhelming to me. So it's easier to just buy a bottle of face soap and some moisturizer, and call it a day.

Thankfully, my hair stylist not only does amazing color, but she also gives unsolicited, honest advice. When I went to visit her on Saturday, she asked me point blank what I do to take care of my skin. I asked her why, and she said "because it looks terrible". Thankyouverymuch Nancy B. But she was right, and I knew it. And unfortunately, my answer was "not much". I spend a lot of time out in the sun when I'm training (though I am really good about wearing sunscreen every day), but my skin is also really dry, and the fine lines seem to have tripled recently. The very first thing Nancy said I needed to change was how I'm moisturizing. She also said (much to my relief) that it's really not necessary to drop some serious cash on the fancy skin care lines, either. Her recommendation? The Oil of Olay Regenerist line.

Since I'm trying to save money for my trip to Hawaii (in just 12 short days), I was not ready to go all out and buy every product on the shelf. So I started small and picked up the Regenerating Cream Cleanser (that also does a light exfoliation) and the Regenerating Serum that she said was an absolute must. Currently, this is my small arsenal of skin care products:

And this is my skin care routine:

Morning: Wash with water only (too much soap adds to my dryness problem) and scrub with a washcloth. Apply a dab of Regenerating Serum, and then finish with Neutrogena Healthy Skin Moisturizer SPF 15 (not pictured).

Evening: Wash with Regenerating Cream Cleanser, apply a dab of Regenerating Serum, apply a generous amount of L'Oreal Revitalift Night Cream (soon to be replaced by an Oil of Olay product) and then finish off with Clinique Repairware Intensive Eye Cream (another product that will be replaced after my trip.)

Twice a week: Scrub face with The Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion Cream for some serious exfoliation.   

If money were no object, I would also try to fit in monthly facials. But that's just not going to happen right now, so I'm going to keep trying to find affordable ways to make my skin look better. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate seems to be the key. Exfoliating and getting rid of those pesky top layers of skin seem to be the other trick. Along with the microdermabrasion cream, I might also try a Thermal Mini-Peel that Oil of Olay has in their line. All I know is that my skin can't look much worse than this:

Before

I like to think all those lines are a result of a lot of smiling, but can't I say I would be all that sad to see them go. So....I'm going to try my hardest to stick to a solid routine for the next month, and come back with an "After" picture to see if there is any noticeable difference (fingers crossed). Any tips that you swear by are more than welcome!