Favorite/least favorite things in the Birchbox shop?

[Spazkatt]

Some of my picks:

Least Favorite/never again:​

• Amika Nourshing mask - loved it at first…but after a few uses, it didn't do anything for my hair.
• Spornette cushion brush - horrible.  Maybe ok for fine hair.
• Zhena's Gypsy Tea - I've had better tea.  I see this stuff all the time now at TJMaxx/Home Goods.
• Quirky Stem - worked really great at first…but now it only works a tiny bit, even after cleaning it like crazy.
• Alima pure lip tints - mine got grainy after a few uses

LOVED​

•  Revealed palettes (both) - I think these Coastal Scents shadows last longer on me then UD does. The price point is much better for my wallet too.
• Eyeko liners (my HG go to for my top lid liner)
• Baggu totes - LOVE these for food shopping.
• Dr. Lipp - this stuff SAVED my lips during the winter.  I put it on EVERY night before bed.
• Caudalie Divine Oil - HG hair product.  Does nice things to my skin as well.

Want to try​

• Caudalie lip Conditioner
• CS Revealed Sleek Silhouette Palette set --sitting in my basket, haven't pulled the trigger
• Ruffian in Blue Lagoon
• ANYTHING from Malin + Goetz

I was also disappointed in the Alima lip tints and felt the same way about the graininess.

Love the revealed pallet as well.

The Caudalie lip conditioner is amazing!

Also, I love the Blue Lagoon Ruffian

 

[artlover613]

LOVE:

Shea Terra Rose Hips Black Soap and Rose Water Facial Spritz

Jurlique advanced Serum

Jouet sunswept bronzer

Davines Love products

Agave Healing Oil Treatment

Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow In Honey (so good when applied with a brush)

Laqa in bees knees (neutral and minty)

Model Co lipstick in Kitty and the two accompanying colors

Mighty Leaf vanilla tea (son's favorite)

Beauty Protector detangler and leave in conditioner (great for my daughter's long sun- damaged hair)

Not my favorite:

Juice beauty Stem Cell (stings my eyes but my mother loves it)

Stilla lip glaze (sticky consistency)

 

[artlover613]

One more and I couldn't live without it and had to buy one for my daughter too:

Keratherapy Square Ceramic Curling Brush With Heat Indicator 53mm

Great for blowing out really long hair. I can't believe I went years with a sub-par brush. Really gets my thick hair smooth.

 

[JenTX]

LOVE:

Shea Terra Rose Hips Black Soap and Rose Water Facial Spritz

Jurlique advanced Serum

Jouet sunswept bronzer

Davines Love products

Agave Healing Oil Treatment

Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow In Honey (so good when applied with a brush)

Laqa in bees knees (neutral and minty)

Model Co lipstick in Kitty and the two accompanying colors

Mighty Leaf vanilla tea (son's favorite)

Beauty Protector detangler and leave in conditioner (great for my daughter's long sun- damaged hair)

Not my favorite:

Juice beauty Stem Cell (stings my eyes but my mother loves it)

Stilla lip glaze (sticky consistency)

I'm pretty turned off by juice beauty too. I have one of their lip glosses and when I wear it, it gives me like a weird stomach ache.

One thing I wanted to add to the favorites list. The makeup remover they are using in birchbox soho made my skin feel awesome when I was switching away on my hands. It is the Klorane Floral Water Makeup Remover with Soothing Cornflower.

 

[quene8106]

I'm pretty turned off by juice beauty too. I have one of their lip glosses and when I wear it, it gives me like a weird stomach ache.

One thing I wanted to add to the favorites list. The makeup remover they are using in birchbox soho made my skin feel awesome when I was switching away on my hands. It is the Klorane Floral Water Makeup Remover with Soothing Cornflower.

Omg I can't stand juice beauty either. It's something about them that's a turnoff and I can't put my finger on it.

 

[chocolatesauce2]

I hate juice beauty as well. I feel like their products are all "natural" gimmicks and don't really work. So far I've liked:

• Zoya Nail Polish Remover
• Camille Beckman Body Butter
• Chuao Chocolatier Chocolate Bars
• Ojon damage reverse™ Restorative Hair Treatment Plus
• DDF® Glycolic Toning Complex

Sadly, most of the things I try, I end up not liking or they don't work for my skintone or hair. I have over 100 things in my Favorites Wishlist though.

 

[collegebeautybuff]

BB Blahs - Paula's Choice Liquid Exfoliant 

I'm so bummed you didn't like the liquid exfoliant! I have the 2% BHA Liquid and I love it!

Birchbox Loves:

• Dr. Jart+ Premium BB Cream (brown tube) - great coverage for a BB cream, also love the SPF.
• Stila Convertible Colors - like @@jayeme, I love them as cream blushes! i have Peony and Gerbera, and I'm looking into getting Petunia 
• Benefit Fakeup - I love using this under the eyes to brighten and conceal, and it doesn't crease all day for me 
• Mally Eyeliner Library - This has been amazing! i saved up $50 in BB points for it and I have no regrets. There are 10 eyeliners, making them $5 each (A steal) and there's a ton of different colors! They're also waterproof (which I will disagree with, but still long-wearing). 
• Anastasia Brow Powder, Brow Fix, and Stencils - I love Anastasia brow products. They're all I use. There are also some good value kits in the BB Shop for her stuff, too. 
• Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant - amazing if you are oily or combination or have blackheads. 
• Clarisonic Brush Heads - This is how I can afford to own a Clarisonic! 
• The Brush Guard Cleaning Kit! - SO great! I use this everytime I wash my brushes! The cup has a texture on the bottom which makes it so much easier to get stubborn makeup (ex. foundation) completely out of brushes! The brush guards also help brushes maintain their shape (i.e. My Sigma E40, which always likes to splay out)
• Amika Obliphica Sea Buckthorn Oil - I love this for my hair! 
• Philosophy Purity Made Simple - my favorite cleanser. It gets makeup off so easily! 

Birchbox Mehs:

 

• Gilchrist & Soames Neil George Shampoo & Conditioner - AWFUL. The shampoo stripped my hair and the conditioner never replenished it. 
• Tweezerman Skin Care Tool - I expected to like this, and so far I haven't gotten too much use out of it.
• Dr. Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner - Did absolutely nothing for me 
• Benefit Posiebalm - Feels nice on the lips, but it's also practically invisible on your lips. I don't think it's worth the price. 
• Acure Organics Gotu Kola Stem Cell Moisturizer - The fragrance on this was way too strong for me, and for a Day Cream I really wished it would have included an SPF. 

On My Wishlist: 

• Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe - SO pretty but I could never let myself spend $20 on a nail polish
• CS Revealed Palettes 1 and 2 - I really need to flesh out my neutral eyeshadow collection. I need more basics! 
• Stila In The Light Palette (or any of their other ones) - I just think the colors are so pretty. 
• More Stila Convertible Colors - just, all of them. They give such a great natural, dewey look.
• Mally's Look Kit - I have no excuse. I just want it. I love Mally's stuff. 

I always use my Birchbox points to replace my Clarisonic brush heads, so sometimes it takes me a little while to save up for other things. 

 

[ScopeIt]

I was expecting great things from Amika's Color pHerfection Shampoo, and it has made my hair a greasy, nasty mess. I can't believe how bad it is, I've never experienced anything like this. My scalp is itchy and it gave me a rash, too /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I'm bummed, because I got it on Black Friday, so I wasted the opportunity to use the code for something great! It is going back to them as soon as they send me a shipping label -- and I'm the type that never returns anything that has been used, because I usually feel bad about it. This is just not ok, though.

 

[quene8106]

I was expecting great things from Amika's Color pHerfection Shampoo, and it has made my hair a greasy, nasty mess. I can't believe how bad it is, I've never experienced anything like this. My scalp is itchy and it gave me a rash, too /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I'm bummed, because I got it on Black Friday, so I wasted the opportunity to use the code for something great! It is going back to them as soon as they send me a shipping label -- and I'm the type that never returns anything that has been used, because I usually feel bad about it. This is just not ok, though.

Yeah, that shampoo doesn't like my hair either /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />. I got it in a pack and I liked everything else in it, so I won't return it. 

 

[Noel Snow]

Blah

Camile Beckman body butter- Moralia Monarch- smelled like play doh. Returned full-size order

Camile Beckman glycerine hand lotion- same problem also returned.

Amika mask- made my hair seem dirty/limp

No.4  Leave In- same issue as amika

Beauty Protector- smells wonderful but same problem as Amika

Harvey Prince Petally Noir- had to take a bath after spritzing a tiny drop on my hand

Good

Camile Beckman Platinum Gold Imperial Repair- actually like the smell of this sample 

Rusk Texture Spray- Elnett dupe without the old lady smell

Amazeballs

Atelier Vanille- favorite perfume so far

Dr. Brandt pore no more primer- only primer that works with my dry skin

Davines Oi- the only shampoos and conditioners that don't make me look like Prof. Snape.

 

[Toby Burke]

Zhena's Gypsy Tea sucks! I'm a tea addict and this is one of the worst I have ever had!

I wish they would sell Laura Mercier flawless foundation - this is my HG foundation /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[SneakyBurrito]

I'm not fond of the Ruby Wing color-changing nail polish.  It sounded like fun but:

(1) The regular color of the one I got looks kind of bad on me (it's a peach that's just a little darker than my skin tone)

(2) It does not change color (I held my hand about 2 inches in front of the full-spectrum -- including UV -- lamp in my tortoise's cage for 5 minutes and nothing happened)

(3) It's not even good polish; I've gotten weird pits and smears in the middles of my nails at a fairly constant rate from an hour after I applied it until now (roughly two days later)

 

[PeridotCricket]

Zhena's Gypsy Tea sucks! I'm a tea addict and this is one of the worst I have ever had!

I wish they would sell Laura Mercier flawless foundation - this is my HG foundation /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Have you tried the Ahmad Tea in Blackcurrant? It smells like fresh cat pee and tastes pretty much like it smells. Shame on Ahmad and Birchbox for selling it.

 

[Toby Burke]

Have you tried the Ahmad Tea in Blackcurrant? It smells like fresh cat pee and tastes pretty much like it smells. Shame on Ahmad and Birchbox for selling it.

No, I haven't. I prefer Ahmad's black teas (earl grey and evening tea). /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[sstich79]

My latest love is the Spornette Little Wonder... I've got really flat hair, and I can't believe how much easier it is to tease up some volume with this brush instead of my usual comb! I'm also loving the Briogeo Be Gentle Be Kind shampoo and their co-wash... my hair is also super-dry, and using the co-wash and only shampooing every third time or so is doing wonders for my hair's texture.

Other loves:

-Suki foaming cleanser

-Vasanti rose gold eyeliner

-Sumita eyeliners

-Paula's Choice moisturizer

In the non-cosmetic department, I adore the Kate Spade cocktail napkins with the gold dots... so chic. And the "most randomly awesome thing to order from BB" award goes to the Quirky Thor, which is hands-down the most amazing windshield scraper I've ever had. It has multiple scraping options, an extra hand grip for when you really need to be able to press hard, and a telescoping handle so you don't have to strain to get those hard-to-reach spots in the center of the windshield. I LOVE it.

 

[Wida]

My favorites in the BB store:

*Orofluido Elixir - I adore this stuff and it does wonders for the damaged ends of my hair

*Mally Shadow Sticks - LOVE these!  I don't do regular powder eyeshadow very much at all after finding these little gems.

*Paula's Choice - pretty much anything in this line.  The liquid exfoliator and the retinol serum are HG products that have done wonders for my skin.

*Alessandro HandiSpa hand cream - I have horrible dry hands and this is the best stuff I have ever used.  It's pricey though.

*TheBalm timebalm concealer - doesn't fall into the fine lines under my eyes and lasts throughout the day

Things I wouldn't buy again:

*Dr. Lipp - it's just purified lanolin and it's way overpriced.  Go to Walmart to the baby section and pick up a tube of Lansinoh lanolin for breastfeeding mothers.  It's the exact same stuff and tons cheaper - it's roughly $8 for a 2 oz tube vs. Dr. Lipp $15 for a .5 oz tube.

*Shea Terra Body Butter in Mango - This smelled so fantastic in the jar but must have reacted with my body chemistry once it was on and smelled like mango scented onions.  I walked around smelling like mango salsa and it was awful.

*Any Gilchrist & Soames - it's just not that great

I would love to eventually try a real BeautyBlender.  I have a hard time justifying the cost of them, but I think I'm going to buy one with my points soon.  I have been a BB subscriber almost since they started and have yet to receive one in my boxes when they send them out occasionally - much to my irritation, haha!

 

[button6004]

My favorites:

-Amika smoothing balm.  I was nervous to pick this up, because it was a little pricy for me and I had never tried an Amika product.  But it is totally awesome on my frizzy, wavy hair when I blow it out or straighten it.

-Anastasia Brow Kit.  I got the brow kit and the brow fix wax pencil as a gift.  I absolutely love the brow powder and the clear brow gel, and it was a great use of my points.

- Skyn Iceland wipes.  I loved them when I got them in my Ipsy bag but didnt want to pay $15 for a pack of 30 wipes.  Found them in the BB shop and was excited to use my points on them.

-Revealed 2 palette.  I bought this from Coastal Scents directly, but it really is a great palette and I highly recommend it.

-ban.Do sip sip tumbler.  I got this with points and I really love it.  Its perfect for a big iced tea to go on a hot day.

-nugg masks.  I can usually get 3 uses out of one pod, I just dont rip the lid off all of the way and store it in the fridge in a baggie.  I think they are soothing and love the smell.

Meh:

-Chuao chocolates.  I really wanted to like them, I really did. My husband and I split each pod and honestly, I've had better chocolate from Trader Joes, and for cheaper.

-Anything by Pop Beauty.  I'm so turned off of them from my experience with Ipsy.

Wish List:

-I wish they still had the Kate Spade locket that was an add on if you got a new subscription awhile back. 

 

[Toby Burke]

"Meh:

-Chuao chocolates. I really wanted to like them, I really did. My husband and I split each pod and honestly, I've had better chocolate from Trader Joes, and for cheaper."

Exactly what I thought! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />