Fashion Friday: October Birchbox: goop Edition

Ladies and gentleman, we have our first ever guest post!

After begging my sister for years to guest post, she has finally agreed! 

My hope is that her post is great and that her post brings you back for more (maybe she'll do a November post?). 

Also, if you're in the market for an attorney (who doesn't really want to practice law) look her up!

Without further ado, I present a post by Emily, Esq.  

Last month after reading roughly 13 blog posts about what people got in their Birchboxes, I decided to sign up for one. (For $10 a month Birchbox will send you a box of 4-5 “premium” beauty product samples.)  And since I was persuaded to sign up for a box because of the blog posts I read, I thought I’d share what I got in mine in case anyone else had been considering trying Birchbox out too (and also because Rachel keeps asking me to do a guest post).

I opened my Birchbox while at Wendy’s for lunch, so the following pictures were taken there. (I can’t imagine what Gwyneth would say about that. I bet she’s never even been in a Wendy’s.) 

This month Birchbox partnered with goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle newsletter, where Gwyneth  weekly takes to the internet to remind me how poor, unfashionable, and inadequate I am.  Her newsletters cover everything from how to eat (fancy), where to shop (expensive), and what to (and also because Rachel kept asking me to do a guest post) listen to (Uncle Jay, of course). Yes, it’s just as pretentious as it sounds, but I can’t help but care what Gwyneth has to say about everything. So I was obviously thrilled to find out that my first Birchbox would be goop inspired. 

Every box comes with a card that lists each item in the box. 

The first sample I saw was the (MALIN + GOETZ) Cilantro Hair Conditioner. I. Love. Cilantro. Just last week I tweeted about my love for cilantro. So I was really excited about this conditioner. Sadly though, it doesn’t really smell like cilantro. It did seem to make my hair less frizzy and more manageable, so I'd say this conditioner is a winner.  However, I accidentally purchased two family-size bottles of Dove conditioners earlier this week, so I won't really be in the market for conditioner for a while, cilantro-infused or not.

See? (If you're interested in finding out how I feel about all the other herbs, follow me on
twitter @edavidson5. I'm sure I'll share those thoughts eventually.)

The second item was the Caudalie VinoPerfect Radiance Serum Complexion Correction. I don't know what it does. I don't know what makes it a serum. I don't know why there are well over fifteen syllables in the product's name.  At two tiny mL, the sample is the size of my pinky.  But the full size product costs $79.00 for 30 mL, so I feel like I’m getting something expensive, and that makes me happy, even if I have no idea what it does.

This is what the bloggers call the "first look." Everything all nice and tidy.

My favorite product was the Sprout Lip Balm. Given my chapstick addiction, I’m always looking for an alternative to the usual drug store stuff. Sprout Lip Balm is all-natural (I guess that’s a good thing, right?) and has no taste, so I could barely even tell I had anything on. My only complaint is the smell. I received the Cocoa flavor, and it probably does smell like real cocoa beans or something, I just don’t really like it. But the scent isn’t really noticeable once it's on, so that doesn’t bother me too much. Plus, $18 for four lip balms is not a totally unreasonable price compared to some of the other items. This is one product I may actually buy at some point.

Fancy chapstick.

 Next was the Supergoop City Sunscreen Serum. (Again with the “serum,” I don’t really understand what they mean by that.  I can only assume its synonymous with “expensive.”)  Unfortunately, it’s November and Ohio is cold and gloomy and I spend at most 7 minutes outside each day, so I don’t foresee myself even trying the sample for many months.

Finally, there are two “Lifestyle Extras” included in each box. I have no idea what makes these two items “Lifestyle Extras,” but I’ll take more samples were I can get them. The first was the (MALIN + GOETZ) Grapefruit Face Cleanser.  The sample was tiny and I could only get one use out of it, which wasn’t enough to get a good feel for the product at all.

The last item was a LUNA Chocolate Raspberry Fiber bar. I had never had a LUNA bar before, so I was excited to try it. I had it for breakfast one day this week, and I was rather underwhelmed.  I could barely taste the raspberry, and the bar tasted like the smell of the lip balm, which is gross. Maybe this is just how healthy chocolate tastes. Healthy or not, I’m not a huge fan.

October Birchbox: goop Edition

There you have it, my first Birchbox. I wasn't blown away by this box, but there were two products I really liked, so I consider it a success. I'll probably try it for a few more months just to get a better feel for it. If you are interested in giving Birchbox a try, here is my referral link:

 https://www.birchbox.com?raf=kp3r5 

(If you sign up through the link, I get points that eventually add up to money off full size products. Maybe someday I'll be able to buy myself some fancy chapstick!)