August’s Birchbox* is called ‘Dive In’ and comes in the form of a neoprene (that’s the material scuba suits are made of) make-up bag with a neon coloured zipper with 6 beauty summer essentials inside. This includes a waterproof eyeliner, a body scrub, dry shampoo, perfume, face mask, and hand sanitiser.
Birchbox UK August 2016
This month’s theme has a fun, beach holiday vibe and products from brands that are more affordable and more accessible than their previous boxes. Hopefully you will find a favourite that you can afford to repurchase again and again.
Merci Handy Antibacterial Hand Gel, £2.99
This IS an essential product in my handbag and I take a small bottle of it no matter where I go! Friends and family always know I carry this with me so they often ask to borrow it, so it’s a good job I’ve got a spare!
I’ve never heard of Merci Handy before because I usually just grab what’s on offer in Boots, but Merci Handy’s antibac hand gel has a runnier, more watery consistency than the others I’ve used before. It has a great scent to it, and also has vitamins to hydrate and nourish. This is the only full size product in this month’s Birchbox.
Anatomicals The Buff Stuff Citrus Body Scrub, £3.99
I’m not 100% sure of this brand. There’s nothing wrong with the product itself, they work absolutely great! But there’s something about the copy on their packaging that doesn’t sit well with me.
I’m all for a brand that’s clever, witty, and has a sense of humour but there’s a couple of times when I thought they have stepped the line. I mean, it’s something that they’ve got in to trouble for earlier this year so I know I’m not the only one.
What they do have going for them is their affordability. The Buff Stuff is one of the better ones (as well as this lot) and as far as the product itself is concerned, it works fine and it smells nice and fruity. This will be going in to my gym bag!
Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner, £10.50
I received a waterproof eyeliner pencil in a pretty mulberry shade. My face looks so different with and without eyeliner. I always use liquid on the top lash line and a pencil on the bottom lash line, whether it’s day or night. I use it every day and never ever go out without it.
Having said that, I’ve never tried a purple eyeliner pencil before – but thanks to this month’s Birchbox, I’ve discovered how much I love it. It gives a softer look than the usual black kohl.
English Laundry Signature For Her, £60
I really like English Laundry, the 3 perfumes that I’ve tried so far are right up my street. Signature For Her is sweet, floral with a spicy note as it dries on skin. The scent changes in to a creamy vanilla throughout the day. A very girly scent!
Balance Me Radiance Face Mask, £18
This is one of my favourite masks! It is AMAZING! First of all, it’s a creamy texture with bits of ground walnuts as the exfoliating particles. The formula contains a super fruit acid that brightens yet moisturises skin. Balance Me Radiance Face Mask is one of the skincare products that I like to take away with me on city trips as it does the trick of rectifying the dullness caused by dirt and pollution.
Philip Kingsley One More Day Dry Shampoo, £14.50
Well, what do you know! There’s more to dry shampoo than Batiste! In the past few months, I’ve been able to test out a lot of different brands of dry shampoo with a price tag ranging from £3 to £20. Other than the price, the difference is that the ones from premium brands don’t leave a chalky residue built up on your scalp.
Obviously if you use dry shampoo on a regular basis, it doesn’t make sense to buy the high end stuff – you’ll be out of pocket in no time. But if you fancy trying something new, the Philip Kingsley One More Day dry shampoo is pretty good! It absorbs oils, doesn’t leave hair feeling chalky, and it boosts volume!
If you follow Birchbox on Snapchat, you will know that the ladies in their office have been doing the dry shampoo challenge to see who can last the longer without washing their hair. Last time I checked, there was someone who lasted 9 days, relying only on One More Day! Not sure if I could go that long but if I was feeling lazy on the 3rd of 4th day, then I could definitely make-do with this can of dry shampoo.
Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription box which cost £10 per month (plus £2.95 P&P)
Check out my other Birchbox blogposts to see what the other boxes were like.
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What a great box, I swear beauty boxes are getting better and better each month! x
http://flareaforte.blogspot.co.uk
This makes me want to get Birchbox again. And I'm going to follow them on Snapchat now! I need to try that dry shamp.
I love the little bag the products came in, it would be so handy, the products are good too, the eyeliner looks good and the dry shampoo xx
Zoe ♥ MammafulZo
Lovely birchbox !
Sara
http://www.thecrimeofashion.com
Anatomicals are a brand I actually had a falling out with and now won't use their products. I thought they stepped over the line with regards to something that was written on a sample I received. They asked me to follow them so they could respond but then took ages to do so and when they did, although they did apologise, their response was unacceptable to me! x
Becky @ The Little Blog of Beauty
The sample I received was those nose pore clearing strip things. The envelope they came in was talking about different ways to open an envelope and one was using a letter opener. They then said something along the lines of when you opened it and discovered it was a bill you could then use the opener to cut your wrists! x