Birchbox Select May 2017 - Beta Unboxing!

I am finally getting back in to the swing of things after being out of the blog game for a few months and was super excited to get my first month of Birchbox Select - Beta. 

Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription service that sends you 5 beauty product samples for $10/month, here is my referral link if you’d like to try it out: Birchbox Sign-up. Use code STILASHADOW to get a FREE deluxe Stila Cosmetics Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow sample in Kitten Karma when you join OR use code REDHOT to get a free deluxe sample of Smashbox Cosmetics Be Legendary Liquid Lip Metal in Crimson Chrome (still valid as of 9/5/2017, while supplies last).

Now there are a couple of reasons I chose to go Select:

•  I do not wear perfume and 6 samples a year (the minimum Birchbox profile lets you set) is still far too many,
•  I think shampoo and conditioner samples are cheap (same with 1 ml sample of fragrance) and I also don't use them,
•  Birchbox for me is mainly a skincare subscription, I get my makeup samples from ipsy, so being able to pull in that extra customization to ensure they are products I will use seems worth an extra $5 for me,
•  I stopped subscribing to WIN! (low value) and Beauty Beyond Borders (sold off their business and basically said fuck you to their grandfathered in customers who had a $2/month discount) so though I could just pocket the $22 savings, I'm  easily justifying the $5 expenditure.

Birchbox Beta offers a decent amount of choices per month that also interested me. Other than choosing to get the regular box beta subscribers can choose one of the many curated boxes, skip the box and swap for points in the shop, pick a sample from the spoiler list, or Pick one/Skip One where you choose a product type to be sent and another product type to skip. Pick One, Skip was my first month's beta box choice though I was tempted to pick a sample from the spoiler list because one of the items was a MAC Cosmetics Strobe Cream that I wanted to try. For my May Beta Birchbox I chose to Pick an exfoliator and Skip a fragrance.

Lovely box with gorgeous, muted tones.

     I am ridiculously excited as I tear open the outer cardboard box, I love surprises and love new things so a beta box was twice as nice! Or so I thought... Upon opening the box the first thing I see is a fragrance sample of CLEAN Reserve Rain Reserve Blend Eau de Parfum(1.5 ml)! DAMN IT JIM! I'm a beta subscriber, not a basic bitch! Surprise, surprise as I look around the box angrily I do not see an exfoliator. Pick One, Skip One was a Swing and a Miss.

Now don't get me wrong, it is not a bad box in fact other than the perfume I think it is a pretty good box, it just wasn't wasn't I explicitly paid 50% more for.  The second sample in my bag is of course the M·A·C Cosmetics Strobe Cream (.2 oz) which I was interested in trying, unfortunately my sample is Silverite instead of the Pinklite and it is probably going to be too light for me. The next product in my May Birchbox is a OUAI Wave Spray (1 oz). I got this in my August 20167 Birchbox too, but the size was definitely larger. I will use this though I'm not particularly in to these types of styling products.

The fourth sample is The Beauty Crop's Fabulous Flocking Lashes Waterproof Mascara (.14 oz). My experience with this brand has not been great, but most of that has been with their lip products so I am hoping this mascara is a bit more impressive. I like the name but it also makes me think of flocking from Christmas trees and that's not exactly evocative of what I desire from a mascara. The tube looks deceptively like a full-size mascara but alas it is not, it is about 20% of the .71 oz full-size. I personally love short tubes of sample mascara and really wish they would have just sent a shorter tube. Deceptive packaging is irritating and not exactly ecological. UPDATE: I was just informed by another redditor that this is a tubing mascara. If you're unfamiliar, tubing mascaras are made with flexible polymers that build on to the lash and can be layered on to dramatically extend length. This makes me way more excited to try it out! My last sample this month is a Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream SPF 50+ WetForce (.64 oz). I am most excited about this one, Shiseido is a great brand and at $18/oz I wouldn't buy this without trying it first. I just did purchase through Birchbox a sunscreen sampler though, so I am not in need of any sunscreen (if so I would have used it as my Pick One for the month).      

     My May 2017 Birchbox contained the following 5 items: CLEAN Reserve Rain Reserve Blend Eau de Parfum ($1.39 value),  M·A·C Cosmetics Strobe Cream ($3.88 value), OUAI Wave Spray ($5.20 value),The Beauty Crop's Fabulous Flocking Lashes Waterproof Mascara ($3.93 value), Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream SPF 50+ WetForce ($10.81 value) for a total sample value of $25.21.  This is a decent box with a decent value, other than being miffed about my Beta selections not going through I am fairly pleased with the contents. I emailed customer service about the situation and explicitly requested to be sent my Beta box as a replacement since in the past I was not happy with what Birchbox offered as compensation for issues. An agent responded the next day and refunded the cost of my May Beta Birchbox, which was $15. That works wonderful for me, I got a free month and hopefully my selections go through for the upcoming June box.

Does anyone else do Birchbox Beta? How has your experience been?

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