April Birchbox 2012

I don't really do a lot of things just for myself but I do subscribe to Birchbox for $10 a month. (I've all but stopped eating out at all during the work week so I justify the money.)

The feeling I get when I see that hot pink box in the mail is probably more thrilling than it should be. It's like a little box of surprises!

Here's my April box

Now COME ON! Who wouldn't squeal just a bit when they see that?!

Every month has a theme, this time it was 'Natural Wonders' with all natural products for spring. Usually the paper inside is hot pink as well (Christmas was silver glitter) but this time it was lime green - cute!

#1 Juice Beauty Oil-Free Moisturizer:

This uses a 'blend of juices such as organic apple, grape & pomegranate' instead of water like most other moisturizers. It doesn't have any actual blemish clearing ingredients but the hyaluronic acid is a good replacement for oils. Retails $28/2oz

#2 Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine Petite Cologne Absolue:

That's a really long fancy name for something that smells like Orange Clean. Seriously, I wanted to polish my furniture with this stuff. Retails $55/30ml

#3 Erno Laszlo Active pHelityl Soap 

First of all, I know this is a SAMPLE box but that has to be the tiniest bar of soap I've ever seen! (Just ask Judd, I know my share of tiny/mini/travel sized products!) This claims to balance pH levels in the skin which should be great for uneven skin tone & blemishes. Audrey Hepburn was said to only use this on her face. Next time I plan to eat pastries outside Tiffany's I'll wash with this first to get the full Audrey effect. Retails $40/6oz bar (gulp!)

#4 Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Tinted Moisturizer

I'm not huge on tinted moisturizers. I mean, if I'm gonna take the time to shmear something on my face I want to see some results. This has a moisturizer, primer, tinted foundation & SPF 20 in it. It might be nice for the SPF factor. Retails $34/1.7oz

BONUS: MicrodermaMitt Body Mitt

When I first pulled this thing out I thought it was a little bag to store crap in. Let me just tell you now, when Hoarders comes to my house I'm gonna be the lady with a freaky amount of little bags & boxes. I love them! Can't get enough! Then my goober self read the card & saw that it was an exfoliating mitt! EEK! Perhaps second to my love of organizational bags & storage boxes is exfoliating! Seriously. When you see me rest assured you are gazing upon a fresh layer of skin. It totally grosses me out to have dry skin so I am a big fan of buffing, scrubbing, sand blasting, whatever it takes to get that mess off me! Retails $28.50/mitt

THOUGHTS: I'm ok with the moisturizer. I've been using it for about a week now & I like how light it is but doubt I'll switch from my Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturizer. The cologne was horrible, made me think of citrus Pledge. I haven't used the little bar of soap yet but I'm kinda excited to try something my gal Audrey liked. The tinted moisturizer is just eh. I'll use it for the SPF and that's about it. The game-changer in this box was the mitt. A full-size $28 exfoliating mitt is a nice bonus in a $10 sample box.