November Birchbox Review

After five days of complete and utter anguish (okay, I'm being dramatic), I got my Birchbox in the mail yesterday! It was delayed a day due to no mail on Veteran's Day. I just get so anxious for them because I love this service so much. It really is like Christmas each month.



I really love how the boxes are packaged. With everything wrapped up so nicely it definitely adds to the feeling of getting a present. Here's what my box looked like when I first opened it up. The card is placed on top and it contains a message about that month's box on one side (November's theme is "Getting Gifty"), and the other side has a list of what your products are and a small description about them.



The photo above is the list of my products for this month. I love this box! It's only my second box, but I have been so happy with the samples I've gotten thus far. I love any kind of skin care: body creams, facial masks, etc., and Birchbox has sent me some gems in that category.



I also received an extra gift, the above bracelet my Baublebar. It's the "Black Wood Pop Bracelet" and I guess has a value of $20. To be honest, I couldn't imagine ever spending $20 on this. It's cute, and I like the sparkly piece, but the black pieces feel like a really cheap plastic. I'll definitely wear it and I'm glad it was free, but not something I would buy for myself otherwise.

But like I said, I'm very happy with my box this month. Here are the product reviews.

• Atelier Vanille Insensee Cologne Absolue: I love this perfume! I think it's the perfect warm scent for fall and winter. The scent profiles are some of my favorites. I wish that it wasn't so expensive, because I would definitely buy the full-sized version. It also came with a cute little postcard (a photo of that is behind the "read more" cut)!
• BORGHESE Fango Active Mud (1 oz): I was really excited to try this facial mask out because, like I said before, I am a sucker for any kind of skin care products. I used it on my face last night and it made my skin feel really tingly. It has a strong, clean scent, and is a dark gray color. Not very cute on your face, but it made my skin feel really soft.
• LaROCCA Skincare Champagne & Shimmer Supreme Creme (.05 oz): This is the product I was most excited about! I saw it in Birchbox's preview video and was crossing my fingers that it would be in my box. It smells fantastic and leaves a really pretty shimmer sheen, and feels really moisturizing. I may be purchasing this in the future.
• Zoya Nail Polish in Izzy (.25 fl oz): I'm not a huge nail polish fan, but I was interested in trying out the Zoya polish because I've heard a lot of good things about them. I like this color; I was hoping for the green shade that some people got, but the pink is very pretty as well. I like it because I could still wear it into the office. The polish goes on smoothly and is very vibrant (I used two coats).
• Two Paper Dolls Ampersand Coasters: These were my "treat" for this month. I know a lot of people were like, WTF, Coasters?! And while I do agree that I have about zero use for these, I don't mind that they were in my box. I would have preferred that chocolate that some people got, though. I think I'm going to mount these on a magnet and use them for decoration on my desk at work. I think that people forget that Birchbox is a business, and I don't blame them for accepting Two Paper Dolls as a client!

Bottom Line: I am so in love with Birchbox! I've been lucky enough to receive samples that I really loved in my first two boxes, but I know some people have been dissatisfied with what they've been getting. If you're in the latter category, check out your beauty profile on the site. I've read in a few places to not have more than two choices selected in each category (except for maybe the hair one), since that makes it more difficult for the product pickers to choose things that you will really like.

What did you get in your Birchbox this month? Tell me in the comments! And check out a few more photos from my box behind the cut.