Birchbox July 2016 Beauty Box Review and Coupon Code!

Birchbox is one of the premier beauty sampling subscriptions available today. There are more than one million subscribers receiving five or more samples of hair, skin and makeup in their mailbox every month! That's a lot! Aaaand I'm one of them.

Birchbox has currently been worth it to me because of their soon-to-be defunct points program. Reviewing each product earned one dollar to be used in their gigantic online marketplace. Now, that program is being eliminated. Will it still be worth it? I'll find out! I subscribed way back in December for a full year at a ridiculously good discount. I think I paid less than $80 for a full year subscription which was really nice, especially considering the review points that I earned up til now. I just used a huge stash of points to buy myself some Tom's sunglasses from the shop, too. I looove them!

In any case, it looks like Birchbox is planning new ways to woo their customers. While 100 point coupon codes have been extinct the last six months, one has been found! Two actually! New subscribers can get 100 points in their account (that's $10!) when they sign up using code FREE100. If you sign up for a full year, use code FREE200 to get $20 of points in your account.

Anyway, each month you'll get a different set of products along with an information card.

The Cost: $10/month

What You Get: Five samples and sometimes full size items, including everything from makeup and skin care to non beauty essentials like candles and tea.

BalanceMe Radiance Face Mask- This is a clay based, wash off mask that cleanses, exfoliates and brightens the skin. I hope this is enough for my whole face... I don't think it will be. But I'll use it because I like clay masks.

Marcelle BB Cream in  Golden Glow- While this particular tube doesn't seem to have exploded, someone's did because this was all over everything. This is just a little too dark for me. It's close but not close enough.

Dr. Jart+ Water Drop Hydrating Moisturizer- This is what I'm excited about!! I like Dr. Jart and if you've never tried a waterdrop moisturizer, this will be fun to to test. It comes out like a gel (or gel cream if you're familiar with kbeauty terms) but once you start spreading it, it disappears into clear, watery droplets. Seriously, don't give this away or toss it if you got it.... TRY IT! Even if you don't like it, it's still an interesting product. This is a fairly common type of moisturizer in Korea, I've been using a Lioele Waterdrop Mask for years. I love how it applies.

Smashbox Cosmetics X-Rated Mascara- While I might complain about getting mascara, I'm not going to complain about getting Smashbox. Plus it's my own fault for getting extensions anyway. I still keep mascara around, though, because if I don't have the extensions, I need it!!

Catherine Malandrino Style de Paris- This perfume does not scream anything but cheap at me. Whoever Catherine Malandrino is, she needs to really up her game in the packaging and logo department. This is described as an ultra-wearable summer scent. I don't really like getting perfumes so I have marked to get six or less per year in my account.

VERDICT: Since I didn't realize that Dr. Jart had a waterdrop moisturizer, this box ended up being great for me. I already use the Dr. Jart DermaClear Micro Water cleanser and LOVE it (I'm already on my third bottle) so this will be a nice addition. I don't care about perfume and I have a ton of mascara but that's just the way getting too many subscription boxes is.

As a side note regarding Asian beauty products, it is beneficial to know that when you see the word "whitening" on beauty and skincare products, it is NOT actually going to whiten your skin. Here the word more likely to be used would be "brightening." If you see something with the word "whitening" on it, it's going to mean that it had niacinamide or arbutin in it, both of which are considered skin tone evening (brightening) ingredients. That's a good thing! Here in the US "brightening" is a buzzword because we want healthy, bright skin. Over there "whitening" is used because having lighter skin is coveted. Either way, it's for evening the skin tone (it's not going to whiten or even brighten your skin but it will get rid of dark spots).

tl;dr Whitening and Brightening are the same thing. You're not bleaching your skin if you get a product that says whitening on it from Korea.

Sign up for Birchbox here! Use code FREE100 (or FREE200) when you sign up! (The code is good until end of day July 15th! I think it's on EST, too.) That's basically a free $10 and trust me, you'll find a way to spend it. The Birchbox shop is pretty amazing.

What do you think about the loss of the points system? Will you unsubscribe?

*referral links were used in this post