September 2013 Birchbox vs. Ipsy

Birchbox vs. Ipsy
I'll start with Birchbox.
I got box number 44:
https://www.birchbox.com/shop/birchbox-1/september-2013/september-2013-bb44
I was pretty disappointed when I saw that I had two foil packets in this month's box.

The first was curl keeper, which I'm pretty excited to try. I've read good things about it. I'm not thrilled with the sample size though, my hair is really thick and down to my butt, so I don't know how far the foil packet will go.

The second thing in my box (the other foil packet) is a green tea foot scrum. I'm not big on pedicures (I hate having people touch my feet) but I'm still pretty excited to try this.

The third thing in my box was a Benefit sugarbomb lip gloss.  It's a pretty good size sample, and I like it. It's a nice color, it's not sticky and it smells pretty good. The one thing I don't like is that it doesn't last very long. I had to reapply every 15-20 minutes.

The fourth thing in my box is a Birchbox exclusive, Ruffian nail polish. I got Hedge Fund, which is a beautiful goldish-green. It's a perfect fall color. The nail polish went on really well and looked great after two coats. The longevity wasn't that great though. By the second day I was wearing it, it had started to chip off.

 I was excited to try the Caudalie hand and nail cream. My hands get crazy dry in the winter. I loved the way that it felt on my hands, but the smell was intolerable to me. I'll be giving it to someone else.

Now, on to Ipsy:
The bag this month was really cute. A beautiful color with black lace print.
The first item in my Ipsy bag was the Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple. They call it a lip balm, but really it's more of a lip tint. It's not moisturizing at all, but I love it. I put chap stick on over it, and it was great. It lasted AGES. I had to reapply after eating, but that's it.

The container is unnecessarily large, but pretty cute. You pull the tip of the white part and flip it, and there's a brush.

The second item in my bag is a NYX shadow in Nutmeg. It's a perfect brown, it's full-size, and NYX is a really good brand. No complaints here.

The third item in my bag was a deluxe sample of "It's So Big" mascara by Elizabeth Mott. To be honest, most mascaras are pretty much the same to me, so while this doesn't stand out, it's a perfect size to throw in my purse.

 The fourth item in my bag was an eye liner pencil by Starlooks in obsidian kohl. I don't use eye liner, so I wasn't super excited about it, but I'll pass it on to a friend.

The final thing in my bag was Pop Beauty pouty pop crayon in Rose Romance. I didn't like the color AT ALL (it's a frosty pinkish color), but I think I would've loved it in either of the other two colors it comes in. Good product, terrible color for my skin tone.







Ipsy definitely kicked Birchbox's butt this month.
My Birchbox had two foil packets, one item that I really didn't like (the hand and nail cream) and two items that I liked (the lip gloss and the nail polish), but none that I LOVED.
My Ipsy box had one item I didn't like (the lip crayon), one item I won't use very often (the Starlooks liner), one item that I liked (the mascara), and two items I loved (the lip tint and the eye shadow).

My Birchbox this month was really disappointing. The one saving grace is that every time you review an item you get 10 points, and every 100 points is $10 in the Birchbox store. So basically every time you review the 5 items in your box you get $5 to spend in the store, which is pretty good for a $10 box.