December Birchbox-Love it, or hate it?

I got my Birchbox in the mail today!

I almost made it without cheating, but, as the old saying goes, "Once a cheater, always a cheater..." Haha. 

I just can't help it. I NEED to know what to look forward to. 

:0)

Look how cute the packaging is!

They used white glittery paper and the card that tells you what you got was made into a Christmas card. 

How cute!

And here is all my goods.

I got Harvey Prince-Yogini-8.8ml is$26 or 50ml for $55

This sample is HUGE! This is what I want out of a perfume sample. 

It's about the size of two samples put together.

I normally try to dip, dodge, and dive away from perfume samples from BB.

I can get perfume samples for FREE...but if I'm going to get one from BB, I want it to be like this.

The only thing is, I HATE this perfume. :0( Waah. 

It has sandalwood, Egyptian myrrh, and grapefruit. I'm smelling the myrrh, good for Christmas, not good for my headaches. Ugh. 

This was a fail. 

Befine-Gentle Cleanser-3.4fl oz is $25

This is a 1oz travel size.

This is what I expect when I pay money for samples.

I love travel size products because it gives you the opportunity to try it for a while. 

This is made with sugar, rice, and oat extracts.

It smells minty, and I looked at the ingredients...it has peppermint extract in it.

My picture flipped! Lol.

JOUER-lipgloss in Birchbox Pink-full size is $20

This is the smallest lipgloss I've ever seen...but it is a sample, after all.

It goes on pretty sheer, but it is buildable. I put a couple of coats on this swatch.

L'Oreal Professionnel

Mythic Oil

4.2 oz for $30

I don't know if it's because last month I got an Oscar Blandi hair mist in a 2oz travel size or what, but I thought I'd get something bigger....Hmmmph. lol.

This is smaller than the perfume sample. Meh.

It is oil though, and oil goes a long way...

Nicely packaged goody bag.

These were my "extras." Prep-Show Stoppers-Designer fashion tape

24 for $9.99

Recharge-eboost

Orange Natural energy booster

20 packets for $28

My final thoughts: 

I really liked the packaging of this month's box. It was super cute and festive. 

I thought the contents of this month's box was meh. I think out of all my past boxes, this was the one I liked the least. I wasn't impressed with any of the products. I didn't hate it, but if I could have, I would have skipped this month and saved my $10 for a rainy day. 

What did you get in your box? Love it? Hate it? Have you tried any of these products before? 

What are your thoughts?

XO

December Julep Maven box-Bombshell

I wasn't supposed to get this until the 7th, and it arrived yesterday. Yay! for fast shipping. :0)

I did a shelf pull this month. I chose the Bombshell box instead of the American Beauty box. 

Look at how cute this packaging is! Julep normally comes in a black box and a black bag. 

The card that tells you what you got. 

*I have no clue with my pictures flip sideways-and I can't fix it! Ugh*

Adorable festive packaging. 

My box came with Julep's Pomegranate body creme.

This is a full 4 oz size and is $18 on their website. 

I was slightly afraid I wouldn't like this scent since I'm not too big on pomegranate, but this is actually pretty nice. It's not overpowering at all. 

This has pomegranate and papaya enzymes in it, which dissolves dead skin cells.

I love this stuff! It makes my hands so soft and it's not greasy at all. 

It's also paraben free.

I guess this is an "extra." Some people got glitter, I got little pearls. I don't know if I didn't get that much on accident or what, compared to others that I've seen, I didn't get that much. lol. 

 "Demi"- Julep describes this as an elegant burgundy. 

And Julep Fast Dry Topcoat-these are full size and are $14 each.

This is a gorgeous red shade and I only applied one coat and no topcoat in this picture. 

I've noticed most of Julep's nail polish only needs one coat to be opaque. I love it. 

All of my goodies.

For those who don't know, Julep Maven is a monthly subscription program for nails/hands and costs $19.99 a month. 

You take a test on www.julep.com to see which beauty profile fits you best and you'll get an email every month to show you what box and colors you'll receive. Unlike normal monthly subscription companies, Julep lets you do a "shelf pull" and pick a different box. You can also skip a month if you don't like any of the options, or just running low on funds that month. 

Each box has well over $40 worth of products and is totally worth it in my opinion. 

Once you become a Maven, you'll also get a special discount code for 20% off all your orders and free shipping.

(You can order off their website even if you're not a member)

Are you a Julep Maven? What are your favorite Julep colors?

XO