Birchbox June 2018 Review + Unboxing

Birchbox is a popular, budget-friendly subscription box for beauty and skincare. Their monthly boxes are a fun way to fall in love with new products! They provide five monthly samples curated for you based on your personal preferences. This Birchbox review will share the items I received in my June box as well as savings opportunities and similar subscriptions.

Shipping + Packaging

My June Birchbox was shipped early in the month. They sent tracking information to my email, and I received the box a couple of days after. Like the past couple months, it was shipped in a pretty pink box that said “yes!” on it. The Birchbox itself was inside. This month’s box was adorable! I especially loved the print. As you can see, it has a cute summery cartoon-like design with umbrellas and people on the beach.

I like that their boxes come with a different design each month. Inside, I first found a helpful information sheet about each of the products. I was sent five different items to try out this month.

I’ll be reviewing each item in more detail below!

Product Reviews

Philosophy Purity Moisturizer

I had this moisturizer in the past and truly enjoyed it. I never re-purchased though because it’s a bit expensive so I was pleased to get this sample! It doesn’t feel heavy on my skin, yet it still does a great job moisturizing my skin.

It works great as a daily moisturizer! However, I’m not sure if it would be best for people with dry skin, but it’s the perfect match for my combination skin. This one came in a 0.25 fl oz size.

Retail value: $25 for a 4.7 oz bottle

Derma-E Vitamin C Concentrated Serum

This is my favorite item from this month’s box. Derma-E is one of my favorite skincare brands, so naturally, I love trying out new products from them. The sample size is pretty big, especially since I only need one pump for my face. It should last me at least a month! It’s another 0.25 fl ounce size.

I’ve noticed the few dark spots I had starting to fade and my skin evening out more when I started using this product. Also, my redness isn’t as noticeable when I use it every day. The full-size isn’t too expensive, so I’ll most likely purchase it once I run out.

Retail value: $14.99 for a two fl. oz bottle

Peek Metalimatte Cream Blush

I don’t use blush too often, so I probably won’t use this more than a couple of times. However, it’s a gorgeous rose color, and I’m glad I got to try it out.

I prefer cream blushes like this much more than powder ones. This one is easy to blend and an excellent match for my skin tone. It’s pretty tiny, but even so, it will last a while because it’s pretty pigmented. The small size is perfect for traveling without taking up a ton of space in case I need to use it with a makeup look.

Retail value: $22

Oribe Apres Beach Wave and Shine Spray

I’ve been trying to use fewer hair products to ensure it stays as healthy as possible after my recent haircut. However, I couldn’t resist trying out this product because I adore the look of beachy waves. It’s so hard to accomplish them without damaging heat-styling tools though (at least with my fine hair). Most products I’ve tried are terrible and make my hair look frizzy.

On the contrary, this one worked surprisingly well! It didn’t make a ton of waves, but it gave my hair a nice beachy look without making it super frizzy. This product will also protect you from the sun’s damaging UV rays!

Retail value: $42 for an 8.5 oz bottle

Luma Veil Beauty On the Go Mattifying Primer SPF 50

I love trying out new makeup primers. This one has an SPF 50 included! I always forget to put sunscreen on, so I rely on two-in-one products for sun protection.

I was a little hesitant to see that it’s tinted, but the color didn’t show up on my skin at all. It seemed to blur out my skin a little though. This product works great underneath makeup or even on top of it when you start to get oily throughout the day.

Retail value: $19.99 for a 1 oz bottle

That concludes everything I received in my June Birchbox! When I first signed up, I requested to receive less makeup and more skincare or hair products. I’m glad they’ve complied with this request so far! Many subscription boxes ask for information to “customize” your boxes, but it doesn’t seem like they actually do it. I’ve noticed the difference with this one.

Savings Opportunities

Since Birchbox is already such a cheap subscription box, there aren’t a ton of coupons available. They do typically offer gifts to new subscribers! For example, they’re currently offering a free mini Benefit High Beam Liquid Highlighter with new subscriptions with the promo code FREEGLOW. They also offer coupons and deals in their shop, such as 15% off $35+ orders.

Similar Subscriptions

If you’ve been searching for beauty and skincare subscription boxes, you most likely know that there are a ton of options out there. This can make it difficult to choose just one. I subscribe to a few different beauty subscription boxes, so these next few paragraphs will provide brief comparisons of similar boxes I’d recommend checking out in addition to Birchbox.

The only qualm I have with Birchbox is that their products are typically pretty small samples that don’t last long (which is understandable since the price is so low). However, if you’re interested in bigger products, I’d recommend checking out our Glossybox review. If you don’t like that one, we have a Boxycharm review as well! They cost a little more each month, but they offer larger samples and even a couple full-size products that last much longer. For example, my June Glossybox included an excellent eyelash curler that I’ll be able to put to use every day!

Ipsy is a beauty box that’s very similar to Birchbox. They both cost $10 per month and provide five sample sizes of beauty or skincare products. You can also fill out your beauty profile to customize your products for both subscriptions. The main difference between the two and the one that you’ll notice in our Ipsy review is that Ipsy sends their products in a reusable makeup bag every month. I love these bags – they’re small but perfect to carry a little bag of makeup or other items in your purse. I recently used one to bring a few products on a short trip to the beach!