March 2012 Birchbox | First Impressions

I received my first Birchbox today and I must say I am mostly pleased with what I received.   Birchbox for those that don't know is a subscription service whereby you receive monthly boxes filled with 4-5 deluxe samples of premium products for $10 a month.  When you set up the service, the website asks you to take a survey so that it can send you products that you would be interested in.

If you like any of the products you can order the full size version on the Birchbox site.  So now onto what I received for the TeenVogue March Birchbox.

As you can see from the previous pictures, it comes nicely packaged in a sturdy, brown paper box.  Inside, there is a card describing the items with the price of the full size products.   

The contents come encased in fucshia tissue paper.  And for this month there were five items in the box.

• Full size Essie Luxe Effect top coat in As Gold as it Gets
• Full size Tarte Lipsurgence Natural Matte Lip Stain in Lucky
• Sample size Kerastaste Elixir Ultimate
• Sample spray bottle of Kate Spade's Twirl perfume 
• Twistband hair tie in orange.

I was super pleased with the selection in my box until I tried to open the Tart lip stain.  The cap would not come off no matter how hard I tried to pull it off.  I finally gently tugged at the bottom and the whole inside of the lip stain came out and the actual product portion fell to the ground.  Needless to say I was very disappointed.  I did get to swatch the broken bullet on my hand and the color was very nice and the texture was very creamy.

Overall, I would say that I am happy with what I got if only disappointed with the broken Tarte lip stain.  I now can't wait for next month's box.

Overall Grade:   B+

Update:  In regard to the broken Tarte Lip Surgence lipstick, I emailed Birchbox the day that I received my box to let them know that this item came broken and they promptly emailed me back in two days and instead of sending a replacement they credited my account with 100 Birchbox points which is equivalent to $10 to spend on their website.  I must say I am quite pleased with how they handled the situation and I remain a fan of their service.