Inside my first ever BirchBox!

Happy Sunday! I thought I would sneak in an extra post this week because yesterday I got my first ever Birchbox and I am super excited about it! I have been wanting to subscribe to BirchBox for ages but couldn't justify a monthly spend of £12.95 when I was surviving week to week on just a tenner. Being back at work I decided the time was ripe to subscribe. Believe me I am so ridiculously happy that I did.

So I woke up yesterday morning to find this box of joy waiting for me and was absolutely delighted, so delighted in fact that in my haste I wound up kicking the door  and taking a massive chunk out of my toe. Ouchies! Whoever said beauty is pain was right. Luckily I recovered and quickly tore into my BirchBox, like a tiny child (or me) on Christmas morning, and this is what I found in there.

(How cute is the packaging?)

Benefit They're Real Mascara.

Now I am no stranger to the modern icon that is Benefit They're Real mascara, I was already quite the fan when I opened my BirchBox and saw this languishing in there (you can imagine how excited I was!) There is a lot of divided opinion when it comes to They're Real, it seems to be the Marmite of mascaras. You either love it or you hate it with no inbetween. Having said that it is the number 1 selling mascara in the UK and for good reason. Personally I love it. I think it's the ultimate multitasker: curling, lengthening, volumising, lifting and separating the lashes (lifting and separating makes it sound like a bra? No? Just me? Okay.) Whilst the brush does look something like a medieval instrument of torture it is precisely this that means even the shortest and most hard to reach lashes get a coating of mascara. The only slight issue I have with this mascara is the formula which dries a bit rubbery and takes hours to take off. Other than that I love it and am so glad I've got another one. 

Silk + Honey Shea Butter Hair Mask

I had never come across Silk + Honey before, but after a quick Google search I discovered that it is an all natural brand specialising in luxury, DIY products. From what I can gather the products arrive in self assembly kits containing all the ingredients to create them youself. The range includes a Shea Butter Hairmask, an Anti-Aging Hand Cream, a Natural Lip Gloss & a shimmering Body Cream.  Anyway BirchBox have cut out out the middle man and sent a 50 ml sample of the ready made hairmask. I haven't tried it out yet but the consistency is really think and creamy and it smells like roses. It does have an expiration date so I'm sure I will be posting a review soon. 

O.P.I Nail Lacquer in You're So Flippy Floppy from The Brazil Collection

My love of O.P.I Nail Lacquers is no secret, in my vast and never ending nail polish collection I have 14 from O.P.I. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I found this in my BirchBox. I was over the moon. You're So Flippy Floppy is a really lovely, glittery, sunshine yellow, textured polish that instantly conjures the image of the exotic and tropical sands of Brazil. Whilst yellow is not the first colour I would usually reach for when I do my nails this one is really summery and pretty and I'm sure I will be trying it out soon. I'm hoping to get some swatches up on instagram during the week so keep an eye out for those. 

Caudalie Vinoperfect Broad Spectrum SPF15 Day Perfecting Fluid

Caudalie is a french brand that I haven't really come across before and is another luxury brand that uses all natural ingredients in their products  I received a 10ml sample of their Vinoperfect Broad Spectrum SPF15 Day Perfecting Fluid  which according to my estimate is roughly worth £9.50 ( I could be wrong. Maths is not my thing). Containing extract of Grapevine Shoot, Cassia Angustifolia Seed (I'm not too sure what this is, I'll be honest) and a whole list of other lovely natural ingredients this multitasking moisturiser has an oil free formula that promises to moisturise, correct and perfect and acts as a really good primer for makeup (according to the website that is.) Now I haven't tried it on my face yet so I can't say if it actually does all that it says it will. However I have swatched it on the back of my hand and I can tell you that it feels really nice on the skin and smells lovely. It also has the appearance of a tinted moisturiser (it isn't but it looks like one) and acts as a really subtle highlighter leaving dewy looking skin. I can't wait to test it out for real. 

Naobay Body Radiance Lotion 

Another brand that I had never heard of before - honestly this BirchBox has opened up a whole new world of beauty to me! - But after some quick click work I found out that Naobay is short for Natural And Organic Beauty And You which I kind of love, and once again specialises in products made primarily from natural and organic ingredients. Containing Shea Butter, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil and Aloe Vera the Body Radiance Lotion promises to repair and protect from 'external aggressions' (that's a direct quote from the website btw) whilst intensely hydrating the skin. I tested it out this morning and what I can say is that it is really moisturising and smells really lemony which was quite refreshing, it does err on the side of lemongrass which makes me think of Thai food, so maybe not the best scent for a moisturiser. But the full size packaging is really cool. 

BirchBox Brazil Key Ring

As an added extra I got this Brazil inspired flipflop keyring. Apparently Birchbox had a Brazil theme this month due to some kind of sportsing event taking place.I'll be honest I am useless when it comes to all things sports related but how cute is this flip flop keyring?  It's already on my keys. I love it. 

I'm not sure if you can still subscribe for the June Birchbox, I'm gonna assume you can't what with it being the 29th and there being only one day left of June. But if you want to subscribe for next month, and I stongly recommend that you do, then you can do so here.

I hope you've enjoyed my sneaky, secret post this week, I loved my BirchBox and couldn't wait to share it with all of you. Anywho I will be back tomorrow with the third in my Hopeless Romantic series - yes it's now a series - where I will be listing my favourite book couples. If you haven't yet you can check out the first two Hopeless Romantic posts here and here. Until then I am all over every possible social media site so feel free to check me out on twitter, facebook, BlogLovin, instagram & pinterest. 

Love love love xxx