So my Birchbox arrived awhile ago but I’ve held off reviewing. I have some personal issues with this box & I wanted to decide how I felt about it. I STILL recommend Birchbox to everyone who asks what beauty service to try fist. I just wanted to say that. But let me tell you, MyGlam has been  blowing me away. Like POW BAM. I’ve skipped reviewing the past month because I pretty much just lost everything I worked on. ANYWAY. This is a Birchbox VS MyGlam (I don’t know if I should call it Ipsy so that’s what I’m calling it) & it is just so you can see the difference.

Let’s do Birchbox first. So my issue with this box isn’t even that I didn’t feel like it fit Birchbox. So many people got some wonderful things & I felt like my box was kind of a stab in the dark. The theme was pretty gimmicky to me & the new mini magazines feel a bit like a Glossybox rip off. 3/6 (so 50%) of the items are in foil packets AND from the same brand. On top of that, the brand is Masqueology which gave me a horrible allergic reaction awhile back. So these weren’t even a great value but I can’t really use them anyway. I don’t mind throwing out or giving up something here & there but half my box? Bummer.

Another item is a decent size sample of a body serum (which feels like straight oil to me…) was absolutely so overflowing that they had to put it in a plastic bag. Gee…thanks? Why didn’t they just get better packaging? It is a mess…I can’t even bring myself to use it. Birchbox made a HUGE deal about a MCMC Fragrance called Phoenix so I thought; “Yay finally a fragrance sample that isn’t tiny! They wouldn’t rave about a tiny one!” Well, they did…& the scent is just kinda meh to me. Not worth the hype for me.

The last item is a Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Rose Gold. I like this product, I really do. I like luminizers in general. But being that it isn’t a full size (it is a full size according to Birchbox BUT it is a full size from a set of 3 MINIS) this wasn’t exactly blowing me away. As always, I count my Birchbox points as $5 because I do shop on their store (I just bought some Zoya Exclusives) so that brings my box total down to $5. For the first time in a really long time…I don’t feel like my box was worth $5.  I usually buy Stila during ridiculous sales so $5 for one sample is kinda a whatever thing.

Now let’s do MyGlam / IPSY!

I am blown away by this $10 bag. No, they don’t have a loyalty program, affiliate options, or even a referral code. Want to know why I don’t care? Because this bag rocked my socks. With items from 2 new brands & 3 I buy from consistently, the value was amazing. No skincare. No hair. Just makeup + a nail polish…& I think if you read my blog you know I love a new nail polish. This month the contents were contained in a chocolate bag with a gold zipper. I think they have actually been uping their bag quality.

The one maybe item in this bag was the Benefit They’re Real Mascara because some people got the Chella Eyebrow Defining Gel. I would have been thrilled with either honestly. I have been using the Chella Mattifying Day Cream & I adore Benefit. I’m adding this to my mascara stash to try!

The full size nail polish is from a brand that is new to me called Nailtini. I got the shade Millionaire. Glitter-rific & on trend for the upcoming holiday season! I LOVED getting a polish that wasn’t from the Circus by Andrea line…those just weren’t good quality on my nails. This is a big step in the “makin me happy” direction. I’ll swatch this once I get through some of my accumulating holiday polishes.

TheBalm snuck a perfect little eyeshadow single from their Meet Matt(e) palette in Matt Batali. I love this shade, the mini-adorable-ness of it, & TheBalm in general. Smittened.

Another brand I am unfamiliar with is Starlet Cosmetics. They included a full sized Intense Eyeliner in Chocolate but unfortunately I found it a bit hard. I will try working with it a bit more before I decide but man is this packaging cute!

The last item is a Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss from Bare Minerals…which just makes me so happy. The shade I received is Daredevil which is a beautiful purple toned berry. Full of winning, I just love these, especially to layer. I adore purple leaning berries so this was especially nice.

They also added a bonus $20 off for JustFab. This site is similar to the site I received called Little Black Bag & I actually just ordered from them. I haven’t tried them yet but I had a hard time not overbuying like everything! I’ll be sure to haul stuff for you guys when I do get my 2 items in!

WOOSH! So much writing! Sorry guys, I know this post was long but it was also overdue! I am in love with MyGlam at the moment but I know some people got some great items as well. Pink Sith better watch herself, I want her Birchbox something fierce. Clearly my boxes are quite different this month!

What do you think? Have you tried either MyGlam or Birchbox? Canceled either of them? Have you tried anything I got?

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