Any self-respecting beauty enthusiast knows that the best part of beauty shopping is the samples. Oh, the samples! The samples are the reason that I shop at Sephora, Beauty Bar, and Bliss over department stores; the reason my purse is always stocked with an obscene number of lotions and lipsticks. Who doesn’t love checking out new products? I’ve found some of my favorite stuff through free giveaways. And how many times have you bought something only because it came with a free sample? Be honest about this, because I know you have.
So the genius brainiacs at Birchbox figured out that if women liked receiving samples along with purchases, they’d love a box that consisted entirely of samples.
Yes! That’s pretty much what Birchbox does—for $10 per month, they send a box of curated samples directly to your door, for your beautification pleasure. And these aren’t cheesy little packets of off-brand moisturizer, either—these are products from big-name beauty companies.
Birchbox sent me a box to check out, and inside were Nars The Illuminator in Orgasm, a Deborah Lippman Stripper to Go Lacquer Remover Mitt, Ahava Deadsea Water Mineral Body Lotion, Blow Heat is On Protective Styling Mist, a fancy-schmancy Marvis toothpaste, and some fun mints, just for kicks. Past boxes have included products from fave brands like Kérastase, Stila, Smashbox, Benefit, Cargo, DDF, Korres, Oribe…you get the point. The good stuff.
If you can’t get enough of trying new and amazing beauty products, ten bucks a month is a small price to pay for access to all these samples. (And no, Birchbox is neither paying me to say this nor are they sending me a free subscription…although I would not turn it down if they offered, hint hint.) If you like the products they send you, you can buy full-size ones and earn points toward rewards. If you don’t, you can give them away to your friends and be the most popular girl on the block. That was the idea behind the company in the first place—doesn’t everyone need a friend who’s a beauty editor and will hook them up with the greatest products? Well, this is sort of like buying that friend, but don’t think of it like that. Just think of it as awesomeness delivered directly to you.
