Red Carpet Ready | May Birchbox

This month's Birchbox was red carpet themed and titled 'Red Carpet Ready'. Proceeding from the Bafta Awards and Cannes Film Festival, this box was incredibly fitting. However, while the magazine kept to the theme (as per usual), none of the products in my particular box did. Take away the cards and you wouldn't have made the observation, whereas last month's box had at least two products adhering to its theme. If I had received some of the other possible May products such as the bronzer or hair oil, the box may have kept to the theme a little more. 

The magazine, great as always had some great features. I'm extremely excited for both The Great Gatsby and The Bling Ring starring Emma Watson. The trailer looks super tacky, but I don't care. The great thing about this month is that Birchbox are supporting Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. 30% of e-shop sales goes to the cause and another £5 is donated when you successfully refer a friend.

Products In Box

S OPI - Nail Lacquer

S Elemental Herbology - Cell Plumping Facial Moisturiser SPF 8

S B/Attitude - Body Soufflé

F Makebelieve -Enhance Shimmer Lip Gloss

Beauty Extra

S Doctor Duve - Anti-Ageing & Firming Eye Cream

Lifestyle Extra

S Kusmi Tea - Detox Tea

Although I would've liked to see a full size polish much like other boxes, I was happy to receive an OPI polish especially in this colour 'Call Me Gwenever' as I don't currently own any orange nail polishes and I hear they're great for bringing out a tan.

You can never go wrong with moisturiser but I would've liked something a little more interesting as I have received moisturiser in every box since I subscribed. However, it's a very good sample size and I'm interested in seeing the effects of "cell plumping". While I dislike of the abundance of rose-scented products in Birchboxes, I feel as though I am becoming accustomed to the scent - so much so that I'm now willing to try products with this fragrance.

B/Attitude is a skincare line by Buddha Bar Restaurant and Spa. It's looks and feels extremely luxurious and comes in a good-sized sample pot. It smells just like any other lotion however, with it smelling not dissimilar to the La Sultane de Saba Body Lotion included in a Birchbox a few months ago. I do adore the baroque/Versace-esque print on the lid though.

The colour of the Enhance Shimmer Lipgloss is nameless as it is the only one available by tanning company Makebelieve. It is a light peach but very sheer with little to no colour showing up on the lips. The shimmer is multi-coloured and iridescent with a very sticky texture. I'm not a lipgloss fan myself, which is a shame as this is the only full sized product in my box. This is part of the Enhance range which is the beauty line by Makebelieve.

I calculated these samples and worked out that they're worth around £20 as their RRP is a whopping £115. I do tend to be unimpressed at first with sachet samples and fragrance vials but seeing as though the RRP is so high, I figure that this must be worth quite some bit and as I haven't yet used my Gerda Spillmann Renaissance Age Serum and they are about the same volume, I also figured that I could use them together and shave off 10 years overnight and look like I'm 14 by the morning.

While this was the first product I pulled out from the box, it was the last I actually opened. This is because this tin is extremely difficult to get into. I'm not sure if it's because of the sample-sized tin or if all their tea tins are like this but I spent a long time pulling the lid off this for it to make a mess all over my floor. But honestly, this tea couldn't come at a better time. I'm trying to diet and eat healthy so I feel that this particular type of tea (Detox) would be great for this. It is made from a combination of green tea and lemon-grass  I've never tried either so I'm looking forward to jumping on the bandwagon, as I hear green tea is full of antioxidants. 

The box included a little card that shows you how to look after and check your breasts. With just under 10,000 deaths caused by breast cancer in 2010 alone and an increasing mortality rate as you get older, it's important to know how to check yourself and I feel a lot of us, perhaps even the majority of us don't know how to. I know I didn't until I read the card, as I previously thought it was just a simple lump-check job.

Calculations

OPI Nail Lacquer - This is a sample size of 3.75ml with the full size being 15ml. The Birchbox RRP is spot on at £11.50 making the sample worth £2.88

Elemental Herbology Cell Plumping Facial Moisturiser - This is a sample size of 30ml which is a decent size for sample as the full size is 50ml making this sample size just over half this amount. Again, the Birchbox RRP is correct at £42, making the sample size worth £25.20!

B/Attitude Body Soufflé - This is a sample size at 50ml which again, is a decent-sized sample. The full size is 200ml and while Birchbox states this is £24, this is actually 23 Euros which converted is about £19.46 making the sample worth £4.87.

Makebelieve Enhance Shimmer Lipgloss - This is the only full size product at 15ml and accurately stated as costing £10. 

Doctor Duve Anti-Ageing & Firming Eye Cream - This is a sample size at I would guess 6ml (no volume indicator) with the full size being 30ml. It costs a whopping £115 as accurately stated on the Birchbox leaflet, which makes these two tiny sachets worth £23!

Kusmi Detox Tea - This is a sample size at 20g with the full size being 125g. This I feel is also a good sized sample. Birchbox states this is £13.85 but it is actually £12.50 making the sample worth £2.

In total, there are six products. Five of which are samples and one of which is full sized. While this is particularly low, I feel this box is still value for money. Not only are the sample sizes large and/or valuable but the actual worth of this box is £67.95 and while Birchbox incorrectly estimated it closer to £70, it is still a very varied box with a high value.

£67.95

Overall, I am very happy with this box even though I only received one full sized item that I won't use. I am excited to try the tea, the nail polish is going to be great for summer, the soufflé is not edible :( but great for my dry skin. The facial moisturiser I will use in attempt to acquire the scent of rose and the eye cream I will be using in conjunction with my Gerda Spillmann Renaissance Age Serum. More importantly, I am so thankful to have received information on how to check my...er...ta-tas. I hate to admit it but researching how to check my boobs hasn't been on the top of my priorities. I guess my ignorance had the better of me. Sometimes, you don't know what you've got until it's gone and with a box filled with seemingly superficial items, it's important to remember that health and happiness are what's really important.