July 2013 Birchbox Unboxing!

After a little snafu with last month's box (being mailed to the wrong address, never to be seen again,) I was elated to find the July 2013 Birchbox in my mailbox this afternoon! My sister actually gave me a subscription for my birthday (Thanks, Jo!), but I've purchased from Birchbox before. In fact, this makes my first Birchbox since my Freshman year of college… three years ago!

It definitely exceeded my expectations. Be warned, there are LOTS of pictures... so click through to see what's inside! 

TheBalm’s Instain Blush in Swiss Dot. This is the item that I’m the most excited about! I've wanted to try the Instain Blushes since they were released earlier this year (and ever since Emily Eddington at Beauty Broadcast gave such a rave review of them!). This is a nice rosy red color with great staying power (as the name suggests) -- it stained my finger after swatching it! 

I love this color, but I never would have picked this out for myself, since I tend to lean more toward pinks with my blush choices. This is apparently a Suits Pick for the July 2013 Birchbox, which from what I gather is a cross-promotion with the TV show of the same name. Anyway, I love TheBalm and can’t wait to use this blush!

Benefit’s It’s Potent! Eye Cream. This is another item I'm really excited to try! I’ve had my eye on this beauty ever since Rachel Whitehurst reviewed it in one of her videos. She said that she actually didn't have to use under eye concealer much anymore since using it, which really drew me in. This eye cream is said to brighten dark circles while hydrating the under eye area. So excited for this pick! Although with all the hype around Benefit’s new primer (with Birchbox commercial featuring it and another advertisement for it in this box), I expected to see a sample of that instead of this eye cream. Oh, well. I'm excited to try this too!

Number 4 Super Comb Prep & Protect. This looks like a regular sulfate-free leave-in conditioner. It apparently safeguards color-treated hair and protects against UV rays, though, so that’s good. I’m not that excited about this product (like I ever go outside or dye my hair), but I’ll still give it a try because my hair can use all the extra conditioning that it can find.

DDF Acne Control Treatment. This looks like your basic salicylic acid acne treatment. It’s got 1.5% Salicylic acid, which is only a little stronger than what I'm using now, but still not really impressive. I've used drugstore Acne treatments that had around 3%, so I'm not expecting miracles with this in any sense of the imagination. I’ll give this a shot during my next breakout, since my current one is pretty much under control at this point.

Beauty Extra: Birchbox Bobby Pins. These thick bobby pins are supposed to grip hair better than regular ones and not fall out. It’s got a pretty cute pattern on it, too! I’ll give this a go when I actually wash my hair later (ha).

I’m pretty impressed with this box overall! I stopped my subscription years ago because I was so unimpressed with the samples I was getting, but I think they just won back a loyal customer. 

Did you guys get anything different in yours? Have you tried any of these? Let me know in a comment below!

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