December Birchbox #2 2015

I love the months that I get two Birchboxes, it just makes me so happy for some reason. And if I get a bad box or a few items I don't like between the two I'm guaranteed to have a box full of stuff I like typically. I reviewed the Winter Essentials box the other week, and it was a decent box for me minus the screw up with my eyeshadow color, so I was excited to see what was in my regular box. I'm always hoping to get two fabulous boxes, that's my ideal situation. Instead I got a groan worthy box that was full of stuff I can't use.

While it is a nice full box, you can probably see why I'm disappointed in it. First, two hair care items NOT designed for short hair, and two repeats from my Winter Essentials box. Granted, the eyeshadow wasn't suppose to be a repeat, but since they sent the wrong color in the other box this is a repeat. The breakdown of the box is two makeup, one skincare, and two hair care items. Since I reviewed the Juarra nail balm and the green/gold shadow duo in the other box I won't talk about them again. They are getting passed onto a friend and I'll keep the green/gold one I swatched already.

This is the duo that I was suppose to receive in the other box, and as luck would have the replacement Birchbox sent arrived a day or two before this box so I though I would do the review now. The shade on the left is a matte pale pink color and the one on the right is a shimmery metallic pink.

This is a quick swatch with my finger on bare skin (no primer), and I'm already in love with the right color. The left color is a bit chalky and I have similar colors in my Revealed 2 palette, but that shimmery pink is gorgeous! I will be comparing it to my Revealed 2 palette though since it seems a bit familiar. I'll be buying the set of three palettes these duos are from no matter what, but I want to see anyways.

I was really surprised to see a L'Oreal product in my Birchbox, they're more of a drugstore brand and not what Birchbox usually carries. This is from their Professionals line, which is suppose to be like salon quality hair care items. Normally I'd be all over a decent sized sample of a hair mask, but my hair is literally an inch long right now. I'm really not using deep conditioners right now, maybe twice a month max. And I'm side eyeing some of the ingredients, like rubbing alcohol. Why is there rubbing alcohol (a very drying ingredient) in a deep conditioning hair mask? A full sized tub is also $37, which is batshit crazy you guys. A tub of Amika deep conditioning hair mask is only $24, and Amika is a really nice brand. I'd rather buy a nice brand than a drugstore brand pretending to be nice.

Ah, the major fail. Pre-chemo me would have loved this to pieces for sure. This is the Serge Normant Dream Big Instant Volumizing Spray. What exactly am I suppose to volumize? My inch long hair? Not going to happen, unless the q-tip look is in fashion right now. This will go into the box of stuff I can't use yet and maybe next December I'll have enough hair to justify using this.

While this isn't a fail it did earn an eye roll from me. This is a new product from Benefit, I'm not actually sure if you can buy it yet or if we are the first to use it. It's a tinted mascara primer. Yup, you read that right, a tinted mascara primer. Supposedly you can wear it alone for a "natural" look or wear it under your mascara for added length and separation. Here's the problem I'm having with it, shouldn't the mascara I use do that? Like I buy specific mascaras because they make my lashes into the drama queens they deserve to be, so why do I need to add yet another step into my beauty routine to do what my mascara already does? Granted, I haven't tried this yet and it may be a fantastic product, but I'm a little over the whole "everything needs a primer" trend of 2015. Primer for my face and eyeshadow makeup sure, but my hair does not need primer, my lips do not need primer, and my primer does not need primer.

At least my other box was pretty decent, otherwise I'd be really upset. This box for me wasn't even worth the $10 I spent and I'm not excited to try a single thing from it. The only winner was the eyeshadow that didn't even come in this box. Hopefully my January box will blow this one out of the water and I'll be less cranky.