Sample Society vs. Birchbox (July 2012)

Today's post is dedicated to all my beautiful and beauty obsessed friends.

We've all heard about the neat monthly subscriptions aka subs that deliver beauty product samples to your door. I'm still discovering news ones about every other week.

Personally I'm a huge Birchbox fan. It was my first sub discovery. Last month, after learning about Sample Society by Beauty Bar from my Twitter friend: @Cosmoelectra I decided to try it out.

So today I'm measuring how each of these subs compares to the other.

We'll start with Sample Society by Beauty Bar because it was the box that got to me first.

The simple black box and silver tissue paper is simple yet sophisticated.

The Goodies.

The Sample Society box works directly with the editors of Allure who hand pick the samples that you receive.

Along with your $15 monthly sub, you receive a FREE year's subscription of Allure magazine, which you get to keep even if you decide to cancel your monthly subscription at at any time within that year.

This month's Sample Society box included the following samples:

• Borghese Body Creme
• Jouer Luminating Moisture Tint -I've tried this product with Birchbox before and I'm not a fan.
• Sisley Hydration Intense Anti-Age - I can't wait to try this product out!
• Eye Never Nourishing Repair Eye Creme
• Vincent Longo Duo Lip Pencil - I loved the color, which happens to look great on my skin tone.

What I Love:

• Comes with a year subscription to Allure for free.
• Sample Society works on a very timely basis. They mailed out the box on July 2nd and it was in my hands on July 5th.
• It came with a sample of Sisley's Hydration Intense Anti that costs $250 (full size). Talk about a luxury product!
• Though Sample Society is $15 a month, you can get a code for $15 off any purchase within a month if you buy something from your sample box. So let's say this month I decide to buy the Vincent Longo lip pencil, I will be able to get $15 off my total purchase.  

Overall: If you love and appreciate beauty products this is the sub for you! There are some real amazing products that Sample Society lets you try, which I haven't seen in other subs.

In addition when you visit the beauty bar website you can head on over to its makeover studio where you can try looks before buying the products. How cool is that?

On to Birchbox...

This month's Birchbox was curated by Glamour in honor of the mag's July issue which focused on the heightened experience of the five senses during the summer. I really like when Birchbox teams up with other collaborators to put their boxes together.

The outside of July's Birchbox curated by Glamour.

The Goodies.

This month's Birchbox included the following samples:

• Color Club Summer Pastels Collection in Blue-Ming-It's already my next mani color!
• Gloss Moderne High Gloss Masque
• Harvey Prince Eau Flirt- Smells so great my co-worker bought it!
• Manna Kadar Sheer Glo Shimmer Lotion
• Suki Balancing Kit includes 5 different samples- Working on trying out the kit samples.
  

Lifestyle Extras:

• Birchbox Exclusive Ear buds- Love the pink and green colors, which match perfectly with my phone case.
• Larabar Uber Roasted Nut Roll

What I Love:

• Because Birchbox samples so many products a month they create an x number of boxes that comes with different items, which is why you'll rarely come across someone you know who has the identical box you got. And that makes it  great for swapping samples with your bestie!
• Birchbox is only $10. 
• I'm subscribed to the Birchbox Youtube Channel, which I love because sometimes I receive things that I have no idea how to use and they always post up tutorials.

What I Don't Love:

• My birchboxes have been a real hit or a total miss!
• I hate how long their boxes take to get to me.

Overall: If you're looking for something new and fun every month than this is your sub!

And if you're a dude, you can and should try out Birchbox Man.

So after careful consideration

The sub winner is-- drum rolls please!

As far as value and quality go-- Sample Society gives you more bang for your bucks and it truly carries some luxurious brands.

But overall I give it to Birchbox.

I'm just a sucker for fun cutesy stuff and this month's box was great minus that Larabar, but that's my personal taste!


Which sub is your favorite?

Beautifully yours,
Your GTG!!!

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart."  - Kahlil Gibran

Friday Faves 4/27/12

This week has been insanely busy, but finally it's Friday and here are my favorite things of the week:

Favorite Piece of Jewelry:

I don't really like rosaries as accessories, but this is a beautiful piece inspired by a rosary. This Pamela Love necklace can be worn on its own or with other similar pieces for a layered look.


Favorite Color:

Of course most of my favorite shades nowadays come in the  form of nail lacquer, but take this hot pink shade (OPI Pink Flamenco), how can you not love it?


Favorite Comfy Wedges:

Wedges are a must in the spring and summer seasons, therefore you can never have enough pairs. I tried on these Jessica Simpson wedges and had to buy them as my everyday wedge for their comfort and height.

It's so rare when you find both height and comfort in one pair of shoes.


Favorite Discovery:

I can't say enough good things about Birchbox, it literally turns me on to new things. I'm completely obsessing over this Befine exfoliating cleanser made out of brown sugar, almond oil, oat and ginger extracts. It's completely natural and smells amazing!


Favorite Thing:

Perhaps my most favorite thing of the week was getting my first set of Your Go-to-Gal business cards!

I love them. What do you think?

And keep your eyes open for the official GTG stamp of approval coming soon!


I hope you all have a fabulous and safe weekend. Catch ya next Friday!

xo

What's Birchbox?

About a month and a half ago, I was reading tweets as I do every day. Twitter has become my one stop source for news information. I follow  newspapers, as well as the local TV news stations and all of my favorite fashion magazines.

I came across a tweet from a friend of mine who was talking about how excited she was to try all her @birchbox products for the month. I had never heard of Birchbox, so I immediately looked it up to see what it was.

I was really shocked to find out what it was, but I was so much more shocked that I hadn't heard about it before. It was almost as if the beauty universe was trying to keep this amazing service a secret from me.

After getting the 411 on Birchbox, I decided to sign up for it because where else would I be able to try out at least 5 samples of brand new products or some of my already favorite stuff for $10 a month.

Because Birchbox runs on a monthly cycle you have to wait for them to email you an invitation before you can enjoy your very first birchbox. I had to wait about 3 weeks because I signed up right when they were shipping its Feburary's boxes.

Finally in mid March I received my first box!

Here are this month's goodies:

1- Color Club Neon Nail Polish in Peace Out  Purple.  Don't forget: Neon is a huge trend this spring and trying it out on your nails first is a great way to try it out.

Note: 3 days into my mani and I still can't see a chip!


1- Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint There's nothing better than a light moisturizing tint instead of a full on foundation during these hot summer months, especially here in Miami with all the annoying humidity we suffer from. Best of all it provides 20 SPF.

1- Ahava Essential Day Moisturizer. I still haven't tried this, but will keep you posted on my thoughts.

1- Orofluido Hair Elixir I swear I died and went to hair heaven when I tried this on. I used  some on my damp hair and it made my hair look superb without having to dry or straighten it with heating products. And did i mention?  It smells absolutely delish!

1- Annick Goutal Eau d Hadrien I smelled this but it's very citrusy for my taste. I might spritz some on at some point to see if I like it against my body, but I didn't really like the smell of it alone on paper.

3- sample packets of Tea Forte (Skin Smart Teas)-This is probably the only product I will not use from this month's Birchbox simply because I'm not a tea drinker. I will more than likely pass it on to a friend and follow up with her to see how it worked. Or if you want it, I'll be more than glad to send it to you just ask.

Aside from all these goodies for $10, you collect points for every purchase you make, which can help you score full sized items at little or no cost depending on how many points you have. And the more you buy the more points you get.

You also get points for referring friends, so if you would like to sign up for a  Birchbox membership please click here.  Help your GTG get some points!

What I truly consider to be the best part of Birchbox is the opportunity to sample products before you commit to buying them. It's such a great service for people like me who are always looking for the next best thing for hair, nails and skincare. And don't forget you can buy every product you try out directly from the Birchbox site.

Tip: Ladies, don't forget to fill out your beauty profile, so that your samples are customized to your hair and skin needs.
How many of you are  members?

How many of you are going to join after reading this?

Always beautifully yours,
GTG

" Beauty without expression is boring." - Ralph Waldo Emerson