Yesterday marked my official one-year anniversary with my My Little Box subscription - BirchBox done the Parisian way, with full-size beauty products and creative items for play. While I reveal today's box, I'd love to also speak a bit about my experience with this product over the last twelve months. :)
Themed items that you just might need for the season
Overall I love the idea of receiving a little present every month, consisting of three beauty products, two to three fun creative items, a magazine, and plenty of inspirational quotes and images. It's a wonderful feeling to receive a gift (even if it's from yourself :p) with items that you just might end up needing. Yes, each month's theme is timed for the season. For example, in November, I received chapstick in preparation for the winter (it ended up being so great I didn't buy any other chapstick this year!).
Though creative, some items end up being more useless than useful
This month, I received a Travel Organiser. Like many other items I've received in the past, while the concept is certainly creative, the quality is so low that I don't really see myself using it (a flappy piece of plastic with no zippers, not even to close the two sides). I've received bracelets that users have complained to fall apart within weeks, as well as little objects made of similar cheap plastic. Of course, considering it's a 17-euro box, I don't really expect much, but I would still rather have one useful, well-made item than two or three useless ones. The only box where I really ended up using the items were in November - an espresso mug that I still use today, as well as a microwavable bead warmer for colder nights.
I simply do not know what to do with this little pad of paper. Do they really expect me to use it to collect ticket stubs on my trip and send it to my girlfriends? (that's actually what it's for)
Nor this cocktail recipe...do they think I am like, a barista now?
Or uh, tattoos? No thank you.
Three beauty items, with one always coming from My Little Beauty (My Little Paris brand)
Overall, I have been more pleasantly surprised than not with the beauty products I receive. Every box's product is different in functionality, so you won't find yourself having four face washes to finish in three months. This month's products were really quite creative, with a special shampoo for getting rid of sand and sunscreen after a day at the beach, a cooling gel body cream for the hot summer, and a dry shampoo for those late mornings, after a night of partying and just before brunch, when your hair is the last thing you want to take care of.
Unlike their creative items, I have been extremely pleased with the quality of My Little Beauty's products. While their packaging is another thing, I've always felt their products to be very gentle and quite effective. I've even bought more bottles of their makeup remover water because it worked so well!
Conclusion: Great box for the beauty products, but not the creative stuff
I've decided to keep my subscription all these months because I love the surprise, and the products do end up coming in handy. On the other hand, I have a ton of open products that I haven't finished using, as well as a bunch of creative items I've never found good uses for. Overall, it's a nice little gift for myself, but I can definitely see improvements. I'm going to stick with this box until I find another better one out there! :D
