February Birchbox

I'm a few weeks late on this posting, but here it is nonetheless...

This month's Birchbox shipment was actually pretty darn good, containing a few products I'd actually been curious about in recent months. If you're not familiar with Birchbox, it's a great concept: for a mere $10/month you will receive a shipment of 4-5 deluxe makeup samples from various well-known cosmetics brands. You also get a discount on any full size item from the shipment you buy, as well as loyalty points for rating the products that you can in turn save and use to purchase full sized items. How amazing is that!

In my February shipment I received:

I. Bare Escentuals Flawless Definition Volumizing Mascara
II. Befine Exfoliating Brown Sugar Cleanser
III. Nars Orgasm Illuminator
IV. Pomega5 Green Tea Mattifying Moisturizer
V. (bonus) SweetRiot Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs

I've heard so much about the Nars Illuminator in Orgasm, but just never really got myself to give it a go. I've only used this sample a few times, and it's not at all what I expected, yet I really like it. First, it has such a light and smooth texture to it... you can't feel it on at all. It has a light citrus scent, and the color is a nice, peachy-bronze color that it goes well with any skintone. It also doesn't leave any sticky feeling or residue behind, which is an added plus. I'm not sure if I will be buying a full size of this item since I'm not a big user of highlighters/illuminators, but I will surely use this sample up.

Another great item was the Befine Cleanser. Now, I've used a few products from this line, and have been pleased with them all. And I've seen this cleanser in stores and while it sounded lovely, I've stayed away from it (and any other sugar cleanser/scrub) because I HATE the feeling/ residue that they leave on my skin. And while this smells great and actually exfoliates well, it STILL left me with that tacky feeling I dislike from sugar scrubs (no matter how well I wash it off). But if sugar scrubs and cleansers are your thing, this is absolutely something worth investing in.

I'll be doing a more in depth review on the BE Mascara and Pomega5 Moisturizer (excited about this) as I use them. As for the candy, I'm not a fan of dark chocolate, but I'll update once my SO has a taste LOL

Have you subscribed to Birchbox yet? Tried any of the items? I'd love to hear what you think!