May Birchbox, is it worth it?

So what is BIRCHBOX?
From them:

Every month Birchbox members will receive a curated box of luxe beauty samples. Each box will span beauty categories and deliver exciting products... you'll receive a selection of 4-5 samples...

The membership is $10/month and so far I got what they claimed. I did get beauty samples, but curated? Yes they chose them but they are not handpicked for each of their 20,000 subscribers.You will get 4-5 samples but not all of them will be "luxe." My advice, don't expect 4-5 deluxe samples. 3-4 more like!

First of all, I love the outer packaging. The bright pink and graphic design are eye catching (and it makes me happy). It's one of the reasons why I wanted to get this!

Inside is a sturdy kraft colored giftbox style box.

Under the first layer of tissue, a welcome card outlining the products.

Most of my samples wrapped up in matching pink tissue paper.

Four "deluxe" samples for May:
1. Archipalago Pomegranate Soap triple milled - gross
2. Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir sample - musky
3. Ahava Deadsea Water Mineral Hand Cream - nice but not special
4. Stila eye shadow in Terracotta (full size) - awesome, but not my usual color

So how well did Birchbox work?
1. Pretty much I wouldn't want to buy anything in my box, but I saw that other people got a Jouer lip gloss sample, and that peaked my interest. In fact, I bought one! A haul for another post. (I love it btw!)

2. Also, it got me to look into Bvlgari fragrances, and I'm so glad I did. I sniffed the other ones at Nordstroms and I love them much more! Especially BLV Eau D'ete! (new fav)

3. I'm REALLY curious about Pangea Lip Balm that I saw in other people's boxes.

So in a sense it DID work to get me to buy products!

Also included was a pretty card from tinyprints. I really like the quality of paper, and I'm a bit of a paper snob so I want you to know this is really nice paper! The print is a fun graphic that reminds me of my julu logo. ;)

Pros:
Receive a 20% off coupon for one week only after your first box.
Fairly good rewards system
4-5 Samples to try (duh)
Free shipping on products and no tax either!

Cons:
you may hate all the samples
subscription service- you must email them to cancel

With all of the money that goes into putting it all together, $10 seems like a fair price. I think even "my pretty pink box" cost more than $10 when it first started. I wonder if alone shipping and packaging costs Birchbox $5 already. To me it's kinda of an exciting start-up company. Bravo to the women entrepreneurs! Seems more profitable than starting up a magazine...

Gotta admit it's kinda fun and next month is my birthday month so I'll just do it one last time. I bet the box will be "summer" themed so I'm curious- I can't help it! I'll put my money on sunscreen and tanning products! BUT it's not worth it unless you like tossing your $10 up in the air and seeing what comes down. I'm crazy and I do! It's the THRILL! It's not like I need more samples to try... I get enough on my own, and I"ll be doing another post on this.

Plus if I get 50 more points I'll have enough for a $10 credit. I'm a sucker for rewards programs. damn.

You get 10 pts for each box, and 10 pts for each product feedback you give so I have 50 pts right now. I did 4 feedback surveys because I received 4 samples this month (40 pts). You also get 50 pts for each friend you refer via e-mail. At 100 points you can redeem a $10 credit! One more box would put me at 100, yay! [more info]

Is it worth it?
Yes BUT only for 1-2 months at a time. I don't need a steady stream of samples each month b/c it is so easy to get samples for free. Plus with all of the blog reading and YouTube watching, my list of things to try never ends!

Let me know if you think Birchbox is worth it! If you do decide to sign up, please do so through this link. It would really help me out! :) Thanks!