You Got A Friend In Me!: December's Birchbox Review!

I received my Birchbox pretty late this month and I actually received it on a saturday night, how strange? totally didn't expect it haha. Usually my Glossybox comes first but I still haven't received that yet either. I finally got a chance to try the products out yesterday so I could post this today.

The theme for this months box was of course Christmas/Winter Wonderland but they focused around the busy festive period and wanted us to "sparkle" and "shine". The box came with some funky jagged lines on the front which was nice, it had the usual draw string pouch bag in hot pink this time. The keep sake cards had a beautiful festive feel to them. We were also given a $20 gift card for an american jewellery store that is new to the UK, this sounded amazing but theres ALWAYS a catch! It's coming from America so of course we're hit with a $20/$30 delivery charge at the check out. So I guess I won't be using that code anytime soon, but for anyone who might want it its - BBOXUK20R_VHTHB. Pretty disappointing.

The first product I received in my box this month was a non-aerosol hairspray by the brand "Number 4". This is a new brand for me I have never heard of them before, but I have tried a non-aerosol hairspray previously and didn't really like it. The sample size was okay, pretty handy for your bag I guess. Let me first tell you all that I rarely EVER use hairspray so I'm probably not the best judge of this. I hate the way regular aerosol hairsprays make my hair feel (rock solid) and the other non-aerosol hairspray I tried made my hair extremely wet looking and sticky. First impression where this hairspray smells amazing! It was very light weight in my hair and didn't leave it rock solid or sticky a success for me haha. It also is a lot better for the environment for anybody who is in to saving the planet. Will I be purchasing this in the future? It is pretty pricey for a hairspray but if you want one that is good for the environment, not sticky and doesn't leave your hair matted or rock solid then I guess it's worth it. Especially if you use it everyday. I however hardly ever use hairspray so it doesn't fit my needs. You can buy this product for £18.50 from www.birchbox.co.uk

The next product I received in my box was the ONLY full size product I could see. I have never heard of the brand before I was super excited to try this out because it was a new nail set. I seen some other people got glitter, but I got velvet and I was totally intrigued by it haha. I got mines in the shade "burgundy" which is totally fitting to this time of year and I generally wear darker nail polish shades in the winter. So good choice Birchbox! The instructions told me to do two coats and then dip my nails into the velvet pot and wait for my nails to dry for 15-20 minutes. So I followed the instructions and I will post some swatches below of the outcome! They definitely are different. I can't decide weather I like them or not. They feel like a jumper haha. They do look pretty when the light hits them, maybe I just have to practice more and get use to them. The only downside was, they actually were pretty tricky and messy. I could potentially see myself buying some other kits from this brand as they are super affordable. You can buy this product for £6.99 from www.birchbox.co.uk

I actually have heard of this brand before and I have seen loads of people wearing these on there wrists, they're in trend just now so i was happy when I received one in my box this month. mines was an emerald green colour which I thought was really pretty but it doesn't really go with a lot of my clothes, but I guess greens a festive colour. The packaging was really cute it came on a little square of cardboard which read "Don't let dreams always be dreams." I'm still not 100% sure how it works or what hairstyles I can use it for so al have to check that out, but I've had it in all day and it's super comfy and doesn't snag or hurt my hair. It doesn't even feel like I have anything in my hair. The best thing for me is it doesn't leave a horrible "bobble line" in my hair, YAY! I also like how it has a multi-purpose you can wear it in your hair or on your wrist. I probably will purchase a pack of these in the future as you can get them in loads of styles and colours. You can buy a pack of 6 for £10 from www.birchbox.co.uk

Again this is a new brand for me, it is an all natural brand which is great so it will suit every bodies skin. The sample size was good and the packaging was great not messy at all. I got mines in the shade "Chai". Which is this gorgeous sparkly gold colour, right up my street. Definitely a must have for this season. I tried it earlier and it went on very smooth and effortlessly and it looked lovely, pretty happy with this. It also is an affordable price for an all natural product with a great selection of colours. Sadly I'm not sure I could stray from Urban Decay. I will post a swatch below. You can buy this product for £12.50 from either Birchbox or the Alima Pure website.

This is my FAVOURITE product in this months box, hands down. Big things come in small packages. I tried it this morning, the instructions said to apply to clean skin, leave on for 5-10 minutes depending on how dry your skin is and wipe off. I left it on for 10 minutes as I tend to have dry skin in the morning before I've done my skin care routine and I wiped off with some facial pads. I was soooo pleased with the results. I must admit I really take care of my skin so I already have really good skin but this made my skin feel even more hydrated and radiant and as smooth as it could be. It's fabulous I can't praise it enough, hours later and my skin still looks and feels amazing. I recommend it a million percent. You can buy the full size product for £24 from www.birchbox.co.uk

First things first I really enjoy anything that is citrus smelling. So of course I liked this, not really got too much to say about this product other than it does what every other shower gel does. Didn't WOW me at all. The sample size was great I will definitely get a few uses out of it. I won't buy this again because my favourite all time shower gel is the "Original Source" brand and they're a lot cheaper than this one and 100 times better. You can buy the full size product for £8 from Birchbox.

This months box was hard because you really couldn't top last months box for me. I think the product selection this month was wonderful loads of different things. I enjoyed half of the products and would buy them again. I was a little disappointed with it being a "Christmas" box that I only got 1 full size product. I guess it's a hit or a miss but thats why we love it. I found my holy grail item this month which is always good. Nevertheless a very good box this month and I really look forward to trying the products out more. Looking forward to my first box in 2014. +Birchbox