December Birch Box

It’s Birch Box time again!! It’s actually quite sad how excited I get over the arrival of my Birch Box each month, but it’s like a little gift from me, to me that I get to look forward to every four weeks or so! This month’s was an amazing edition and a big improvement on last month’s, which I know a lot of people were disappointed in due to a lack of interesting samples and products.

The December Birch Box however left no room for disappointment! It arrived in a beautiful clutch bag, perfect for Christmas parties, and was jam packed with mini essentials to see you through the festive season, including: Benefit’s They’re Real Push-Up Eyeliner and their Puff-Off eye formula, a Model Co lipstick, a Ciaté nail polish, the Embryolisse skin hydrator (which also doubles as a primer), a Skin & Co body gel and the bonus gift of a mini Catherine Malandrino perfume!

First up we have The Ultimate Party Kit from Benefit which consists of a mini They’re Real Push-Up eye liner and a mini Puff-Off eye soother. The eye liner is a product that I class as an essential part of my make up kit, it’s a really dark, solid black gel liner and the unique applicator style makes it super easy to swish a line on! You can get it HERE for £18.50.

The Benefit Puff Off isn’t a product I’d ever used before but after trying it I’ll definitely be re-purchasing! The day after a night out, after you cleanse away the left over make up you apply a small amount of this product to the underneath of your eyes to soothe away puffy-ness and reduce bags – to help you look like you haven’t had two hours sleep after necking a few too many tequilas, perfect for the day after your works Christmas do! Shop HERE for £22.50.

Next we have the Model Co Ultra Long-Lasting Lipstick in shade Stiletto. There’s nothing worse than perfecting your party pout only to spend the whole night checking for smudges! Luckily this hydrating, semi-matte, formula has you covered! It provides nourishment and long lasting colour so you don’t have to worry! I wore it for my staff party last week and can testify to it lasting a while, it still hadn’t come off after I’d slept in my make-up all night – go Model Co! You can get a set of three colours, including Stiletto, HERE for just £15.50 – top bargain.

As you all know, I am a HUGE fan of Ciaté London nail polishes and was so excited to find a beautiful sparkling edition in this month’s Birch Bag. They came in assorted colours, mine came in shade Star Struck, which is a beautiful blue and hologrammy silver, glitter top coat – very Frozen-esque. Ciate nail polishes are a little pricey, this one is £9 full price, but I do think you get what you pay for when it comes to nail products. If you get a Poundland polish it’s likely to peel off or chip before the end of the day, but if you splash out a little more on a decent brand polish then you’ll get a longer lasting nail colour and you’ll get more use out of the same sized bottle as you’ll require fewer coats to get a solid colour. Shop Ciaté HERE.

Next up we have the Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentrate. This is a really interesting product as it’s a moisturiser which also doubles as a primer, which in books is a win-win situation! I’m always very sceptical of products that have more than one use though, I feel like a moisturiser is only good at being a moisturiser and a primer is only good as a primer and an aspect of each would be lost if you mixed them. However my scepticism was unjustified as this product is awesome! It’s rich without weighing the skin down, packs a hydrating punch thanks to shea butter and aloe vera and leaves your complexion feeling silky-soft! You can get your own full sized version HERE for £12.99.

The Skin & Co Sicilian Body Gel is probably the least exciting of all of this month’s Birch goodies. It’s a very nice shower gel type product, boasting ingredients all the way from Italy, including Sicilian orange and olive extracts. However it was just a citrus-scented body wash and I felt slightly over-priced at £15 for a full sized bottle. But if you do want to wash your skin with some Italian fruit smell then you can shop the Body Gel HERE.

The little Beauty Bonus in this month’s Birch Bag was a miniature perfume from Catherine Malandrino. The Style de Paris Eau de Parfum is the new fragrance from fashion designer Malandrino and is a sophisticated, but fruity scent. It’s a combination of mandarin, red grapefruit and pear and will leave you smelling good enough to eat! The perfume starts at £50 for a bottle, a standard price for most designer perfumes, and has definitely been added to my Christmas list! You can get your very own bottle HERE – you can also get it in a gift set, which will make a perfect prezzie for a loved one this Christmas!

Finally we have the beautiful Birch Bag itself. As far as I know this exclusive clutch bag is not available to buy on the site and is just part of the monthly box service so if you want it you’ll have to pay £10 for the December Birch Box – which in all honesty is a total bargain considering you get the bag, plus all the above goodies for just a tenner! It’s a lovely jade velvet, black leather look and gold glitter mix bag which went perfectly with my jade green dress for a Christmas party last week and is large enough to fit in all your night out essentials! You can find out more about ordering your December Birch Bag HERE.

Has anyone else signed up for a Birch Box, or a similar product, recently? What did you think of the December products? Let me know in a comment below!