What's In My February Birchbox? Plus, How To Use Beautypedia.com

Have you heard about Birchbox?

It's a monthly subscription box of 4 to 5 sample-sized beauty products that you receive in the mail around the second week of the month!  Usually, there will be at least one full-sized product in the box, or some little bonus items.  The subscription is $10 a month, or $110 per year.  If you like something in your box (or in someone else's box), you can go to the Birchbox shop and buy the full-sized version.  Purchasing full-sized products, reviewing your samples, or referring your friends gets you Birchbox points that you can use towards purchasing items in the Birchbox shop.

This month, I received some interesting items, and some sort of eh items.  Here are the full-size pics of the samples I received.  Drumroll, please:

{Shu Uemura Essence Absolue Nourishing Protective Oil for Dry Hair}

{Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution}

{Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Serum}

{Eye Rock Designer Liner}

{Supersmile Powdered Mouthrinse}

I'm excited to try these products out!!

I always double-check my Birchbox samples in Paula Begoun's Beautypedia.  I mentioned in an earlier post that Paula owns Paula's Choice (a skincare and makeup line that I'm obsessed with and will review soon), but she also runs the Beautypedia website (also available as an app from iTunes).  Beautypedia is an encyclopedia of makeup and skincare products that is scientifically, meticulously, scrupulously researched.  Even though Paula sells her own products, she is not shy about telling you what else out there is good too.  She lists her "Paula's Pick's" in various categories in a subpage of Beautypedia, so I frequently go there if I need something on my list to see what is the best.  Additionally, Paula runs the Cosmetics Ingredients Directory that explains what each ingredient in a cosmetic does and whether its good for you.

So, when I want to research something on Beautypedia, I like to start on the Master Brand List page so that I can drill down into the brand's offerings with a control+f.  She also has a handy search page but I am always curious about what else each brand offers.  So, on the Master Brand List page, I'm going to search for Shu Uemura, click on that brand, then click around to find the Essence Absolue.  It must be a new product, because it is not listed.  Actually, a lot of Birchbox's samples are so new they are yet to be reviewed by people such as Paula or various bloggers.  So then, I read up on the brand in general at the top of the Beautypedia Shu Uemura page by clicking "More Info," and then I'll look through the brand's similar product offerings to see how many get good and bad reviews.

After doing the same process in Beautypedia to find the Kiehl's Clearly Corrective serum, I found Paula's review of it:  not good!  This is one sample I'll be donating to someone else - my skin cannot handle drying products with alcohol in them.

I am excited about keeping the Supersmile Powdered Mouthrinse in my Stephanie Johnson Katie folding clutch (what I refer to as my "purse pack" makeup bag), which I'll be reviewing soon!

Do you get a Birchbox?  What do you think of the product offerings?  Do you use Beautypedia to double-check your purchases and samples??  Let me know in the comments!