Have you guys tried Birchbox? It’s this sweet service that sends a box full of beauty samples to your door, allowing you to see what’s new and wonderful in the world of skin and hair-care (not to mention make-up!) I’m a subscriber, which means that every month, I’m faced with a new challenge: do I abandon my tried- and true beauty favorites in favor of shiny new products or do I stick to my guns and pass on turning these into full size products?

Here’s October 2015 month’s breakdown. The struggle is real, and here’s the results from the first Beauty Box Wars:
Sample: Malin+Goetz Grapefruit Cleanser vs Staple: Burts Bees Radiance Face Cleanser

This face-off (get it?) actually made me question my own prior judgment: how have I gone so long using the drying Burts Bees? (I guess because I have a Clarisonic and any things works with that power tool!) In this case, the sample clearly won! The Malin + Goetz left my face feeling less tight than my current cleanser and at 9.99 for the full size product, it’s an upgrade in quality and a downgrade in price!

Sample: 100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream vs Staple: Elemis Absolute Eye Mask

Determining a winner here was too tough, so I called a tie. The Elemis eye mask was better at taking the puffiness out of my eyes but the 100% Pure left my eyes more moisturized. I also wasn’t sure if the extra moisture could have been a by-product of the new face cleanser?

Sample: Davines Sea Salt Spray vs Staple: Dry Bar Mai Tai Spritzer

My go-to Dry Bar product wins this round, hands down! Davines was too sticky for my liking. I want to rough€ my hair up a bit but still be able to get a brush though it.

Sample: Rituals Happy Buddha foaming shower gel vs Staple: Alaffia African Black Soap Body wash

Once again, my tried and tested Alaffia wins. I loved the smell of the Rituals shower gel, but wasn’t keen on it closely resembling shaving cream. At the end of the day, I just didn’t like the texture of the sample product.

Sample: treSiQue correct and cover concealer crayon vs Staple: Revlon Photoready Concealer

Revlon was the clearest winner of the month – the sample concealer was terrible! The coverage was poor, it went on about as well as a real crayon and at $30 for a full size stick, I will stick to my drug-store staple Revlon, thank you very much.
This month’s war score…

SAMPLES: 1 win, 1 tie (which I will buy the full-size), and 3 losses

STAPLES: 3 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie.
Fellow birchboxers, how did you fare this go around? Let me know your winners and losers.