Birchbox Vs. Ipsy (February 2013)

February was a rather unremarkable month in the world of Birchbox and Ipsy.  There were hits and misses in both boxes, and the piece of Ghirardelli chocolate was probably my favorite product of all.  Here is a recp:

Inside My Birchbox:

Ghirardelli Milk & Caramel SQUARES:  I live outside of San Francisco, where Griradelli chocolate is a staple.  This is my favorite flavor.  I love to keep these around my house and  buy bags of these from time to time.  

Miss Jessie's® Original Pillow Soft Curls:  I tried this on one of my wavy hair days.  It was ok, but not remarkable enough to take the place of my staple Ouidad Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel.  It left my hair a little crunchy and not very bouncy.  

Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator:  This was a nice little exfoliator.  It felt like fine sandpaper on my face, but didn't irritate my sensitive skin.  

Lancôme LA BASE PRO:  I loved this product.  I am just getting into primers, and just a little bit of this goes a long way.  I definitely used less of my tinted moisturizer, which applied much more evenly over the primer.  I recommend this product.  

Color Club Nail Polish in Wild Cactus: I am going to admit that I haven't been the biggest fan of Color Club nail polishes in the past.  While I have always loved the colors, they just don't wear well.  I have had this Wild Cactus color on my nails for three days, and so far, no chips.  See picture below for actual color.  It is kind of an emerald green.

Inside My Ipsy Bag:

Red Carpet Ready Glam Bag:  OK Ipsy, I am not impressed.  For a while you were giving us cute bags that we wanted to show our friends.  The past few months have been black and gray and boring.  I am hoping March comes with a much cuter bag.  It is the one thing that differentiates this brand from the others.   

Coastal Scents Shadow Palette Sample:  I really like the Coastal Scents eye shadows.  They are nicely pigmented and come is a great variety of colors.  If I wore more eye shadow, I would purchase this brand.  

Pixi Flawless & Poreless:  I liked the Lancome primer in my Birchbox better than this Pixi version.  It just felt like it worked slightly better (although it does have a much higher price tag).  

POP Smokey Lash Kapow Mascara:  I would describe this mascara as being fine.  It didn't do much to make my lashes stand out and this isn't something I would buy on my own, but I have used worse.  Yawn.  

MicaBeauty Gel Eyeliner:  I don't wear black eye liner.  It is far too harsh on me.  I wish these companies would ask for our color preference before sending.  I will end up gifting this to someone.  

The Lash Card:  I thought this was a great idea.  From time to time, I get mascara on my face and eye lids from over-exuberant application.   This helped me apply a fair amount of mascara to my eyes with no need to clean up after.

Overall, I would give my Birchbox a solid B and my Ipsy bag a C minus this month.  This may be the first month ever that I have ranked Birchbox higher.  It just had more useful products that were relevant to my life.  

Any products here you are interested in trying or have already been enjoying?  Are you ordering from a different box company?