April Birchbox: Spring Awakening

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

April's Birchbox features a botanical floral pattern from Rifle Paper Co.-, and I'm loving that bright chartreuse green.  Growing up, my bedroom decor was dominated by pink and chartreuse green, and that combo still does it for me.  I"m also pretty excited by my box contents this month, so let's take a look!

Burt's Bees was one of the first natural brands I discovered when I was in graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill.  The brand originated just down the road in Durham, so many shops carried Burt's Bees and I loved the little sample packs that allowed you to try multiple products.

Sweet Violet ($7) is the first tinted balm I've tried from them, and initial impressions are that it's lightly moisturizing with a barely there soft pink tint.  I like balms like this for frequent application during the day, and I'm hoping that this one will keep my lips feeling soft and happy.  Some balms irritate my lips, but this one seems okay.

When I first saw the W3LL PEOPLE Expressionist mascara ($23.50) wand I thought "it looks dry" and I wasn't expecting much.  W3LL, I was wrong.  This is a really nice natural ingredient mascara:  super black, easy to apply, non-clumping, and very natural looking.

No mascara

2 coats of Expressionist on upper lases, 1 on bottom

amika's Un.Done Texture Spray ($24) is designed to give you that tousled, slightly messy look along with a little volume. Considering my hair is thick but fine and can go flat in an instant (factor in Mobile's humidity for flat/frizz/cannot hold a curl), products like this can make a difference.

Un.Done features the mineral zeolite to help build volume and sea buckthorne berry to help strengthen hair, and an exclusive polymer blend to bind the formula to hair without making it feel stiff or sticky.

I sometimes rely on dry shampoo for the same effects, although I can see where the white powdery finish can be a draw back for some.  Un.Done does have a matte finish and feels similar in texture to a dry shampoo to me, so I'm not sure I'd pay $24 for this.  Nice, but not a go to for me.

If you are thinking the derma|e Purifying 2-in-1 Charcoal Mask ($19.50) tube looks a little flat, that would be because I had already used it once before taking these pictures.  I ran on the treadmill one night and thought I'd test out the mask afterwards, considering my pores were probably open wide and ready to be purged after a good sweat.

Scary, I know

The mask dries quickly and does not feel uncomfortably tight, and after 5 minutes instead of just rinsing you are supposed to remoisten and rub your face so that the apricot powder in the formula can help exofliate off all the stuff that has been purged from your pores.  Bottom line, I liked this mask and am pretty impressed with derma|e products in general, but I've got a glut of clay masks to get through at the moment.

I've used Vasanti's BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator ($34) in the past and remember liking how fine the scrubbing granules were, so I'm happy to have another sample of this on hand.  The value of my April box is about $32 and I'm happy with everything!