April Birchbox: The Balm, Laura Mercier, Color Club, RMK and more...

Another month, another Birchbox! This will actually be my last one for a while, I've decided to cancel my subscription. I've had a couple of nice things but overall it's been less killer, more filler so I've decided to take a break and try out Glossybox for a couple of months instead.

It's tough cancelling these things, because you get major FOMO and I just know May's box is bound to be amazing now I've backed out. But I decided on a 'three strikes and your out' policy and I'm sticking to it. 

I chose Birchbox because the items are more high-end,but I've seen some stuff in the Glossyboxes that looked amazing, so we'll have to see!

This month's Birchbox was one of the better offerings but not enough to convince me not to cancel...

Here's what was inside this month..

The Balm Cosmetics 'How 'Bout Them Apples?' Cheek and Lip Cream

This was my absolute favourite item from a samples box, like, ever!! *cue girly squeal*

Look how cute! It's a sweet little retro compact that's ideal for taking with you on the go.

Inside, there's a sample of one of the cream colour shades- this time 'Pie' which is a gorgeous neon coral. I love this shade, it's exactly the sort of thing I'd go for, so this will be put to good use. Multi use products are handy to carry around.

It swatches as a dense but wearable colour that's oh-so-pretty for bringing a flush of colour.

This shade is really delicious and spring-like. I love this product- I've never tried The Balm before and I'm actually excited!

Color Club Gala's Gems Nail Polish in 'Breakfast At...'

This forms part of a range of four polishes that Birchbox have exclusively produced with Spanish blogger and DJ Gala Gonzalez.

Gala has one of those impossibly glamorous lives where she just seems to jet set around picturesque locations and get invited to high- end product launches (swap lives, please?!). But most of her style choices are a little bohemian for me. I'm allergic to anything that looks like it could possibly smell of joss sticks!

However, its interesting that she's now collaborating on make-up. This shade isn't one I'd pick up off the shelf- it's a pastel green but it's shot through with a hint of fine gold shimmer. For some reason the shimmer makes it feel dated to me, like a block colour would have been more modern. 

When you put a couple of coats on, this is actually quite flattering on. The staying power seems good, but my polish doesn't tend to chip because I have acrylic overlays and they seem to hold colour much better than my natural nails.  

This colour has actually grown on me so I can see it being a nice choice for spring.

Yin Yang Natural Moisturiser

This actually turned out to be my favourite product in the box this month. Yin Yang isn't a brand I've used or heard anything about, and I don't think I was expecting much from this, so when I popped some on, I was really pleasantly surprised.

I found out the range uses botanical extracts and proteins to care for the skin. This moisturiser has coconut, sweet orange and wheat germ oils, plus witch hazel which claims to smooth fine lines. I know it has purifying properties, but I didn't know it was supposed to help with lines?

This cream was so light and easily absorbed, it smelt gorgeous and it had a mattifying effect on my skin, which means it would be great for summer. I really enjoyed using this product, but I do wish it had an SPF - I'm very unlikely to buy a moisturiser without some form of sunscreen in.

I checked out the website at yinyangskincare.co.uk and there are some lovely items - an Orange Flower Tonic that looks delicious and a Kaolin Clay Mask. I'd be more likely to buy one of those than use a moisturiser without an SPF, but having said that I did really enjoy using this because its so light, fresh and sweet scented. Am pleased that I got to discover this brand. This moisturiser would be good for holiday, where I'm likely to use a separate high protection sunscreen and don't want a heavy cream underneath.

RMK Make Up Base

A little confused about this one. I think its supposed to be a hybrid moisturiser/primer, but neither of those words are mentioned, which threw me off! Birchbox describe it as a 'lightweight lotion to  smoothe and hydrate the skin and make foundation last'.

RMK is a Japanese brand that I know is famed for its foundations, so I was very curious about this product. This product has an emulsion feel, like Polyfilla for all the fine lines, pores and general bad textures most of us have on their skin. It contains silk essence so it leaves your skin feeling really soft and smoothed out.

I was impressed by its ability to make my foundation stay, although I think it works better with liquid formulations, and I do usually use a mineral powder. However, at full price its £28.00 so I can think of better primers that could be had a lot cheaper! I think I wouldn't really consider this worth the splurge, especially as where I live, you can only get hold of it online, so with shipping charges its likely to be over the £30 mark.

A great one to try though, and when paired with my Chanel Vitalumiere this looked incredible!

Laura Mercier Almond Coconut Milk Souffle Body Creme

Really excited by this, I love Laura Mercier, but I've never tried any of the bodycare stuff, so this was a great inclusion. The smell of this is amazing -  like crème brulee. Yum! I'm not very keen on coconut scents usually, but its not too overpowering here.

This was a nice, generous sample size as well, so it would be enough to take on holiday. The texture is really smooth and whipped and it sinks in nicely, although it left a slight sheeny residue on my skin, nothing horrible though, just a really rich sensation. The scent is strong enough not to need perfume afterwards, so this cream can really do double duty for you if you don't like wearing perfumes.

You will smell like baked goods, but in a really nice way! The full size comes in a large jar - but its plastic which seems disappointing for such a high-end product. Wouldn't it be much nice in a glass jar?

I did really enjoy this, but I'm pretty faithful to the body creams I like, so I don't think I'll be splashing out on the full size anytime soon, although it would make a lovely gift for any girl, really, just because it feels so luxurious.

So that's it with Birchbox for now, I might well be back at some point, but for the time being we'll see what Glossybox has to offer....