Review: Salma Hayek's Nuance Birchbox

Note: I am a Birchbox subscriber, this is not a sponsored post.

I got an email about a month ago from Birchbox asking me if I would be interested in receiving an extra box that month, full of Salma Hayek's Nuance line of samples. It wasn't guaranteed but I guess they just wanted to tease me know if I wanted free stuff. Ummm...YES PLEASE. I love make-up, I get really excited to try out new skincare products & I especially love my monthly Birchbox. My husband laughs at me each month when he brings in the mail & he watches me light up like a kid on Christmas as I run to open the box. I really get that excited. What can I say, it's the little things in life and I have gotten some really great products that I use on a daily basis out of those little boxes. I will post on that at a later time.

So when my Birchbox came this month & I saw no Salma Hayek products, I figured I was not one of the lucky subscribers to get one. I was curious & googled it to see what it included. The only thing I could find was on People.com (click to read) and the article said that select subscribers would receive it & it was a $55 value. So I figured I didn't get it and went on with my life (I'm such a dramatic story teller!)

So today, about a week after my original Birchbox came, my husband came home for lunch with a big red Birchbox in his hand. I almost flew out off the couch. "IS THAT A BIRCHBOX!" I yelled. He said "yes, but didn't you just get one" and then I lost it..."OH MY GOD! It's the Salma Hayek Birchbox!!"...I grabbed it from him & noticed how heavy it was & I was filled with excitement! Free makeup! Free skin products!!

I have seen the Salma Hayek products at CVS & I saw her interviewed about the product line once. She said she has really tried to turn the high end products she uses into affordable and effective skincare/makeup that everyone can try. To be honest, when I looked at it a few months back at CVS, I felt like the price point was too high, at least for the eye creams, face products - they were all $19.99+.

Without further adieu...here is what was inside!

Here is a regular sized Birchbox to show the size difference.

Let's open this thing up!

Ohhh la la...tiny bottles of shampoo & conditioner! I use a lot of shampoo & these little bottles only have about 1-2 uses in them, from what I am guessing.

The two bottles of shampoo & conditioner were "Mamey Fruit Volumizing" formula. They both smelled amazing but the verdict is out on how my hair will look once it's dry. They are decently priced: $7.99 for a full size bottle. I would want to definitely check out the other types she has in her line.

There was a HUGE bottle of body cream. On the back there are several statistics about women noticing a difference in their skin's texture & appearance in 1-2 weeks. I have dry/rough skin on my upper arms & I am going to try this out for the next few weeks to see how it works! There was no real smell to the lotion & it went on nice & thick.

There was a small bottle of anti-aging AM/PM super cream which I am excited to try! I really do want to try out her eye creams too.

This next one shows the little anti-aging pot & the eye makeup 3-in-1 trio: liquid eyeshadow, eyeliner & highlighter. This is actually a genius idea. I don't know if she is ripping off of a high end brand or not but having your eyeshadow, highlighter & liner together is a great idea. I travel twice a month for work (drive 2 hours to our main office) and I pack a small makeup bag of essentials: moisturizer/primer (Laura Mercier Radiance Primer usually), blush, eyeliner, highlighter, lip gloss, mascara & eye shadow. I use Urban Decay's Naked eyeshadow palette. The eyeshadow alone is as big as the makeup bag itself.  The 3-in-1 idea would be really convenient for me.

Let's pull it apart, shall we?

This particular trio is supposed to give you the smokey eye effect. I, for one, do not like a smokey eye on myself. I think it looks great on other people but whenever I have tried it, I look like I was either punched in the face like Snooki on a barstool or I look like Rocky the racoon. The liquid eyeshadow is odd for me, I am used to powders but this went on nice, I guess. The color wasn't very even & it actually wasn't as dark as it looks. I put some on my hand above so you can see the concentrated look of it but when you spread it on, it thins out.

Attached to that is a highlighter. I have a highlighter (Benefit's Watts Up) that I use on my cheek bones that I really like but I am guessing this highlighter is for the brow bone. They don't give you any sort of instructions or direction on it, so I just went with it & put it on my brow bones. It's a very thick, white, shimmery pencil-y type of thing, I blended it in & it looked ok...I would never buy it on it's own.

On the other end is the eyeliner. It's a nice liner, it's a fairly dark black but did not go on as thick as I like. I know for a smokey eye, it's supposed to be more blended looking & this definitely has that effect. Not my personal preference but I am always willing to try something new!!

Don't mind my eyebrows here, but this is the look of the eyeshadow/liner. The highlighter really doesn't even show up.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with this Birchbox extra! I would definitely explore her line of skin care, hair care & makeup. The verdict is still out on if I would purchase the body lotion but I'm open to giving it a try. They gave me a $2 off coupon & with the rewards dollars I have at CVS from buying all the Mother's Day cards that they sell in the store ($5 rewards bucks worth!), I will definitely go pick up her eye cream & try it out.

To join Birchbox, click here.