October 2010
Our Life in Pictures
Some shots from last week…good press, big news, excited to ship the Nov box!
Hayley and Katia getting their picture taken for AM New York. Boxes, boxes everywhere!
Pricing out various Birch-y items at the flower shops near our office for our upcoming party!
Celebrating our big news!
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Let's Talk Fuchsia (and Birchbox's Official...
There’s a lot of pink in Birchboxland. Which is funny, because despite our love of beauty, we’re not actually that girly. We like our gloss and baubles and all but at the end of the day, we’re in flats more than heels, we can fix things (not Mollie, but everyone else), and we’re pretty darn sporty. Still, when it came down to choosing a color scheme for our company, it...
it's official! →
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Look like a Teenage Supermodel with Rodin Oil
Do the dew. The dewy face, that is. Nam, one of our favorite makeup artists, says pressed powder is a surefire way to look dated. She usually skips powder altogether, or uses an ultrafine translucent powder to set makeup. But if you’re not a teenage supermodel, you may need a little help to get your complexion glowing. And that’s where Rodin Oil comes in. Veteran fashion stylist...
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Dermalogica Academy: Skincare Steal
In theory, beauty academies seem like a great idea: you offer up your hair or skin for educational purposes and in turn get services at bargain basement prices. But in reality, you’re at the mercy of the teachers and what they want to demonstrate. No so at Dermalogica’s recently opened Chelsea training center. The skincare brand is known for its exacting standards for both products...
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Fake Lash Fun with Nam Vo
Oh how we love Nam Vo. She breezed into our office today, all bouncy hair and glowing skin, for a combination catch-up and technical help session (check out her new blog!). In return, she showed us her new obsessions: Kre-at False Lashes, which are incredibly high quality. She tested them out on me (lucky, I know!) and I was amazed at how natural they look. The difference, she says, is that the...
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It's Raining Bags! Rachel Nasvik Giveaway
We’re giving away these adorable Rachel Nasvik mini bags to the first three people to spend $75 or more in full-size products!
At Birchbox, we’re all about rewards. Refer friends and fill out surveys, earn points. Spend $50, get free shipping. Buy a year-long subscription, get a month gratis. (I’ve even been lobbying for a contest where the prize is a delivery of fresh-baked...
Scent Talk with Raymond Matts
I associate the fragrance world with, in no particular order, handsome Frenchmen named Francois, fields of flowers, and department store staffers prowling the beauty floor with atomizers. But after chatting with scent world veteran Raymond Matts yesterday, I have a wider view of the industry. Matts has worked everywhere from IFF to Estee Lauder (where he developed Clinique’s Happy), and...
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Obsession: Jouer Weekender
I’ve never been accused of being a minimalist — why pack one lipgloss when you could pack four? — so I tend to stay away from all-in-one kits. But I am completely smitten with Jouer’s four-piece Weekender collection. The products are all interlocking (think Legos meets compacts) so that they click together in a tidy, easy-to-pack way. They’ve got everything covered: a trio of...
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Event-ing (Or: Why It's Good to Leave the Office)
You can’t even tell Katia hasn’t slept in weeks!
Our office is not quite the polished center of commerce and innovation that you would expect. There are a pink boxes and tissue strewn about, overturned boxes and open beauty products scattered on every surface, and a white board covered in business-y jargon. Not to mention the ginormous tree. After all, we’re a startup. A...
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Brand to Know: Cane + Austin
Glycolic acid is one of the most powerful and most misused ingredients in the skincare world. An alpha-hydroxy acid, it dissolves the top layer of dead skin cells to give you clear, even, smooth skin. But use too much and you’re destined for Ouchy Redville. A new skincare line, founded by dermatologist Craig Austin, aims to give you all the good glycolic benefits without any of the bad. Cane...
See Katia Glow
Katia glows. She is a newlywed after all (Greece, fairytale) but still. She’s also the co-founder of a scrappy startup and running on a diet of coffee and dumplings. The girl should be haggard and droopy, not perky and peachy. What gives?
<— Glow
Besides good genes, she has a few secrets that everyone can use:
Clarisonic Mia: We got a sample Mia in the office a couple weeks ago...
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Love Amika (We do!)
Obpliphica. We’re in love with it and we can barely pronounce it. The tongue-twisty ingredient (also known by the more prosaic sounding Sea Buckthorn berry oil), is the star of Amika, a line of haircare products and styling tools. Obpliphica is native to Europe and Asia and has high concentrations of carotene, vitamin C, and Omega 3, 6, 9, and 7 — which means it’s like superfood for...
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Lotsa Love: Face Shop Masks
Judging by the number of you who sent us self portraits of yourselves in your masks, Birchbox members really love the Face Shop Mask Sheets they received in their September box. (In fact, we’ve already sold out and are currently restocking.) We love introducing you to fun products that you might never try otherwise. We also love that you are willing to give them a shot - even if they do...
Obsession: reBloom
I have a friend whose boyfriend makes her warmed milk when she can’t sleep. When Jonathon Bunt’s fiance started suffering from chronic sleeplessness, he went ahead and invented the cure. Now that’s love. reBloom, Bunt’s creation, is a liquid sleep aid that combines proven ingredients like valerian, melatonin, and chamomile.
I’ve used valerian and melatonin on their...
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Behind the Scenes: Market Publique Video Shoot!
On Friday we had a great video shoot about retro makeup with Pamela Castillo, co-founder of Market Publique, at her Williamsburg showroom. The immensely talented Sokphalla Ban did makeup, and we had the dynamic duo of Greg Beauchamp and Eric Anderson manning the cameras. City Bakery pastries and coffee kept us going, and I even had time to rifle through the racks…scored a pair of silver 80s...
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Is it October already? Birchbox Update
Is that not the biggest tree ever?
Hi kids!
Apologies for the lack of substantive blog posts lately. We’ve been busy! We’ve moved offices and we’re shipping our second box any day now. We have interns - two of them! We’ve gotten some media and blog love, with much more on the way, and we’ve partnered with great brands like SpaWeek for giveaways. Perhaps a status...
