Hit Refresh January 2015 Birchbox UK

When I opened my January Birchbox, I made a very un-cool squeal of utter delight. Birchbox have started 2015 with an incredible box, including products and brands that I am crazy excited about!

The theme for the January box* is ‘Hit Refresh’, a collaboration with Women’s Health and themed around the New Year when all of us are starting afresh with resolutions, hopes and goals for the year ahead. To coincide with the collaboration, there’s a fabulous subscriber offer included to grab 52% off a Women’s Health subscription, as well as the usual product menu card and inserts.

One thing which is different from the usual boxes is the inserts; in 2014 they were in large, postcard form, whereas for the January box they are all compiled neatly together in a mini book-of-sorts. I really like this new format, and hope it continues in future boxes! This month the booklet covers 12 bite-sized challenges, with quick and easy ways to make small changes for big benefits.

But enough about the inserts, what about the products?

The first product which caught my eye upon opening the January box was a full size Stila Lip Glaze, £15, in the very winter appropriate shade ‘Glow’. A sheer gloss with super pretty fine peachy-golden shimmer, this is going to be lovely when worn alone or teamed with a nude lip. I'm a huge fan of Stila and particularly the Lip Glaze range, which I have built up quite a collection of over the years. So chuffed to see such a fantastic full size product in the Hit Refresh box!

Next up, the product which has really excited me, even though it’s a product I already own and adore! Included in the January box is a very decently sized 5ml HealGel Intensive, £37.50, a product I rave about regularly on Tattooed Tealady and even included in my recent Skincare Favourites of 2014 post. This is a fantastic sample from a high-end brand I absolutely adore, and I'm chuffed that Birchbox subscribers will get to try my holy-grail skincare product this month! (Full review here).

Next up, another brand I am always happy to try more products from, my January box included a 20ml Philip Kingsley Body Building Conditioner, £19, which works to transform lifeless locks and tame flyaway’s. A wheat protein conditioner, it’s best suited for fine, limp or frizzy hair types. I've really liked all the Philip Kingsley products I've tried so far, so I'm excited to give this a try – especially as my hair is fine, limp and frizzy!

A brand I've never heard of before which features in the January box is activbod, whose products seem to be targeted at those who workout. I received a 20ml Cooling Finish Lotion which is described as the perfect way to re-energise after a workout with an invigorating, menthol-packed lotion that provides a soothing tingling sensation on application.

Another favourite brand of mine hiding away in the January Birchbox comes in the form of a 10ml REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask, £30, one of my favourite masks which I had only recently finished up – so I'm chuffed to have a handy sample size at the ready! This mask is wonderful, it makes my skin look and feel so much more radiant, in fact it’s described as ‘radiance in a tube’. A fast-working, exfoliating treatment which works to improve texture, tone and combat congestion, you’ll feel as if you have sticky marmalade on your face; but the results are so worth it! (Full review here).

If 5 beauty products wasn't enough, there’s also two lifestyle products featured in the January Birchbox. The first is a 1g sachet of  Embrace Matcha Green Tea, £24.99; a 100% natural super-food which contains 10 times the antioxidants you’ll find in standard green tea. Matcha is part of my daily routine now, but I'm intrigued to give Embrace a try as it suggests that boiling as a tea is the best way to get the benefits of this one (whereas usually I add Teapigs Matcha to juices!).

The second lifestyle product, and the final product in the box, perfectly ties in with the Women’s Health collaboration; a Birchbox Pilates Band, £7.99. Now, I don’t have the foggiest idea about pilates, so I'm not really sure what I’m meant to do with this – but it’s definitely piqued my interest enough to explore pilates as an exercise! Described as the perfect workout aid for toning, increasing strength and improve muscle endurance, it’s a stretchy resistance band that feels a lot more sturdy than it looks!

So what do you think to the January box, are you as excited as me? Birchbox costs £10 a month plus p&p.

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