While I’m still pondering whether my full year subscription to Birchbox was a wise purchase or a poorly-targeted impulse buy, after two months I can say that it has given me the chance to test out a few products I’ve been on the fence about. Take BB creams for example – since they’ve really started skyrocketing in popularity stateside, I’ve been on the prowl for the perfect one, and Birchbox let me give Dr. Jart’s Water Fuse Beauty Balm a test-drive.  

Now that summer is almost here, I love that this beauty balm is specifically targeted to help streamline and minimize my beauty routine, packing in sunscreen, concealer, foundation, and moisturizer in a single, multi-tasking product. Given the fact that my skin is naturally dry, I loved that this cream served as a lotion and soothed scaly patches, unlike many primers I’ve used in the past that leave my skin slightly parched. That said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the dewy finish, which ultimately made my complexion look a little shiny for my taste (borderline sweaty – yuck!). Also, the fact that it only comes in one shade was also a big negative in my book – I have fair-to-medium skin, and the shade was far too light for me. While it blended easily enough, the more I blended, the less coverage I got… and ultimately a slightly darker shade would have worked much better for me. All in all, this product was a great multi-tasker, and great for girls with fair skin who don’t mind a dewy finish… but ultimately, not for me!

- Alexandra Gambardella

*Guest beauty post from my friends at TheFind.com.