It started with a phone call about my birthday from my
sister. For a number of years she has given me a subscription to the
Smithsonian magazine because basically it saved her sending me interesting
articles but she wanted to know if I wanted something different – a subscription
to Birchbox as they had just expanded into the UK (Birchbox UK).
Luckily I had heard of Birchbox. Birchbox is the brainchild
of two Harvard Business School graduates who liked cosmetics. They had a friend
who worked for a fashion magazine and who used to share cosmetic samples which
they loved getting. The great idea was why not run a company which sends out
samples of beauty products as well as having a website where people can buy the
products. It sort of sounds like desperation when you are faced with a deadline and then having an idea which turns out to be pure genius.
These are the high end beauty products which are often featured in
magazines but hard to find unless you know where to go. They pitched it, got
the funding and the company was born. It
has gone from strength to strength and now has something like 400,000
subscribers as well expanding internationally. It sounds like it is straight
from a romance novel in many ways – plucky women start company and succeed
against the odds. (I have no idea about
their love lives but the whole company sent my imagination soaring but I don't do contemporary romance...). A true success story.
Anyway,thanks to my sister and her birthday present, I have signed up and am now getting my Birchbox box
every month. It includes about 4 or 5 good sized samples. The quality has impressed so far. Last month, among the
goodies was a great anti-aging cream and the eyeliner that Alexia Chung uses, plus instructions of
how to put on eyeliner. I am in love
with the eyeliner. My 20 year old daughter nabbed the lipstick and loves it. This
month, the box was edited by Lulu Guinness so they included a sample of her
favourite eye primer as well as a stick of rock (a type of old fashioned boiled
sweet) which helped to inspire Lulu’s Spring collection. I particularly like
the Mouton Brown hand cream as it cleared up my dry elbow problem. And I look forward to getting more boxes.
It is a great idea and I love getting my box. Anyway, I
thought I’d highlight it as it is fun and other people might like to know about
it.
In other news:
Earlier this week, I found out from the editor that the Viking
setting is doing so well, my September release Saved by the Viking Warrior will
be a North American Retail release as
well as being an ebook release.
Because Return of the Viking Warrior is released in May, I
will be doing a contest next month for Tote Bag readers.
Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance
in a wide range of time periods. Her next book Return of the Viking Warrior
will be published in May. You can learn more on about Michelle and her books on
www.michellestyles.co.uk
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