Imagine coming home to find a package waiting for you. Inside is a beautiful box, lined in jewel-colored tissue, filled with top-of-the-line beauty products that you have never tried, tailored to your own individual interests and beauty needs. This lovely gift fills you with delight, and introduces you to new products that just might solve your most lingering beauty woes. What would it be worth to you?

How does ten dollars sound?

That’s the price of a month’s subscription to birchbox, my latest beauty obsession. As a girl who loves both beauty and receiving presents, I could not be more excited about this find. Birchbox is a website/beauty store/subscription service that allows you to send yourself the gift of beauty. When I heard about it, I decided I had to give it a try, if only for one month. So I logged on, signed up, and waited. When my first box arrived, I actually squealed with delight – the pretty packaging really makes it feel like a gift, and because I didn’t know what would be inside, I was both excited and surprised. Before I opened it, I was a bit skeptical – the website describes the subscription as a box of deluxe beauty samples, and as a sample-lover, I’ve been saddened by the decline in ample samples that some of my favorite stores have been sending me. Still, the site promised quality, and it delivered – my first box included a full-sized organic lip balm worth $12, a large bag of bath salts, a mini mascara, a travel-sized tube of Italian toothpaste, a couple of packets of foot cream, and an eyebrow brush – well worth the $10 price tag, if you ask me. I loved a couple of the products so much that I purchased full-sized versions and now use them on a regular basis.

To be honest, I became a little obsessed. Obviously I had to keep subscribing, and I’ll be receiving my third box this week. (My second treasure chest came stocked with all sorts of treats – a wildly chic nail polish, an adorable tin of organic chamomile tea, facial scrub, moisturizer and perfume.) What makes birchbox even more worth the subscription price? A points system that rewards you for every dollar you spend, free shipping on orders over $50 and on any item featured in that month’s box, plus extra reward points for referring your friends – and believe me, once you try it, you’ll want to. The site also features articles on a variety of beauty-related topics, and special deals for members.

You can sign up or find out more at www.birchbox.com. Or, better yet, comment on this post and I’ll send you an invitation!

Enjoy! I know I will, month after month.