Suscription Beauty Boxes : Real Talk

As many of you probably know by now, there are lovely services out there that, for a fee, will deliver a box of goodies to your door each month. These range from Bark Box for dogs to Love with Food for foodies, but my personal favorite is the beauty box. I currently have three subscriptions, so I will talk about those the most, but know of many more that I can also speak about. Keep reading to catch up on all of these boxes.

BirchBox

About: Birchbox was the first beauty subscription box that I had ever heard of and I moved away from the country right after I heard about it. I tracked it for about a year before I decided to subscribe to it and even then, it was still one of the few box services out there. Every month, for $10, you get a little pink box that shows up in your mailbox and inside there are 4-6 deluxe beauty samples. When you set up your account, you fill out a survey that tells Birchbox about your beauty preferences and style; this makes the products a little more suited to your tastes. These days, they send out about 30+ combinations of boxes each month and all boxes are supposed to be shipped by the 10th of the month. One of the greatest things about Birchbox is Birchbox Points; for each item you receive, you can review it and receive 10 points. For every 100 points you get, that translates to $10 to use in the Birchbox shop.

Opinion: For me, I have never once thought about canceling my Birchbox subscription, but I know that a lot of people toy with the idea. Some people don't get things that they like in their box, but I've always gotten at least one thing that I enjoy. The value of the samples in the box are always over $10, so you are getting your money's worth. You also don't find out what you're getting before they send the box, so it's a little mystery each month. You will also never get a double of any sample, so you are always getting new samples. My only complaint about Birchbox is the number of perfume samples that they send out since I'm not big on perfume. Other than that, Birchbox is definitely my favorite to receive every month.

If you want to check out Birchbox, click here.

Ipsy 

About: Ipsy used to be called My Glam, but it underwent a major reconstruction and pretty much everything about this service was changed. My Glam had a bad reputation and a lot of people cancelled their service with them, including me. When they relaunched under the name Ipsy, I watched for a few months and then resubscribed since the quality of bags went through the roof. Ipsy is more makeup centered, though there are occasionally skin and hair products, and is $10 a month. The brands that Ipsy samples are a mix of high and low and each month, they send out coupon codes to use if you want to purchase an item from that month. An added perk for this subscription service is that all of the samples come inside a cosmetic bag and you get a new bag each month.

Opinion: I also love getting my Ipsy bag each month, but I sometimes feel like the products are a little... cheap. Like, if Birchbox were Nordstrom, then Ipsy would be Macy's; both carry nice things, but Nordstrom carries nicer things. The reason that I keep this subscription every month beyond the fact that I just like to receive things in the mail, is that it brings me a lot more makeup. Even if some of the makeup is of a lesser quality, it's still fun to try out and if I find that I like a color, I can always go buy a similar color in a better suited brand. If you like makeup a lot and don't want as much miscellaneous beauty, try Ipsy.

If you want to check out Ipsy, click here

Glossybox

About: Glossybox is a bit newer to the scene in America, but it's been in Europe for a while now. Glossybox's whole premise is that they send out high end samples that are often larger than the other boxes and they are $21 a month. Glossybox also has a points system, but it's very different than Birchbox's; you get points for filling out surveys and other assorted things. Once you have 1,000 Glossy Dots (as they call them), you can redeem them for a free box.

Opinion: Glossy Box is always on the fence for me. I was subscribed for three months last year and then realized that I used almost none of the products that I had received, so I decided to cancel. The problem that I have with Glossybox is that a lot of the products are obscure brands that I've never heard of and generally speaking, aren't that great. I think that they have also gotten better since I unsubscribed and I took my chances this month and resubbed for the Man Repeller curated box. However, they are running extremely late with this box and haven't even shipped a large number of them. I've also heard horror stories of their customer service. I don't think that this box is for me and I plan on canceling again.

If you want to check out Glossybox, click here.


There are many other options out there that I have not listed and have never been subscribed to. Here are a few more:

Beauty Box 5: 4-5 samples a month, $12/month (price goes down if you upgrade plan) and based out of Texas.

Beauty Army: up to 6 samples a month that you get to choose, $12/month with the option to skip months. I believe that this is more beauty miscellaneous and less makeup.

Starbox: A box completely devoted to makeup, 3-4 ; $15/month and you can purchase past boxes, although it does cost more.