Remember when you were a teenager and you would go to the MAC counter at the mall, try on all the amazing eyeshadows and lipsticks, and admire your reflection? Of course, with age and the responsibilities that life has given you, your adventures at the makeup counter have diminished, and you’ve started buying or ordering products that you know work for you. You still wear Maybelline mascara, Revlon eyeliner, Clinique foundation and concealer, and you have the perfect bright coral shade for blush that’s perfect for both winter and summer.
It’s great to have your trusty beauty products, but wouldn’t it be fun, really fun, to change things up a bit? Relive the excitement of your teenage years, try out amazing new products, rediscover yourself in ways you forgot you knew how.
Sounds fun. But when you have a deadline at work, you have to do dry cleaning, buy groceries, and cook dinner for the kids… Oh my God. Who has time for makeup adventures?
Luckily, there’s a way to have it all. In other words, you can add a fun twist to your beauty life without wasting time.
How? With a personalized beauty subscription box.
What is a Beauty Subscription Box?
A beauty subscription box is a monthly or seasonal box filled with a variety of makeup, nail polish, skin, and hair care products that you can subscribe to and receive in the mail for a small fee.
Before you sign up, you’ll be asked to take a beauty quiz, which is pretty fun. Regardless of which company you choose, they’ll choose a special box filled with beauty products based on your answers.
These boxes are a relatively new but growing trend and are the perfect solution for women who love cosmetics but don’t have the time or necessarily to go to the store to buy new products.
Beauty subscription boxes are ideal for women who love to pamper themselves, because honestly, there’s nothing better than receiving a golden box of beauty products delivered straight to their door. They also make great gifts and a great way for makeup artists to discover new products and renew their business.
Sounds Like a Scam—Is it?
There’s no trick to beauty subscription boxes. Women consciously buy and pay for them, knowing what they’re getting. If someone isn’t happy with the box they receive, that’s a different story, but it’s not a scam.
One thing we can say about beauty subscriptionboxes is that yes, they are products designed to generate revenue for their companies. That’s okay. The idea behind sending beauty boxes is to encourage women to buy more of the beauty products they receive. That’s also normal. In fact, it’s a win-win situation. Women who buy beauty boxes get great products that they can buy in larger quantities, and the companies make money. This isn’t a scam, just good marketing.
Below, we’ll take a closer look at the best beauty subscription boxes and their different features. So you can make the most informed decision possible. Remember, you’re paying for them, so make sure you do your research to make sure you’re not disappointed with your purchase.
Quality and Products
As with any product, there are basic and advanced options. Birchbox, Walmart Beauty Box, GlossyBox, and Ipsy are what we would call “basic” beauty boxes. Yes, they offer a variety of products from many brands, but they are not necessarily the same brands that you will find at Sephora. This does not mean that they are not good or that you will not enjoy using them; it just means that you should not expect premium brands.
On the other hand, Julep, FabFitFun, LookFantastic,, BeautyFix by Dermstore,BoxyCharm, and Play! by Sephora are considered high-end. While they may not necessarily offer you the full arsenal of Estée Lauder, Lancôme, or Chanel brands, they will send you higher quality products from both well-known companies and less well-known brands.
Monthly versus Seasonal Beauty Boxes
Walmart and FabFitFun beauty boxes are sold seasonally, meaning four times a year.
Julep is still around, allowing you to pay per box rather than monthly.
You can decide how often you want to receive your beauty box. This decision will also depend on the cost of each subscription.
Cost
Don’t assume that beauty stores are giving it away for free. While beauty boxes provide the excitement of receiving new products, remember that you’re actually paying for them.
The cost of each beauty subscription box varies, and you’ll need to decide what your budget is or how much you’re willing to spend.
Below are Birchbox, Ipsy Glam Bag, and, surprisingly, Sephora’s Play!, all for $10 a month.
Julep and Walmart operate at their own drummers. Julep lets subscribers create their own beauty boxes with select products, which means the price varies for each box. And Walmart doesn’t charge a fee for a beauty box, but rather a $5 shipping fee per season.
Many of these companies offer annual subscriptions (instead of monthly), which are a bit more economical in the long run. Plus, some boxes offer free shipping, so keep that in mind.
Product Size and Amount
Some subscriptions will send you full-size products, while others will send you samples. Boxes that send samples often offer the option to purchase full-size products, sometimes at an exclusive member discount. (Membership is free.)
For example, Birchbox, BeautyFix by Dermstore, and Play! Sephora offer sample-sized products, while FabFitFun, GlossyBox, Julep, and BoxyCharm offer full-size products.
On the other hand, how many products would you like to receive? Most beauty boxes come in 5-packs, but some, like BeautyFix by Dermstore and Walmart, offer more.
Keep in mind that beauty boxes with samples are more affordable.
Making Your Decision
Basically, subscribing to a beauty subscription is amazing. It’s a way to recreate the fun you’ve had before or invent something completely new.
This means you don’t have to worry about your decision. After all, this isn’t a marriage. The worst thing that can happen is that you order something and you don’t like it. The best thing is that you love it. And getting your box will be something you look forward to every month or season.