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Best Beauty Subscription Boxes

Is there anything more exciting than finally buying those new makeup, hair or skincare items you’ve been waiting for? If you’re like us, the moment you buy them, you want to rush home and try every single one of them immediately. It’s a moment full of hope and possibility. You love it, and so does your skin.

Well, I have great news for you, there is something even more exciting than that. It’s called a beauty subscription box. Imagine all the thrill, excitement and fun of receiving carefully picked products straight to your doorstep in regular intervals. It’s like CHRISTMAS, if Christmas came to your mailbox every month.

In this article, you’ll find the best beauty boxes to steer you in a glamourous direction. These are the ultimate way to help you discover your new faves in the world of beauty. Ready to glam up your day?

 BoxyCharm – Best Mixture  ($21/month)

Boxycharm is one of those great-value-for-the-money makeup boxes considering the items in a box worth over $100. The box includes four or five full-size products, varying from brushes and skincare to makeup items. Every box is fun and full of fabulous items so you will be excited to receive yours each month. The products are a variety of recognized brands and up-and-coming ones so you’ll get an opportunity to discover new items that you otherwise wouldn’t come across.

Ipsy Glam Bag Plus – Best Personalized  ($25/ month)

Ipsy Glam Box is a perfect match for enthusiasts who want to build a collection of their fave beauty products. Enjoy five high quality, full-sized products that will sparkle up your inspiration. What makes Ipsy Glam Bag such a great beauty subscription box is the personalization of products based on your preferences. This means that most of the time you’ll receive products that you truly need and want. Plus, their customer service is terrific and prompt to reply.

Kleverpark – Best Green ($37 bimonthly)

Care to discover Mediterranean ingredients and sensational scents? Then Kleverpark beauty box might be just the beauty box you need. Best of all, the products are certified organic and there are even options for vegan users. The products come from licensed Italian brands so rest assured that you’ll be using high-quality products. The assortment includes full-sized skincare items and a few samples to help your skin stay clean, fresh and hydrated.

TestTube – Best Skin Care ($29.95 Every other month)

TestTube could easily become your favorite subscription if you care to have a delightful beauty box at your doorstep every other month. What makes this one worth every penny, is the mix of skincare and beauty items. Moreover, the products in the box are of high-value and often come from brands you haven’t tried before. So, this is a great way to try out some new items for your skin. Speaking of which, most are full-size, but there are also travel-size items as well. Oh, and you can expect around 9 items in with a combined worth of over $150. Apart from beautiful boxes, you’ll also receive a free subscription to NewBeauty Magazine.

 Pearlesque – Best Worldwide ($39.95 per month)

If we’re talking skincare, then we can’t skip this one! Pearlesque is an amazing monthly subscription box that will give you a chance to explore some of the world’s finest skincare gems right in the comfort of your home. Each box will contain a number of organic items – full size or travel size, coming from a different place in the world. Past boxes collected products from Italy, Rhode Island and Malibu.  Isn’t that marvelous? The best part is that all products are organic and thus perfectly safe for your skin.

 Scentbird – Best Fragrance  ($14.95/ month BUT ONLY $11.21 for the 1st month)

We all love fragrances, but the truth is we do not have time or desire to go shopping for new ones. And even if we do, choosing one fragrance from a million others is not such an easy task. So, we end up using the same fragrance for years. Well, how about a perfume subscription? With Scentbird, you can pick one branded perfume per month (8ml fragrance) or if you have no idea what to pick, they can send you the fragrance of the month. This certainly brings a note of surprise and anticipation, doesn’t it? Let your journey for that signature scent begins!


OUR LEAST FAVORITES…

Now that you’ve seen some of the most beautiful boxes available, let’s drop a quick warning on those you should steer clear from.

Birchbox 

Birchbox used to have a great reputation. The keyword here ‘used to’.  According to customer reviews the boxes lack an interesting variety of products. Also their customer service does not have a great reputation. Customers mainly complained about not being able to cancel their subscription when they wanted to. Largely  because the customer service did so little to help. It takes a long time for them to reply to emails and even longer to finally cancel your subscription. On top of all, there is no live chat or a phone number on their site so it’s very difficult to speak to someone if you need to resolve and issue.

Lola Beauty Box

Here’s the thing with Lola, they have a reputation for sending low end beauty items that often arrive broken. Even more disappointing they also have a reputation for not replacing broken items or responding to customer complaints. (Or any customer issues all together) It’s a bummer that customers haven’t gotten replacements for the broken beauty items, especially considering that people are paying for their beauty boxes, they should get what they paid for, and not an arsenal of broken or spilled products. 

LipMonthly

LipMonthly boxes have a reputation for sending a poor selection of color choices in lip colors that are also a poor quality. But even if you do like the lipsticks they send, you surely won’t like the fact that you might receive duplicates of the same products in one box. If you think “Variety is the spice of life.” this is not the box for you. However not everyone had this problem, some customers never even received their makeup boxes. Others that were ‘lucky’ enough to get their boxes waited for at least a month.

Final Words

And there you have it guys, your beauty box insider. The best of the best and a few to avoid. Go ahead and choose the one you haven’t tried before and treat yourself with a fun beauty experience. We all deserve a treat now and then! If you find one you love consider gifting a box to one of your girlfriends. Then you can try new products together. ( And if you choose one of our least favorites, well… we wish you luck.)

Christy is a licensed cosmetologist with 10 years of experience working for one of the top 20 Paul Mitchell Salons in the US. She is also an experienced Brand Advisor, and Beauty Blogger.