Beauty Box subscription services rise and fall quickly. In the time since this was written I could have covered at least 50 other beauty boxes, seriously. We’ll do an update on this soon but for now most of these Beauty Box services are gone but BirchBox and GlossyBox reign on…
Back in when I was a little girl, my mother was a member of several “beauty clubs”. These clubs were advertised in magazines and you filled out a little beauty profile and they sent makeup and fragrance items direct to your door. These were full sized products but they were usually older brands and/or discontinued items. I joined a beauty club when I got old enough, it was a cheap way to try out a lot of new product and every now and then I would score something really great. Every month I opened my box with a makeup addicts glee to see what makeup Santa had delivered. In today’s modern era, Beauty Boxes have taken over where the old beauty clubs left off.
The new Beauty Box craze delivers deluxe samples in pretty packaging to its members on a monthly basis. Whereas the old “clubs” had kind of a hand-me-down feel, the new Boxes are all about premium, high end quality. As far as I’m aware, this new craze was started about a year ago with the advent of Birchbox. Now, of course, there are several services to choose from, all with their own unique twist. Over the next several months I’m going to be joining these various services to see what the scoop is on each of them. Here are the ones I have my eye on…
Birchbox –
Of course, the one who started it all. Birchbox just had their first birthday the other month. Complaints are starting to surface that the boxes of late have not been as good as past boxes. Beauty biz intell is saying that might be due to cosmetics companies holding back on samples overall. If that is the case a lot of these beauty box companies will be effected eventually. My first Birchbox will arrive in October so we shall see…
BeautyFix by Dermstore –
BeautyFix seems very cool. It is a bit more expensive, but it sounds as though it is more customized and also they ship more than just samples. BeautyFix has a panel of experts who select recommended products in various categories (skin care, makeup, haircare, etc.) and which presumably address a variety of issues (anti-aging, acne, sensitive, etc.). Upon completing a beauty profile you select 8 products out of your recommended products for that month. And we’re talking top-shelf products like Kinerase, Becca, Murad, and Jane Iredale. For this high-end service, members pay $49.99 per month. Membership is limited so you may have to wait a while for a space to open up.
GoGogirlfriend –
GoGogirlfriend sends samples of beauty and health items and features two tiers of membership. For the Makeup Maven there’s the Premium Membership which ships samples monthly, offers special discounts and the ability to earn Reward Points, and gives items not available in the Basic membership. For the Makeup Minimalist the Basic Membership sends boxes bi-monthly (good for those concerned with ending up with a drawer full of unused samples) and you still have access to special discounts and earning Reward Points.
Eco-Emi –
Of the various Beauty Box companies I found, I am probably most excited about Eco-Emi which offers its members eco-conscious, earth friendly selections each month. In addition, Eco-Emi is not just limited to health and beauty items, nor does it appear to be limited to samples. Monthly offerings often include food items such as teas, mints and Superfoods. Unlike most of the US-based beauty box companies, Eco-Emi also accepts international memberships. Unfortunately membership is closed at the moment, but you can sign up on the site for the waiting list.
As stated, most of the US-based companies only ship domestically and to US territories and APOs. However beauty lovers worldwide will not be denied, therefore several great beauty box companies have sprung up around the globe.
For Canadian beauty-istas there is LooseButton/LuxeBox and the still in beta Glymm. Both companies seem to have fallen pretty directly from the Birchbox tree although being international they carry brands that the US boxes might not. Unique to Glymm is the plan to start a service for Men (presumably hair care, skin care and grooming products) which is a niche that is so far missing in this beauty box marketplace.
In the UK Glossybox seems to have the market cornered and reviews of their service are overall excellent. Upon further reading on the UK site, they also have Glossybox websites for Germany, France, Brazil and Korea.
In Australia they have Beauty-Box which again, based on the website, is another service pretty much the same as Birchbox. Also upcoming in the near future is a company called Red Meow. There is a YouTube announcement from an Australian beauty blogger/YouTube-er of their service, but as of this writing the actual website just says ‘coming soon’.
Seemingly no matter where you are in the world you have have your beauty fix sated with a new selection of product delivered right to your door. Or if you want to live vicariously, look for future reviews as my boxes arrive. And if there are other services we here at Makeup to Go should look into, let us know!
Do you belong to a BeautyBox subscription? Which one? Share in comments!
—
Have you signed up for the Makeup to Go Blog newsletter yet? Join the fun for exclusive content, giveaways, and other assorted fabulosity! Makeup to Go Blog Newsletter – “Speaking of Makeup”
Disclosure: Hey folks, instead of doing sponsored posts, Makeup to Go is a member of ShopMy, Amazon Affiliates, and Skimlinks. If you purchase something via any of our links, we get a lil sumthin sumthin to help us keep running, at no additional cost to you. Thanks much!
© 2011 – 2024, Tania. All rights reserved.
Oh wow! I did not know that, I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for the comment 🙂
Actually, New Beauty’s Test Tube was way before BirchBox, but their customer service has always been questionable.