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With so many monthly beauty subscription services out there all touting themselves as being “the best” it can be quite daunting to gather all of the information in order to choose the best one.
Over the years I feel like I’ve been subscribed to most, if not all of, the most popular beauty subscription boxes. My first random subscription box arrived in 2011 and I was less than happy with it since it was ALL samples.
Throughout the last decade I’ve paid for multiple subscription box services and also had some sent as PR. In this last decade of my beauty subscription box reviews I’ve learned a few things and am hoping that sharing them will help you decide which beauty subscription box is right for you and which isn’t.
Which Monthly Beauty Subscription Box is the Best for you?
tips for thoughtful choices
First, it’s important to take a step back because if you just decide to do a simple search you’re going to be overwhelmed with way too much unnecessary info. Sit down and decide what features are important to you in an awesome monthly beauty subscription box and from there decide which service checks most of your boxes.
Here are the features I’ve come to realize are the most important to me. IMO, they’re likely pretty common in the world of beauty.
1 | The box needs to carry mostly full-sized makeup products. This will whittle down my subscription box options real fast.
Too often you’ll see pricey sub boxes where the only full sized product is skincare (which is so hard because we all have different levels of sensitivities and needs in this area). What’s the point in tossing money out the window for sample/mini sizes you’ll be lucky to get more than one use out of and that you can go into Sephora and get for free if you ask an associate for a product sample? Even at $10, no thanks.
2 | An offshoot of number one is that the makeup carried needs to be mostly from recognizable brands with on-trend products that I’ll actually get some use out of.
If you’re going to send me a full size tube of lipstick from “no-name brand” in shade “hot green garbage” I’m not ever going to wear that. Ever. It’s literally garbage to me. Sure, there is a market for someone who loves green lipstick, but 9 out of 10 people aren’t going to care for it.
Basically, it’s fun to try new things but for the most part the products need to be wearable day-to-day.
Which Monthly Beauty Subscription Box is the Best for you?
3 | The retail value of the useable products included in the subscription box need to well exceed what I’m paying for the box.
Example: A few months ago I upgraded my basic Boxycharm subscription to premium, which is $10 more a month. For a total of $35 in this box I got a Natasha Denona palette that retails for $55. A palette I’ve been lusting after since it launched. In addition I also got 5 other items to try out. Of the other products sent I fell in love with the eye cream, got to try a new brand that I’ve been extremely curious about (Dragun Beauty) and got a BECCA Lip Gloss that I still use frequently. Clearly, WELL WORTH IT.
4 | I know a lot of people don’t like spoilers when it comes to sub boxes but it really helps me relax a bit when I have some control over what is inside. If I can customize & choose one or more of the products I’m sure to get I know that my money is well spent that month.
Which Monthly Beauty Subscription Box is the Best for you?
my personal fave
For me, the beauty box subscription that checks most of my personal boxes is Boxycharm. They send over most if not all full sized products and generally it’s 90% makeup or beauty related tools. Most of the brands are always on-trend (such as Natasha Denona, BECCA, Dose of Colors, Too Faced, Smashbox, Tarte, MAC, Tatcha, Luxie Beauty) and each month I’ve almost always gotten a product I’ve been dying to try.
Recently they’ve expanded their service and now offer more options to subscribers such as customization and varying box sizes. Below I’m breaking them all down so that you can decide which is best for you.
BOXYCHARM (the original)
- $25 monthly. Renewals are automatic but you can cancel at any time.
- Each box will have at least 5 full sized beauty items.
- Every month you’ll get to choose ONE item that will be guaranteed to be in your box (starting with your second shipment).
- The retail value of each box will be at least $125.
- FREE shipping (within the contiguous US).
- $35 monthly. Renewals are automatic but you can cancel at any time.
- Each box will have at least 6-7 full sized beauty items.
- Every month you’ll get to choose ONE item that will be guaranteed to be in your box.
- The retail value of each box will be at least $175.
- FREE shipping (within the contiguous US).
- $49.99 quarterly. These boxes are available in March, June, September and December.
- Each box will have at least 8+ full sized beauty & lifestyle items.
- Every month you’ll get to choose up to THREE items that will be guaranteed to be in your box.
- The retail value of each box will be at least $275.
- FREE shipping (within the contiguous US).
Which Monthly Beauty Subscription Box is the Best for you?
Each of the above options are eligible for rewards, customization, member exclusive add-ons and BoxyPopUp where you can score products at up to 80% off retail.
You can also get ALL of the above Boxycharm boxes. Note: if you sign up for both monthly shipments (Boxycharm & Boxycharm Premium) you’ll be charged separately for each box. If you do get both boxes product variations will not overlap so you don’t need to worry about getting a ton of duplicates.
In order to sign up for BoxyLuxe you’ll need to already be an active “charmer” and subscriber of Boxycharm. When an email arrives asking you if you’d like to upgrade to BoxyLuxe you simply have to opt-in for the upgrade. Sometimes quantities are limited so if you’re wanting to upgrade keep an eye on your email in the weeks leading up to a BoxyLuxe month. If you get waitlisted don’t worry, I see a lot of that and usually people get an email stating they’ve been moved off the waitlist and will be getting a box.
Boxycharm is also now sending over complexion swatch packs in some of their monthly boxes. You’ll get a card with foundation or concealer shades, swatch them, complete the online complexion feedback form and receive the RIGHT SHADE in one of your future boxes.
Which Monthly Beauty Subscription Box is the Best for you?
final thoughts
With any subscription box you’re sure to get a dud month here and there. It happens. Consistently over the years with Boxycharm I’ve noticed it only happens once, maybe twice a year. This is coming from someone who has been receiving Boxycharm shipments since 2015 – this is actually our 5 year anniversary (this is my first post, please excuse the photo quality lol).
This is the ONLY beauty subscription box that I remain active with to this day.
Makeup is relative. What might be a love for me may not be a love for you, which is why the best idea is to focus on your needs. Decide what you want in a beauty subscription service and go from there.
Sign up for Boxycharm here
Let me know in the comments if you’ve given Boxycharm a shot and sound off about the service. I’d love to read about your experiences!
I tried Boxycharm and Luxe for about 9 months. It truly is a preference thing – although the retail value was always very high there were way too many products that I personally didn’t care for. I have swapped away many of them, but even so I have a box of products that I won’t ever use that I will send to Project Beautyshare. So it just wasn’t worth it to me. I have since dropped all boxes and gone on a yearlong no-buy and couldn’t be happier – will finally use up so many of the products I did like.
Definitely preference! I love that you’re supporting Project Beautyshare, it’s an amazing organization. I’m in the midst of my first no-buy and it’s a lot harder than it looks lol yearlong is impressive and that’s definitely what I’d love to work toward.