I don’t recall when exactly it started, but for the longest time beauty subscription boxes have been all the rage. There are countless amounts of brands that come out with these kinds of boxes and every single one of them seems to be even more amazing than the next. I’ve been subscribed to the Lookfantastic beauty box for about a year and I’ve unsubscribed from it about a year ago. In today’s post I want to talk to you about these subscription boxes and whether they are worth it or not. So, if you’re interested in reading about my opinion on these boxes, make sure you continue reading!
Different prices, different products
Of course there are many different price ranges within the beauty box industry. There are affordable ones, expensive ones and reasonably prices ones. Obviously the price will have an impact on what will be inside of the box. If you get a cheap one, you probably won’t get expensive brands in your box, however, the price doesn’t always say something about whether you’ll get full sized products or not.
But, if you’re a lover or luxury makeup, I do think it’s smarter to go for a more expensive box like the Cohorted Beauty Box. This is a box that comes with nice brands like Nars, CoverFX, MAC and more brands like that. The box is rather expensive, it’s £35, but it does get you some nice quality items.
In the Netherlands we also have the Styletone Box. I’ve been subscribed to that box, a couple of years ago, for I believe 6 months. This box was rather cheap, it now costs €12,50 per month. This comes with 5 full size products from less famous and less expensive brands. It does sometimes come with a more fancy brand, but don’t expect things like MAC, Chanel or whatever to be in there.
Conclusion – For me personally a box like the Cohorted box would be more fitting nowadays. In the past I did like the Styletone box as well, but now that I’m used to using more high quality brands, I’m pretty sure I won’t use the products that come in there. However, I do think that paying £35 is quite a lot, especially if you don’t know what you’re getting for that amount of money. I do think you can get some great deals through these boxes, but the chances are big that it will come with products that you might never use or that don’t look good on your skintone or undertone.
Samples and full sizes
The main thing I look at when I’m looking for a beauty box is the amount of full size products that come in there. I mean, I don’t hate travel sizes, they are useful. But in day to day life I just prefer using properly sized products. I usually keep my travel sizes in a separate box in my closet, thanks to which I will probably forget them until I’m going somewhere I need to bring travel sizes for.
Obviously if it’s a makeup product it might be different. I mean, I do appreciate a travel size Nars lipstick just as much as a full size one, but when you get a lot of skincare or bodycare in your box, I do appreciate it if these are full sized items. And more often than not, they are not. At least in my experience with the Lookfantastic box. This makes it a little too overpriced in my opinion and ended up in me never using the products.
Using the products
And that brings me to the next pointer. Do I actually end up using the products I get in these boxes. My answer to that question can be short. Nope. I have barely used any of the items I got in an entire year of being subscribed to the Lookfantastic box. I don’t think that the box was bad, but it did come with a lot of products I just didn’t need or that just didn’t fit me. I mean, I don’t need anti-wrinkle cream or a very intense hair mask. I don’t need a concealer in a very deep shade and I don’t want to use pills to grow my hair. I can see that some people, who love to try out new things or are new to this whole beauty scene, can like getting a ton of new products to try out each month. But for me it just wasn’t it. I never really used the products that I received and that’s why I ended my subscription. The same thing goes for the Styletone box. I liked it, but I never used the products.
My final conclusion
So, in conclusion subscription boxes haven’t really been my cup of tea so far. I do like the idea behind it and I did enjoy unboxing it every month, but I just never ended up using the products that came inside, which made it a big waste of money for me. Therefore I won’t be likely to ever subscribe to a box like that again. I prefer to just save up my money and buy a product that I really want myself, because in that case I’ll definitely use it and it won’t be a waste of money and product.
And that was basically everything I had to say about subscription boxes. I hope you enjoyed reading this post and be sure to let me know what your opinion is on this topic!
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