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A real mom of 4 reviewing various products & services with honesty & integrity. From natural beauty products to household items to groceries - the truth - so you can save dollars, time & sanity. No flames, no games, just a real mom reviewing.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Comparing Beauty Box Subscriptions: Glossybox, Ipsy & Birchbox

I love Beauty Box subscriptions.
Since I am a Beauty Product Junkie, it's the ultimate gift that keeps on giving. Every month I get the joy of being surprised with some new, unique products that are typically right up my alley.

Granted, there are also quite a few "flops", but for me, the good generally far outweighs the bad.
 
First, here's a breakdown:


Glossybox
$21/month (tax & delivery included)
Five surprise luxury products beauty products (a good mix of makeup, skincare, and haircare)
Surveys on each product (20 pts each) and referral credits (200 pts) that you can then cash in on a free box, when you reach 1000 pts (it takes about 10 months with just surveys)
 
Ipsy Glambag
$10/month (tax & delivery included)
4-5 Beauty products curated by Michelle Phan (mostly makeup, mostly full-size, typically lesser known brands and less expensive brands...like NYX) always delivered with a makeup bag of some sort
Surveys on each product (10 pts each) and referral credits
(250 pts) that you can cash in on your choice of free products/sets (diff't price points, i.e. a Bad Gal Lash mascara by Benefit is 1000pts) that get delivered with your next regular Ipsy bag 
 
Birchbox
$10/month (tax & delivery included)
A more eclectic mix of 4-5 samples each month. You may get face cream deluxe sample, a few bags of tea, a pony tail holder, BB cream sample, and a perfume sampler. It's really hard to know with Birchbox. And although it rarely happens, I have received some really awesome FULL SIZE items. They are few & far between, though. The items tend to be more prestige items, like Benefit, Dior, Stila, etc.
The points system is quite unique. You get 10 points per item you review via survey each month and 50 pts per referral credit. Every 10 pts is worth $1. So yeah, basically, if you review each item, each month before time expires, you can earn back $5 of your box cost. The points can be spent just like money in the Birchbox Shop, which has all kinds of awesome stuff. Their customer service is great, BTW. I've dealt with them on several different issues, each time with great results.
 
These will not be in any particular order, month-wise.
They will be grouped by Box.
 
Glossybox

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IPSY

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Birchbox

 











 Sadly, I don't have pictures for all my Birchboxes. I've been getting them longest, and didn't take pictures in the beginning. I got some of the best stuff from them in the beginning; but honestly, it seems like I get less & less good, full size things from the now, anyways. I once got the full size Stila One Step Bronze (value $36!!) in one of my early boxes. I miss those day, though I can understand why they can't do that all the time. 
 
The main thing about all my subbies? I find some true "gems"...some "Holy Grail" products. I found my Holy Grail hair gel, shampoo & conditioner, and spray protectant through them. I've discovered which polishes I love (Zoya, Nails Inc.) and which ones I'm not nuts about (SpaRitual, Sation).
I've discovered brands I like...The Balm, Stila, Missha, Benefit.
I've even discovered my next perfumes: Bvlgari's au the vert and BCBGMaxAzria.
 
There are lots of other beauty box subscriptions out there, but I can't afford them all! Wish I could.
 
I hope all of this will, in some way, help you to make a good decision about which beauty box subbie is right for you. May you be very happy with your decision, whatever it is!
 
Do you subscribe?
Are you gonna?
Are you happy with yours?
 










 
 


5 comments:

Emily said...

You should try Beauty Box 5z

Emily said...

5***

Unknown said...

I can't afford any boxes right now, but it looks like Birchbox would be my favorite. Thanks for sharing!

Dana @ Kiss my List said...

My 15 year old is dying for an Ipsy subscription, but she has been on the waiting list for awhile. I know she'll be thrilled when she finally gets it!

Unknown said...

Thank you for the thorough reviews. I don't subscribe to any of these and I wasn't clear on how it worked. I like that you can earn back some of the cost with reviews.