Sunday 23 October 2011

Monthly Subscription Boxes

Recently the deluxe sample boxes of luxury skin care and cosmetics modelled on the uber successful American Birchbox have flooded the market here in Australia. Not surprisingly I have subscribed to all of them! First there was Lust Have It, then came along Beauty Box, next was Bellabox and just on Friday I subscribed to I Love This Box which is launching its first box in November.

Either I am totally insane or just a huge beauty junkie to subscribe to all of these boxes. I told my girlfriends I am going to unsubscribe from two of them once I decide which two are the best for me and which I want to stay subscribed to. It may take me a while to decide (think forever). You see clever marketing and my intense desire to want to stay in the loop is what makes me want to stay subscribed to all four. If I cancel a subscription and then I miss out on something I really wanted to try I will be crushed. I try to justify my reasoning for having all of these subscriptions by saying that I don't buy every magazine on the market anymore and therefore I am saving well over $150 a month. These subscriptions are only costing me $60 a month and the valuable knowledge I am aquiring on beauty products is very educational and is sure to enrich my life beyond measure. Furthermore most of the boxes contain way more than $15 in products.




So what do I think of each company so far -

Lust Have It - I am really happy with Lust Have It so far. Their customer service is fantastic. They let me know when my payment has been approved each month. They send me notification when my box has left in the post and they provide regular updates on what new brand partners are joing their company. Based here in Tasmania (where I am from), I love that I get my box before all of my mainland Australia counterparts.

The range of brand partners associated with Lust Have It includes:

O.P.I
Kerastase Paris
Burt's Bees
Dermalogica
Lancome
Nougat London
Naked Tan
Mirenesse
Urban Rituelle
Lash Republic
Bio Effect
Pure Fiji
I Love My Muff
Taut
Laura Mercier
Lush
Limelily
Decleor
MD Formulations
Roc
Nude By Nature

I can see myself staying subscribed to Lust Have It. I have really enjoyed all of my boxes so far and can't wait to see what is coming up in the November edition.

Lust Have It Subscriptions cost $14.95 a month and you can cancel anytime. www.lusthaveit.com.au

Beauty Box - Last week subscribers were notified firstly via Facebook that Beauty Box has now joined forces with Glossybox and will be known as Glossybox from now on. This collaboration is to enhance the Beauty Box experience and make a wider range of global brands available to subscribers.

The initial gripe I had with Beauty Box was that they would not ship to Tasmania because they would not break aviation laws and post dangerous goods such as nail polish and fragrance samples to Tasmania. This was totally ridiculous to me because I order goods from mainland Australia on a weekly basis including fragrance and nail polish and have no issue getting them deliverd safely and legally. It just requires goods to be sent via surface mail and takes a couple of extra days to arrive.

I wanted to be subscribed to Beauty Box so badly that I decided to get my box shipped to a friends Mum's house in mainland Australia every month and then get him to send it to me (via surface mail) from there. If that is not commitment to a cause people I don't know what is. The things I will do in the name of beauty research should not be taken lightly!

To furthermore to add to my unrest Beauty Box processed my payment for the November box last Sunday. On Thursday they announced on Facebook, prior to notifying their subscribers, that if we wanted to receive Glossybox we had to subscribe to that company because Beauty Box no longer existed. It was terribly confusing for many subscribers.

In my humble opinion the company took subscribers money for a product they had no intention of supplying. Beauty Box have since said that any payments that have been taken for Beauty Box will be converted to glossy dots (a rewards system that Glossybox have) sometime in November and would entitle subscribers to a free Glossybox upon redemption of the glossy dots. This sounds reasonable and I have subscribed to Glossy Box because they appear to have some great brands on board.

I can only hope that Glossybox is so good that it voids my mistrust issues and makes me completely inspired to continue my subscription. Also It would appear that Glossybox unlike Beauty Box are going to be shipping to Tasmania which will save me a lot of inconvenience getting it shipped elsewhere.

I have received the first two Beauty Boxes which contained some great products and some not so great products in my opinion. I had very mixed feelings about them. However in fairness with any beauty samples type subscription you are not always going to like everything in your box every month.

Beauty Box contacted subscribers to let them know when their payments had been processed.

Glossybox have the following brand partners:

Auscreen
Australis
Bio Oil
Biotherm
Bobbi Brown
Calvin Klein
Clinique
Essie
Garnier
Illamasqua
John Frieda
Jurlique
Marc Jacobs
Playboy
Sally Hansen
Shiseido
Shu Uemura
Thalgo
Yves Saint Laurent


I wish Beauty Box in patnership with the new Glossybox smooth sailing and all the best for the future and I look forward to receiving my very first Glossybox in November.

Glossybox subscriptions cost $14.95 per month and you can cancel at anytime. www.glossybox.com.au

Bellabox - I received the very 1st Bellabox on Thursday. The company are very good at communicating with their subscribers about when their box has left for its destination and when payments have been received.

I was thrilled with the first Bellabox. I loved the packaging and the variety of products included. I think this has been my favourite box out of all the boxes I have received from all the subscriptions so far. I can't wait to receive Novembers Bellabox. If it is as good as the first one I received I can see myself being subscribed for a long time to come.

Bella Box Brand Partners include:

A'Kin
Alpha-H
Gantineau
Napolean Perdis
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics
One Skin System
Orofluido
Pandapen
Pangea Organics
Phytomer
Twist Band
Wine Wipes
Kosmea
Savoir Faire

Bellabox subscriptions cost $14.95 per month and can be canceled at any time. www.bellabox.com.au

I Love This Box - I signed up for this subscription on Friday night. I am excited to receive the first one in November. They have some amazing brand partners including:

Nvey Eco
Decleor
Ahava
Revlon
Elizabeth Arden
Benefit
Elixir
Smashbox
Lancome
Bobbi Brown
Chanel
Soy Lites
Skinscience
Catrice

I Love This Box subscriptions cost $14.95 per month and you can cancel anytime. www.ilovethisbox.com.au

Let me now in the comments below if you have any box subscriptions and if so which ones and what you think of them so far.

Note: I am not sponsored or associated with any of the above mentioned companies or brands. All subsciptions were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

7 comments:

  1. I unsubscribed from Lust Have It and Beauty Box. Whilst I did get a few products I liked from both companies, I just didn't think it was worth the money. I'll keep an eye on what products they have in each box though in case they start to get more exciting products.

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  2. I would love to subscribe to them all, choosing is so difficult
    great post though, thankyou for including lots of information, it is very helpfull!
    Grace xx

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  3. I am a complete sucker for this type of thing guys. I really enjoy the concept. I will be reviewing all my boxes on here so keep watching and see what's happening with them and what they include.

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  4. I'm from the UK and I'm subsrcibed to 2 beauty boxes at the min, it's taking some willpower to stop me signing up for the rest. My eye's get a bit greener each time I see reviews on boxes I dont get. haha
    xo

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  5. LOL, Do you post about your boxes on your blog Been there Done That? I have to go and have a look through it and see. I love seeing what's in other countries boxes! Do you get Glossybox? xxxx

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  6. thanks for the review! now i feel like subscribing to all of them! hahah

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  7. *whimper* These look so gorgeous, I'd love to have something like this coming in the mail to me every month. But I need to budget really hard on make up & skincare, right now there isn't room for it. Will keep an eye on your reviews tho for sure, K, things might change lol.

    FABULOUS blog & blogging btw, am loving it. xo j

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