Battle of the Beauty Boxes

In the past year or so, there has been a big surge in the phenomenon of beauty boxes. A subscription service where subscribers can expect beauty samples shipped to their house every month for a fee paid every month. Sounds like a great idea huh? Trying new products from the comfort of your home and you discover great brands that you might not have heard of before. 

I'm obviously very influenced by the beauty community on the bloggersphere and YouTube so I jumped at the chance to be involved in this! I've only ever been subscribed to two of the UK based beauty boxes; GlossyBox and Joliebox. My thoughts and opinions will only be based on the service and products I have received from these two brands only! I thought this would be a good post to do if you are interested in subscribing to any two of these brands and my own experiences with them. My intention is not to paint any of these companies in a bad light, but just to give a overview of what you can expect for your money.

GlossyBox & Joliebox are both £10 per month plus £2.95 p+p

Packaging

GLOSSYBOX: GlossyBox products are housed in a beautiful pink box with black detailing. I really liked the sturdiness and theme of the box when I first got it. Months later, I use the boxes to house all sorts of things like nail polish, hair accessories and even gift boxes for friends! My only gripe has to be the cardboard filling inside. Sometimes the products aren't that big and putting them in big boxes makes it look really sparse. Probably not very environmentally friendly either. But other than that, I liked the presentation.

JOLIEBOX: Joliebox products come in a black drawstring bag and then housed in a black box with white detailing. I do prefer Joliebox's packaging as the box is significantly smaller and compact and it makes it look like the box is jam packed with products! 

Products/Samples

GLOSSYBOX: They managed to lure in a load of subscribers after popping in a full sized NARS product in their first box (yes, I'll admit that I was one of those people!) but after that, I felt it kind of went downhill from there. I was a subscriber from May 2011-November 2011 and I probably only used about five items. After I stopped subscribing, they did come out with some really good products, but had I kept on subscribing, I would have received another HD Brow Kit that was in July's 2012 GlossyBox. Whut?!

JOLIEBOX: It was their great skincare products that lured me into subscribing to Joliebox in the first place. Products range from French skincare to home favourites. I'm a big skincare fanatic so this made a smile on this old Orchid's face! As with all beauty boxes there were some items that didn't take my fancy but you can't have everything!

Service

GLOSSYBOX: They have been scolded for having terrible customer service but I don't think they're all that bad. My GlossyBox failed to turn up one time and they promptly shipped another to me but when I got it, it just looked like they had thrown it together at the last minute with the leftover samples they had. Wasn't very impressed that time! The point of having to fill out the beauty profile/questionnaire was to get customised products but through a lot of research, I found out that they don't even look at the profiles so the products you get are not tailored to you. Bit of a waste of time if you ask me, especially since I got the HD Brows kit for blondes when I clearly stated I have dark hair.

JOLIEBOX: The first month I subscribed, my box didn't arrive until the month after it was supposed to AND because of the delivery mix up, I didn't get a customised product and a new subscriber gift. Nonetheless, they listened to customer feedback and changed their delivery service. The next box after that came very prompt and was filled with great things as well!

Overall

GLOSSYBOX: I liked the fact that they introduced a few theme boxes and often you get some really nice products but I don't feel that £12.95 is good value for unpredictable products and the vast variations between everyone's boxes was the deal breaker for me! But in saying that, GlossyBox is a great all-rounder and you do get a nice variety of samples.
JOLIEBOX: I really like Joliebox more over GlossyBox. But that's due to the fact that I am a skincare junkie and they tailor to my preferences more. Joliebox joined forces with the French box Boudoir Prive so you can expect lots of French brand samples!


I don't think that I will ever go back to GlossyBox and unfortunately, I have suspended my subscription with Joliebox for now as I really need every penny I can muster for London this month. Once I start my new job and a regular income comes rolling in, I may resubscribe again. 


Are beauty boxes worth the money? I'd say yes to a certain extent. You really are just paying for the service itself rather than the samples but it really does open your eyes to a plethora of beauty products out there on the market! If you like having something exciting to open every month and love the element of surprise, then this will be right up your street. I'd just encourage you to do as much research as you can beforehand before committing to one as there are an abundance of services on the market just now!


Phew!! Have you stuck with me so far? 'Snaps' for you if you managed to make your way through this post!


What do you think of the beauty subscription services? Are you currently subscribed to one?


Vanessa


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