Birchbox, MyGlam, TestTube, Beauty Army?

I’ve been looking up cosmetic subscription services. Basically, you pay a monthly (or quarterly, depending on the service) fee and get a box of samples every month. So far, the most well known:

Birchbox- 

Cost: $10/month + free shipping, get 4-5 deluxe sized samples of middle-to-high end products (Sephora-level stuff, typically) I’ve heard OK things about Birchbox, some of my friends use it and are really pleased. The element of surprise is nice, and from the blog posts that I’ve read, their products are good as well.

What I do not like about it is that not all the subscribers will get the same products—they have different sets each month, and it’s randomized so you may not get the same thing as someone else.

MyGlam-

Cost: $10/month + free shipping, (SUPPOSEDLY) get 4-5 deluxe/full sized samples of high end products. MyGlam is run by the famous Michelle Phan and some fellow YouTube gurus, so it’s pretty well known. 

After some research however, I am most definitely NOT subscribing to MyGlam. There are just too many horror stories about bags not being shipped even when people were charged, about products arriving empty or in another company’s containers, accounts being randomly cancelled and not refunded…just too many. I read a lot of blog posts about the bags as well, and many of the samples were pretty disappointing. I saw a lot of small samples instead of the promised deluxe sample sizes, which made me feel like it was falsely advertised. After all, I can get those small samples from the counters for free if I ask for them. 

Their customer service, according to the majority of reviews, is absolutely terrible. Of course, those may have just been dissatisfied customers..however, I don’t really want to risk it. Pass. 

Beauty Army-

Cost: $12/month + free shipping, you get to PICK 6 samples out of 9 that are chosen for you. You fill out a profile and they somewhat tailor it to your needs. 

From what I’ve seen and read, Beauty Army doesn’t offer a lot of cosmetic samples. Most of their stuff seems to be skincare. I really like the idea of getting to pick, even though that loses the element of surprise. 

I’ve read (but not seen for myself) that Beauty Army added a “skip this month” feature, which, if it is true, will probably make them my first choice. If I don’t see anything I want, I would rather be able to skip than unsubscribe and resubscribe the next month (even without considering the hassle and the possibility that I would be put on a waiting list)

Glossybox-

Cost: $21/month, I stopped there. Maybe the products are more high end, larger sized, I don’t know. Glossybox was really big in the UK and the US release has been really hyped. But, $21 per month is just not in my budget right now. So, I didn’t bother to look up more, because I know I can’t afford it. 

TestTube-

Cost: $29.99/per 3 months, shipping NOT included. 

From what I’ve read, it’s a lot more comprehensive and you get better products with larger sizes. It comes every 3 months and you get more stuff overall. I like that it seems to be better quality overall, but I’m not really interested in “bigger” products sizes, since I really just want good sized samples to try out. 

Verdict:

I’m going to give Beauty Army a go; I’m interested in skincare as well as makeup so their skincare focus works for me. The price is good and though I’d like the element of surprise, the trade off (only getting products that I know I want) is worth it to me. We’ll see how it goes!