The best beauty boxes you can subscribe to online

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The best beauty boxes you can subscribe to online
  • Beauty subscription boxes used to be a niche concept but they've gained popularity, and now even some major retailers like Sephora and Target are offering their own versions.
  • The original powerhouse, Birchbox, is still unbeatable in terms of quality, variety, price, and ease of use.
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Before I started working in beauty more than six years ago and familiarizing myself with different brands and products, I'd get overwhelmed every time I walked into a Sephora or just through the beauty aisle at CVS. Most people don't have the luxury of testing makeup for their job - that's where beauty subscription boxes come in.

For a monthly (or sometimes quarterly) fee, you can have a selection of makeup, skin-care, and hair-care products try at your convenience. Many boxes focus on travel-sized items, which I think is actually a plus. This way, you don't have to commit too much time to something you might not love. More and more subscription boxes are beginning to include full-sized picks, either in addition to the samples or as the whole box.

But before you commit to a box, it's a good idea to assess your needs. Are you a skin-care fanatic, or a makeup experimenter? A Sephora devotee? Do you want to control what shows up at your door or leave it up to chance? No matter your preferences, there's a beauty subscription box that fits your profile.

Here are the best beauty subscription boxes:

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Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Picks team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.

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The best beauty subscription box overall

The best beauty subscription box overall
Birchbox subscribers get about four to six deluxe samples of hair, makeup, skin-care, and nail products with the option to purchase additional full-size items for loyalty points.

There's a reason Birchbox remains synonymous with the phrase "beauty subscription box" — it was one of the first and remains the best of the best.

Subscribers receive four to six deluxe sample-sized items in an adorable printed box for $13-$15 per month depending on whether you choose a monthly, 6-month, or 12-month plan.

To get started, fill out your profile on the website, which will help steer the curators in the right direction. The items you receive in each box will depend on the preferences you've indicated, and beginning with your second month, you can also choose one sample you'd want to be included; the rest of the picks will remain a surprise.

If you like what you've used, you can buy the full-size product with free shipping, and earn $1 for every $10 spent in the Birchbox shop. That'll get you into the Birchbox Loyalty Program where each dollar will earn you more benefits like free shipping, early access to products, and more.

Birchbox encourages customers to review products received to improve your future boxes. Brands featured in previous boxes have included Benefit, M.A.C, RMS Beauty, Supergoop, Kiehl's, and Sunday Riley. It's a mix of mid-range and high-end labels, as well as well-known and up-and-coming finds.

Elle, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and Harper's Bazaar have all positively reviewed Birchbox. "Sometimes, you just don't know what you're looking for, and I think the big strength of Birchbox is that it leads you to the place of realization where it becomes abundantly clear that a product has been missing from your life," writes Insider Picks' own Connie Chen.

Pros: affordable, three subscription options, ability to buy full-size products, loyalty points go toward full-size options

Cons: customization is limited, all items are deluxe minis

The best skin-care subscription box

The best skin-care subscription box
Dermstore BeautyFIX includes a monthly selection of luxury skin-care items from some of its top brands.

Skin-care aficionados will appreciate the chance to test out luxury items available at Dermstore with the retailer's BeautyFIX subscription service. Each box boasts a $100+ retail value for just $24.95 per month, and there's also the option to make a one-time purchase for $34.95.

Unlike most similar services, Dermstore BeautyFIX allows you to see exactly what's in each month's box before you commit. The September 2019 box, for example, includes a bkr water bottle and eight sample- or full-size products including cult favorites like First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream and Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil.

While there may occasionally be a makeup item or two in the box, the emphasis is heavily on luxury skin-care backed by curators at Dermstore. "The sheer amount of products that comes in this makeup subscription box should be convincing enough to try it," according to Cosmopolitan. Editors at Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, and InStyle also love BeautyFIX.

Pros: focus on skin care, items retail for $100+, option to buy individual boxes as well as monthly subscription, full-size and samples

Cons: no customization, expensive

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The best makeup subscription box

The best makeup subscription box
Play! By Sephora provides shoppers with the chance to try out the retailer's best-selling makeup products without commitment or getting overwhelmed.

Ever makeup fan should sign up for Sephora's subscription box ASAP. Play! By Sephora is a great way to test best-selling beauty products items for just $10 a month.

Insider Picks reporter Remi Rosmarin tried out a box herself and said, "I think it's worth the money, especially if you're someone who shops at Sephora often or needs some direction when it comes to buying beauty products.

Each Play! box comes with six deluxe sample-sized items valued at up to $65 from top brands available at Sephora. There's a mix of makeup, skin-care, and hair-care, but the makeup items take center stage with popular (and often expensive) brands being featured like NARS, Tarte, NudeStix, Lancôme, TrèStique, and more.

The subscription box is directly tied in with Sephora's Beauty Insider rewards program, so you'll earn 50 points that you can redeem for more samples and freebies down the road. Plus, you'll have access to tutorials, videos, and an exclusive community group just for Play! subscribers.

There's just no option to buy full-sized products, though the deluxe sizes mean you'll get to try out the products for at least a few weeks.

Some examples from September 2019 include a NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in the shade Dance Fever and Sunday Riley A+ High Dose Retinol Serum.

Pros: comes with Sephora bonus points, excellent brands, variety of beauty items, customized for your preferences

Cons: only sample sizes, no deal on full-sized products

The best perfume subscription box

The best perfume subscription box
Scentbird gives you the chance to sample fragrances before you commit to a signature scent. Or don't — that's the beauty of a subscription box anyway.

Fragrance is probably the hardest beauty item to shop for. Even if you like a perfume at first sniff, that's not enough to tell you whether you'll still like it after it mixes with your body chemistry for eight hours. Enter Scentbird, a fragrance-focused subscription service.

For $14.95 a month, you can get a deluxe sample spray bottle (0.27 oz) of a fragrance from Scentbird's collection of 450+ scents. According to the website, the bottles should hold approximately 140 sprays — more than enough to decide if the scent is right for you.

There's an array of men's and women's scents from brands such as Prada, Tom Ford, Glossier, Malin & Goetz, Burberry, and more. Scentbird also gives you the option to pause your subscription without cancelling, so you don't need to stockpile a hoard of perfumes you aren't using.

The service has an average 4.4-star rating on the review website Influenster based on nearly 2,000 shopper reviews and has been featured on Elle. One Influenster user writes, "I love love love this service. I'm not a signature scent kinda woman so to receive a new scent every month is so my style. And then when and if I find 'the one' their prices are great."

While most Influenster reviews are positive, some note that perfume vials leaked and computer glitches led to subscriptions being overcharged. In our previous review of Scentbird, we also noted that the company experienced some shipping issues in February while it moved warehouses.

Pros: customizable, large variety of brands and scents to choose from, several plan options, can pause subscription

Cons: no curation, some reviewers complain about bottles leaking in the mail, delayed shipments, and overcharged subscriptions

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The best full-size beauty subscription box

The best full-size beauty subscription box
FabFitFun shows up on your doorstep every three months with a mix of full-size beauty and lifestyle items.

If you care less about getting only testing beauty products, FabFitFun is a great quarterly option with a mix of lifestyle items that include makeup, skin care, and more.

It shows up quarterly with 8 to 10 full-size items, so you won't get absolutely inundated with things you might not always use.

You have the option to select specific products or to have the box be a total surprise. Options might include jewelry, fitness accessories, and beauty products from brands like Korres, GlamGlow, Tarte, and more.

At $49.99, this box is obviously pricier than other options, but keep in mind that it is delivered less frequently and includes mostly full-size items. You can also become an annual member for $179.99.

"For me, the appeal is mostly in the narrowing down to make things seasonally relevant and the opportunity to have fewer, but bigger-sized, things to try out," writes Insider Picks reporter Mara Leighton in her review.

Cosmo, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, and Elle have also featured FabFitFun.

Pros: includes full-sized items, quarterly membership, option to customize each box, seasonally curated

Cons: expensive, some items might be lesser quality

What else we considered

What else we considered
  • Target Beauty Box ($7/month): Yes, even Target has its own beauty subscription box. It's a cute concept, but at $7, it's not much cheaper than other options we've listed and you're only getting drugstore brands instead of high-end luxury labels. It's not as fun or, in my opinion, as useful to get sample sizes of affordable brands.
  • Macy's Beauty Box ($15/month): Get a sampling of five beauty products from Macy's in a cute makeup bag once a month, plus $5 off your next beauty purchase at the department store. If you buy a lot of makeup at Macy's, this could be worth it, but I thought Sephora's program had more benefits.
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