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The Best Beauty Subscription Boxes Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Best Beauty Subscription Boxes of 2024

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The Best Beauty Subscription Boxes Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

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1
Editor's Choice Product image of Boxycharm
Best Overall

Boxycharm

Check Price at Boxycharm (Monthly)

Boxycharm contains five, full-sized, high-end products. It includes an in-depth survey, and the products are well worth the price of subscription. Read More

Pros

  • Five full-size products
  • Great variety
  • Includes high-end brands

Cons

  • None that we could find
2
Product image of Allure

Allure

Check Price at Allure

A great subscription box choice with eight full- and sample-size products and a great variety. Read More

Pros

  • Some full-size products
  • Great variety

Cons

  • Not customizable
3
Product image of Ipsy

Ipsy

Check Price at Ipsy (Monthly)

The Ipsy Glam Bag is a compact set of five products, ranging from store brands to other, rarer ones. Its simplicity is excellent for beginners. Read More

Pros

  • Some full-size products

Cons

  • Less variety
4
Product image of Petit Vour The Vegan Beauty Box

Petit Vour The Vegan Beauty Box

Check Price at Petit Vour

This cute, small subscription box offers a great variety, but not very well known brands. Read More

Pros

  • Small packaging
  • Great variety
  • Great value

Cons

  • Lesser-known brands
5
Product image of Dermstore

Dermstore

Check Price at Dermstore

A box with 6+ full- and sample-size products that offers luxury brands you may otherwise not try. Read More

Pros

  • Some full-size products
  • Very high quality brands

Cons

  • Not customizable
  • Less variety
  • Best Overall Boxycharm
  • How We Tested Beauty Subscription Boxes
  • What You Should Know About Beauty Subscription Boxes
  • Other Beauty Subscription Boxes We Tested
  • More Articles You Might Enjoy

No matter your skill level with skincare and makeup, beauty subscription boxes are a great way to learn about a variety of popular products that could become your new must-haves. For makeup and skincare junkies who love trying new products, the boxes provide that fix and keep your vanity in constant rotation with new goodies. And for those just dipping their toes into the nuances of beauty items like concealer and dry shampoo, the boxes serve as a great introduction.

The ideal beauty box subscription, at least to this beauty editor, is one that’s customizable at the time or ordering, meaning that it asks you to fill out a survey with your preferences to make sure you receive items that you’ll put to use. A great beauty box also includes a variety of products for different parts of the skincare and makeup routine (e.g., eye cream, face serum, sheet masks, bronzer, mascara). After testing seven popular subscription boxes, Boxycharm (available at Boxycharm (Monthly)) rose through the ranks as our Best Overall, with its inclusion of five full-size skincare and makeup products from a variety of high-end, drugstore, and indie brands with a total value that far exceeds the cost of the box. Ready for your new favorite beauty purchase?

These are the best beauty subscription boxes we tested ranked, in order:

  1. Boxycharm
  2. Allure Beauty Box
  3. Ipsy Glam Bag
  4. Petit Vour Vegan Beauty Box
  5. Dermstore Beauty Fix
  6. Birchbox
  7. Glossybox
  8. FabFitFun
    A box from Boxycharm's subscription.
    Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

    Boxycharm offers five full-size products.

Best Overall
Boxycharm

There’s no denying that you get your money’s worth with Boxycharm. This customizable box includes five full-size products from a variety of brands, including high-end ones you’d find at Sephora, like Glamglow, Farmacy, Fenty Beauty, Milk Makeup, and more. In both shipments I received during my testing, one product alone cost more than the box itself, making this box an amazing value.

After signing up for the box, I was prompted to complete a survey that was very detailed, asking me about my eye and hair color, my skin’s undertones (i.e., if my skin skews rosier/warmer, yellower/cooler, or neutral), and my preferences, including my skincare concerns and what skincare products I like the most. The survey was lengthy, but I didn’t mind, as it made me feel like I’d get a box catered well to me.

When my box was sent out, I received an email notification to my email that the box would arrive within three to six days—and it did. Despite choosing “some skincare, some makeup” on the survey, my box, which arrived with the items arranged neatly inside, contained a majority makeup. But because most of the five items were from recognizable brands—I got Glamglow, Clarins, Farmacy—and hit on different parts of the makeup routine, I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, Glamglow MoistureTrip Omega Rich Face Moisturizer retails for $55, or more than double the amount of the $25 box.

You can cancel your subscription on the website with the click of a few buttons, but you’ll notice that the button to “stay a charmer” is a bright pink rectangular box, but the continuation of cancellation is in gray words with no box around them. This isn’t an unusual tactic, in my experience, so I didn’t dock any points for ease of cancellation. A monthly subscription costs $25 per box, a three-month subscription costs $70 or $23.33 per box, a six-month subscription costs $138 or $23 per box, and a 12-month subscription costs $275 or $22.92 per box.

If you love trying new beauty products or you want to add more into your collection, I’m positive you’ll love this box. The best part, to me, is that it gives full-size products. Not only is that a great value, but it allows you to fully form an opinion on the product, especially if it’s something like skincare that may take time to get used to. I’m confident that anyone can find at least one product they love in this box, and that one product will likely cost more in store than your subscription fee for Boxycharm.

Pros

  • Five full-size products

  • Great variety

  • Includes high-end brands

Cons

  • None that we could find

Buy now at Boxycharm (Monthly)

How We Tested Beauty Subscription Boxes

The Tester

Hi, I'm Jessica, the lifestyle writer and resident beauty expert at Reviewed. It should go without saying (given the nature of my job) that I’m passionate about trying out makeup, skincare, and hair care. This led me to try the winner of our previous beauty box test, the now-discontinued Play! By Sephora beauty box a few years back before I worked for Reviewed. That was my first and only time subscribing to a beauty or lifestyle box and I learned that I always looked forward to getting the products, but I’d often use them up very quickly because of the sample size amount, and then not purchase the full-size versions because of the price. For that reason, when I tested these boxes, I paid attention to which ones gave me products that I could get a lot of uses out of at a variety of prices.

The Tests

The best beauty box
Credit: Julep, Sephora

I ordered seven of the most popular beauty subscription boxes, filled out the surveys for the ones that had them, and waited for each one to arrive. Before scoring the boxes, I waited to receive two shipments (one per month) of each, so that I’d have a better idea of how the subscription looked after the initial ordering—mostly, I wanted to know that the box wouldn’t only be great for the first month because I was a new member. (This article will be updated when the second FabFitFun box, which ships quarterly, arrives.)

Reviewed’s senior scientist, Julia MacDougall, created a calibrated rubric, which I filled out upon each box’s arrival. I rated the boxes based on the following attributes:

  • Ordering process: How in-depth did the survey feel? Was I notified that the box would be arriving soon? How long did it take for the box to arrive?

  • Presentation: How nicely was the box packaged?

  • Variation: Were the products well-matched to my survey answers? What was the general and relative quality of the products? Were there instructions for how to use the products?

  • Product quality and value: Is this beauty box worth its price? How did the cost of the subscription box compare to the total retail cost of the products in the box?

  • Cancellation: How easy was it to cancel the beauty box subscription?

What You Should Know About Beauty Subscription Boxes

Though customization is an attribute that did not get weighted on our rubric, it’s important to document. For some companies, you’ll fill out a survey about your hair, makeup, and skincare preferences either before or right after you purchase a box. Some surveys require fewer details, asking questions about your hair and eye colors and skin type and tone, or asking whether you’re more interested in skincare, makeup, or hair care. Other surveys are very in-depth, asking for your preference in brands, how often you use particular products (like face oils or foundations), what colors you’d wear most often in certain types of products (like eyeshadow palettes or lipsticks), and more.

Some companies, whether they include a survey or not, may email you before the box ships to ask you if you want to choose a particular product from that month’s rotation at no additional cost. (To be clear, you’re not receiving an extra product—just ensuring that your box includes whichever one you select.) I never opted into customization beyond the survey because I think part of testing the service is seeing how well it chooses products for the user. When I refer to a box as “customizable,” I’m only indicating that it includes a survey.


Other Beauty Subscription Boxes We Tested

A box from Allure Beauty Box's subscription.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Allure Beauty Box includes eight full- and sample-sized goodies.

Product image of Allure
Allure Beauty Box

While I was testing, this box, “curated by Allure editors,” included eight full-size and sample-size makeup and skincare products from high-end, drugstore, and indie brands. In the included pamphlet, each editor explains why they love the product they chose and tips they have on using it, which I think is a great and unique touch. In my experience, a single full-size product in this box costs more than the monthly subscription, making it a great value. You can subscribe to this box monthly for $23 a month or $250 a year ($20.83 per box).

If you value variety over full-size items, I’d go with this box, as it includes a wider range of brands than the Dermstore Beauty Fix and contains three more products than Boxycharm.

The only drawback of the Allure box is that it’s not the easiest to cancel. In the fine print of your confirmation email, you’ll see that it tells you to call or email customer service to cancel, but it does not generate an automatic reply when you click the email button, nor does it tell you what information to include in the email to customer service.

At the time of publication, Allure announced that upcoming boxes will cost $8 more per month (making it $23) and include six products or more (rather than eight) products with at least three full-sized ones—all of which should value at $100. We’re testing the “major upgrade” and will update this article once we receive two additional boxes.

Pros

  • Some full-size products

  • Great variety

Cons

  • Not customizable

Buy now at Allure
A contents from Ipsy Glam Bag's subscription.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Ipsy Glam Bag comes with five full- and sample-sized items.

Product image of Ipsy
Ipsy Glam Bag

In a small makeup bag no bigger than a pencil case, the Ipsy Glam Bag includes five full- and sample-size products in the makeup and skincare categories. Instead of the bag arriving in a box, it’s inside a pink bubble wrap envelope with any products that don’t fit inside the bag loose in the pouch (I received a makeup brush that didn’t fit, for example). I liked the no-frills packaging, which differed from the tissue paper or confetti-filled boxes I’d received from other brands on this list.

I recognized some of the brands as ones carried at Sephora or Ulta, but I also received ones I hadn’t heard of, like Estate Cosmetics or Jonteblu (both available on the companies’ respective sites, on Ipsy’s site, or on Amazon). About two of these products is equal to the cost of the monthly subscription, which is the cheapest on this list.

This bag is also a great option for beginners, as it gives tips on how to use the products and mostly everything, including the full-size items, are small enough to fit in the pouch, so you don’t need to dedicate much room to your new collection of beauty products.

You can subscribe to this box for $12 monthly or $132 yearly (averaging $11 per box). This box is easy to cancel—which I imagine some might do sooner than others, if you don’t need any more makeup bags. But like Boxycharm, you need to pay close attention, as the buttons about pausing the membership are more prominent than the ones to continue the cancelation. Then, once you’ve navigated the cancelation process on the site, you have to confirm it in your email.

Pros

  • Some full-size products

Cons

  • Less variety

Buy now at Ipsy (Monthly)
A small cardboard box containing three beauty products and paper confetti.
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Petit Vour Vegan Beauty Box offers four full- and mini-sized products.

Product image of Petit Vour The Vegan Beauty Box
Petit Vour Vegan Beauty Box

Despite the Petit Vour Vegan Beauty Box’s name, I didn’t expect this box to be so petite. The 6.5-by-4.5-inch box comes with a helpful card that describes the four products inside and provides the dollar value of each one. The skincare, haircare, makeup items are nestled inside paper confetti, which makes for a cute display that’s easy to dispose of.

Each month, you’ll receive four full- or mini-sized products valued over $50 total from brands that claim to be “non-toxic,” “cruelty-free,” and vegan. In the two months I received the box, I saw brands like Earthwise Beauty, Rahua, Andalou Naturals, Elate Cosmetics, Derma-E, and Three Ships and products such as a face serum, hair mask, eyeliner, and cleanser. While I recognize some of the brands, I wasn’t thrilled by the products I received—I would prefer high-end brands you’d find at Sephora or Ulta. Still, the products matched my preferences. For example, I noted that I prefer black eyeliner over other colors, so that’s what I received. The survey process was also easy and as in-depth as it needed to be without going overboard—it took about five minutes or less. The cancellation process was also simple.

What I enjoyed most about this box was its commitment to minimal packaging, its variety of product types that target each part of my beauty routine, and the explainers of each item with notes of the price. You can get this box for $18 a month in the U.S. with the ability to cancel any time or $15 per month ($180 a year) for a year-long lock-in.

Pros

  • Small packaging

  • Great variety

  • Great value

Cons

  • Lesser-known brands

Buy now at Petit Vour
A box from Dermstore Beauty Fix's subscription.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Dermstore Beauty Fix includes at least six full- or sample-sized products.

Product image of Dermstore
Dermstore Beauty Fix

The Dermstore Beauty Fix box offers a mix of “6+” full- and sample-size products—all of which are from high-end or very well-known brands, such as Nuori, Vichy, Bioderma, and Skinceuticals. If the two boxes I received are any indication of a pattern, the full-size item retails for much more than the cost of the box, making the box feel like a steal.

The box claims to include skincare, hair care, and makeup, but I only received the two out of those three in both of my boxes—of the 12 items in my two boxes, I got only skincare items, with the exception of a very small hair product sample. You’re unable to customize this box either by general preferences or by selecting specific items: Every customer who orders this box receives the same items, “handpicked by a team of beauty pros.” Other boxes, like Boxycharm, vary slightly from person to person depending on preferences. The only subscription plan for this box is monthly and it costs $24.95 per box.

If you frequently shop at Dermstore, you’ll love this box because you’ll recognize all the brands and be able to buy them again on your favorite site. In the event that you don’t love the box, or decide you have too many products—if that’s even possible!—this is very easy to cancel, with only a few steps on the Dermstore site.

Pros

  • Some full-size products

  • Very high quality brands

Cons

  • Not customizable

  • Less variety

Buy now at Dermstore
A box from Birchbox's subscription.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

Birchbox includes six products in the box.

Product image of Birchbox
Birchbox

Though it’s toward the bottom of this list, Birchbox is not a bad option—just not the best. The customizable box includes six makeup, skincare, and hair care products in mostly sample sizes. The customization process includes a not-very-detailed survey. Given that I love beauty products, this box didn’t miss the mark, but it didn’t feel tailored specifically to me—maybe because the survey didn’t ask me a lot about my preferences, so I assume Birchbox can’t tailor it to me.

About two products are equal to the price of the subscription, so it’s on par with the Ipsy Glam Bag and Glossybox. However, Birchbox doesn’t have any instructions or tips for some products and very vague tips for some, like, “apply as the last step of your skincare routine,” that won’t help a beginner.

A monthly subscription box costs $15 per box, a six-month plan costs $14 per box, and 12 months costs $13 per box. It's really easy to find the cancel button on the site and once it’s clicked, it asks you why you're leaving, and then it says you're canceled.

Pros

  • Good variety

Cons

  • Mostly sample sizes

  • Doesn't feel customized despite survey

Buy now at Birchbox (Monthly)
A box from Glossybox's subscription.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

Glossybox comes with six items in full and sample sizes

Product image of Glossybox
Glossybox

Glossybox includes six skincare, makeup, and hair care items in full and sample sizes. I liked that this box evenly balanced skin, hair, and makeup products, but I wished there was a better variety of brands. I can find some of the products I received at the drugstore (e.g., a dry shampoo from Psssst! and a lip balm from Freeman). But I hadn’t previously heard of other brands in the box (Jecca Blac and Codex Beauty, to name a couple) and a Google search indicates that I can’t buy them at high-end stores like Sephora or drugstores.

I had to add the prices of two to three products to equal the subscription fee, but that’s still a deal, considering you get six products in total. One area this box stands out is that it gives specific instructions on how to use the products in the box. Boxycharm and Dermstore don’t give any information on how to use the products beyond what’s printed on the bottles, and Allure only tells you how that one specific editor uses it. For someone who wants to spruce up their vanity but could use some extra information and instructions for better results, this box is a great option.

The box also allows some customization, but if you opt not to complete your profile, you’ll receive whatever items Glossybox puts in there. A monthly subscription costs $21 per box, a three-month subscription requires one upfront payment of $58.50 ($19.50 per box), a six-month subscription requires one upfront payment of $111 ($18.50 per box), and a 12-month subscription costs one upfront payment of $210 or recurring payments of $17.50 per month.

If you want out of your subscription, you need to click a few buttons to navigate to the cancelation page from the Glossybox home page, but once you do, the click of a single button cancels your subscription with zero follow-up questions or unnecessary hoops to jump through.

Pros

  • Some full-size products

  • Includes product usage tips

Cons

  • Less variety

  • Lower quality brands

Buy now at Glossybox (Monthly)
A box from FabFitFun's subscription.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

FabFitFun comes with a smattering of lifestyle products.

Product image of FabFitFun
FabFitFun

Unlike all of the other boxes on this list, FabFitFun expands beyond beauty into fashion, fitness, decor, and more. When I took the extremely detailed, lengthy survey, I put an emphasis on my interest in beauty products, as I wanted to see the brand’s best offerings in that category and see how it stacks up amongst the beauty-only boxes on this list.

This box disappointed me the most, as all of the products in it, beauty included, looked like ones I could find at T.J. Maxx. I’m a Maxxinista, so this is not a bad thing, but I point this out not to say that it means the brands aren’t valuable, but that I could get them at already-low prices elsewhere. Still, the pamphlet that comes with the box lists some products as retailing for upwards of $100. Besides my perceived value (which doesn’t match the pamphlet), I would never buy some of the products, like a bracelet that wasn’t my taste or a gimmicky-sounding hair oil that claims to relieve stress.

If this included more well-known beauty brands and the other included products were fun extras that suited my style, I would have felt comfortable recommending it as a beauty box with bonuses worth the higher price tag, but instead, I’d say skip this.

Pros

  • Great variety

Cons

  • Low quality

  • Doesn't feel customized despite survey

Buy now at FabFitFun (Quarterly)

Meet the tester

Jessica Kasparian

Jessica Kasparian

Beauty Editor

@jkasparian_

Jessica writes and edits beauty content as a member of Reviewed's commerce team and manages a beauty TikTok called Beautorial. She's spent four years testing makeup, skincare, hair care, and body care products, and she acts as Reviewed's beauty expert.

Jessica represented Reviewed's beauty section at CES in-person and virtually for four years, and she was nominated for and graduated from the Gannett Emerging Leaders 2021-2022 program.

Jessica holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Emerson College, and she's written for Scary Mommy, 7News, Boston.com, Citizine, and Boston Common Magazine.

See all of Jessica Kasparian's reviews

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