Beauty bags from Love Me Beauty
Beauty subscriptions boxes have been a mainstay of this blog for the last few years, providing endless possibilities for reviews and unboxings and even a DIY post or two. I have only ever subscribed to two brands, Glossybox (the original) and more recently, Love Me Beauty. Whilst I can only really discuss my thoughts on those two brands, I thought it might be nice to chat about the idea and whether I feel they are worth the money or not.
Monthly subscription boxes are all the rage and you can now subscribe to all sorts of differently themed boxes pertaining to things outside of beauty as well as the classic cosmetic-filled types. I loved the idea of a subscription box initially as I thought it would be a really good way to try products outside of my comfort zone-things I wouldn't normally buy or try-and also with the inclusion of full sized products in most boxes, you'll often end up with products worth more than the cost of the box itself.
I started my subscription box journey with Glossybox in 2012, and, in the beginning, the relationship was a good one-I got some excellent products and the collaborations were really premium-my first box was the Glossybox x Harrods collab. The whole subscription was a bit of a rollercoaster-some months were fantastic, others a little less exciting. Fast forward 2 years and the collaboration is with Superdrug-not being snobby at all, here, as Superdrug is a great budget beauty store, but when advertising your brand as 'premium' I think it is important to consider whether the brands that you partner with reflect that ethic. I had some loyalty points to use up (enabling me to get the following months box free) but after that I cancelled my subscription. I just found I was getting too much I wasn't using-purple eyeliners, fake tan, concealers in any shade but mine, dodgy nail polishes. I decided I'd rather take my subscription fee each month and buy something nice with it that I actually wanted and/or needed instead.
I did buy my mum a 3 month subscription for Mother's Day one year and I think this was a really useful offering by Glossybox. She loved it, as someone who rarely buys herself anything I think it was a nice treat to give and she tried lots of different products and brands she wouldn't have otherwise perhaps known about. Despite this I wouldn't re-subscribe to the product as I just felt it ended up being a bit of a waste of money.
The Love Me Beauty subscription came about after I saw a review of the brand on YouTube. This is a slightly different idea in that you subscribe each month to get credits, which you then spend in the Love Me Beauty boutique. Essentially, it means you don't get products sent to you that you won't use, because you have chosen them-so you can ensure you have the correct shades, or if there is a particular item you need, you can select it. The downside to this was that the boutique was quite limited-often I would struggle to find things to spend my credits on, and also, at least twice I was sent orders with products missing, which was frustrating. I had a rolling subscription to this service but I have now cancelled it-I felt that the product selection just wasn't worth my money as I ended up picking products just to spend my credits, rather than buying items I actually really needed. However, I did find that all the items I bought were of good quality, and the brands definitely seemed more premium than those offered by Glossybox.
In sum, beauty subscription boxes are a really lovely idea. I think they make excellent gifts and they are also a good way of starting off your makeup or skincare collection, if you are just getting into beauty, and enable you to try samples of products or from brands you might not necessarily buy into otherwise. I think for me, however, that my money is better spent elsewhere, which is why I've cancelled my subscriptions, but I would never say never to picking them up again in the future-if the offer was particularly good. As the market gets increasingly crowded, beauty subscription boxes have had to up their game, offering better discounts and higher end products, so it's definitely worth keeping an eye on the services if you are interested in beauty.
XO Amie
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