These Beauty Subscription Boxes Are Ideal For Any Beauty Lover

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Things move so quickly in the beauty world that the moment you feel you finally found your holy grail makeup or skincare routine, there's a whole roster of new, products people say you can't live without. Trying to keep up with the up-and-coming must-haves of the beauty industry can be exhausting.

Luckily, beauty boxes can help you get out of the vicious cycle. If you've never heard of them, beauty boxes are subscriptions services that deliver top products right to your door. Some deliver makeup and skincare while others can send you women's perfumes, grooming tools, wellness add-ons, and more. In fact, most of them will even send samples of each product to try out before you're stuck with the full size—just in case it's not your cup of tea.

Meet the experts: Aimee Carr is a makeup artist, medical esthetician, and founder of Voodoo Makeup.

Whether you want to add to your growing beauty collection or plan on sending one of these as a gift, just know there are no shortage of options. Read on for some tips on what to consider before making a commitment.

What to consider

What's included

Some boxes include mostly travel toiletries, while others provide full-sized options or a mix of both. Are you a frequent traveler who needs smaller products that can fit into a weekender bag? Do you share your products with a partner? Do you only shop vegan products? Taking your lifestyle into consideration can help you decide what kind of box is best for you. As far as size goes, Carr suggests opting for boxes with a mix since it makes for a more enticing subscription that allows users to have long-term experiences with products.

Price

Every brand prices its boxes differently, but it ultimately comes down to what you're willing to spend. "Stay with something that's comfortable, especially if it's going to be something that you're getting monthly," says Carr. She notes that subscriptions for $30 to $40 tend to be good investments since they'd be valued at a significantly higher price if the products were sold individually. Thinking about the quality of the items and whether or not they meet your standards can also be a good guide.

Frequency

It's common for some people to get overwhelmed by the amount of products they get sent over time. That said, it might be helpful to consider how many items you can realistically go through within a month before picking a delivery option. "The average consumer wants to take time to get familiar with the products, and if they get too many [deliveries] too often, they're never going to use the product to its full potential," says Carr.

How we selected

For the past year, Women’s Health editors, including editorial assistant Sabrina Talbert, researched the bestselling, most popular, top-rated beauty subscription boxes. Our team consulted one makeup artist and a group of anonymous testers. We then evaluated thousands of customer reviews and ratings to narrow down the eight best beauty subscription boxes for a wide range of needs and preferences.

Ready to shop? Ahead, check out our list of the best beauty subscription boxes of 2024.

Additional reporting from Yasmine Xiao, Chelsea Burns, Jamie Spanfeller, and Yasmine Maggio

The Glam Bag

Ipsy’s Glam Bags are filled with a range of products from a mix of indie to cult-favorite and well-known brands. It's perfect for beginners who are still dipping their toe in the beauty pond. All you'll have to do is take a quick quiz and five goodies will be custom-selected just for you. You'll also get one extra pick of your choice to add to your box.

Each month, you can visit the Ipsy website to see which products are in the monthly line up. It also shows which products will be available in full size. By the way, your products will come in a new makeup bag every time, so prepare to have a growing collection. For as low as $14, you're definitely getting a deal that's worth the hype.

Compared to the other options on this list, Ipsy stands out as the overall pick because it delivers on both quality and quantity at a price that is accessible to a wide variety of consumers. The interface of the website is easy to navigate, making the sign up and selection process easy. Their quiz is also very thorough, meaning users are more likely to get items that feel personal to them.

FOR THIS ONE, CAN WE ADD A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY ITS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE OTHER ONES ON THIS LIST SINCE IT'S THE BEST OVERALL?

Seasonal Box

While FabFitFun has a focus on beauty, the iconic subscription box also gets you full-sized fitness, wellness, and even home products (think sunglasses, faux fur blankets, and cute reusable water bottles) alongside the best skincare and makeup must-haves of the season for you to play around with. If you end up disliking the products listed, you can simply swap your box out for credits to shop. But don't worry, you can also shop curated weekly sales on the site whenever you'd like.

Compared to something like Ipsy, this box is perfect for someone who's mostly looking for full-size products. It's also good for those who are concerned about getting too many beauty products in such a short span of time since this box only comes four times a year. <ADDRESSED-ST Bonus: if you find a cheaper version of their products on another site, FabFitFun will match the price.

TestTube

This bi-monthly box is all about luxury minimalism. Your box features tons of full-sized products from perfumes and lash serum to hair mist and face masks, plus more from luxe brands like Tatcha and NatureLab. Your membership also includes a print subscription to NewBeauty mag. The small publication covers the latest trends and products in the industry.

If you want to gift TestTube to a loved one or friend, you can also get a prepaid plan that covers anywhere from six months to a year. Some boxes are super selective about whose products make their box, but TestTube actually has an available contact on their site for anyone with an upcoming brand to be considered. In other words, you're more likely to get some variety in your monthly delivery.

Monthly Subscription Box

If brand recognition is important to you, Boxy Charm carries only the best of the best makeup and skincare lines out there. Take their online beauty quiz, and they'll cater your monthly picks from Milk Makeup, Too Faced, Mac, Tarte, Benefit, and more to your unique likes and desires. You can start out by just getting a three or six-month subscription just to see how you like it before committing to the annual plan.

While some boxes only provide travel-sized items, Boxy Charm sends you five full-sized products every time (three of which you get to choose). Plus, you get access to a members-only online store and up to 80 percent off retail prices. Yes, you read that right.

Birchbox

Birchbox is a must-have for picky beauty queens who love trying lots of products before committing to perfection. Whether you’re in the market for that new dry shampoo people have been raving about or are curious about that metallic eyeshadow trend, Birchbox has you covered. Like many other boxes on this list, they'll cater everything to your personal preferences.

In each delivery, you'll get five to six makeup and skincare items from some of the best brands out there. As far as size goes, you can select from samples, travel-size, and full-sized items. <KEPT THIS AND CHANGED CON-ST They also have a shop that's even available to non-Birchbox users.

Bi-Monthly Subscription

Each Tribe Beauty Box comes with five makeup products from incredible indie, female-owned beauty brands. The bi-monthly box will keep you ahead of the curve on makeup trends, guaranteeing you get to be the one who tried it before all your makeup-loving friends. All the items in the box are full-sized and each delivery is worth up to $120.

If you don't want to do monthly payments, you can also pre-order up to six boxes in advance for $215. Admittedly, the price for half a year's worth of deliveries is similar to the price of annual subscription prices for other brands. But given the quality of the boxes, it's worth the splurge.

Beauty Box Monthly Subscription Plan

Dana, the founder of Cocotique, founded her company after struggling to find beauty and hair products made for women of color. Now, she tests each product so you don't have to. The result: a box full of five to eight full, deluxe, and travel-sized beauty and self-care products catered towards women of color delivered straight to your door.

If you get a product that you end up loving and would like more of, you can buy it right off the Cocotique website. Most subscription boxes don't offer rewards programs, but this one will offer CocoHearts, which can get you discounts as high as 20 percent or $30 off. You can earn hearts by reviewing product samples, following the brand on social media, completing surveys, and more.

Scent-sational Monthly Subscription

Love a good quality perfume, but don't have the budget—or the desire—to commit to buying a big bottle of the latest designer favorite? Enter: Scentbird. For less than $20 a pop, this monthly subscription service mails you a new designer fragrance from the likes of Prada, Acqua di Parma, and Versace.

The sleek, matte containers they come in are super chic, and you'll also get access to the brands full catalog after you subscribe. Each bottle is about eight milliliters (worth roughly 120 sprays), which is just enough to get a sense of whether you're a fan or not. Just take the fragrance quiz, and pick what you'd like from their bestsellers list.

Shop more subscription boxes

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