We all need some frivolity in our lives, and my current one is subscription boxes. These are boxes of (usually) mystery products that arrive in your mailbox monthly or quarterly. They are sort of an update on the “fruit of the month” clubs of yesteryear, and while they encompass almost all types of products, most of the most popular boxes are beauty/fashion or toy related. What they do is combine the elements of gambling and surprise, and allow for some self-gifting at generally reasonable prices. Giving a good value is not easy, however, and not all boxes succeed. For every box that sends quality products, there is another that sells re-packed overpriced junk form China.
I’ve been giving many boxes a try, in particular those that have a good discount for their first box (if you do this, remember to cancel in time if you don’t want to be charged for future months), and finding the gems among the duds. Here is what I think of the subscriptions so far, divided by subject and with cute emoticons:
❤ Love it! ☺ Like it ☁ Just OK ☹ Don’t like it ☠ Avoid!
✈ Box is on its way ✹ Currently subscribed to
ARTISAN
GlobeIn Artisan Box ($35/month)
GlobeIn sends out products made by small-scale artisans all over the world. Lately, boxes tend to follow a theme (e.g. laundry, cozy fall). Items come in a small hand-made Mexican basket. The boxes are pretty cool, but I’m not currently subscribed because they are relatively expensive. Read my GlobeIn Artisan Box review
❤ Out of the Box Sampler ($27/month)
This is a box of handmade samples of items from artisans throughout the US. According to the site, these include “melts, scrubs, bath, body, tarts, candles, gourmet foods, jewelry, coupons, discounts and cards”. You don’t subscribe to this box, but rather you have to order it monthly. It goes on sale on the first Monday of the month and boxes sell out quickly (as in within 12 hours). Read my Out of the Box review
BEAUTY
These are boxes that send out “deluxe” (i.e. large) samples or full-size of makeup, nail polish or skin-care, hair-care or bath products.
❤ Allure Beauty Thrills ($55/3 times a year)
This box comes out 3 times a year in May August and December. It features a wide arrangement of full size bath and beauty products. They are all drug store brands, and some on the cheaper end of the spectrum (e.g. Suave). The total value of the box I got was $200 and they were mostly useful products. You can subscribe to 3 boxes a year by pre-paying or buy one at the time, but sales only open three times a year. Read my Allure Beauty Thrills reviews.
☺ Allure Beauty Box ($15/month)
Allure Beauty Box sends you five deluxe beauty samples. The boxes generally have larger samples than Birchbox. It’s a good box for the price. Read my Allure Sample Society review.
☠ Beauty Box Five ($12/month)
BBF offers five large samples or full size products. They are mostly drugstore brands, however, and the products seem to be sourced from overstock liquidators. You can often find the same stuff they include at the dollar store. I got this subscription seduced by a BOGO offer – but the boxes are not worth even half the $12 price. Read my Beauty Box Five reviews.
☺ Beauty DNA ($25/month)
Beauty DNA sends you one full-size beauty product every month picked for you based on an extensive questionnaire. Read my Beauty DNA review.
☺ Beauty Fix by DermStore ($25/month)
Beauty Fix is the monthly subscription box sent by DermStore, a subsidiary of Target. The boxes used to incredibly high value and had several high-price, full size products, but lately they’ve gone down in value and mostly include samples. Still, you can now get your first box for $12.5, no coupon needed – though you have to call to unsubscribe. Read my Beauty Fix reviews.
❤✹ Birchbox ($10/month)
This is the box that started the whole subscription box fad. It includes 5 large samples of beauty products. They are mostly less well known, mid-priced brands. Many but not all their products are ingredient conscious. Birchbox allows you to accumulate points by reviewing products that you can then use to buy stuff from their online store, including gift subscriptions. I’ve been fairly happy with this subscription because it’s cheap, it allows me to discover new products I’d never buy otherwise, and they have great customer service. Read my Birchbox reviews.
❤ DermStore Grab Bags ($30-$45, one time only)
DermStore, the same company that sells the Beauty Fix box, offers grab bags of assorted products for $30 to $45. The bags have a value of $125 to $250. I got a couple and I was quite happy with them, but YMMV. Note: use this link to register with DermStore and you *may* get $10 off your purchase. Read my DermStore Grab Bags reviews.
☠ French Box ($24/month – discontinued)
Frenchbox is supposed to send 5 of “the latest products from France”. Instead, it’s February box featured two expired products – including a serum made in China – which they apparently got from AliBaba. The company that made the serum cautioned consumers to not use it. After much, much criticism from clients, FrenchBox apologized and promised to send two new products to make up for the expired ones. Those products also ended up being old/discontinued. Read my Frenchbox “review”. Update: French Box has revamped its subscription model. It’s now $36 and comes every other month.
☺ Goodebox Bonus Box ($20/one time box)
Goodebox is a subscription box offering natural cosmetics. Once in a while they have mystery boxes featuring overstock samples from past boxes. I grabbed one this month and was quite pleased both with the range and quality of the products. Read my Goodebox Bonus box review.
☁Ipsy ($10/month)
Ipsy offers 5 deluxe beauty samples which come in a small makeup bag. It’s more geared towards a younger audience; I got a subscription for my 13-yo but finally unsubscribed because they were sending too many makeup items made in China. When you subscribe they put you in a “waiting list”, but you can get out of it by e-mailing customer service. Read my Ipsy reviews.
☁ Julep Maven ($24/month – first box: $3)
Each month you get two nail polishes and another full size makeup item. You can customize your box, take the month’s box or skip a month. When you sign up you can get a welcome box for just $3 shipping by using this link and entering the code given in that page. Welcome boxes change from time to time, I signed up to get the St. Patrick’s Day box Cancel needs to be done by phone. The Julep Mystery boxes are a better deal, though. Read my Julep Maven review.
☺ Julep Mystery Box ($25/one-time boxes)
Julep also puts out mystery boxes that include both nail polish and makeup items. They tend to include twice as much stuff as a regular maven box, for essentially the same price, though you are not guaranteed anything in particular (unless they announce it). If you’re willing to gamble with nail polish colors, it’s a great deal. Read my Julep Mystery Box review.
☺ Kloverbox ($25/month – first box $22.50)
Kloverbox carries all natural products, emphasizing on artisan and organic. The boxes are very well curated. Read my Kloverbox reviews.
☺Petit Vour ($15/month)
It sends four large samples of natural/vegan products a month, often from small producers. I tried it for one month and really liked one of the products, liked another and had no use for the other two. I may try it again in the future. Read my Petit Vour review.
☺ Target Beauty Box ($5 – 10/one-time boxes)
Target has been putting out sample boxes about once a month. They are not subscription boxes, so you need to order them when they come out. They feature a combination of full size and sample products, the sort of brands carried at Target, but for only $5-10. Read my Target Beauty Box reviews.
☺ Whole Foods Beauty Bag (prices vary/occasional)
Every so often, Whole Foods puts out a bag with samples of mostly natural products. You need to buy them at the store, but they are a good deal. Read my review of the Whole Foods Beauty Bag.
CLOTHING
☁ FabKids ($30/month, first box: $15) for a chidren’s outfit size 2T to 12.
FabKids is an online subscription for children outfits. For girls, outfits consist mostly of either of a t-shirt and pants or of a dress and tights. You pay $30 a month and get to chose an outfit. You can skip any month. The outfits are stylish and nicely cut but they are made of polyester (but heavy polyester). I think they’re too expensive at $30, but I’m a bargain shopper and my kids have lots of clothing from thrift stores. FabKids usually offers 50% off the first outfit – and sometimes they’re even free. Keep an eye for offers. Cancelling took about 5 minutes in the phone. Read my FabKids review.
CRAFTS
☺ Darby Girl ($19/every 2 months) for a tween craft kit
Darby Girl sends you a craft kit designed for the tween in your life every other month. My daughter was very happy with her first Darby Girl kit, but it wasn’t a great value. Read my Darby Girl reviews.
☺Darby Smart ($19/month) for a full craft kit
Darby Smart sends you all you need to do a craft every month. I liked that the crafts they send are things that I haven’t done before. I’ve enjoyed the kits I’ve gotten so far, but I found out they have a tween’s subscription, so I’m thinking of singing up for that one instead. Use coupon HOWDYDARBY to get $10-off your first kit. Read my Darby Smart reviews
FOOD
As I live in the Bay Area, with access to many international markets, I’m not the perfect market for food boxes – be they of the snack or the gourmet product variety. However, I am planning to check them out if they have a very good first box deal.
☁ Candy Club ($34/month) for 2 – 3 lbs old fashioned candy
The candy is perfectly fine, but it’s ridiculously overpriced. Read my Candy Club review.
☁ Love with Food ($12/20/29/month for regular/deluxe/gluten-free boxes), mostly non-too-bad-for-you commercial snacks.
Love with Food sends a variety of commercially packaged snacks (as opposed to bakery-produced), both from major and minor brands. They tend to send stuff without too many bad things in them. The company advertises heavily and is quite popular, but their boxes are quite a bad value ($7 worth of snacks for $12). This box may be a particularly good alternative to people who don’t have many options at the grocery store. You can get your first regular box for 50% off and they have groupons for the large box for $9 (+$2 shipping). Read my Love with Food review.
☁ OrangeGlad ($22/month)
Good treats but too expensive for what you get. Read my OrangeGlad Review.
GEEK
These are boxes that mostly come with t-shirts, comic books and collectibles from movies, comic-books and games popular with the geeky crowd.
☺✹ Horror Block ($30/month, first box: $25)
This box comes from Canada and it’s not cheap. However, my daughter has been very happy with what she’s gotten in it. Read my Horror Block reviews.
☺Loot Crate ($20/month – first box $17)
Loot Crate is probably the most popular of the Geek boxes, and I have to admit that it is a pretty good box with pretty good value. They give you tons of geeky stuff, if that’s what you are into. I got my husband a box with a Groupon, but it wasn’t really his thing so we unsubscribed. My 10-yo, however, liked most of the stuff. There are usually coupons around for $3 off your first box. Read my Loot Crate reviews.
JEWELRY
☁ Cate & Chloe ($40/month) for 2 pieces of jewelry
C&C offers mostly delicate, classic jewelry, with lots of cubic zirconia. The pieces look nice and they seem well made (then again, they are rather simple), but they are silver/gold plated at best which is outrageous given the prices. You can find similar looking pieces at Ali Express for just a few dollars. Read my Cate & Chloe review.
☁ Wantable Accessories ($36/month) for 3 – 4 pieces of jewelry.
Wantable has 3 boxes: intimates, makeup and accessories. I got the latter using a 30% off discount no longer current (but wait until another one comes up before subscribing). I’m on the fence on this subscription. I liked two of the items I got, hated the other two. I was OK with the box for $28, would have felt ripped off if I’d paid $36. Read my Wantable Accessories review.
LIFESTYLE
☺ ✹ Bespoke Post ($45/month)
This is a subscription box for men, but many women subscribe to it. I tried it using a groupon. Bespoke makes boxes around a theme, containing 1-5 items. Every month you get to choose between getting that month’s default box or one of the other ones they have available (at least half a dozen), so you always get what you want. If you don’t like any of the choices, you can skip that month. It’s a great deal, in particular if you can get a groupon. Read my Bespoke Post reviews.
✈ Ecocentric Mom: Mom Box ($24/month)
This is a monthly subscription of assorted items. I got a promo for one box free, so we’ll see how it is. 
☺ ✹ FabFitFun ($50/quarter)
This is a quarterly subscription that includes fashion, beauty products and other things. It tends to be a phenomenal value, though only if you like the items included. Cancelling is a pain. Read my FabFitFun reviews
❤ ✹ Little Lace Box ($50/every 2 months)
This is a niche box of extensively curated items around a theme. The offerings are whimsical and often unexpected. They recently revamped, changed their subscription to every other month and increased their prices. I’ve been pretty happy with this subscription so far. Use code LLB10 for $10 off your first box. Read my Little Lace Box reviews.
☺ Little Lace Box: Serendipty ($10/month)
This new subscription by Little Lace box sends out 5-7 random items. Read my Little Lace Box: Serendipity reviews.
☺✹ Popsugar Must Have ($40/month)
This is one of the most popular lifestyle subscriptions. It includes a variety of home, beauty, fashion and wellness items curated around a theme. The boxes are usually a good value, but of course, you have to like what you get. Read my Popsugar Must Have Reviews
☹ Escape Monthly ($50/month), destination related
Escape Monthly is a subscription box which sends you items from a particular country or destination every month. You also get a guidebook. The boxes seem to be pretty low value for the price and the curation leaves much to be desired. Use MYESCAPE for 20% off any length subscription See my Escape Monthly Review.
PERFUME
☺Scentbird ($15/month)
Scentbird is not a subscription box, but rather a service that sends you an 8 ml spray bottle of perfume every month. They offer over 300 mainstream designer fragrances which they decant and put into spray bottles which fit into a purse spray they send you with your first perfume. You set out a queue of the perfumes you want, and every month they send you the perfume at the top of your queue. This seems like a great service for people like me who like to switch perfumes a lot and who don’t want to spend $50-$100 in a 3 oz bottle. Read my Scentbird reviews.
☺ Scent Trunk ($18/month)
Scent Trunk sends you 3 samples of perfume a month. Samples are between 1 ml and 3 ml. You fill out your scent profile and they chose scents that match it. Read my Scent Trunk reviews.
PERIOD
These boxes usually include your choice of brand of tampons/pads, treats and a gift.
☁ TOM Box ($16/month)
TOM Box is directed to teens/tweens. It includes a box of tampons or pads, makeup and cheap jewelry. This is a box aimed at teens and I thought it was pretty cool, but my daughter wasn’t into it so I cancelled. It’s also not a great value, which is why I’m giving it a cloud. Read my TOM Box Review.
PET
☺ Bark Box ($29/month) for a box with toys/treats for dogs
I never wrote the review of the one Bark Box I got (for cheap, with a Groupon). All in all I liked it and I think it was a good value (using the groupon), but I realized that my dog is pretty picky as to what toys she’ll play with.
TWEEN/TEEN
Black Box ($20/$40) a month for a box of make up, jewelry and accessories
This is actually a Goth box rather than a teen box, but it is perfect for my 12-year old girl. The regular box comes with black nail polish, makeup (she got a nice palette of eyeshadow on natural tones), hand-made jewelry (lots of charms) and a couple of other things. The $40 box has more stuff and comes in a coffin shaped box. This subscription box is run by an artist/crafter who makes a lot of the stuff. As it’s my daughter’s box and she doesn’t even let me look at it, I’m not reviewing it.
☹ IBbeautiful ($20/$30) a month for girl, tween or teen boxes.
I got this subscription for my 10-year old, but was disappointed that most of the items were dollar store stuff with little appeal. The one item she liked, a lip gloss, was made in China (yuck!). I’m still searching for a good tween box. Read my iBbeautiful tween box review
☹ PoshPak ($35/month) for girl, tween or teen boxes.
My tween was not happy with this expensive box. Two of the items were not appropriate for her age group and she has no use for them. The other three were fine, but not out of this world exciting. I unsubscribed. Read my PoshPak Review
ADULT
☁ Spicy Subscriptions ($35/month)
This is a subscription for sex toys and aids. I wasn’t terribly impressed. Read my Spicy Subscription review.