I picked a handful of these companies to review and share with you. It is worth noting that not all boxes are created equal! Especially in the beauty category, some offer full size and/or deluxe samples, while others seem to offer much smaller, single-use samples. Some are tailored just to nail products, organic products, etc., so if you have something in particular you want to try (or not try), keep that in mind too. And some of these services let you select what products YOU want to try, while the allure of other boxes is that you are getting a surprise to open and often you will end up with products you may have never heard of before or might not pick for yourself even though they may be fabulous.
Beauty Boxes:
The most well known in the Beauty Box category is probably the Birch Box. The Birch Box is $10 per month and includes free shipping. The box is filled with fun surprises that you will not see until your box arrives.
If you are interested in selecting the products you are most interested in trying out, then you might want to check out Beautyfix. This service sends out boxes quarterly and costs $50 and includes free shipping. You get to select the eight products you want included as well as a travel cosmetic bag. BeautyArmy is another option that is new to the scene and at $12 per month (including free shipping), you can select up to six samples. I will say that I found the sizes to be the best value for my money in the BeautyFix service which included mostly full-sized products, whereas most of the other companies include deluxe sample sizes with one full sized product at most.
Children's Boxes:
Citrus Lane offers an interesting assortment that usually includes at least one goody for mom, and four to five hand-selected, "best of" goodies for the little one in your life. I love that the boxes are tailored to infants or toddlers and are age-appropriate. While Citrus Lane usually only offers a monthly subscription, occasionally they also offer amazing stand-alone boxes as well. The typical monthly subscription is $25 per month with free shipping. All boxes are specifically tailored to the child's age and gender - from newborn to three years old. This was by far one of my favorite boxes I sampled as I love the high quality products they include in their boxes. Some of the brands I have seen included in the boxes include Stella & Dot (for mom), Plan Toys, Happy Baby, Weleda, and Zutano. I can see this becoming one of my new go-to shower gifts as well since in addition to buying a subscription for yourself, you can also gift subscriptions to others in three, six and 12 month increments. Oh, and since I know you love discounts...here is one just for our subscribers: If you sign up at http://www.citruslane.com/ use code CITRUS20E to save 20% off your first month. Offer valid for new subscriptions only. Does not apply to the Deluxe Shower Box or any other standalone boxes or items.
I have also heard about several fun boxes that contain crafts for kids like the BabbaBox. While I have not had a chance to review this service yet, I have friends who love their monthly box filled with at least two crafts, a book, and more.
For the Guys:
Manpacks offers a very convenient subscription service that allows you (or the guy in your life) to pick out the products that can be a hassle to shop for and just have them delivered right to his door. Whether it be undershirts, underwear, razors, skin care, or even a tooth brush, Man packs can help.
For everyone:
As I mentioned previously, there are monthly subscription boxes for literally everyone and anyone. There are boxes for vegans, others who follow a gluten free diet, love meat and cheese, love stationary, love nail products, love shoes....in a few hours of research, I found over 50 monthly subscription services and I am SURE there are lots more! If you have found any of these companies you love, please share them with us in a comment so II can check them out. And, if you run a monthly subscription service you think our readers would be interested in, please e-mail Lani at Lanim@macaronikid.com to find out how to be included in an upcoming newsletter.
