We've all heard about the neat monthly subscriptions aka subs that deliver beauty product samples to your door. I'm still discovering news ones about every other week.
Personally I'm a huge Birchbox fan. It was my first sub discovery. Last month, after learning about Sample Society by Beauty Bar from my Twitter friend: @Cosmoelectra I decided to try it out.
So today I'm measuring how each of these subs compares to the other.
We'll start with Sample Society by Beauty Bar because it was the box that got to me first.
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| The simple black box and silver tissue paper is simple yet sophisticated. |
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| The Goodies. |
Along with your $15 monthly sub, you receive a FREE year's subscription of Allure magazine, which you get to keep even if you decide to cancel your monthly subscription at at any time within that year.
This month's Sample Society box included the following samples:
- Borghese Body Creme
- Jouer Luminating Moisture Tint -I've tried this product with Birchbox before and I'm not a fan.
- Sisley Hydration Intense Anti-Age - I can't wait to try this product out!
- Eye Never Nourishing Repair Eye Creme
- Vincent Longo Duo Lip Pencil - I loved the color, which happens to look great on my skin tone.
- Comes with a year subscription to Allure for free.
- Sample Society works on a very timely basis. They mailed out the box on July 2nd and it was in my hands on July 5th.
- It came with a sample of Sisley's Hydration Intense Anti that costs $250 (full size). Talk about a luxury product!
- Though Sample Society is $15 a month, you can get a code for $15 off any purchase within a month if you buy something from your sample box. So let's say this month I decide to buy the Vincent Longo lip pencil, I will be able to get $15 off my total purchase.
In addition when you visit the beauty bar website you can head on over to its makeover studio where you can try looks before buying the products. How cool is that?
On to Birchbox...
This month's Birchbox was curated by Glamour in honor of the mag's July issue which focused on the heightened experience of the five senses during the summer. I really like when Birchbox teams up with other collaborators to put their boxes together.
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| The outside of July's Birchbox curated by Glamour. |
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| The Goodies. |
This month's Birchbox included the following samples:
- Color Club Summer Pastels Collection in Blue-Ming-It's already my next mani color!
- Gloss Moderne High Gloss Masque
- Harvey Prince Eau Flirt- Smells so great my co-worker bought it!
- Manna Kadar Sheer Glo Shimmer Lotion
- Suki Balancing Kit includes 5 different samples- Working on trying out the kit samples.
- Birchbox Exclusive Ear buds- Love the pink and green colors, which match perfectly with my phone case.
- Larabar Uber Roasted Nut Roll
- Because Birchbox samples so many products a month they create an x number of boxes that comes with different items, which is why you'll rarely come across someone you know who has the identical box you got. And that makes it great for swapping samples with your bestie!
- Birchbox is only $10.
- I'm subscribed to the Birchbox Youtube Channel, which I love because sometimes I receive things that I have no idea how to use and they always post up tutorials.
- My birchboxes have been a real hit or a total miss!
- I hate how long their boxes take to get to me.
Overall: If you're looking for something new and fun every month than this is your sub!
And if you're a dude, you can and should try out Birchbox Man.
So after careful consideration
The sub winner is-- drum rolls please!
As far as value and quality go-- Sample Society gives you more bang for your bucks and it truly carries some luxurious brands.
But overall I give it to Birchbox.
I'm just a sucker for fun cutesy stuff and this month's box was great minus that Larabar, but that's my personal taste!
Which sub is your favorite?
Beautifully yours,
Your GTG!!!
"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." - Kahlil Gibran
I've wanted to try sample society but I have so many subs going on right now I don't think I could handle another! It does look really good tho. I love your birchbox you got a good one other than the larabar ;) I've been totally obsessed with Little black bag lately esp since you can get handbags and accessories, it's a nice change of pace from all the beauty samples I have!
ReplyDeleteWhat other subs do you have? And which one is your favorite? I atually signed up to Little Black Bag cause of you, but have yet been able to log on and choose an item to purchase. How exactly does that work?
ReplyDeleteI have birchbox, myglam, glossybox, and now little black bag. I just got my bag today actually I'll post it up tomorrow.
DeleteThat's awesome sorry if I'm enabling a shopping habit ;) For LBB you fill out a quiz and it matches you with items based on your interests. From these you pick your first item for your bag, it can be any of the items you see no matter how high or low the price is. Once you pick your first item 2-4 other items (depending on the price of your pick) are randomly selected for your bag. Each bag you open will be worth at least $110 retail value. So even if you pick a handbag you'll still get 2 other items. You wont be able to see the random stylist picks until you have purchased the bag.
Once you purchase here comes the fun part, you can trade items with other members on the site for 7 full days. So say you didn't really like the random item you received you can browse the gallery and try to trade it up or down for another item you like more. If your happy with your bag at any time during the trading you also have the option to "Ship it now" so you can get your goods sooner.
The price for all this is $49.95 +$5.95 shipping monthly OR for a one time buy $59.95 + $5.95 shipping. I did monthly because you also have the option to skip a month if you do it that way and it's super easy to cancel their customer service is really quick. For first time bags you can use the code FACEBOOK10 to get 10% off your first bag.
And if you get an item and you don't love it you can send it back for an exchange credit or a refund. I'm not 100% sure how the refund works but I actually am doing an exchange credit on the handbag I picked out (i'll post more about that on my blog 2morrow this is getting long ;O). So once I send it back they will credit my acct the retail value of the bag and when I open a new one I'll get my first pick + the random items + another random item worth the amt of my exchange.
Sorry this is getting long! lol but the fun part really is the trading. If you have any questions I'd be more than happy to answer them. I'm also part of this group on makeup talk where the girls post pictures of what we got if you want to see some pictures of the items here the link to the group http://www.makeuptalk.com/groups/show/25/little-black-bag
I cannot wait for your LBB post, so I can see what you got! :) Thanks for the 411!
DeleteI have always enjoyed the idea of subs, but haven't really taken part in any. But some of these products look intriguing!
ReplyDeleteI have been very happy thus far. I have come across some rally great products which I had never heard of and I've had to purchase. You might not always love everything but it's a great way to try out new things without spending too much money! Some samples are really nice sizes :)
DeleteI've been wanting birch box for a while. I love surprizes!
ReplyDeleteYou should def try it! :)
DeleteI don't belong to any sample subs. I do like how you have compared the two subs and the detailed review you give. It gave me a lot to think about and has really peaked my interest in subs.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Please elt me know if you sign up to one of these services :)
DeleteI've heard of these and I've looked into Birchbox. It looks liek you can get some really great stuff and it's awesome that you can basically try it all out without a huge financial commitment.
ReplyDeleteMeredith
createthatoutfit.com
That's prolly what I love most about these subs is that you can either try something you've never heard of or something very luxurious without committing to it or spending a ton of cash!
DeleteI have heard of Birchbox, but not Sample Society, and after this post, I really want to check it out. I am a member of the Julep Maven program for nail polish and I really love it. So many cool colors and fresh ideas every month for easy nail art.
ReplyDeleteHi Holly! I'm going to look that up because I'm a nail aficionado. Thanks for the info!
DeleteLet me know if you join any of these services!
I've been hearing a lot about Birch Box, Glossy Box, Bella Box all over the blogosphere... and I feel I should give it a try after reading this hehe .. Must start compiling my Christmas wishlist and handing them over to friends and loved ones hahah
ReplyDelete