Beautifinous.

Beauty boxes. What’s not to love?! You get to try new and amazing beauty products tailored to you from the comfort of your own home, and sometimes you get full-size products as well, saving you tons of money.

The issue nowadays though is that there are so many around, and that can make it difficult to choose the perfect one for you. Some people want to choose just one box, some don’t mind subscribing to a bunch. All of us though want to get the most for our money. Today I wanted to help those of you who are on the hunt for your new favourite beauty box by talking about a few of my personal favourites. 

I’ve decided to compile a list of the beauty boxes that I am currently subscribed to, enjoy and therefore recommend to others. There are still beauty boxes out there that I am yet to try and there are new ones appearing all the time, so if you know of one that I’ve not mentioned that you think are worth a recommendation too, please do leave a comment at the end and let everyone know!

For each box, I’ve written the pros and cons so that you can use that to work out which would be the best box for you, and I’ll be showing examples of what products I’ve received from each as well.

All photos featured in this post are from my Instagram feed, so if you like what you see, please do come over and give me a follow for more!

Frequency: Monthly

Items per box: 4-5

Types of products: Makeup, Skincare and Haircare

Full-size or samples: Full-size

Cost: £35, free delivery 

Website: www.lookincredible.co.uk

The Look Incredible Deluxe Box is definitely for those who really want to get the most for the money, receive full-size products and to really feel spoiled. Look Incredible have three different boxes available at three different price ranges, starting with the Standard Box at £25, the Deluxe Box at £35 and the My Secret Box at £65.

The great news is that every box comes with full-size products (all with 4-5 items) but the real difference between the boxes is the brands and the value of the products that are included. You receive amazing brands in both, including top designer brands such as Chanel and Dior, but you tend to receive more of the designer brands in the Deluxe Box and your products are of higher product value in the Deluxe Box than the Standard (and moreso with the My Secret Box).

In the Deluxe Box I have received products from not only Chanel and Dior, but also Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Burberry, NARS, Perricone MD, MAC, Benefit, Urban Decay, Too Faced, Lancôme, Tarte, Clinique, Make Up For Ever and far more.

The products received range from eyeshadow palettes, lipstick, serums, night creams, blush, bronzer, mascara and so on and, even though I missed it, back in the day they have also included 100ml bottles of Guerlain perfume (still gutted I missed this box). All for £35.

So what’s the catch? There isn’t one. This box is for real. 

The only thing that may irk a few people a bit is that sometimes you receive items from older collections. For example, if a brand like Too Faced or MAC release a limited edition collection, you may receive a product from a collection that was two years ago. This isn’t always the case though as they also send out brand new releases time to time too, such as when Dew the Hoola by Benefit was first released. 

Whilst getting irked about an older collection may sound like something that only those who are interested in using new, current and hot topic products of the moment or about Instagramming their freshly released products, this can also cause a different issue. Say you really fall in love with a certain product and you don’t want it to finish, buying an older collection can be far more difficult than buying a new one as far fewer places will have it in stock. Especially when it’s a limited edition, what that item has gone, it’s gone. 

Look Incredible do have an online shop as well though, and they always have products that are included in their boxes available for sale if you want to buy another. If it’s an older range though, just remember to get in there fast.

If that all sounds good to you, then you can subscribe to the Look Incredible Deluxe Box at Look Incredible. 

A few reviews of products I’ve received in the Look Incredible Deluxe Box:

Too Faced - Better Than Sex Mascara

Marc Jacobs - New Nudes Sheer Gel Lipstick

MAC - Upward Lash Mascara

Japonesque - Makeup Setting Spray

Frequency: Monthly, but you can also order a second box per month if you wish

Items per box: Depends on the box you choose, and you can change it each month. You can choose from 3, 6 or 9.

Types of products: Makeup, Skincare, Haircare and Lifestyle

Full-size or samples: Mix

Cost: Again, depends on the box you choose. It is £9 for 3 items, £15 for 6 and £18 for 9. If you are subscribed then delivery is free, but if not then a one off box will cost more (£16 for 3 items, £22 for 6 and £25 for 9) and you need to pay delivery on top at £3.95.

Website: www.latestinbeauty.com

The Latest in Beauty BYOB is one for those who like to be more in control of what they want to receive each month and also like a bit of flexibility with their box. You can choose a tier of box to subscribe to, but if you want to receive fewer items or more items you can change that as it suits you.

Latest in Beauty have a selection of just under 200 items for you to choose from (sometimes over 200), and every month you can pick which you’d like to receive. If your subscription payment comes out but there are no items taking your fancy, you also have until the day before your next payment date to choose your items, and new products are added daily. Therefore, there is no rushing or no being backed into a corner to choose items you don’t want or that you already have, and you can choose them as new ones become available. If you really can’t choose though, you can simply not choose any and Latest in Beauty will select them at random for you.

The types of products that you can choose can vary wildly, and sometimes they can upload a string of full-size items and then just smaller sample sizes for a while. They offer a wide choice of products such as lipstick, eyeshadow, moisturisers, body washes, shampoos etc, but also then things like beauty related books, hair ties, vitamins and they have even offered some, ahem... *whispers* adult toys.

The downside though is that the full-size and higher value items do tend to go quickly, as to be expected. Also, they occasionally re-stock during the day and an influx of full-size or well sought-after products can crop up at any time. Therefore, you can easily find yourself sitting there refreshing the page and checking back constantly to get the best products.

The major pro of this box though is that you can get some incredible value for money. You can sometimes order a box with a value of over £100, maybe even £120, for just £18 if you’re lucky. The flexibility of the cost, item choice and delivery is also fantastic.

If the Latest in Beauty BYOB sounds like the one for you, you can grab it at Latest in Beauty.

Reviews of products I’ve received in Latest in Beauty boxes:

Wonderland Makeup - Studio Finish Primer

Ellis Faas - Concealer

Omorovicza - Refining Facial Polish

The Organic Pharmacy - Lip and Eye Cream

Frequency: Monthly

Items per box: 5-6

Types of products: Makeup, Skincare, Haircare, Lifestyle

Full-size or samples: Mix of both 

Cost: £10, £2.95 delivery

Website: www.birchbox.co.uk

Birchbox is definitely one of the most popular beauty boxes and I would imagine it to be one of the first that comes to mind when you hear the term beauty box. This ones main rival is Glossy Box and you frequently hear people comparing the two. However, for me, I’ve always leaned more towards Birchbox. 

This beauty box is best for those who want a beauty box that allows them to sample a range of products that have specifically been tailored to suit them thanks to the questionnaire you have to fill out about yourself upon signing up. Alongside that, depending on how long you’ve been subscribed, you can receive up to 15% off everything that is sold on the Birchbox website, whenever you want to buy it (you need to be subbed for 6 months consecutively for the max discount, otherwise it is 10% for the first 6 months). 

Birchbox also comes with extra perks if you can manage to get friends or family to join. You can earn extra products in your next box and also get some vouchers to spend on the website for both you and whoever signs up with your link.

An extra thing to look forward to is the fact that every box is a unique design that fits the theme for the months box, and each of them come as a drawer which you can keep and use however you like (I love to stack them up for a handy and colourful drawer selection for various things in my room). Occasionally they also mix it up a bit and send the products in a handy travel bag, purse, or, like this month, a beautiful tea tin for you to keep and use.

The downside with this box is that sometimes you can receive lots of small samples, or products that you’re never going to use. When this happens it can feel a bit of a let down as you either end up giving stuff away or leaving it around and never use it. You can also sometimes receive duplicates even though Birchbox do try to avoid this. 

I think that Birchbox and Glossy Box do sometimes get a lot of complaints for sample sizes and so on, moreso when so many new beauty boxes are being released that offer full-size items. I think it is worth remembering that Birchbox and Glossy Box were the ones leading the way and made this idea popular, and without them we probably wouldn’t have the boxes that include full-size items. Another point is that whilst you may get smaller sizes, you are also paying less, receive a permanent 10-15% discount sitewide, receive boxes that you can actually re-use and have products actually tailored to suit your needs. They also do great brand collaborations which can then provide you with exclusive items or discount codes for their stores too.

If you like the idea of the Birchbox beauty box, you can sign up with my link and receive £5 off your first box here.

Reviews of products I’ve received from Birchbox:

Polaar - Polar Night Cream

Cynthia Rowley Beauty - Eyeliner

BeautyBlender

Lord and Berry - 20100 Maxi Matte Lipstick

And there we have it!

Choosing the best beauty box for you really comes down to personal preference. What are you looking for in your box?

If you want luxury, full-size items and don’t mind spending a little more on a box, then I highly recommend Look Incredible.

If you want to choose your own products every month and have the flexibility on how much you spend, how many items you receive and when you order it, then you should definitely check out Latest in Beauty’s BYOB.

If you want something more compact, themed and tailored to you with added perks and sitewide discount on all the beauty treats available, then I recommend that you check out Birchbox.

And hey, if you’re completely addicted, you might as well sign up to all of them and enjoy the constant flow of incredible beauty surprises being delivered to your door!

Which beauty box is your favourite? Do you have any recommendations?

Let me know in the comments below!