Subscription beauty boxes, which usually include a generous selection of sample-sized items for beauty mavens to try before committing to purchase a full-size version, are ever-popular. Alongside Birchbox, Glossybox, and various magazine-assembled sample boxes, Rachel Zoe has launched Box of Style, a selection of glam finds selected by the designer/stylist and her team.
Now you won't just read about Zoe's obsessions via her Zoe Report site. You get to share in them in real life. Zoe's box appears to be slightly different from the rest, since it will not just focus on beauty products.
Zoe's debut Style Box boasts $300 worth of items for only $100. That definitely soundslike a steal... and it may very well be. The boxes will be curated each season and will include fashion, beauty, and lifestyle offerings. So it's a little taste of fabulousness for every sector of your life.
The big ticket item in the debut box boasts a screw cuff for Miansai, which is valued at $200. Not too shabby.
On the fence about signing up for a subscription box? Well, there are pros and cons for anything of this sort, of course.
These are three reasons why signing up is better than not, and three reasons why it may not be worth it.
PROS:
1. Playtime
Since you get a nice-sized sample portion, you really get to live with the product before deciding to part with cash for the full-size version. How many times have you bought a lotion or a lipstick since it was cool in the store, but once you got it home, it just wasn't right but you couldn't return it? Here, you get playtime and it's like you have your own makeup artist or stylist giving you tips.
2. Heads Up
Since these boxes are curated and sponsored, you don't have to spend tons of time test-driving products in stores, which is not your normal, everyday environment for using cosmetics. You get the benefit of someone else's expertise and the heads up from a beauty maven. Plus, it saves you from having to wade through the sea of stuff at Sephora.
3. You May Find Your New BFF
Chances are you may find your new product BFF in these stashes. Not everything will be a home run, but chances are you will find something you love and use for years to come. Plus, the prices are pretty affordable.
CONS:
1. Too Much Stuff
If you are like me and accumulate a lot of beauty stuff, you may find yourself swimming in samples and too many bottles. It gets clutter-y real quick.
2. You Don't Get To Pick
If you are a "rogue" beautyista, maybe you like to pick your own products and you like the process of swimming through a sea of stuff at Sephora or Ulta or the department store. Maybe you don't want to streamline the situation or to have a products selected for you by someone with a possible agenda.
3. You Prefer Editorial
The whole point of reading magazines and absorbing online editorial is so writers and editors can test and report on this stuff so you don't have to. Maybe you prefer that sort of first person review before you decide to take the plunge. And that's totally okay!
So, decide which of these pros and cons matter most to you and sign up accordingly. It's low risk and high reward either way, really.
Images: Giphy (6)
