boxes of pretty part 2 (beauty subscription sites) **UPDATED 3/23/13

I currently subscribe to My Glam and the Look Bag (but if I win the lottery I'll join them all).  Listed below are some that are available in the United States (there are many more available in Canada, Europe and Australia). There are also more available in the US, but these are pretty affordable (others available range from $20-$50ish per month or they ship quarterly...what's the fun in that?).  Anyway prepare to sign up and possibly be put on a waiting list, but don't fret I was on my waiting lists for less than a month (then a bunch had openings, I picked two).  I figured I'd join for a while then switch it up down the road. Enjoy!

Beauty Sample Subscription Sites available in the US:

birchbox $10 a month, brands like kiehl's, smashbox, stila
test tube quarterly program $29.95/box, brands like philosophy, ahava, garnier, olay
beauty army $12 a month, brands like korres, boo boo fix, nyx, pur~lisse
crave box $10 a month, with beauty products and products for your home, health, pets, tastebuds
ipsy (formerly myglam) $10 a month, brands like urban decay, dermstore, pur~lisse
eco emi $15 a month, eco-friendly and green items
look bag $10 a month, products like lalicious, cattiva cosmetics, rain cosmetics, laura mercier
beauty bar/sample society $15 a month, in conjunction with Allure magazine, brands like bliss, boscia, dermalogica, jemma kid
beauty box 5 $12 a month ($30/quarterly or $100/yearly) brands like weleda, supergoop, makeup geek
goode box $16 a month, brands like josie maran, coola, youngblood, 100% pure
green grab bag $15 a month, "an eco friendly bag of natural beauty products"
klutch club $18 a month (or less?) this one is more for health, wellness and fitness

Also:
beautyfix $50/quarterly (plus tax in some states), brought to you by dermstore they pick some products and you pick 8 samples (there are a lot to choose from)

soapbox $20/quarterly "hand crafted bath and body products"

subscription boxes  a whole site devoted to subscription boxes (beauty included) and reviews...it's like a one stop shop! :)

boxes of pretty (delivered monthly!)

Several of the beauty blogs I read have been talking about their monthly beauty boxes. These sounded like some fun programs, so I checked them out.  Basically, you sign up (or more likely, you put your name on a waiting list) and when there is room for you, you subscribe.  Most programs run about $10 a month, with options to cancel.  For the money, you receive a package of assorted samples (and sometimes full size products, depending on the program).  Sadly, a lot of these programs are not yet available in the US (but the websites promise their working on it).

I put my name on a bunch of the lists, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.  Within about a month I got notifications from two programs; My Glam Bag and The Look Bag.  I signed up for both (and quietly vowed to cut back on my willy-nilly beauty spending)...shortly thereafter a few more of the sites let me know that I could join their programs too...maybe later.

I came home from my lovely weekend and had both packages waiting for me.

I was super happy with the Glam Bag. There is a LipQuench from the Dermstore that has become a daily use product for me.  I appreciated the brushes too (I've been needing a new slanted eyeliner brush anyway). The bag is small and cute, a lovely little purse size. There was also a liner from Urban Decay in a teal color (which I may not have picked up on my own, but is worth a try).  I went out and bought some eyelash glue, so I'm looking forward to trying out the lashes too. So far I'm totally jazzed about my beauty subscription.

The Look Bag was a little less jazzy for me.  The Jovie lotion is a great size, but a little too much fragrance for my taste. I'm looking forward to trying the Pur~lisse essential daily moisturizer with SPF 30. There is a Laura Mercier perfecting water, that I'll have to check out online, because I'm not 100% sure what it's for. There is a fragrance sample (in Water Garden, could be nice..we'll see) and lastly I received a hair oil from Orofludo (?, never heard of them, but with summer coming my hair is sure to get dry at the ends).

The Look Bag, after the Glam Bag was a little bit of a let down...but hey if it doesn't work out I'll cancel and try a different program. No worries.

pretty short little note

Just got back from a lovely (although at first very cold) weekend in Palm Springs/Coachella.  Will totally write more about that later...but for now, I'm happy to be back and excited to go through my first beauty boxes which came while I was gone. My Glam bag came with an adorable little cosmetics bag (which I know I don't need, but I'm sure I'll find a use for). I also received my bag from The Look Store. So I'll report on those pretty little gifties soon too.  ♥ ♥