Battle of the Beauty Boxes

Ever wanted to subscribe to a beauty box but been too overwhelmed by the choice? Do you want to know which box offers better value for money? Look no further…

I personally subscribe to both Glossy Box and Birchbox, so for this post I’m going to focus on the September boxes for both Glossy Box and Birchbox and break it down into what each sample is actually worth in terms of the cost and reach a conclusion about what box offers better value for money.

You can see full reviews of these boxes here and here.

What does it cost?

GLOSSY BOX costs £10 plus £2.95 postage a month, although they do deals if you buy a 6 month subscription where you get one box free or you can get two free boxes if you subscribe for a year (a yearly subscription costs £100 plus P&P)

BIRCHBOX also costs £10 per pox with £2.95 postage and again do deals if you buy longer subscriptions. You get one box free with a 6 month subscription, but you get three boxes free with a yearly subscription (this costs £90 plus P&P)

So if you’re looking for a long term subscription, Birchbox is better value for money. But on a monthly basis they are the exact same cost.

What is the contents in each box worth?

GLOSSY BOX September Box included:

Eylure Pre-glued Lashes – Full sized product worth £5.06

Elizabeth Arden Untold fragrance – A 5ml sample and full size retails at £48 for a 50ml bottle. This makes the sample worth £4.80

Dr Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips – This is a 3ml sample and a full size retails at £11.50 for 15ml. This makes the sample worth £2.30

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Onyx Eye Liner – Not available in the UK but retail at $14 in the States. This converts to about £8.82

TONI&GUY Shine & Gloss Serum –This is a full sized 30ml product which retails at £7.19

Full review of this box including pictures can be found here

TOTAL: £28.17

BIRCHBOX September Box included:

Aromatherapy Associates Revive Body Gel –  40ml sample. A full size 200ml bottle would cost £31. This makes the sample worth £6.20

ModelCo Party Proof Lipstick – I couldn’t find anywhere that sold these separately but Birchbox sell these lipsticks in sets of 3 for £15.50 so that works out at approximately  £5.17 each.

Reverence de Bastien Nail Polish –A full sized product which retails at £16

Bioderma Sebium H20 –20ml sample. The full size of this product retails at £9.99 for 250ml making the sample worth only 80p

Molton Brown Ylang-Ylang Nourishing Body Lotion This is a 30ml sample and a full size 300ml bottle would cost £25. This makes the sample worth £2.50

Full review of this box including pictures can be found here

TOTAL: £30.67

So Birchbox wins on value again, with products worth £2.50 more than the Glossy Box. Not to forget they also included a mini Green & Blacks chocolate bar in this month’s box!

However, the price difference isn’t huge and if you searched the web you may find deals on certain items which could change the value of the boxes either way.

Both boxes allow you to take mini surveys giving your opinion on each item in the box to earn points which can be redeemed for free boxes (which I love! I actually got this month’s Glossy Box for free because of them!)

What it really comes down to is personal preference, both boxes work with different brands so I would suggest you have a look through previous boxes and see what brands appeal to you the most. I’m obviously not the best person to help you choose as I couldn’t even choose for myself and subscribed to both! But I hope this post helped you out a little and gave you an insight into what these boxes are actually worth.

Thanks for reading!

Linda x