Subscription Boxes - The Meh, The Great, and The Necessary

You've seen the ads on Facebook between your friend's posts about nacho dip recipes. You've seen the commercials with excited people snacking gleefully on their couches, surrounded by friends. You've wondered, are those subscription boxes a scam? Or could they really be that great?

I'll be your Huckleberry.

GRAZE
Let's start with Graze. Graze is a subscription service that sends you delicious snacks with no artificial flavors or colors, no high fructose corn syrup, no genetically modified ingredients (if you're concerned about that sort of thing), and no trans fats. You can choose the frequency and size of your Graze boxes, and they start at $6 per box. Once you start receiving boxes, you can log into their website and rate your preferences, so they know what they should send you in the future. The selection of snacks is interesting and highly unique. Some snacks are a trail mix of nuts and special-flavored dried fruits (such as raisins, dates, cranberries, and blueberries). Some are small containers of crackers or rice bars with a dip or spread. Some are flapjacks - small hybrids of soft, delicious granola bar cookie unlike anything you've ever tried.  They've introduced new snacks like the Banana Cream Pie (dried bananas, pecans, vanilla marshmallows, and vanilla fudge pieces) and the Stars and Stripes (blackcurrant stars, raspberry pate-de-fruit type strings, and blueberry-flavored raisins). Every box has been a hit with both me and my husband, and every time I opened my mailbox and discovered it was Graze Box Day (it had a name, it was so momentous), it was like my birthday.

VERDICT: Totally worth it. You love to snack, I know you do, so you might as well snack on something interesting, healthy, and delicious.

Graze's Thai Sweet Chili Bites. OMFG.

IPSY
Next, Ipsy. Ipsy is a monthly subscription that sends you a small bag of makeup samples with usually one or two full-sized makeup products included. At $10 a month, it is usually worth it for the full-sized product alone. Ipsy has a wait list which is hilariously pretentious to me, but there are a few steps you can take to bypass the list, like linking your Ipsy account to your Facebook and spamming your friends. The bags that hold your monthly swag are always different, and always pleasant. The contents, however, were always a bit of a let-down. If you live near a Sephora or an Ulta, you know you can walk in and ask for samples of whatever you want. And that's free. But Ipsy wants to send you a bag of six of these samples, plus an eyeliner or bottle of nail polish, and hope you'll get really excited about it.

VERDICT: Not that excited about it. Cancelled my subscription after six months.

(Not pictured: The six bags I received, because after hanging onto them for months, I realized I have no need for small bags that are not nearly big enough to hold my eyeliner pencils alone, so they have been sent to the great Salvation Army beyond.)

BIRCHBOX
Similar to Ipsy, there's Birchbox. Birchbox has the option to choose whether you'd like a box full of products for men or women, and at $10 per month, or $110 per year, it's right there with the Ipsy bag in terms of price. However, Birchbox includes more than just makeup, and sometimes you'll get a candle or hand lotion, and always a high-end brand. I now own several full-sized, awesome-colored Cynthia Rowley lipsticks, and I've discovered a great deal more hair products and skin treatments through Birchbox. The travel-sized can of Amika Dry Shampoo and the travel-sized bottle of It's A Ten leave-in conditioner were both home runs. The makeup products were hit-or-miss, but you can log into your profile and customize the items and looks you'd like to receive.

VERDICT: If you feel like you're in a beauty rut, Birchbox is great. You will discover useful, pleasant products that do what they say they'll do. And you know you'd spend more than $10 at CVS on makeup per month, anyway.

JULEP MAVEN
Saved the best for last. Let's talk about Julep's Maven boxes. I'll tell you straight out of the gate that my Cool Sister did not like these boxes at all. Julep's monthly subscription boxes, called Maven, includes three full-sized beauty products (most often bottles of their vastly-colored nail polishes, or you can swap these out for full-sized eyeliners, blushes, lipsticks, lip glosses, body lotions, oh boy the list just goes on). They also marvelously include candy with each box. Like, when was the last time you ate a Tootsie Roll? I did last month, because Julep sent me some. Around the 20th of every month, you can log into the website or app and the "Maven Reveal" is open for you to view they contents they've chosen for your monthly box, or you can swap out one of the three for another one of the products they offer for that month. Their extensive collection includes photos of each bottle, plus photos of the polish itself globbed onto a surface, and most importantly, there are photos of how the polish actually looks on hands of different skin colors, so you can see the finish. No downside.

VERDICT: Obsessed. I have no idea what's trendy and I hate lingering at the nail polish displays at the store because I always feel like the store employees think I'm contemplating a shoplifting spree. Also, I would never buy top coats or base coats or nail treatments, and I bite my nails unless they're painted. Being able to see how a polish actually looks when applied is huge, and has resulted in me buying bottles I never would have otherwise (like Angie, which I initially clicked on solely because of the name [not sorry], which I am now obsessed with). I might not wear makeup every day, I might not (okay let's get real, I DO not) do my hair every day, and I hardly ever wear anything with a zipper. But I'll be damned if my nails don't always look fresh.

I'm what the French call, "Un client satisfait"

Are there any subscriptions you're curious about? Drop an email to me at angela@whatwouldfemshepdo,com and I'll see what I can do!