The Beauty Box: Which company has best deals

While subscription box services will deliver just about anything from clothes, food and  razors to your door these days, the beauty box was one of the first in the monthly delivery trend. Now there are more than 20 companies that will send boxes of beauty products and samples to your doorstep every month.

The prices range from $5 to $50.

Consumer expert Amy Davis signed up for three services to show you what you get for your money.  

We ordered from Birchbox. For $10 a month, you'll get five product samples.

Ipsy's Glam Bag is the same price, but it also comes with a mini make-up bag.

The WalMart Beauty Box is just $5 every quarter.
 
We let three Channel 2 female employees do the official unboxing and compare their loot.

The WalMart box came with seven samples, but four of the products were lotions.

The Birchbox came with six items that included cleansing foam conditioner from R+Co, a radiance face mask from Balance Me, Dermacare technology cream, a tiny blush and bronzer duo and two kinds of mascara.

"Personally, I would like more makeup," Brooke Williamson said when she opened the Birchbox. "I don't like trying new face stuff because I'm afraid I'll break out."

The mini glam bag is what sets Ipsy apart. It came with five items, the fewest of the services we ordered, but Lea Wilson loved the sizes of the selections.

"This is like an actual full size lipstick," Wilson said, holding a gloss included in her Ipsy package. 

Also inside was pore reducing cream from Benefit, highlighting powder, detox cream and wing out eye liner that helps make the trendy wing style a lot of everyone's doing.

After seeing each other's goodies, Walmart's Beauty Box and Birchbox got a thumbs down. They all liked the Ipsy Glam Bag the best.


About the Author:

Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.