To think subscription boxes are a swizz?

[ketchupontoast21]

Loads of my friends seem to be signing up for subscription boxes like Birch Box lately where you basically get a box containing five mystery products a month for a fee of about £10. Apparently it ranges from make up, to skincare, hair products, creams and bath gels. You don't know what you're going to get so it's all a surprise.

On one hand I like the idea of a little treat each month and the chance to try new products. But I can't help but think it could be a giant waste of money if you end up with products you don't like or ones that are very cheap (a soap or bog standard shampoo for example). What are people's thoughts? Are they worth the money?

Degustabox is awesome and everything is edible.

We have bought loads of things from trying out Degustabox.

We didn't renew Loot crate here either as the shipping does take away any savings, plus we did end up with a stack of less useful items sitting in the corner.

Some of my favourite and most worn T-Shirts are from LootCrate though, notably Labyrinth and Bill and Ted, but lots of others, and I have some pretty cool figures.

I think it would be roughly the same price to buy a t-shirt every month and a figure every two months and you'd be able to choose what you really wanted so cancelling seemed the best option.

I really miss opening the box with the kids though, there was usually something for everyone.

If they set up a UK base and shipping was reasonable I'd sign up again!

I get a three month supply of bamboo toilet rolls, tissues and paper towel. Plastic free and growing bamboo takes less resources than usual trees. 50% of profits go to building toilets.

It's called Who Gives a Crap. Not sure about the eco friendliness of getting it delivered or how that balances against the no plastic.

I had the firefly crate from LootCrate for a couple of years. I loved it for the first year, was a bit eh it's ok for the second, then got annoyed after that with lootcrate's terrible communication. The standard of the items went way down too and it became a bit of a disappointment so I quit it. That first year was so worth it though.

We watch a YouTuber called Ashens, and he's been getting LootCrates for a few years now, and the last few he's had have gone down in quality, and he's had some repeats of items too. I guess they're running out of ideas.

I'm decluttering my drawers upstairs and am finding the relics of the boxes. I will use up the items.

I hate the sachets as they are fiddly to open, probably used once and then forgotten about with some stuff remaining.

Usually the full size product is so expensive I don't tend to buy it and carry on with middle price range stuff

I am a glossy box subscriber and honestly it is well worth it. Some months are better than others but every box has been worth it so far. Got the last one on Thursday, in it was a lovely eyelash curler, a Huda beauty lip gloss, a nice liquid eyeliner felt tip thing, an imperial leather shower foam thing and an eye mask thingy. I'm not thrilled by the occasional inclusion of a shower gel and other such boring stuff but the other things make up for it. I pay £13 a month and the vast majority of things are full size.

I get the Look Fantastic beauty boxes every month and have done for the past ) months and I love them! but then I’m an ‘all things beauty lover’ and have been since I was 12, you tailor the things to your hair and skin needs, and I like 95% of the stuff they give me, it’s cheap and you could even try one out just to see, it will hardly break the bank.

Had a look at LF site but couldn't see what products maybe in the box. Is it random or do you chose?

Just had my second delivery of Mud and Bloom for my 5 year old, a subscription box with seeds to plant and outdoor activities. Could get the stuff cheaper myself but we're enjoying them so far.

@Woodhill you don’t chose the products but you open your account with LF and then go through the questions about your individual hair and skin needs, in the August box I got:

Luxie Highlighting brush
Rituals Cream On Nourishing Body Cream (flamingo flower and pink grapefruit)
BellaPierre Cosmetics Highlighting Palette
VitaLiberata Skin Tone Optimiser
Dpi could lip gloss
They’re always high end products, there is a box where you can choose your products but I can’t remember the name of it, starts with P and you can select 3, 6 or 9 products a month and you can pick, same high end products as LF. I have now ordered lots from LF in full size simply because of the sample sizes in the bb’s.

I also got a limited edition Harper’s Bazaar box, oh my god it was lovely but it was £50

Oh forgot that I also got a Natura Herb Infused Sheet Masks, good for vegans too, although I’m not a vegan.

I’ve had the Glossybox 3 times and each time I got the same Hawk Moroccan Hair Mask and their other products weren’t so good so I cancelled the subscription, I deffo prefer LF.

@Woodhill you also get money off of orders by doing surveys on products, so far I have £3.15 and I’m going to keep saving this. Glossybox and LF are connected but LF has the better box by far.

Thanks- I will definitely bear that in mind. I'll use up my products first though

2 dds here to regift to.

I'm more a skincare and hair than make up tbh.

I had a few spelling mistakes but it’s the damn autocorrect!

I’m starting to wear makeup quite a lot now and I’m 38, I don’t know why I’m starting to just now though, aging probably!

Each to their own really. We cancelled LootCrate a while back. The quality went down hill and communication was atrocious. We not get a couple of CultureFly boxes and are really happy with them. I also get the YogaClub every other month because I love the clothes. They're pretty much all I wear, especially in the hit summer (not uk).

We all have our things that we like to spend money on. If we were struggling with money, the subscriptions would be the first to go.

Has anyone tried little cooks? I was debating getting one for my daughter but it seems a bit overpriced to me.

www.littlecooksco.co.uk

I’ve done graze and really liked it but it is a rip-off really. I think it was a bit of a fad as everyone in my office did it and liked getting the parcel. I wouldn’t do the beauty ones as I’ve still got loads of advent calendar samples I never use so a box would be wasted on me.

My daughter has a Little Cooks Co subscription. She got it as a gift from her grandparents for Christmas so I'm not sure about price but she absolutely loves it! And I love it too because all the recipes are made with healthy ingredients (and all organic) so she is actually getting some nourishment as well as having fun learning how to cook/bake. I'd definitely recommend it!

Graze is a rip off, big time!

Has anyone had healthy meals delivered, and if so what are they like? or should I try a new thread?

I get vegan kind every month mostly snacks with one lifestyle say beauty or household related or sometimes a book. There is minimal packaging all recycled materials. The companies are often ones who promote and raise money for good causes. For each box a small amount goes to a charity. It's just £13.15 with p&p. I wonder how many people on here complaing about the impact to the environment buy animal tested products, drive a car, travel by air, use disposable sanitary products 🤔 not me but sometimes I do shop online. Nobody in the West has boasting rights on their carbon footprint unless they are entirety opting out of Western life. Me included. I think we should all reduce our environmental impact but we all make our exceptions and my once a month treat is mine. 😁 And hands up I am loving it. Each to their own. And I highly recommend it. It also comes with a lovely recipe card and after six boxes you get a little recipe folder. I am enjoying cooking different meals. They also do a bi-monthly beauty box but I rarely use this sort of thing so I don't get this one.

It was not my intention to write such a long post sorry 😁 but I certainly think that whether it's a waste or not depends on the box and the person buying it.

I like latest in beauty. They have a selection of samples, some full size products which are often worth more than the cost of the subscription, and you get to select which things you want to receive. I had a really lovely full sized murad aha facial scrub from them a while ago that would have cost me around £35 to buy.