Friday 12 January 2018

Thoughts on hair box subscriptions

My Beauteque subscriptions ran out last month and I didn't renew. I've been fairly happy with them. I got to try lots of new products, but of course also had a lot of them that didn't work for my sensitive skin. Friends and colleagues have been really happy with that!

The only problem I've really had with them, is that the mail sucks! Some of the boxes simply didn't show up, and one was even tracked as delivered to "Me"... Who lives in London! WTF.

I'm thinking of renewing, but also considering getting them and some other subscription service as well. I need something to compare to. Mishibox seems popular and it fulfills my demands for a subscription service.

I've been looking around at Cratejoy which has an overview on all kinds of subscription boxes out there. It surprises me that, with as many skin and beauty subscriptions they have listed, there are very few hair boxes!

Those few I do find, I find myself disliking a lot of them...

I guess what I want for a hair subscription box is:
  • Ships internationally (Duh) 
  • Not limited to just a single brand (I want the subscription service to be more than just a vessel to push a brand) 
  • Possibility to prepay for the entire subscription (Because I want this as a gift to myself I buy here and now, and not something to have as part of my budget) 
  • A mix of products and accessories (Strange how many bow only, ties only and bobby pins only-boxes I found!) 
  • Based on full size products (It's just not worth it with the shipping!) 
Those five simple demands severely limits the possibilities. So far I haven't found an option that actually fulfills all this!

So... Removing the options that didn't fulfill the first two demands, and ignoring the fact that none of the options had prepay (?) that left me with six options.

Does anyone have nay knowledge or heard anything about the following?

This one amused me:
Hairstylist Club Box



Price: 20 USD a month for the box, shipping unknown. It also has a special box for plus sized clothing and a special box for a book club. This is actually the cheapest option for full sized products.



It actually fulfills my demands except that it can't be prepaid. Some products, some accessories, and a lot of hair related merchandise. Might actually be fun?
Verdict: Has full sized products and a mix of products and accessories. Two points.

The mane crate



Price: 12 USD a month for the sample box and 29,95 USD for the full sized, quarterly boxes. Shipping unknown.



Perhaps the most well known on the list. It also has a quarterly option with full sized products. Again: No prepay option!
Verdict: Has full sized products in the quarterly boxes and a mix of products and accessories. Two points, but I feel tempted to give them a minus for being a quarterly box (At least when I want the full sizes)

Maneful



Price: 22 USD a month for the box, shipping unknown.



No prepay option, and I can't really say the pictures and description makes me particularly interested. No accessories in this one in this one either.
Verdict: Has full sized products. One point.

Honestly, the one that looked the most interesting was this one:
The COS box



Price: 39,99 USD a month for the box, which is by far the priciest option of all. Shipping unknown.



This box is also intended for professional hairdressers and also contains products for hair coloring and styling, which I will not use. And yet, this looked the most interesting! It looks like it has a good mix of diverse and fun products. Hmm!
Verdict: Has full sized products and a mix of products and accessories. Two points.

Lotus curl box



Price: 10,99 USD a month for the box, shipping unknown.
No accessories and no prepay option. Also, this is currently sold out and can't be ordered.

The pictures shows a box packed with full sized products, but the description says "4-6 sample size", which annoys me a lot.
Verdict: Sample sizes and no accessories. No points.

Treasuretress


Price: 20 £ a month for the box, but has 3 different options: Qween, Tween or Mini-Me box, which sounds like there should be a price difference, but the website doesn't show that. Ships out of the UK and the shipping cost is unknown. Shipping might be cheaper for me since its in Europe.



My hair likes curly hair products! No accessories in this one. This box also can't be prepaid.
Verdict: Has full sized products and no accessories. One point.

So the only two boxes that had both full size and accessories was the Hairstylist Club Box and The COS box. Both targeting stylists.

Any opinions or experiences with these from my readers?

2 comments:

  1. I'm honestly not a big fan of subscription boxes as such as they just increase clutter at my home but if you really want to get one, I'd say go for the Hairstylist Club Box. I wouldn't want to get hairdye I wouldn't ever use.

    That being said, I'd personally go for the mane crate, I think it looks super cute!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ugh, yes. Seriously so much clutter! Even when I can give my unwanted stuff away, I still have a lot of it sitting around until I can give it to someone.
      I'll consider the hairstylist club box or the mane crate! :)

      Delete