Birchbox Subscription Review
About Birchbox
Birchbox offers an assortment of beauty, grooming, and lifestyle products for men and women. The brand focuses on the simplicity of personal care and encourages customers to prioritize time for themselves. This Birchbox subscription review will guide you through the brand and their products so that you make an informed decision to purchase.
Overview of Birchbox
Birchbox was founded by CEOs Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp in New York City. Since its beginning in 2011, the online brand has sold beauty and grooming boxes on a monthly subscription, along with a wide selection of full-size products. They offer products from different brands, including makeup, hair, and skin products, along with face/body and beard/shaving care for men.
The Birchbox shopping experience allows customers to express themselves through beauty, grooming, and lifestyle products. CEOs Hayley and Katia responded to a common trend in the beauty industry: people were forgetting the importance of self-care, due to the frustration of finding ways to begin and keep to a routine. Beauty and grooming expectations imposed by society are so high, that we spend more time trying to impress others, rather than take care of ourselves.
Birchbox aims to alleviate the everyday struggles that its creators have experienced themselves. Their number one priority is not beauty and grooming, but the everlasting joy that should come with taking care of yourself. Birchbox is a fast-growing modern brand, and they continue to rise in popularity as they focus on the one-of-a-kind online experience for their customers.
Birchbox provides plenty of opportunities to their team, as they believe Birchbox careers will help to improve the future of e-commerce experience. Birchbox is unique in that they take pride in supporting their team, other women, their customers, as well as other brands. These brands are given the chance to reach customers in a new and exciting way by selling products on Birchbox’s online store.
This Birchbox subscription review examines the brand’s positives and negatives:
Pros
- Birchbox provides plenty of discounts and promo codes
- They take care of women and men, as they notice that all genders can struggle with similar issues
- Birchbox subscription is affordable at $10-$15/month
- Each box includes instructions on how to use the products and why they were chosen for you
- Website seems well-organized and helps guide you through the best purchase choice
- Reviews can be left on all Birchbox products, so that customers can identify the most popular ones
Cons
- They do not ship outside of the US
- Their subscription boxes focus on sending samples of products, rather than full-sized options
- A Birchbox man will get a $10 monthly subscription, while a Birchbox woman is charged $15/month
How Does Birchbox Work?
Once you create a Birchbox login, then the quick and simple process begins. Women and men can go to their website and simply click “Sign Me Up” or “Let’s Do This”. You’re given three options to choose from: monthly, 6-month, or a 12-month plan.
Each month, subscribers receive a beautifully designed box. All boxes will include an assortment of five to six sample products based on their Beauty or Grooming Profile. These profiles help the Birchbox team personalize your boxes. By creating a profile, you let them know what you prefer when it comes to product samples. Birchbox asks you multiple choice type questions like:
- Describe your complexion
- What are your concerns with your skin?
- How do you shave?
- What tools do you typically use?
Once you’ve completed your profile, you can receive the “gift of care” for yourself or send a “gift of love” to someone else. Customers may also purchase individual beauty, grooming, and lifestyle products to be included in their monthly delivery. Birchbox gives you product suggestions based on the results of your profiles.
Birchbox Subscription Review: Women
All of the products we’ll be getting into could come as samples in your monthly Birchbox delivery.
Hair Care
If you’ve ever struggled with unruly locks or hopelessly limp strands, unsure of how to go about hair care, Birchbox could be a great place to start. They provide categories for everything they sell that has to do with caring for your hair:
- Wash and Care
- Treat
- Style
- Extend
Every category comes with its own list of product types. From shampoos and hair masks, to wave sprays and dry conditioners, you’ll run into so many options. Hundreds of brands like OUAI and Oribe sell products through Birchbox at affordable prices, along with at least one Birchbox subscription review for each.
Do you hate going on a trip and having to lug full sized products around in your suitcase? The Birchbox shop has travel size hair products, travel sets, and kits to ensure that your locks are ready for the next adventure. Birchbox’s selection also includes high-quality hairdryers, straighteners, and brushes. You deserve to be treated with care, and hair is a part of that package.
Makeup
The choices for makeup products are endless, so it can be overwhelming to find the right ones for your skin. Birchbox takes pride in its mission to instill confidence in its customers when using beauty products. With such a high-pressure industry, Birchbox takes care of their customers by providing options for everything they need in makeup.
Whether it’s the basics or enhancers, you can shop for products that care for your complexion, eyes, cheeks, and lips. The Birchbox shop includes lines from an array of popular brands with at least one review left for most products.
Birchbox offers affordable prices for their sets and compares them to overall value. Applying makeup starts with using the right tools. Makeup brushes, kits, tweezers, and blenders are some of the grooming products Birchbox carries that can help complete your look.
Skin
While writing this Birchbox subscription review, I’m thinking of all the skincare products I’ve tried over the years. I never really knew what I was missing or what would work best for my skin type. Birchbox breaks down the four simple steps to effective skincare:
- Cleanse: cleansers, removers, and wipes
- Treat: face masks, serums, mists, acne treatments, etc.
- Moisturize: face oils, eye cream, lip balms, etc.
- Protect: sunscreens, SPF moisturizers, etc.
These four steps can help customers feel less intimidated by all of the skincare options that are available in the beauty industry.
Birchbox also has supplement and wellness options that are proven to enhance your skin. These products feature a variety of vitamins and nutrients like fish oil, vitamin E, and vitamin D. Customers have left a Birchbox subscription review on most of the products, in case you are still pondering your choice.
Skincare tools such as scrubbers, toning devices, and sponges are available, as well as products that can be used beyond our face. Our skin can react everywhere, so we must practice the right methods to care for our whole body. Foaming cleansers, body butter, scrubs, and hand creams are just some of the skincare items Birchbox has for women.
I’m sure there are people reading this Birchbox subscription review who would want to try more than one product before committing. Birchbox also sells starter kits and sets of skincare essentials. These skincare boosts range in price, but appear reasonable for all that they include. Keep reading for detailed customer feedback later on in this Birchbox subscription review.
Birchbox Grooming Review
Men are given almost as many options as women when it comes to grooming and self-care products. Unlike women, men are not given as much information. This portion of the Birchbox subscription review will focus on men’s products.
Wellness is an essential part of anyone’s daily routine. Birchbox sells wellness items for men, including vitamins and supplements, bath bombs (yes, we can all love a relaxing bath), candles, proteins, and more. Along with an entire wellness section in their online shop, Birchbox has these self-care sections for men:
- Hair: Wash, Style, Grooming hair sets
- Face and Body: Wash, Moisturizer, Protect, Bath and Body sets
- Beard: Wash and Style
- Shave: Prep, Shave, and Beard sets
One area of Birchbox Grooming that stands out is their Beardcare Shop. It contains beard oils, washes, conditioners, tools, and kits/gifts. One portion of this handy section is “Beardcare 101” with articles for all beard types. The Beardcare shop has instructional videos and steps on what to do and which products to use for each beard type. I would highly recommend this section of their shop if you’re struggling to get the beard you want (although I do not have a beard, there’s a lot you can learn about them here).
Birchbox gives men quick and easy access to specific grooming care, along with the suggested order that they should use the products. The way Birchbox has organized their shop is beneficial for men who want a straightforward answer and no-nonsense shopping.
How Much is Birchbox?
Monthly subscriptions can really add up, so you have to weigh the price against the overall value of the products. Other brands sell subscriptions that can be quite expensive, but Birchbox seems to have fair prices for their boxes and the products.
Birchbox has personalized monthly subscription boxes for women, starting at $15. If you want more boxes, then they also have a six-month plan at $14/month and a 12-month plan for $13/month. Customers also have the option to pre-pay for a 12-month subscription at $156. Birchbox also sells limited-edition boxes and discovery kits at affordable prices.
Birchbox offers similarly personalized subscription boxes for grooming needs, starting at $10/month, $60 for six months, and $110 for 12 months. Birchbox also features limited edition grooming sets within their shop, which vary in price.
Birchbox Subscription Review: What Customers Think
Birchbox seems like a great way to try new products, learn, and stay on top of your self-care routine. These are the Birchbox reviews that stood out to me:
- Bought the boxes as gifts for their son and will be a returning customer for themselves
- Kits are a great idea for men who don’t enjoy spending a lot of time getting ready
- The boxes are the perfect way to try new products at a lower risk
Other websites like Influenster and Mashable allow customers to leave a Birchbox subscription review. These are some positive comments and red flags that seemed to come up the most in Birchbox reviews:
- They get stuff in their boxes that they won’t use
- Samples can be small and run out quickly
- Birchbox customer service is not the best at getting back to you
- Products can be repetitive within boxes
- Perfect box for gifting
- Great value and deals for products
Overall, customers on Birchbox, their Instagram, and other popular review websites have left comments based on the great value of Birchbox products.
Birchbox Competitors
Online subscription boxes are highly competitive, as so many people are shopping online and trying to find easier ways to make their purchases. Birchbox has many competitors, such as Dollar Shave Club, Ipsy, FabFitFun, Glossybox, and GQ Best Stuff Box.
1.Let’s start by taking a brief look at Dollar Shave Club, compared to Birchbox. Dollar Shave Club focuses on grooming products and ships boxes with sample size products. After four weeks with the samples, they will restock your box with full-sized products from your first box.
Birchbox has those options as well, but does not have as many full-size options within their boxes (their focus is on samples). Dollar Shave Club can be half the price, but doesn’t have as many options and does not cater to women as well.
2. If you take a look at Ipsy vs Birchbox, you will notice quite a few similarities in how they market their beauty products. Ipsy seems to focus on selling makeup/skin products, they only market their products to women, and their main cost is $12/month.
Birchbox has makeup options along with other beauty products, supplements, and tools needed for the entire self-care routine. Ipsy is slightly cheaper, while Birchbox seems to give its customers more options within their boxes.
3. FabFitFun is a subscription-based box but has quite a few differences compared to Birchbox. FabFitFun has similar ideas of creating beautifully designed boxes, with a focus on health and wellness for its customers.
Unlike Birchbox, FabFitFun has seasonal boxes that will give you what you may need depending on the time of year. They’re more expensive compared to Birchbox at $49.99 each season, but you do receive 8-10 full-sized items, which Birchbox does not currently provide.
Check out our full review of FabFitFun.
4. Glossybox has the same idea as Birchbox. They have four different subscription options, which include about five high-quality beauty products in each box. Birchbox has a full-size product shop where you can view every brand. Glossybox has something similar, where you can search for a brand and see what they have available. Glossybox is more expensive than Birchbox at $21/month.
We have a cool Glossybox review that you may enjoy.
5. The last competitor that we’ll take a look at is the GQ Best Stuff Box. GQ’s subscription box sells to men with a variety of full-sized self-care products, clothing, electronics, and accessories. They’re more expensive than Birchbox at $50 for the first box, but similar to Birchbox, the value and quality that you receive seems to be worth it.
Birchbox Promotions & Discounts
Whether it’s a Birchbox promo code, Birchbox coupon, or discounts, you will not have a difficult time finding one. A Birchbox subscription review found a bunch of deals:
- You can use the code FIRSTBOX1 to get your first month of subscription for $1
- You can use code FREEHERS for Free Hers Vitamins
- Use the code SQUAD6 to get a free Glamsquad Credit with your subscription
- You can get your first box for $1 with a purchase of an annual subscription by using the code DOLLAR12
- Get mascara for free if you sign up for a monthly subscription by using the code BANG
- They have 20-30% off sales on items in their shop
FAQ
Where to Buy Birchbox
Birchbox subscriptions and products can be found on their main website and are currently unavailable on Amazon or at retail stores. Birchbox has teamed up with Walgreens, where customers can experience what Birchbox has to offer at 12 different locations across the US.
When Does Birchbox Ship?
Birchbox has two different shipping dates. Their beauty boxes ship on the 10th of each month, while the shipping date for their grooming boxes is the 25th. The first box that subscribers order will ship within 10 business days.
How to Cancel Birchbox Subscription
Month-to-month subscriptions can be cancelled at any time on their website. The six or 12-month subscription cannot be cancelled once you’ve committed. You can go to Account Settings under the “Subscriptions” heading for both of those options. Their subscription plans cannot be paused or skipped.
Shipping Policy
- Birchbox US does not currently ship outside of the United States or internationally
- International purchases are made on their other platforms, like Birchbox UK, Birchbox Spain, and Birchbox France
- Standard shipping for items from their US shop is $5 (free with $50 or more) and will be received in 5-10 business days
- UPS Ground shipping is $7 and can be shipped in 1-5 business days
- UPS 2nd Day Air is $15 in two business days
- UPS Next Day Air is $22 for next business day shipping (free with a purchase of $150 or more)
Return Policy
Birchbox subscription boxes and gift cards are non-refundable, but products from their shop can be returned within 90 days of your purchase. Shipping and handling fees are also non-refundable.
Contact Birchbox
If you have any questions or need further information regarding Birchbox products or services, they can be reached by:
Website
Phone: +1 877-487-7272
Email: info@birchbox.com
Birchbox Customer Service: Monday to Friday from 9 am – 6 pm EST at 16 Madison Square West Fl 4, New York, NY 10010
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