Beauty Box 5 Review – December 2014
Beauty Box 5 is a monthly beauty and makeup subscription box. It’s also one of the cheapest beauty subscription boxes – only $8.25 a month with an annual subscription. They tend to feature more drugstore brands, and usually the product sizes are deluxe or full size. (Sometimes they still send out the dreaded foil packets though).
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: Beauty Box 5
The Cost: $12 a month (or $10 a month with a 3-month subscription; $8.25 a month with annual subscription)
The Products: 4-5 full size and sample size beauty products.
Ships to: US and Canada
Check out all of our Beauty Box 5 Reviews and the Beauty and Makeup Subscription Box Directory!
Each Beauty Box 5 box comes with an informational card detailing each item in your box for that month.
Absolute! New York Nail Polish Remover Pads in Lavender – Value $3
Nanacoco Nail Polish in Beat Box – Value $3.95
I received these nail polish remover pads in a POPSUGAR box many months ago and I like that they are acetone free and the little case is pretty convenient too.
FYI – Beauty Box 5 tends to send a lot of nail polish. (This is the second Nanacoco polish I’ve received in the past 3 months). Something to keep in mind if you are thinking about subscribing!
Lucky Brand Lucky Number 6 Perfume – Sample
This scent isn’t for me, and I just don’t like getting perfume samples in general.
Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Moisturizer – .26 oz Value $10
Jaqua Raspberry Buttercream Frosting Hand Creme – 2 oz (Travel Size) Value $12.50
This Juice Beauty moisturizer is another item I first tried thanks to POPSUGAR! I really like it, so I’m happy to have a travel sized version. (It’s foil-sealed and expires in 2016, so that’s great too).
The hand creme is a little too sweetly scented for me. Judging from the card it seems like subscribers will get one of a variety of Jaqua products.
Verdict: This box has a value of about $30. That’s pretty good considering I paid the $8.25 cost for the annual subscription. I wasn’t too excited about this box though. (I haven’t been too excited about Beauty Box 5 for the past few months it seems). Fortunately for me the Juice Beauty Moisturizer alone made this box worth the cost to me.
What do you think of the December Beauty Box 5?
Written by Liz Cadman
I got my free box today and I’m very pleased. I was sent November’s box and I’m so happy to have it. The product spatula is my favorite item because with it, I don’t have to cut open the plastic bottles, or throw away product in the bottom of glass bottles. I saw this product on shark tank and I have wanted one since then. I’m also thrilled with the lip and cheek stain, I got pink and its perfect for my Northern European complexion and coloration. (Dark hair, pale skin)
I’m not a fan of perfume samples either since I’ve worn the same scent every day of my life since 1987. LOL! But I keep a small basket on the back of the guest bathroom toilet and toss all the samples in there. When friends come over they can help themselves to scents they’d like to try. Works out great!
This is one of the best BB5 boxes I’ve ever seen. That being said, they seem to only give a decent box once or twice a year.
I got the free intro box earlier this year, laughed at its contents, and unsubbed. Ever since then, I’ve chuckled every month at how pitiful this company and their curation is.
I feel bad for the people who paid for a year. They coulda took that money to Sephora and got a few Sephora favorites collections or a couple eyeshadow palettes. Or even went with a couple Popsugar or Wantable boxes.
Hmm… Instead of the lotion I received a Chapstick. Wish I would have gotten the lotion instead.
This was my third box in my 3 month subscription and probably my last. My nail polish is almost completely dried out; 1/4 of the bottle is empty & it is so thick that it doesn’t move if you put the bottle on its side. The nanacoco nail polish I recieved 2 months ago was old & thick but still could be used. I’m not impressed with this box.
Lucky number six is such an old perfume, one I used to wear earlier in HS (I am 22) – I can’t believe a beauty box would send a scent that is from that long ago. I think it is odd.
I would have loved this box! I subscribe to birchbox, MSAQ, and glossybox, and have subscribed to Ipsy and julep in the past so I know what it’s like to have item overload… But I think after a while it’s easy to get upset about products.
I mean, how can this company stay afloat? Shipping has got to be at least $2.00 a box. Plus they have to pay their employees, and pay for the products!
I’m not sure how box companies do it in general.
And to be honest, I have so many products from all my boxes that I barely use any of them! I can’t imagine what it’s like for Liz!
But BB5 offers useful items at a very low price. I think this would be great for teens. Or for any person new to boxes, on a budget.
For me, the items are only useful if they can be used. I’ve gotten many things that were damaged, defective and/or duplicated of just the month before. I’ve received 2 polishes back to back that were years (yes, years) expired, like the kind less than reputable subs purchase in wholesale lots on eBay (expired/discontinued, with the former being inexcusable the latter being a matter of preference). Dollar for dollar BB5 doesn’t compare to other subs in the same price range in terms of total value, variety and quality (ipsy, BB, glossy, PV….)
This box was my last straw, tired of nail polish and I received the exact same one two months ago, did not receive the hand cream but instead another lip balm, did receive the perfume sample, but compared to my Ipsy and birch oc both of which I pay less for, it just feels like a letdown each time I open the box. Maybe they will step it up, but for now I’m finished.
I was genuinely pleased with this month, which had never happened before. I got the nail polish in punks, which is really fun (i love the nanacoco polishes I’ve gotten. I may actually have to buy some!), the juice face cream, which was just eh for me personally, because I’m only 21, and black don’t crack, yanno? So I passed that on to my aunt. I also got the nail polish removers in peach which was lucky because I’d just run out of the ones I got at kohls that day! I didn’t get the lotion, but the lip balm in pomegranate which I’m fine with because I hate scented hand lotions. And the perfume smelled like an old lady. Three out of five samples I was excited about, which is on par with my ipsy bags. I’ve gotten nail polish in every box, including the bonus one I got with a code. Luckily I’m a nail polish slut, and they all get plenty of use. I’m happier with a $3 polish then a $20 product I won’t use, like the lip/cheek tint from a couple boxes ago.
I received the same box with the scent of the remover and nail color being different. Unfortunately the perfume was shattered and the polish will not open. From the smell of the box I like the perfume. The hand lotion is just awful smelling.
Soooo sad about this box! I have five months prepaid, but I’m over BB5. I love trying new fragrance but this is a very old scent. I have had a bottle of this for about five years. And a lip balm! Maybe I’m just over boxes for a while. I’m too jaded. (I still love getting an Allure Beauty Box every three months though. That is value.)
Beauty Box 5 and I are officially done. I canceled November 12th, but they said I still had a month left of my subscription, though I thought I was just going month to month. So I got this box and while better than the October and November box still glad I canceled. It’s just a giant waste of $12, on the upside I had the same box as Liz but got two Juice Beauty moisturizers in it. I had BB5 for a few months and was never excited about it, nothing memorable besides November’s being so horrible. I did get a ton of nail polish and their “limited edition” boxes are a joke. I much prefer Birchbox and Ipsy because they’re cheaper and offer better items.
It’s funny how differently people feel about the boxes. I recently cancelled my Birchbox, ipsy, New Beauty and Sample Society subscriptions, but decided to keep this one. This is my favorite of the beauty boxes. This and Goodebox. So I guess it’s really up to the individual. I like the nail polish. I got a lip balm instead of the hand cream Liz got, but everything else was the same. I just think this box offers great value.
I also cancelled a few months and glad I did. Some months the value of the box is like $10 and I was paying $12. They do send a lot of polish. I like that they included one high end but this box is generally low quality and less value then my other subs. If I see a much better box then I may resubscribe.
This one is definitely better than last month (I quit a few months ago). But the quality is really variable. Beauty Box 5 gave me toe separators twice in three months. Also, they kept sending me foil packets of products for ethnic hair. While I agree that women of color are definitely underserved when it comes to subscription boxes, I don’t have ethnic hair and I don’t want foil packets as a main item in a box (don’t mind them as extras, but don’t really want to see them listed on the card with the box).
I am so glad I cancelled this box, all though I like this box much better than the past few they did. It’s just birchbox and ipsy are so much better! I think I’m in the minority about loving to get perfume samples though. I usually spend a lot of money to get perfume samples, they are hard to come by these days….and I’m still trying to find perfumes I like.