We Need Your Advice: Transparency Around Product Sourcing in Makeup Boxes

ByLiz CadmanJun 1, 2018 | 173 comments

This year we've started reviewing some smaller/newer makeup boxes based on reader requests. Some MSA readers have commented with concerns on how these companies are sourcing their products. Specifically, that the products don't always come directly from brands, and since the brands can't verify the supply chain, there's the possibility of getting expired/counterfeit products.

First to be clear - the comments we are seeing from readers are about are small/new companies, NOT established beauty boxes like Play! by Sephora, Ipsy, Birchbox, Boxycharm, Allure Beauty Box, BeautyFix, Macy's Beauty Box, etc. (All those companies work directly with beauty brands to acquire products for their boxes.)

Our goal at MSA is always to provide you with the information you need to find what subscription boxes are best for you. With that in mind, I can see two options in how to address this:

We stop reviewing any makeup/beauty boxes that don't source their products directly from the manufacturer. OR
At the beginning of any review of a box that doesn't have transparent sourcing, we call it out so readers can make their own decision.

Again, we started reviewing some of these boxes in the past few months based on MSA reader requests, and I'd like your feedback on how we should handle these reviews moving forward. Please comment and let us know how your thoughts. And as always, thank you so much for being a part of the MSA community and helping us make this site better!

Posted in Subscription Box News

Liz Cadman

Liz is the founder of My Subscription Addiction. She's been hooked on subscription boxes since 2011 thanks to Birchbox, and she now subscribes to over 100 boxes. Her favorites include POPSUGAR Must Have, FabFitFun, and any box that features natural beauty products!

Read More By Liz Cadman >

Join the Conversation

Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email

173 comments

GingerLynn

I’m fine with whichever choice you deem in the best interests of your company and your reviewer’s interests. If I were reviewing, I wouldn’t want to risk trialing a product that couldn’t be verified.

It is most important as a consumer, that any review is given with transparency with respect to sourcing.

Thank you for YOUR transparency, Liz, in reviewing this topic! Your efforts are appreciated!

Michelle

#2.. I make my decisions on what is important to me. I come here everyday to learn about the good and the bad about a sub I am interested in and then I decide. I don’t need a filter.

Lisa

#1 Beauty boxes that can’t legitimately provide sourcing information to MSA don’t deserve to be on MSA. It’s actually really simple. Legitimately sourced products would be easy to verify. All it would entail is the production of document from the manufactured and would not entail any more work on the part of MSA. As far as the boxes are concerned they are getting a wealth of exposure by being on this site. If MSA somehow looks to be endorsing a box that gets someone sick they could also be involved in litigation. We live in a litigious society this is fact. I purchased a box from “Cratejoy” 1x without realizing these boxes are basically very small providers. I won’t mention the box because the creator is very combative. And when I contacted her about a issue she attacked me in every direction and deflected any responsibility. Do I think the products were old in the box: Yes, did she follow through on what she promised: no. There are plenty of legitimate and transparent boxes out there. Let’s stick to them. Not the fly by nights who can be here one day and gone tomorrow. My 2 cents…

Jamie

Everything you said is why we need MSA to so option 2. When ppl ask me abt sub boxes I can only inform them on the ones I’ve been subbed to. I then refer them to MSA. If they can’t find any info on a given sub then they’re on their own and could get caught up with a sub box that is engaging in dangerous practices. MSA could at least review a month or 2 of these boxes and attempt to verify their sources, verify product authenticity, check on customer svc, shipping and other issues like that and post that info here for all to see when they do a simple name search. Then all they would need to do is put a note on the reviews that the boxes are basically pieces of crap because of whatever the reasons were and for that reason MSA won’t be providing further info on them in any form unless the box attempts a name change on order to cover it’s former bad name and start anew with the same bad practices. Otherwise how will ppl new to the whole world of sub boxes know anything?

Leslie Belt

I 100% agree! I subbed to a box called the surprise beauty box a couple of years ago….I couldn’t find anything about it here on MSA….I just assumed it was new…imagine my shock and horror after paying up front for a year of boxes in advance when my first box arrived I’ll of USED items from their old Ipsy or other boxes, I also recieved hotel soaps and shampoos. Their box was a brown box that they spray painted with stencils their letters on the box…even my husband was appalled at the contents. So for this reason right here I BEG MSA to review ALL boxes and tell us when they are indeed CRAP!

Allie

#2, as many have already pointed out, #1 is not fair to you.

Kelly

#1. There are so many reviews on the site now that it’s hard to find some brands. Also, I am against giving a questionable company/box free advertising.

Lisa

Definitely #2, for most reasons already submitted

Lucy’s mommie

Option 2

Karol

I’m going with 1.5. If it’s clear the sourcing is sketchy, don’t bother, but otherwise a note that practices haven’t been validated is sufficient. I’m sure nobody wants to support the counterfeit market, but if authenticity is cloudy, people should have the opportunity to check it out, should they be willing.

Jillian

Option 2 seems like the best way to go. Let the reader decide if they’re willing to take the risk.

SiouxF

#2 for a variety of reasons people have already expressed. 🙂

Lavinia

Option 2 allows MSA to be fair to everyone.

Lana

Option 2. I wouldn’t want to purchase from a business that doesn’t have clear sourcing, but I need to have this info to make the decision, msa can help with that 🙂

Leslie Belt

I vote for option number 2. I prefer knowing the bad as well as the good! This prevents us from wasting our money on a worthless box!

Beth

Option 2 – review as many as you can. I love subscription boxes but have limited time and budget. New boxes are coming out all the time and I don’t have the time to research them. MSA’s reviews have helped me avoid the mistake of subscribing to a box with poor customer service, expired products, or a bad business model on more than one occasion. The reviews have also made me aware of new (to me) boxes and products that have become favorites.

Sonia

#2 I am a big girl. Can make my own decisions.

Michelle

Thanks for opening this discussion, Liz, and I gotta say, option 1 makes my Spidey sense tingle.

I would never want—or ask you—to make any decision for me “for my own good.” And that’s what I feel option 1 is about. It’s not fair to you, and it asks me to give up my power to evaluate information and come to my own opinion.

And even more than that, you’d be giving up your greatest strength—your value as an honest reviewer.

Subscription boxes are something of a hobby to me. If I don’t see a box on this site, I’ll see it somewhere else. And maybe I’ll think of subscribing. And then I’ll do what I always do—I’ll come here to research the box.

If nothing is posted, I’ll probably subscribe anyway so I can see what this new entry to the scene is all about. And then I’ll be out however much money and maybe get a skin rash.

So I’m for the second option all the way. The reviews here always call out shoddy products or at the very least, raise questions about items that can’t be verified.

That’s what you bring to us. Don’t give it up.

Review all the boxes you can, even the “bad” ones. I know you’ll stop reviewing the ones that don’t make the cut in time—you do that already. That’s a valid business decision. But it’s made from a position of knowledge, of knowing a box and whether it’s worth your time, effort, and money.

We can make those decisions for ourself, too—and I personally rely a lot on what I see here to help me make it. Please continue the awesome stuff you do!

Granny San

Review all of the boxes and include all information you have on the box. I enjoy knowing what is out there.

I say #2 and state in bold that the box has questionable sourcing. I’ve seen MSA state other precautions on a few boxes. For example, on Glossybox, they said some members had problems with CS. I appreciated the warning but still signed up for GB and had no problems. I think we can all decide what risks we are willing to take.

Ragan

Haha, nearly everything from Jammin’ Butter has questionable sourcing. And yet if I ever call that into question in a Pet Treater review, people who love the box say I am being too negative…

Jamie

I hear ya. Certain sub boxes have a very loyal following and these folks take anything bad anyone says about the box as a personal attack. I personally don’t care about the boxes, the box owners, the companies, etc. I’m concerned with us – the ppl buying the boxes and using the products. For example, when I was getting Lola box and they kept sending those hot pink lip sticks I hate so much I gave them to my kid as play makeup. Now imagine that one of those lippies was a fake product (they weren’t. Just hypothetical here) and I had given fakeup to my baby girl and she got sick from it! Now, I don’t use highlights either so I would have either given away or sold that Tarte palette if I didn’t know any better. Some ppl believe so strongly in tribe and the owner that they’re refusing to believe that any of the products from the April box are even suspect so they’re now using them and, even worse imo, selling these things on places like eBay, putting contaminated or possibly fake products onto circulation. You can read through this thread here or on the tribe April box thread and see how many defenders of the box there are. I never subbed to tribe. They didn’t do me wrong. I don’t feel anything towards them. I only feel that these sub boxes, in general, have to be held to a certain standard and that when they are caught being deceptive or engaging in less than legitimate business practices, especially ones that can endanger their customers, they need to be held accountable. It’s not hate as some claim it to be. It’s concern for my fellow human beings. Doing the right thing for other people, people and not companies, has always weighed heavily on me. This is just another step in the way I live my life, but of course nobody cares to ask abt me or my beliefs bc assuming that I just have a hate-on for their favorite sub box is a much easier explanation for them to accept. Simply put if I’m not just hating on their fave sub for the sake of hating it then there’s a chance I’m right and they don’t want to hear anything about that.
Keep speaking your own truth. You’ll find others that agree with you especially if you have facts and proof on your side.

Judi

I agree, #2. Any information about questionable or problematic products or customer service is extremely helpful.

Heathers

#2 I only found out about this MSA site about 6 months ago even though i have been a FFF and Julep subscriber for three years. That said doing only one review and then stopping would make it difficult for the new person coming onto MSA to decide and know why the reviews stoped. I feel it is up to us to decide if we want to sub or not with these companies. But your reviews and everyones comments help me to decide where i want to spend my money. Also some peoples reasons for thinking something is wrong or bad may not be my own ie almost but not expired sunscreen as mentioned earlier. For me that would not turn me off but some it would. Thank you for all you already do.

Angela M

Number 2. That way people can decide if they want to take the risk. I really like the fact that you are asking our opinion on this matter.

But, in the vein of transparency, maybe also point out the boxes that numerous customers have complained about with double billing, not being able to cancel, boxes that never show up or are way late, essentially, shady business practices.

Daphne Scott

I say option 1, there are too many boxes to stress over bad ones.

Lauri

My vote is #2 – a simple generic disclaimer. I love coming here for complete honest reviews, and this one piece of info would be highly valuable when deciding On which sub boxes to try.

Let’s Swap

#2 because we are adults who are responsible for making our own decisions as informed consumers.

Thanks to you and to all of the reviewers who go above and beyond to do the legwork and report on personal experiences testing these products to help readers/buyers sift through the ever-increasing glut of options available to us. You have all provided MSA readers with so much information and experiential details that if we cannot form an opinion based upon all of that input and our own research, than the blame lands squarely on ourselves.

jlsorange

Option 1
Thank you

nadia

definitely option number 2

Our reviewers research, test, and recommend the best subscriptions and products independently; click to learn more about our editorial guidelines. We may receive commissions on purchases made through links on our site.

We Need Your Advice: Transparency Around Product Sourcing in Makeup Boxes

Advertise With MSA

Information

Company