111SKIN x SkinStore Limited Edition Box – Coming Soon

This box is available for pre-order now, and its contents include:

Y Theorem Repair Serum – Travel Size – Worth $116
Space Defence Bright Eyes Lift Gel – Travel Size – Worth $95
Cryo ATP Sports Booster – Full Size – Worth $135
Celestial Black Diamond Eye Mask – Single Mask – Worth $15
Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask – Single Mask – Worth $32

I received a full size Sunday Riley C.E.O. Glow in my Allure box a few years ago. It took me a while to use it all but once it was gone, I did purchase a bottle from Sephora. I also liked the Purlisse lip balm that was in my box one month so much that I’ve repurchased it twice. Same with numerous mascaras that I probably never would’ve bought without first having tried through them the Allure. I’m very picky though, because in the five years of Allure boxes, there hasn’t been that many standouts.

I do so very much appreciate all of the comments made here, and try to use all of the knowledge I gain to help benefit my mature, who g skin issues. Can any of you folks offer any insight in the Murad line of products? Do they help with issues like lines, wrinkles, and loss of skin tone? They are pricy to purchase, and this makes me hesitate to dive in. I have purchased Elemis, also quite expensive, and have been disappointed in the past. I’ve had the same unfortunate experience with Pulisse. I would really appreciate some input from such a well informed, knowledgeable group of women. Thank you all so very much.

I’d like to chime in on this conversation.

First off, thank you Jhong for your spot on analogy about sub boxes and fashion outlets. To add, sometimes it’s not the product’s formula that’s compromised in these situations, sometimes the packaging is different (the cheap plastic palette with no mirror) and sometimes the products are or near expired. Nonetheless, we all should know the $100 cream for $5 is not realistic….but again this takes us into the billion dollar beauty industry which inflates the prices astronomically.

I’m in Operations and yes, there is definitely a grey area when it comes to labeling. Your LV bag could be made in China but because one component was made in the US, they can now label it as made in the US. The rules are tricky but companies do this to add a premium on their goods.

Sub boxes were first created so potential customers could test out a product, love it and then they’d be converted into a customer, whereas the company could then upsell them their other products. But because sub boxes (and new beauty companies) got so out of hand the end goal changed. These companies that have their products in sub boxes use it for Marketing and PR. Not only are thousands of people trying a brand out, with social media every “influencer” is now posting this product online and tagging the company. The “influencer” wants more followers so they could get offered paid promotions. This brand is getting its money worth in brand recognition on social media and people who are easily influenced are buying this brand (or recognizing it as a great product that they might buy at a later date). Earth Harbor is in tons of boxes and it has brand recognition of great clean products. Note- no shade to EH, I do like them. Another example is Nomad Cosmetics, their palettes are featured in a few boxes and people recognize this brand, yet it’s manufactured in China for cheap.

There’s also a new list of beauty companies that buy products and relabel them for the beauty box industry. These are DLS, Manna Kadar, Grace & Stella, Avant and many more. Mountaineer95 mentioned something about retail pricing and she’s totally right. Retail value means nothing. Absolutely nothing. All these companies can add whatever price they want. Remember DLS Faccia moisturizer that was MSRP $100 and people found it on Alibaba for $2.50. Or what about the Grace & Stella eye masks that are on Alibaba for 3 cents a piece.

I feel like the take away for both these ladies Jhong & Mountaineer95 what you see is not what you get. That $150 serum that you received in an Ipsy box for $5 is not 150 nor is it 5. Use what works best for you, don’t even look at MSRP because it’s literally a joke and have fun with these items.

One last thing, 80% of the beauty products sold in Dept stores are private labeled. Meaning a person goes to an established lab and uses one of their already created and tested beauty formulas, relabels it with their brand name, starts their beauty company and sells it. Basically there’s hundreds of companies pretty much using the same formula (maybe tweeting it just a little). The only time I buy into the pricing is when a beauty company owns the lab that they create their products from. Estee Lauder owns their lab and creates and tests their own products.

nice….

Wow my head is spinning after reading all of these comments! I like how the commentators really delve into this topic.

Thank you Mountaineer95 and Jhong for making me work my brain this morning lol. You both make excellent points. I’ve always been intrigued by the subscription box model so definitely appreciated the information and perspectives 👍

I’ve only ever received this brand in Allure and Ipsy. I like the serums on my face, so when Ipsy offers one as a choice or as an add on for $18, I take it. I would never pay more than that.

Jhong, I appreciate your thoughts! It’s important for us to look at all aspects of this subject, because it really does hit at the heart of sub boxes. We are passionate about our boxes and our products, as we should be, and these discussions require all sides and opinions.

If I may…

Why does a brand offer their item to a sub box?

1. To win over and gain new customers who then BUY THEIR STUFF AT FULL SIZE, FULL RETAIL SOON AFTERWARDS; or

2. To sell the specific product to the sub box AT A PROFIT.

Now, some brands legit offer full size stuff to sub boxes. But look at 111 skin. IF their inclusion in sub boxes is at little to no profit to them but instead is meant solely to gain new retail customers, it raises a few questions:

Why full size? It takes us forever to go through them, so even if we love it, we won’t need to actually buy it anytime soon. AND even if we love it and eventually go through the whole bottle, how many of us would even try to buy it knowing that the retail is $150-250+?

So here’s the problem. If they were legit, AND thus their motivation was to offer sub box product at their cost or close to it in the name of garnering new customers, then offering said product at full size AND with a high quoted retail price is counterintuitive…the customer can stretch that full size out over months if not a year (hello, vitamin c booster), especially due to the retail. If we love the product and know that it will cost us $150++ to buy another, we can strrrrretch that free bottle for a very long time.

111Skin must know this; they’ve been offering sub box stuff for a year now at least, and not in small quantities. If the product itself is REALLY that valuable (because ingredients), WHY OFFER FULL SIZE? My goodness, a smallish vial of this $250-retail product should do IF the goal of the sub box item is to gain profit from LATER FULL-SIZED PRODUCT SALES. Again, if their goal is to acquire new retail customers, they’d be doing things in the reverse…offering sample sizes to a very elite selection of sub boxes, THEN offering to the sub box customers a discount on any order of their full size product.

I again submit for your consideration that the 111Skin brand’s core business is NOT selling at retail; it is selling to sub boxes. This is their main profit center. And if it’s not, I’d like to see proof…as in accounting proof that they make more NET profit via retail sales than sales to sub boxes, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they have book keeping “evidence” to the contrary.

Having said this, I don’t disparage their products at all. Many people like them and are happy to get them. My concern is this facade that they aren’t profiting directly from their sub box business. They are.

My last question to 111Skin would be: if you were banned from every and all sub boxes for the next, say, 24 months, would your “retail” business keep you afloat? Considering how many of your products have been sent to consumers in the last year or two, you should have won over more than enough new customers that you’re profiting on their purchases alone and sub boxes aren’t your main profit But…

We must remember that this brand not only worked their way into every sub box known to man, but they also sold these sub boxes FULL SIZE products. So most of us have at least one if not several 111Skin products chilling in our cabinets, and we probably didn’t plan to buy (at full or even modestly discounted) any backups just yet.

If they use the sub box placement in the way they should, they should be able to sustain a profitable business WITHOUT sub box inclusions for some time. Heck, if their sub box inclusions actually COST then money, they should be happy to get out of it for a bit and to just enjoy the new customers they’ve gained via their last sub box involvements.

That’s the goal, right? To gain new full price customers? But I suspect that will NOT be the case. They make their profit on sub boxes, pure and simple. Take that highly important sales channel away, and leave them with only their retail sales to survive on, and they’ll be gone shortly.

The box contents are going to be valued at $390? So according to their prices you’ll receive what, one 1/2 ounce eye cream and a sample size cleanser? 😉

It is pricey but I am buying this I love 111skin products, I am 55 and look 40 from using their products and of course good genes, but the products do work for me…..I am not saying they work for everyone, I am just saying I like the products and I do see a difference when I use them.

I have a half dozen different 111Skin products in my cabinet right now, all of which came from sub boxes that cost nowhere near $90 and all of which included many other products and brands. While 111Skin has publicly acknowledged (after much questioning and concern from sub box consumers) that they do manufacture their sub box products in different places than where they produce their “retail” products, they haven’t provided any reason as to WHY they do this.

IF (and herein is the question) a brand includes one of their products in a sub box with the SOLE PURPOSE of introducing new potential customers to their products, why would the brand deliberately choose to spend less money making the sub box product that’s supposed to win over the new customers? The ONLY rationale I can think of is that the brand intends to make profit on the sub box items themselves, regardless of whether they gain any substantial number of new “retail” customers from this sub box item. In other words, 111Skin is making profit from the sub box inclusions alone regardless of whether their sub box products lead to a single new “retail” purchase. This is especially evident when 1) their products are in multiple sub boxes month after month, and 2) their sub box products are always “full size”. I fully believe that 111Skin treats their sub box inclusions as a profit center itself and if you subtract out whatever profit they achieve on their non-sub-box, full retail sales, the sub box products alone make them the profit they seek.

Not that I should have to say it, but obviously this is NOT what sub boxes were borne to achieve. They should be a venue for a brand to get their products into many hands and develop new devoted customers, often at a cost incurred by the brand itself (a channel of marketing not unlike free samples at Costco). When a company/“brand” produces (or buys at wholesale and slaps their labels on, looking at all those Dirty Little Secrets) an item specifically for sale at a profit to a sub box, it defeats the entire purpose of sub boxes, limited editions, mystery bags, so on and so on. And yes, many of these “brands” do indeed offer their sub box items for sale directly on their fly by night websites, but make no mistake: their profit is already achieved via whatever they make on the sub box inclusions and the semblance of independent sales is just that; fake.

I’m sorry, but somebody needs to say what many of us are thinking. I will not be surprised if this comment is scrubbed, and I can’t fault MSA if you choose to do so; this site is not a public service (like some commenters seem to think) nor is it a non profit, and I understand if you guys deem this to be a post you’d rather not show, and I will not be upset at all. I appreciate your existence (I’ve discovered SO many incredible new products and brands from you guys), and I’ll be a faithful reader regardless. This whole “inflated retail/sub box as profit” thing we’re seeing is newish territory and it’s not the easiest thing to address without ruffling some feathers on one side or the other.

Okay, dismounting my (cruelty-free, small-batch) soapbox now! Carry on!