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Are Boxycharm and Ipsy “Coming Together” and Saying Goodbye to Ipsy Glam Bag Plus?

Kai Green
ByKai GreenApr 22, 2022 | 25 comments

Ipsy
4 overall rating
1813 Ratings | 300 Reviews

The rumor wheel keeps churning this week--this time there's unconfirmed rumors about Ipsy and Boxycharm "coming together."

According to a Redditor today (4/22), they completed a survey and received a notice which starts "IPSY and BOXY are coming together!"
(MSA forum reader Sherri noticed this too and posted about it in the forum, thanks Sherri!).

The notice mentions "saying bye-bye" to the drawstring Ipsy Glam Plus bag and transitioning Glam Bag Plus subscriptions to a "Boxycharm by IPSY" subscription--at the same price of $28/month. Subscribers are promised better value in their subscriptions, more new launches and greater savings in their online shop.

No mention is made of when this change could occur. No mention is made of the base subscriptions of either brand, Glam Bag X or Boxycharm Luxe. (Perhaps because the redditor has/had a Glam Bag Plus membership?)

Here's what the unconfirmed notice says in full:

"We'll be combining IPSY and Boxycharm to deliver the very best of both worlds. It's your dual passport to IPSY and Boxy, all housed under one roof at IPSY.com So what does this mean for your membership?

NEW NAME, SAME CONTROL

Your Glam Bag Plus membership will transition to Boxycharm by IPSY, but don't worry--you'll still get to choose 3 of your 5 full-size faves every 2nd-3rd of the month!

HOT BRANDS, EVEN BETTER VALUE

You'll continue to get 5 full-size of the hottest products, now at an even better value (up to $215!) fot the same price at just $28/month. And you'll receive even more new launches, buzzworthy brand exclusives and emerging trendsetter from brands such as Too Faced, Huda Beauty, Sunday Riley and Fenty Beauty than ever before--all personalized to you based on your beauty quiz and reviews. How? We're saying bye-bye to the drawstring bag and putting that towards better products at a better value, and packaging in a 100% recyclable box.

DEALS AND STEALS

Don't worry, you'll still get member perks with access to Add-Ons, Pop-Ups and Flash, as well as our 24/7 online shop with one added perk--now you can enjoy up to 80% off. It's the best bargains that beauty has to offer."

This notice and the details in it--have not been confirmed by Ipsy nor Boxycharm. Ipsy acquired Boxycharm in 2020 and over the past couple months, some Charmers noticed an ad for Ipsy Refreshments on the Boxycharm site.

As always, we encourage readers to make their own inquiries with the brands and do their own research.

So what do you think? Would this be a good idea? Did you complete a survey recently and see a similar notice?

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Kai Green
Kai Green
Kai Green is a freelance writer who loves happy surprises, which is why she loves subscription boxes. She has a favorite box every week and gets almost TOO excited about packaging. When she isn’t thinking about subscriptions she thinks about entertainment, pop culture and BTS. Her most fervent wish is that a BTS box becomes a reality.

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25 comments

Melissa

So has anyone heard anything about this, or was this all just speculation? This was 4 months ago, and I haven’t heard or seen anything about this.

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Nique

I think they’ve merged! A tracking number on Informed Delivery came up as “IPSY” after my Ipsy had already come! When the package arrived, it was my Boxycharm!

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Rose

Basically since the buyout ipsy spent this time gathering data on which box did better and deleted the one that didn’t make enough money. There will be more merges like this.

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Arleen

Ipsy is supposed to be a “Glam” bag subscription and I don’t mind getting skincare but if they start adding home goods to the mix I will be highly upset. Since Ipsy bought out Boxycharm I had to cancel because it went down hill fast. If they merge a box/bag I hope it’s more like the glam bag and not boxy. Adding their own brands is smart business. I hope they continue to add more high end products but stop changing the dynamic of the company. I like the drawstring bag because it can be used for many things including a cute gift wrap. I only wish the bag was included in the X instead of making it a choice, it is called Ipsy Glam Bag after all.

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Amber )-(

I really don’t understand why they would drop the Ipsy bags instead of just shutting down Boxycharm. Ipsy is the owner just keep it and close the smaller box down.

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Alice

Completely agree.

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Smc

A HUGE issue I have is going to the boxychaarm “drop shop” and seeing some items at GREAT prices, then within the same month, or even week, I see the EXACT SAME items from the BC sale on Ipsy‘s website… and they’re listed for twice as much. Now, even at that higher price, I’m sure a lot of people think it’s a decent deal, Especially if it’s an item that you really like or have had your eye on; however, it just seems unethical and leaves a bad taste in my mouth that Ipsy would sell the same 1-2 ur old makeup item on two different websites at significantly different prices within a week or two.

I do think Ipsy’s made some good business choices in the past couple years (except for “Refreshments” which is a HARD pass), especially considering they have over 4 million members. I mean, their logistics and organization, operations, buyers, quality control, etc. must be ON POINT, because (in the recent past, atleast) there’s hasnt really been any of these huge rows I can remember about shipping problems or recalled products or issues you see going on with other subs half their size- we just don’t hear from A significant segment of the population of customers that they’re upset and fuming bc they were bamboozled or exploited etc. like we’ve seen with almost every other major sub box company at some point in past 1-2 yrs.
And the fact that boxy charm has gone EVEN FURTHER DOWNHILL than it was when Ipsy bought it isn’t exactly surprising, but it was unimaginable to me that it could get worse, or the co. would have the gall to make it worse… which reflects horribly on Ipsy/BC bc it’s just plain greedy and exploitative. They seemingly shove some overstock from well known brands in with just the right amount of private label box fillers for whatever remaining subs they have to be satisfied enough to forget to unsubscribe.
And unfortunately, Ipsy has started rotating in even more of the same types of private label, shady products now- but they have a trick…
We know ipsy has a brand incubator affiliated with the company, so these in-house brands aka those we see appear repeatedly in the sub can serve multiple purposes as they can plan to fill the glam bags with them, but also manufacture them to the right specifics at low cost… but in the meantime they can also test the response that people have to the make up and skin care products that are coming out of the brands that they’re trying to build up and create…
Things like Item beauty and Saint luxe and complex culture, Tresluce… they’re all companies that they’ve created but want to hide their relationship with. (Google it-There’s articles where they’ve bragged about their brand incubator & very own in-house brands and private labeled cruddy makeup,& while some of thes brands’ products may possibly perhaps could not be private labeled, theyre essentially all made to be the cheapest & most low quality that is possible to still be categorized as the beauty product that’s on their label.

Moreover consider this- the data collected from subscribers over the years, has ALLLLL helped inform their in-house brands & product development and tailored marketing and sub box ploys… Oh and an effort to attract & please all types of a diverse ppl… & the data from our product reviews and preference quizzes and purchase patterns has informed Ipsy abt how to appeal to the societal segments they want to target, and to curate products these ppl will want, and develop an interface and sales tactics online that drive ppl to buy things even when they don’t have the money- bc our susceptibility is in the data we’ve freely given over the yrs. They can target/appeal to various age groups and certain ZIP Codes/income levels, ethnicities, geographic regions, and even personality types, etc. bc they’ve got data points which theoretically enable them to put certain things on the computer screen that will sell to the ppl they target them to, and put items in the subscription which are satisfactory to a certain person- things that are cheap and JUST GOOD ENOUGH, because they know what “just good enough” translates to in terms of product diversity and expectations and how to achieve subscriber satisfaction whike spending the least amount of money.
I love that they put the items people actually want in the add on sales like jerks (because that’s where all their money really comes from) which is designed to pull on the impulsivity strings ppl feel when they think they’re going to get a good deal. They got really lucky because they were poised to answer the demands/needs people felt throughout Covid, bc especially in these times where we’ve been isolated, many ppl want the short-lived rush & satisfaction of retail therapy, whether they can afford it or not. Ipsy preys on that compulsion, which is sad.
They’ve not only gained a monopoly on the market, they smartly realized that if they got big enough, they could create their own box products and not have to curate them from around the beauty sphere… they coukd just throw in their own filler items…
However, it’s clear that the larger goal of the brand incubator was to create a beauty brand that wasn’t obviously attached to Ipsy w/ which they could put the data they’ve gathered over all these years to the test and create an algorithm that sells, creating products and brands that check all the boxes that consumers want (bc their subscribers have told them the answers to these questions already).
The modern trick to kick start that algorithm is perhaps to attach a famous influencer to the brand and give them some type of creative title that implies they impacted the development and direction of the brand in some way which is totally fictitious and just sells enough to those that are gullible, and inexperienced, or unwise when it comes to make up and beauty products, so that they’ll fall for the marketing ploys and traps i.e. Addison Rae has a beauty brand, or the people that believe the “influencer“ Ipsy pays to “curate” the glam bag x actually picks the products they feature in it,😑.

The fact that item beauty is in Sephora ABSOLUTELY blows my mind because it’s backed by Ipsy, and it’s backed by years of their data mining and interpreting what people like abt different products and expect from them… and now, they can put them in the subscription box for a few months to test them and see what feedback comes in (like a focus group, but without the informed consent.) I hear people talk as if these things are not obvious to them which really shocks me, but it helps makes sense as to why Ipsy is so successful.

I think boxy charm would be able to support a monthly box and maybe quarterly box and focus on targeting a different segment of the market; and it makes sense that Ipsy would be able to support having multiple subscription levels because theyre large enough- they just have to define what type of person/beauty buyer they’re creating it for. And some of the items are going to be private labeled and/or in-house brands which is fine (ugh)… Just As long as they work and are decent quality, or do what they claim and contain what’s on the label, bc I don’t like receiving total crud as if I’m being taken advantage of.
I’d like to see ipsy get a little more into home goods in the X, in terms of bathroom and bedroom and jewelry and accessories as well as small decor and fashion items. There’s a big hole in the market and a lot of diverse & eclectic ppl that would pay good money for just good enough items that are curated thoughtfully and not obviously cheap/ trashy.
OK , off my soapbox…
Sorry not sorry, but I am kinda interested to see how they’re going to market & curate this new plus bag because being the “Boxycharm bag” DEEEEFINITELY isn’t going to cut it.
Call FC‘s market place/shop has been underutilized and awkward from the beginning so it would be nice to see them use their leverage in the marketplace to bring some really economic items into the fold.
(Meanwhile, I’ll just keep subbing to BC when I have a 50% off coupon to shop the sales)

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Valerie

So you are upset that they are doing their homework and making business decisions based on the information its customers WILLINGLY give? Got it…..

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Jenn

I have cancelled both Ipsy and Boxy in the past year. Since Ipsy bought Boxy, they have both gone done hill. I figured this would happen eventually. Glad I got out before I had a reason to be upset about it.

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Denise

Hey hey MSA, I have seen the Refreshments that Ipsy offers in this months Boxy Pop up sale, I really don’t know how I feel about them combining together! Every box that has combined together & that has promised to have better products & so on, I never really see any changes in products! I think it’s a bunch of BS if you ask me, to be honest! But I guess if they want to combine together there’s really nothing we can do about it! So only time will tell, what’s going to happen & how it’s all going to play out!

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Sherri Hooper

Yeah, Boxycharm has had Refreshments in there Drop Shop sales, the past couple of months., Boxycharm is actually cheaper and has better deals on the Refreshments items and bundles!(If you like Refreshments, i personally don’t)

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Ash

Well they can’t take away things they’re currently offering Boxy subscribers because they will lose customers. So I hope everything will stay as is for Boxy people like the fact that Ipsy won’t let Canadians shop in their sales is ridiculous but Boxy always let them. I also can’t subsribe to Ipsy’s other two tiers, they won’t ship them to Canada. Insane. I’ve only ever had Ipsy Glam Bag and that’s it. So if I lose my ability to shop, I’m unsubscribing from everything. I don’t want a merger where I lose anything, I want a merger that makes things better. And currently Ipsy sucks for Canadians. So as long as things like that don’t start happening, I’m okay with whatever they want to do. But my fear is that Canadians are going to get screwed in this takeover like they always have by Ipsy.

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Dawn

I am not excited with this news. Boxy was cancelled long ago due to the crazy amount of eyeshadow and blush palettes they send. I have not worn eyeshadow since the early 90s. And I use a cream blush by Purlisse that I simply love. Skincare is my preference and I wish Ipsy would let you select a skincare or makeup dominant box. I could do without a makeup bag as well. I have over 70 unused bags. And I never understood the point of the drawstring bag. I am sure that this will mean a cost increase on even the base bag.

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Ash

Boxycharm is so overwhelmingly full of skincare it’s not even funny. There is barely any makeup in the all 3 boxes. Lol. For the past year the palette in every box thing has been gone. They still have palettes in the boxes but not every box. It is so. Much. Skincare. It’s so insane. My collection of skincare is to the point where I either need to have a ssle or just… throw it out. I have bags of it. Every survey they send I tell them please stop with the skincare. They don’t listen, for years. I’ve always been subscribed to all 3 boxes.

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Beck

I’m the redditor who posted the survey message screenshot. I can confirm that I have both a GBP and Boxy base membership and that’s it. I don’t get any of the other boxes. The survey email came from Ipsy and not Boxy. That’s all I got. 🙂

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Shauna

The thing I’m wondering if this actually happens is whether they will continue to let you skip a month like GBP lets you do, or if they’ll make you cancel like Boxy if you don’t want that month. I know I like to skip if I’m not impressed by the spoilers.

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Kelly

Goodbye drawstring bag, not sad.

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Kimberly

I can confirm that I did get an email from Ipsy to upgrade my Glambag to a Boxycharm base box. It was so bizarre I read the ad a couple times. I liked that the GBP gave you 3 choices but overall the items seemed underwhelming compared to the Boxy base box. Maybe it’s now going to be the best of both worlds. If I had cash to splash, I’d probably give it 3 months and see

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Michelle

Wonder how that’s going to work if someone is subscribed to both 🤔

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Roxanna

Please don’t give me Boxycharm products ugh. I canceled boxy because I don’t like their brand they kept giving me. I’ll try it one month but I will cancel after that if it’s just full of boxybrand crap

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mischmash

Really…I canceled BoxyCharm….and have loved Ipsy, so I’m not happy.

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Snow

Didn’t realize a drawstring bag was that expensive! 😂

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Kathy

Probably designing a new one from scratch every month and getting it made, from different materials every time, adds up!

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Dea

Good one!!! I won’t miss the drawstring bag, and when there’s a cute glam bag I just wait until it’s a mystery bag and buy it then. But the promise of better is just fishy. “You’ll still get to choose three of your five full-size faves” – but will they all be eyeshadow palettes???

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DoxyMama

Better eyeshadow palettes than the current deluge of skincare!!! I wish ipsy or Boxy would let people choose a mostly makeup box or a mostly skincare box. I think they’d have more new subs and happier current subs.