I’m sure by now that we’re all aware of the many many monthly subscription beauty boxes that have taken the beauty world by storm in the past year, right?  I’m also aware that there seems to be a love/hate relationship with them; some of us thinking they’re the best thing since sliced bread, and the rest thinking it’s a waste of money.

I’m personally a huge fan of beauty boxes, and if I could afford it I would probably be subscribed to them all!  It’s such a great, affordable way to try out both high street and luxury beauty brands, before coughing up the cash for the full size products.  I find that more often than not, most boxes put full size samples in their boxes, and they’re always finding a reason to create themes and add little bonuses into their boxes.

Isn’t this is what loving beauty products is all about as well, certainly for the beauty bloggers out there?  Discovering new amazing products to add to your collection?  This is what beauty boxes are here to help you with, at the fraction of the price you pay in store.  Of course there will be months were you may only be interested in one or two of the products provided that month, but you’re never going to love absolutely everything you receive (unless you’re extremely lucky of course!).  It’s all about trial and error.  At the end of the day you might spend £30.00 + on a product you have read many amazing reviews about, but when you test it yourself, it just doesn’t work for you.  Beauty boxes help you save that extra £20.00, so if the product doesn’t work for you, it really isn’t the end of the world.

Here are the five UK beauty boxes I think provide something for everybody…

Amarya Beauty Box; £10.00 per month (plus £2.50 p+p)

The Amarya Beauty Box is the UK’s only beauty box, which contains products that are purely made of natural and organic ingredients, providing you with products on a monthly basis from shops, salons and on-line stores.  All of their products are screened to ensure none of the products they send to their customers contain any harmful ingredients.  With so many people being more aware of what they are putting on their skin these days, there are many more natural skin products and brands to choose from.  The Amarya Beauty Box helps you to narrow down the best products out their for you.

Glossy Box; £10.00 per month (plus £2.95 p+p)

The Glossy Box was one of the first UK beauty boxes to start the beauty box hype, and is still going strong in popularity now.  The purpose of the Glossy Box is to bring you the latest beauty products and brands to try and test each month.  More often than not Glossy Box provide you with at least one full size sample, and they regularly have themed boxes, some examples from this year being the Harrods Edition box, and the Natural Edition Box.  Another selling point for Glossy Box is that they also provide a box for men, recognising that men can care about their appearance as well.  It is not quite as frequent as the women’s Glossy Box, receiving a box every three months, however men receive at least seven products in their box, whereas the women’s box provide five products a month.

Jolie Box; £10.00 per month (plus £2.95 p+p)

 Jolie Box was founded in June 2011 in Paris, but quickly started providing it’s services in the UK and Spain after it’s popularity grew quickly.  The Jolie Box provides luxury samples on a monthly basis, providing you with the best up and coming brands and products before buying them in the shops.  As well as receiving your box every month, Jolie Box also provides a monthly magazine, providing you with beauty advice, tips, and providing you with plenty of information on the products in your box.  The magazine often features articles from UK Beauty Bloggers also, which is a great feature, as they are featuring people just like you and me providing their honest and open opinions.

Latest in Beauty Box; £1.50 for three samples

The Latest in Beauty Box is a little different from all of the other beauty boxes available at the moment.  First of all, it is not a monthly subscribed beauty box.  Instead you can buy one whenever you wish, and you can pick your three samples from the website from a selection that is on offer at the times of purchase.  Although these samples are not quite as luxurious as the samples from the monthly subscribed beauty boxes, providing you with a number of sample sachets from each of your selected products, it is a much more cost effective way to try a product before you invest your money into it, and you also know what to expect in the post.  Latest in Beauty do also offer themed boxes from time to time, providing you with more luxury sample products, and sometimes full size samples, ranging from £10.00 – £30.00 depending on the quality of products and brands.  Again though unlike most other beauty boxes, you know what you are investing your money in before purchasing the box.

She Said Beauty Box; £9.00 per month (plus £2.95 p+p)

Finally, the She Said Beauty Box is one of the most recent Beauty Boxes to come out just this year.  The She Said Beauty Box provides a great mix of both luxury high end samples to high street brand samples.  So anything from Chanel to Barry M.  The great thing about the She Said Beauty Box is that not only is their website a place for you to go and subscribe to their box, but it is also a social networking site, where they have provided a platform for you to share and socialise with other like minded people, whether that be sharing your blogs, YouTube videos or just general chat on that months box, sharing opinions of the products you have received.

So there you have my top five UK beauty boxes.  If this hasn’t convinced you to invest in at least one of then, then I don’t know what will…