I LOVE trying new beauty products. The second I see an article in a magazine of a new product being launched I start daydreaming about using it, my hands itching to go out and buy it. The problem with this little (OK big!) obsession of mine is that I rarely ever finish a product. The old product gets pushed to the back of my vanity cabinet, to make way for my shiny new possession.
In the States, they have had a brilliant solution to this problem, in the name of Birch Box. For $US10 a month you get sent a box containing 4-5 deluxe sized beauty samples. If you Google 'Birch Box' you will get a whole list of beauty bloggers all sharing the contents of their monthly Birch Boxes, and they all seem to be deliriously happy. Quite often they receive full size products, or if they are sample sized they are very generous - similar to travel sized. The products they receive range from hair care, to perfume, to body and skin care to make up and nail polish - well, really anything and everything beauty related. Unfortunately, this service has only been available to residents of the US, so the rest of us have just had to experience the joy of receiving a Birch Box through the many blogs.
Well, that is, until now! Two of these companies have just been launched in Australia. The first one is Red Meow. For $AU10 a month (including postage!) you receive between 3-5 deluxe beauty samples. And the good news is that they have some pretty awesome brands on board already. Think Jurlique, Aesop, Napolean, Avon, Becca...I could keep going, but it will be quicker for you to go straight to the source: Red Meow brand list. At the moment they are still in the invitation stage. Simply enter your email address here and you will go on the waiting list to be invited. You are not obliged to sign up but will be sent an email link giving you the opportunity. You then sign up for one month, then after you get your first box, you decide whether you want to sign up for a year.
Another company offering a similar service is Haute Box; however, they are being much more mysterious about their boxes. All we know at this stage is that they will be $AU15 per month, but not what brands are on board. They will be launching in Winter 2011. Like Red Meow, you can put your name down on a waiting list and will be emailed an invite - but again you are not obliged to sign up. If this sounds like it might be up your alley, then you can sign up for an invite here.
For both of these services, places are limited so it would be a good idea to get your name onto the waiting lists ASAP. I plan on trying each of these brands for a month to see what they are like then decide whether to sign up further from there.
Update: The lovely Michelle has just informed me that there is actually a third company offering this wonderful service. Beauty Box promises to send out 5 hand picked deluxe samples for $14.95 per month. They are also in the launch phase so if you would like to secure yourself an invite, click here. They anticipate that the first round of boxes will be sent out in August/September so it really isn't long until we will be getting out hot little hands on our first box of beauty!
Now, which company to choose? Would it be excessive to sign up with all three?!
Do these services sound like something that you might be interested in?