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November 02, 2012

Beauty Box Comparison: Lust Have It! or Bellabox?

I hate being one to complain, especially for services such as those provided by beauty subscription boxes. In saying that, however, I, along with many other people, have started to notice some discrepancies between the two main contenders in the beauty box game at the moment, Lust Have It! and Bella Box. If you follow Lust Have It! on Facebook you'll know there are many unhappy subscribers out there so, with that in mind, I thought I'd compare the two boxes.

This comparison post will be structured much like my  first comparison post, Beauty Box Comparison: Glossy Box or Lust Have It!?

I have been subscribed to Lust Have It! since November and Bella Box since June, so I will take all information from June onwards.

Each box has a selection of brands they are affiliated with and, therefore, these brands make up the contents of each box. The brands that most appeal to me from each box are - 
  • Lust Have It!: Mirenesse, Lime Lily, 1 Skin Solution, Sheer Cover, Burts Bees, Laura Mercier, Shiseido, Wet 'n' Wild, Lancome, Batiste, LUSH, NYX
  • Bellabox: Almay, Australis, Batiste, Benefit, Bloom, Bobbi Brown, Bourjois, Clinique, DKNY, Eylure, Face of Australia, Givenchy Perfumes, Lancome, LUSH, Me Me Me, Napoleon Perdis, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, Press & Go, Sally Hansen, Savoir Faire, Ulta3, 
As you can see from the above, more of the brands in Bellabox appeal to me than those of Lust Have It!

Although the number of full sized products in each box is appealing, it's not necessarily a deal breaker for me. I'd much rather receive small samples of something I love than a full sized product I'll never use. I'm sure you all know what I mean. In saying that, however, boxes like June's Bellabox are going to stand out to me, purely becaus 6 of the 8 products received were full size!
Pack Contents
As you can see, I've broken down the products I've received from each company from June to October, 2012 (e.g. I've received a total of 3 cosmetic products from Lust Have It). 
From the table above you can see that Bellabox had double the number of cosmetics products and over double the number of skincare items. As someone who loves beauty and has a beauty blog, I'm always hoping that my beauty boxes will contain cosmetics, perfume and nail polish. On the other hand, I'm not too keen on receiving skincare items (however I HAVE found products I love through these boxes), purely because I'm very comfortable with my current skincare routine
Product Variation
Although product variation in boxes of the same brand is inevitable, I've found that Bellabox seems to have a lot less. From what I can tell, it seems that there are a couple of core products in each Bellabox, with a others being varied. This is just my opinion though, I could be wrong.

Lust Have It! have recently divided their original sample box service up into three life-stage categories. These categories are Fun & Flirty, Bold & Beautiful and Luxe & Luscious. This new system was implemented to try and better accomodate people, providing samples andpproducts best suited to women in each life stage. With this in mind, it seems that people are unhappy with the boxes they receive, especially after seeing the products provided to other life-stage categories.
Packaging 
Left to right: Bellabox mailing box and the Bellabox sample box
Left to right: Lust Have It! mailing box and Lust Have It! cosmetics bag
Much like the packing from Glossy Box or I Love This Box, Bellaboxes are packaged in a box. These boxes are a great size but now I have a least 10 (including the ones from Glossy Box), I think enough is enough. There's only so much you can do with little boxes, right? In fact, I should start packing my giveaways into them!

Lust Have It! used to send the contents of their box in a white mailing box. They now sending their packs in cosmetics bags. I like the idea of the bags but, once again, I have so many! Does anyone have any ideas of ways to use them?
Shipping
Being from Western Australia, there's always a wait for, well, anything. Even things that are express posted don't arrive in a timely manner. It's so frustrating. But, with that being said, there are some postage issues.

As you can see from the table above, my Lust Have It! packs often arrive after my Bellabox ones. Delivery was fairly even for the first few month of being subscribed to Bellabox, however it seems like they're becoming further and further apart.

In the Lust Have It! FAQS it's stated that boxes are shipped in the middle of the month, however my experiences with Lust Have It! differ from this. This month (October) I received an email in the early/mid twenties (I think I deleted it) stating that my box had been sent. 
Customer Service
As far as I can tell, both companies seem to have great customer service. I haven't needed to have much to do with either of them (I'm not very active on their Facebook pages or anything), but every time I have felt the need to be in contact I've received a prompt, polite and appropriate response. There's not much more you can ask for, is there? 

***

So, ladies, that's my comparison of the two beauty boxes I'm subscribed to. I've tried to remain as neutral as possible and, to be honest with you, I am. I don't know which box I like better as they both have their months. 

While both boxes are great, with each having their ups and down, I think that Bellabox appeals to me a little more. Being that I'm quite happy with my skincare and haircare routines, cosmetics and nail polish always appeal to me the most. In the past 5 months, Bellabox has sent me more cosmetics and nail products than Lust Have It!, something that could be taken into consideration.

Overall, I've been feeling a little deflated with Lust Have It! boxes recently. There's no one thing I can pin point to explain the feeling, I think it's a combination of the products I'm receiving and the fact that I've been receiving my boxes later and later. Oh well though, I suppose. I mean, if you're happy with the service that's all that matters, right? 

Everyone, I've tried to cover all aspects of the box in this post so I hope it was informative for you all. Sorry this was so long and there was so many tables/pictures, but I couldn't think of any other way to get the information to you all.

With all this being said, ladies and gents, what are your favourite beauty subscriptions? Is it one I'm subscribed to or one completely different? I'd love to know. Also, was this post helpful? Will you be taking this information into considering when deciding what to subscribe to?


Always look your best,
Sophie
x

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13 comments :

  1. Great post! I agree I've been disappointed with LHI lately, hopefully it improves..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Sarah, I think a lot of people have been feeling that way. I do feel sorry for them, though, because I understand that it's a very hard job they are doing and it's never going to be possible to please everyone.

      Here's hoping things improve because, with that all in mind, I am definitely considering unsubscribing.

      Delete
  2. You should include what brands have been included in the boxes from their affiliated brands.

    Eg: They could say that they are affiliated with Laura Mercier for the last year and never received products from that brand.

    Would you be able to provide a statistic/percentage of what brands they are affiliated and displayed with that you have received?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Jaci

      That's a great idea. How do you think I should do about doing that though? All the products I've received have been affiliated with the boxes, obviously, but I think I could look at the brands I'm yet to have received something from, if that makes sense..

      Delete
    2. LHI brands listed are:
      Avado
      Burts Bees
      AUM
      Bioderma*
      Bioeffect
      Dr. Hauschka
      Laura Mercier
      TIGI*
      Avene*
      Live Clean
      Mirenesse*
      Decleor
      De Lorenzo
      Star & Rose*
      1 Skin solution*
      Wet n Wild
      Wicked Wax
      Taut*
      NYX*
      Pure Fiji*
      Kosmea*
      Lon Vitalite
      Lapurete
      Lancome*
      Dermalogica
      Kerastase
      Sheer Cover
      Sranrom
      Applelles
      Uandi
      Roc
      Aromatherapy
      Jurlique
      Model Co*
      Karpati*
      Urban Rituelle
      Baby Foot
      Nougat London
      Batiste
      Naked Tan
      Klorance
      Rubi Fresh
      MD Formulations
      Moxie
      Lash Republic
      Beauty Snapz
      Say it with Scent*
      Lime Lily
      Lqd
      Spa Fresh Blends
      Montaser
      Shiseido
      Glasshouse Fragrances
      Matrix*
      Sasy n Savy*
      Caron*
      Evo*
      Elizabth Arden
      KMS California
      Marc Jacobs
      Davroe*
      Mask in a cup*
      LUSH*
      Nude by Nature
      Others not mentioned (Nicole by OPI, Calvin Klein fragrances)

      The ones with the * are ones I have received in my boxes. So since being subscribed to LHI, I have recieved 21 of the 64 brands they are parterned with. That's just shy of 33% :-(

      Delete
    3. What a great way of looking at it, Jaci! I will definitely do something similar for my LHI and Bellabox and add it to the post. I will hopefully upload that tonight. x

      Delete
    4. Sorry for the long comment. :-/

      Delete
    5. Don't apologise. I'm looking forward to adding this to the post when I have a chance. Sorry I haven't done it yet, Jaci! x

      Delete
  3. What a great post! I have unsubscribed to LHI for many of the reasons yo have mentioned above. I would love to see them improve back to what they were so I could resubscribe, but the date in which the box was delivered this month was a deal breaker for me (I live in Melb and didn't get mine til the 31st!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Rachel, thanks! It would be great to see them improve, yes. I mean, as I've always said, it would be hard to keep everyone happy but, with everyone being so unhappy at the moment, I'm eager to see how they'll redeem themselves.

      Delete
  4. I use my GB boxes and LHI bags to sort out my scrapbooking paraphernalia... it keeps my craft area neat and tidy! always dissapointed when I don't get a bag now.

    I've just decided to move back to the country - so I will be upping my subscription boxes in the new year to accommodate for the lack of shopping... Does anyone recommend anything outside of LHI and Bellabox?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Taya, I was using my boxes for something similar actually. I'm not longer the avid scrapbooker that I once was, however, so I recently parted with a lot of my crafty stuff.

      I also found the boxes were great for storing nail polishes and samples but the collections got too big for a couple of boxes. I will find a use!

      I've heard of Beauty Basket, have you checked them out?
      Bellabox also has an EcoBox that might be nice..

      Delete
    2. Bellabox have an Eco box too? I know LHI have one and i am so close to subscribing to it, but having read a heap of negative stuff that although now appears to be rectified with new management? I am reluctant incase it all goes pear shaped again. The spring and Summer Eco boxes look great though!
      I couldn't find the Bellabox Eco box, might have to email them to ask :D

      Delete

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