Subscription Boxes! Birchbox vs. Glam Bag

It's a Subscription Beauty Box Face-off!  I am subscribed to two boxes that are very similar to each other and I thought I could compare them side to side!  Here are my October Birchbox and my October Glam Bag.

WHAT IS IT?
Birchbox is $10 a month and will send you 4-5 "luxe" samples.  The cool thing about Birchbox is that you can review the products you receive and earn 10 points per product.  100 points will give you $10 to spend in the online store where you can buy full sized versions of the products.  You also receive points for every dollar you spend in the store.  And full sized versions of samples ship free that month.

Glambag, which is owned by Ipsy, is also $10 a month and will send "deluxe samples and full sized beauty products".  They send the products in a cute cosmetic bag.  They don't have an online store, nor can you review products, but they do have a pretty active online community and you can upload different "looks" and view tutorials.  Kind of like an online makeup playground

WHAT'D I GET?
(I apologize for the quality of these pictures...I had to use my phone camera).


For the month of October, Birchbox teamed up with Goop.  So, I received a Goop curated box.  I'm still unsure what exactly Goop is though.  So I had no idea what to expect.  Here are the contents:

• 2 packets of Kusmi Tea
• Luna Fiber Bar
• Kiehl's Arctic Rose Eye Cream
• DDF Wrinkle Resist Plus Pore Minimizer Moisturizing Serum
• Jouer Lip Enhancer
• BeautyBlender

Aaannnnddd...here is my Glam Bag!  Glam Bag's October theme was "Hello, Bombshell!"  Here is a picture:

Included was:

• the Balm Bodybuilder Mascara
• Mirenesse Lip Bomb Glossy Lacquer Stain
• Couture Colour Pequi Oil Treatment
• be a bombshell Eye Liner
• Coastal Scents Eye Shadow

WHAT'D I THINK?
Initially I was a little disappointed with the Birchbox.  Mostly because the samples were very small.  I don't expect all my samples to be deluxe size, but I was sad that all my samples were small.  I know a lot of people were upset about receiving tea, but I love tea so I was happy!  I didn't like the Luna Bar, but was ok with it being in my box.  The other three samples (the serum, lip enhancer and eye cream) were all very small and the type of samples you get free at makeup counters.  

My Glam Bag, on the other hand, initially blew my Birchbox out of the water.  Two of the samples were full size (lip stain and eye liner) and two were deluxe sized (mascara and oil treatment).  The only product that wasn't full sized or deluxe sized was the eye shadow.  But there was still enough to adequately test the product.  I thought all the products were great brands and very high quality.  And I got a cute bag! 

WHAT ARE MY FINAL THOUGHTS?
If I were to judge the boxes based on the samples alone, Glam Bag would win hands down.  And I mean: No Contest.  Now, the ironic part.  If I had to base the samples on what was most useful to me, I would have to pick Birchbox.  However, this is purely subjective opinion.  Most of the problem was the colors included in the Glam Bag are colors I can't wear.  I have red hair and fair skin.  The lip stain was an awful color on me and black mascara/eye liner makes me look really severe. And I don't think I can pull off pink eye shadow.  I tried the oil treatment, but wasn't wowed by it.  It made my hair feel heavy.

But I've tried a few of the products from my Birchbox and really liked them.  The Kiehl's eye cream and DDF serum are both really nice and I actually notice results with them.  And a little goes a long way, so I've actually gotten a lot of uses out of my tiny samples.  The tea was quite delicious.  I gave the Beauty Blender (the pink egg thing) to my friend because she really wanted one.  But I didn't like the lip enhancer.  It had a weird perfume-y taste to it.  Meh.  I will also say though that the full sized price of a lot of the products are a price I personally would pay.  The DDF serum is $85!  Dang!  (It sure is a nice product though....hehe)

But all in all, I still declare the Glam Bag the winner.  While the products may have not worked for me, there is no denying the quality of the products. I am really excited for next month's showdown!!


ARE YOU INTERESTED?
If you would like to try Birchbox, you can join through my link (I will receive referral points):
https://www.birchbox.com?raf=pd87j

Glam Bag doesn't have a referral program, so I don't have a personal link, but here is the main subscriber page: http://www.ipsy.com/theglambag

-SHANNON

Disclaimer:  I was not paid or provided with any product.  I paid for this box on my own.  All my opinions are my own.