The best beauty boxes you can subscribe to online

Skin-care aficionados will appreciate the chance to test out luxury items available at Dermstore with the retailer's BeautyFIX subscription service. Each box boasts a $100+ retail value for just $24.95 per month, and there's also the option to make a one-time purchase for $34.95.

Unlike most similar services, Dermstore BeautyFIX allows you to see exactly what's in each month's box before you commit. The September 2019 box, for example, includes a bkr water bottle and eight sample- or full-size products including cult favorites like First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream and Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil.

While there may occasionally be a makeup item or two in the box, the emphasis is heavily on luxury skin-care backed by curators at Dermstore. "The sheer amount of products that comes in this makeup subscription box should be convincing enough to try it," according to Cosmopolitan. Editors at Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, and InStyle also love BeautyFIX.

Pros: focus on skin care, items retail for $100+, option to buy individual boxes as well as monthly subscription, full-size and samples

Cons: no customization, expensive

Ever makeup fan should sign up for Sephora's subscription box ASAP. Play! By Sephora is a great way to test best-selling beauty products items for just $10 a month.

Insider Picks reporter Remi Rosmarin tried out a box herself and said, "I think it's worth the money, especially if you're someone who shops at Sephora often or needs some direction when it comes to buying beauty products.

Each Play! box comes with six deluxe sample-sized items valued at up to $65 from top brands available at Sephora. There's a mix of makeup, skin-care, and hair-care, but the makeup items take center stage with popular (and often expensive) brands being featured like NARS, Tarte, NudeStix, Lancôme, TrèStique, and more.

The subscription box is directly tied in with Sephora's Beauty Insider rewards program, so you'll earn 50 points that you can redeem for more samples and freebies down the road. Plus, you'll have access to tutorials, videos, and an exclusive community group just for Play! subscribers.

There's just no option to buy full-sized products, though the deluxe sizes mean you'll get to try out the products for at least a few weeks.

Some examples from September 2019 include a NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in the shade Dance Fever and Sunday Riley A+ High Dose Retinol Serum.

Pros: comes with Sephora bonus points, excellent brands, variety of beauty items, customized for your preferences

Cons: only sample sizes, no deal on full-sized products

Fragrance is probably the hardest beauty item to shop for. Even if you like a perfume at first sniff, that's not enough to tell you whether you'll still like it after it mixes with your body chemistry for eight hours. Enter Scentbird, a fragrance-focused subscription service.

For $14.95 a month, you can get a deluxe sample spray bottle (0.27 oz) of a fragrance from Scentbird's collection of 450+ scents. According to the website, the bottles should hold approximately 140 sprays — more than enough to decide if the scent is right for you.

There's an array of men's and women's scents from brands such as Prada, Tom Ford, Glossier, Malin & Goetz, Burberry, and more. Scentbird also gives you the option to pause your subscription without cancelling, so you don't need to stockpile a hoard of perfumes you aren't using.

The service has an average 4.4-star rating on the review website Influenster based on nearly 2,000 shopper reviews and has been featured on Elle. One Influenster user writes, "I love love love this service. I'm not a signature scent kinda woman so to receive a new scent every month is so my style. And then when and if I find 'the one' their prices are great."

While most Influenster reviews are positive, some note that perfume vials leaked and computer glitches led to subscriptions being overcharged. In our previous review of Scentbird, we also noted that the company experienced some shipping issues in February while it moved warehouses.

Pros: customizable, large variety of brands and scents to choose from, several plan options, can pause subscription

Cons: no curation, some reviewers complain about bottles leaking in the mail, delayed shipments, and overcharged subscriptions

If you care less about getting only testing beauty products, FabFitFun is a great quarterly option with a mix of lifestyle items that include makeup, skin care, and more.

It shows up quarterly with 8 to 10 full-size items, so you won't get absolutely inundated with things you might not always use.

You have the option to select specific products or to have the box be a total surprise. Options might include jewelry, fitness accessories, and beauty products from brands like Korres, GlamGlow, Tarte, and more.

At $49.99, this box is obviously pricier than other options, but keep in mind that it is delivered less frequently and includes mostly full-size items. You can also become an annual member for $179.99.

"For me, the appeal is mostly in the narrowing down to make things seasonally relevant and the opportunity to have fewer, but bigger-sized, things to try out," writes Insider Picks reporter Mara Leighton in her review.

Cosmo, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, and Elle have also featured FabFitFun.

Pros: includes full-sized items, quarterly membership, option to customize each box, seasonally curated

Cons: expensive, some items might be lesser quality

• Target Beauty Box ($7/month): Yes, even Target has its own beauty subscription box. It's a cute concept, but at $7, it's not much cheaper than other options we've listed and you're only getting drugstore brands instead of high-end luxury labels. It's not as fun or, in my opinion, as useful to get sample sizes of affordable brands.
• Macy's Beauty Box ($15/month): Get a sampling of five beauty products from Macy's in a cute makeup bag once a month, plus $5 off your next beauty purchase at the department store. If you buy a lot of makeup at Macy's, this could be worth it, but I thought Sephora's program had more benefits.