Best beauty subscription boxes, ranked by a beauty expert

This monthly beauty subscription box was an all-round hit, featuring everything from make-up to skincare, including a travel-size version of my current favourite mascara: Benefit’s fan fest (£15, Lookfantastic.com).

Peter Thomas Roth’s firm peeling gel (£12, Lookfantastic.com) was also included and is a good pick for all skin types. We also received a Umberto Gianni scalp scrub, which is a top pick for kinks, waves and straight strands alike. Month after month, Lookfantastic managed to delight us with the variety included in its subscription box and for a great price, too.

It might have been nice, however, to have seen a full-size product in addition to the Delilah lip liner (£22, Lookfantastic.com) and similar pencil-type products.

Much like Roccabox (see below), Glossybox’s beauty selection frequently surprises subscribers with the likes of make-up sponges, shower mitts and scalp massagers for a bit of extra variety.

In the box I received, I was treated to a pair of eco eyelash curlers worth £15. I also unboxed everything from a grüum hydrating facial mist (£12, Grüum.com) to a Neutrogena hydro boost cleanser (£6, Amazon.co.uk) – my haul arrived during the height of summer, so this cooling, quenching duo was much appreciated. For everything from timely picks to product diversity, head to Glossybox.

If you put the price aside, I’d say the Mintd box was my pick of the lot, with formulas any skincare buff can only dream of getting their hands on. From Sunday Riley to Allies of Skin on the potential product roster, the excitement of what you’ll receive each month is almost too much to bear. I received a heavenly box stocked to the brim with full-size products from MZ Skin, Aurelia London, Verso and Tatcha.

I enjoyed the variety of Japanese, British and Swedish skincare technology, with the surprisingly gentle nature of Tatcha’s deep cleanse (£54.59, Amazon.co.uk) serving as an excellent evening unwind after a day on the sweaty Tube amid wafts of city pollution.

When it comes to the price, it’s true this Mintd box will set you back a fair amount each month (nearly £100, in fact) but the contents tend to be worth around double (if not more) and I’ve yet to see a filler-type offering in my monthly haul.

While my Roccabox subscription box contained the likes of Rodial and Murad, a quick browse of past offerings from the brand showed a slightly more interesting selection of bath salts, self tan and even Vitabiotics skin supplements (£6.49, Superdrug.com). Realistically, you won’t need a month-after-month supply of products such as moisturiser, so, it’s refreshing to see slightly different formulas on the cards here.

What’s more, Roccabox offers a more premium selection of beauty, with the inset image included here showing the retailer’s ‘glow up limited edition box.’ If anything, the luxury one-off option was a good indication of which luxury brands shoppers might hope to see sprinkled throughout their £15 boxes – so, here’s hoping for Zelens and Disciple minis going forward.

Korean skincare – or K-skincare for true beauty buffs – has cemented itself in the beauty world. So, if you’re already all over Korean beauty brands or simply fancy testing the waters, this subscription box may be for you. Housing between four and six products (at least one will be full-size), Skin Cupid focuses on introducing the best Asian beauty brands to its customers, with monthly or bi-monthly boxes of goodies –there’s everything from skincare to haircare up for grabs.

The box I received included a sheet mask, two full-size cleansers from TikTok-trending brand Anua, serum, lip SPF and a whole host of K-beauty samples (including the viral centella cleansing oil). With a mix of buzzy brands and products I’d never seen before, Skin Cupid’s offering is an incredibly exciting concept for any cosmetics fan.

If you’re not familiar with Beauty Pie, now’s the time to get familiar. It started in 2016 as a way to obtain your favourite premium formulas without the designer mark-ups – promising its members the same suppliers as leading cosmetics companies. For instance, the super healthy skin cleansing balm (from £15.50, Beautypie.com) could be obtained as an alternative to the Elemis pro-collagen cleanser. Eight years on, Beauty Pie has gained gravitas, and the super healthy skin formula (to name just one example) is now seen as a top-notch product in its own right, Elemis comparisons aside.

Being a Beauty Pie member costs £10 per month and means, in some instances, saving yourself more than £50 an item, and you can do so on everything from body wash to anti-ageing serums. I tested the brand’s super healthy skin body creme (from £19, Beautypie.com) and Japanfusion cleanser (from £10, Beautypie.com) – to name a couple – with both leaving my skin feeling comforted and looking glowy.

Estrid came onto the shaving scene in 2019, initially beginning its body care life as Hey Estrid. Now, it’s quite the established brand, offering customers everything from five-blade razors (£7.95, Estrid.com) to wax kits (£7.45, Estrid.com) and shave gel (£4.95, Estrid.com). The appeal? You can personalise the frequency of your replacement blade delivery (every one, two or three months) and never suffer the consequences of an old, hair-clogged blade again.

I tested the body blade – Estrid offers blades for the face, too – alongside the everyday body lotion (£6.95, Estrid.com). While the five-blade head is certainly sharp, it also caused a handful more cuts than my usual Wilkinson Sword. The aesthetics are second to none and I can certainly see the appeal but, for the same price (£9.95/month) as my current pack of high-street blades, I’ll need a little convincing.

A great pick for those with acne-prone skin, Skin + Me provides personalised prescription skincare with ingredients such as clindamycin (an antibiotic) to help with painful blemishes, skin bumpiness and the like. The brand’s offering can be tailored to every skin type and comes delivered in a nifty twist-up vial that perfectly doses your daily application, taking the guesswork/risk out of stronger ingredients such as tretinoin (the highest strength of topical vitamin A).

I tested my personalised formula for six weeks – the minimum period the brand recommends you stick with it – and, while I saw no major improvements, I’ve encountered plenty of beauty writers completely enamoured by the service. My advice? For those really suffering from adult acne, Skin + Me could be your solution and is essentially a treatment bridge between you and that long dermatologist’s waitlist. As for minor blemishes and blackheads, I’d give over-the-counter skincare a whirl first.