Individualized Beauty Regimes Are Better Than Any Beauty Subscription Box Ever Could Be

I’ll be with you in just a minute

Excuse me while I finish putting on my Tarte Sex Kitten eyeliner and Bakerie Proof Is In The Puddin’ eyeshadow…I’m almost ready to talk with you. I just need to rub on this hand creme, detangle my hair, apply some headache oil to my temples, and swap out Vince Camuto purses. Oh, and I’ll put my LOVE bracelet on and paint my nails.

Thanks for waiting so patiently — I’m trying to use up the items from my subscription boxes.

No waste and all that.

Would you like some under eye masks or face wash? I have extra. Perfume? It smells like an old lady at church in the 1980s on me, but I bet it’ll smell good on you!

Where did I get all this stuff? Oh, I subscribed to Fab Fit Fun for a few years.

There’s a website called My Subscription Addiction. Is subscription addiction a real thing? I think it might be.

I tried out Ipsy, Boxycharm, Popsugar, Quirky Crate.

My loyalty stayed with FFF.

Are subscription boxes addictive?

Greg Petro of Forbes says that they are certainly appealing to our dopamine center.

The motivation to buy these boxes can be partially explained through the powerful rush of dopamine that we get both when there is anticipation of a reward and when the reward is actually delivered.

Hook, line, and sinker

A few years ago I clicked on a Facebook ad for Fab Fit Fun. Some (maybe) celebrity who I don’t remember was unboxing her products. They were shiny self-care items marketed to women.

Yes, please! Tell me you love me. Make me feel good. Yes, again. And, again. Oh my!

I looked up the company. It seemed to be founded by conservative entrepreneurs.

Not. my. cup. of. tea.

I’m not sure if this is still true. I did a quick Google search and after turning up nothing, gave up, because this box has taken away enough of my life already.

Gifts? Why, yes, please!

But….shiny, expensive gifts at über-discounted rates in the mail four times a year?

Well, I dropped my ethics like a hot grenade and clicked Subscribe.

Then I found The Community. Fab Fit Fun has an online members-only community that is much like old school chatrooms. They are almost exclusively populated by women. Again — Yes, please. It felt like a safe and innocent corner of the Internet. Big exhale. Finally. I could kick up my feet, drink my coffee or wine and gab into the wee hours of the night.

I started off with a small promo box. I didn’t even like half the stuff in it, but I do love opening presents. And, these presents were ALL for me!

Unpredictability faded away

Since then, the luster has tarnished. The products don’t oomph me anymore. I can’t justify the expense for products piling up in drawers. Drawers stuffed so full they jam shut. My children keep getting hand-me-down products to ease my guilt about the colossal pile of beauty items taking over our home.

The breakup: "It's Not Me, It's You"

I canceled my yearly subscription. My last box arrives this fall. I don’t even feel excited about receiving it.

Now I selectively pay for products I know work. One of my friends has a small business making her own facial care products. She’s owns the beauty business that gets my pennies now. And, she is already part of my community.

For unique home goods like vases or crystals I turn to Etsy & have not yet been disappointed.

At the holidays, I have a frowned-upon (by my family) habit of buying presents for myself…which brings me to this conclusion:

I’m the perfect person to curate my own quarterly beauty box! I bet you are, too!

New beauty adventures ahead!

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Previously published in Beauty and Health For the Barely Human