Stereotypes are basically a societal manifestation of the transitive property:

via freedigitalphotos.net

People who read a lot are smart. People who read a lot need glasses. Smart people need glasses.

Therein lies the nexus of this post: Boulder residents live in the Boulder Bubble. The Boulder Bubble is insulated from the rest of the world. Boulder residents are insulated from the rest of the world.

With this knowledge it has to be said… we are the ideal target for subscription boxes.

via freedigitalphotos.net

Have you heard of them? They’re popping up a-plenty in basically every genre of commerce: pets, candy, menses, and, you guessed it, beauty. These monthly or quarterly services cull popular items, package them pleasingly, and then send them to your doorstep all for a low, low, value laden, subscription fee. I haven’t tried any myself yet, but some of the popular beauty ones are birchbox, ipsy, julep, and glossybox.

But this is About Boulder. And Boulder-ites are crunchy. Crunchy folks like natural products. Boulder-ites like natural products.

So, behold! Four natural, often vegan, environmentally conscious, subscription beauty boxes! (I receive nothing from any of these sites to which I link; any bias is Google’s alone.)

1) BareBox $16 + shipping/month

via barebox.com

“BareBox is all natural and organic skin care products delivered to your door every month. Feel beautiful in your own skin with our all natural and organic coffee scrub, skin clearing tea, organic face cleanser, and skin perfecting moisturiser. Its never been easier to get your perfect skin on the right track!”

I would like to point out that it looks like this one just sends the same four products monthly rather than surprising you with new, tailored, finds. For me that equals a “meh” rating. Unless the products are indefatigably awesome.

2) The Good Box $14.95/month

via levelnaturals.com

“Good Box is a monthly subscription that sends premium, Level Naturals products straight to your door every month.  Because you have incredible taste and an eye for a great deal the Good Box is for you.”

Their pitch sounds a little hypnotic/Jedi mind trick-y, but I’m all about promoting hygiene. Sounds interesting.

3) The All Natural Face Beauty Box $15/month

via theallnaturalface.com

“We will send you a box full of wonderful The All Natural Face products.  You will recieve over $20.00 worth of our products and a bunch of free product samples.  We will mix it up so you are always getting our most fabulous products and new releases.  We want you to play with everything we have to offer so we are going to make these boxes fabulous!”

This seems like a great way to learn about new products and/or try colors/textures/tools you may not otherwise consider.

4) Bare Bliss Box $19.99/month ($16.99/month for 3 months; $12.99/month for 6 months)

via bareblissbox.com

“Every month we’ll surprise you with 4-6 healthier skincare and makeup products that will change your body and enhance your life. Use your new organic beauty products and come back to shop our special deals and save when you buy more.”

Throwing in the element of “surprise!” conjures images of sprinkles and confetti. That immediately makes me like this one best. Based on nothing but the cliche that comes to mind.

Do any of you have a subscription box service? Are any of them beauty oriented? Which are your favorites?

Nancy Novak, MD