If you’re as interested in cosmetics as you are in fragrance, you’ve no doubt become aware of the “subscription box” craze of the past five years or so. It usually works like this: you subscribe by filling out a questionnaire about your tastes, and for a monthly fee you’re sent a box of trial-sized products purportedly chosen to fit your profile. Everyone loves getting surprises in the mail, right? I’ve joined two or three of these subscription brands in the past, and for a while I enjoyed receiving my packages; as the months ticked by, however, I ended up owning too many items that I just never used (bright coral lipsticks! sparkly highlighting powders!) so I unsubscribed.

More recently, variations on the subscription theme have emerged — several fragrance clubs, for example, and now Boxwalla, a service that “curates” boxes in four categories: Beauty, Food, Film and Books. The Beauty box promises to offer “luxurious and effective products to nourish your skin and body,” all made in the United States with non-toxic and cruelty-free ingredients. I’ve just tried Boxwalla’s December Beauty box, which seemed to have a “winter comfort” motif, and — unlike some of the cosmetics subscription services I’ve tried —it was an all-around success for me…

Read the rest of this article »