The holidays will be here before you know it, and if you’re anything like us, you’re ready to get a jump on your “nice” list. You could give your loved one the same old gifts you go with year after year, or, you could try something new and remind them just how much you love them each and every month with the delivery of a slew of goods curated to their personal tastes! How so, you ask? With one of the best subscription gift boxes, of course!
How to Give Subscription Boxes
While some companies, such as Book of the Month Club, offer special gift subscription options for those purchasing their subscription for someone else, others can be presented in the form of gift cards, like Birchbox has made available. Alternately, you could also simply sign up for your subscription of choice under the recipient’s name, though you’ll likely need to make a note to cancel once the time frame you want to gift them is over, as many auto-renew on a month-to-month basis.
The Best Gift Subscription Boxes
Gift subscription boxes make for great gifts largely because they are so personal. While there are plenty of easy-to-shop-for categories (think fashion subscription boxes, subscription boxes for men, etc.), each one has its own unique features and properties that will appeal to different personalities. If your sister is a K-beauty fanatic, you may do well to gift her a JoahBox, which solely features trendy overseas products. Do-gooders, meanwhile, might be tempted to sign up for Frank and Oak’s style plan, which features all the eco-friendly fashion you can handle.
The best gift subscription boxes are also ones that fit well within your budget. We found plans that start as low as $10 per month, so you’re covered on the gift front regardless of your spending limitations.
Whether you’re shopping for a fashionista, a java aficionado, or a beauty junkie, there’s an option out there that will delight him or her. Keep reading for Woman’s World’s best picks for the best gift subscription boxes we could find for every type of giftee.
We write about products we think our readers will like. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the supplier.
For $99.99 per month or $349.99 per year, you can give the present of celebrity styling thanks to famed fashionista Rachel Zoe’s quarterly box of style. Having dressed everyone from Jennifer Garner to Cameron Diaz, Zoe is offering up five curated picks in beauty, lifestyle, skincare, and accessories, at a fraction of the cost, four times a year. Her current box features a Dannijo Elisa necklace ($245), a JJ Winters leather crossbody ($145), Shani Darden’s Texture Reform Gentle Resurfacing Serum ($95), a Rachel Miriam Leather Card Case ($50), and Marc Jacobs’ Beauty Enamored Hi-Shine Gloss Lip Lacquer ($28).
Though Stitch Fix is one of the most well-known brands in the clothing box arena, it works a little differently than most subscription services. For starters, there’s no monthly fee or actual subscription required. Essentially, this personal styling service sees clients working with a personal shopper to receive curated boxes of clothing for them to try on. Each session will run you $20, with the charge being credit toward any purchase you may decide to make from your box. Automated deliveries can be set at time frames of every 2-3 weeks, every month, every other month, or every three months to fit your gifting budget or purchased à la carte. There’s no obligation to buy, however, so if nothing in your box suits your tastes, you can send it right back. Sizes range from 0-24W & XS-3X, and men’s sizes XS-3XL, with kids sizing available in 2T-14.
A gift of Rent the Runway Unlimited is essentially the gift of an always-stocked wardrobe. $89 will net your fashion-forward pal four new designer pieces to play with each month, with the option to buy best-loved finds at a discount or to add extra items for an additional $39 per piece each month. All of the details (think rental insurance for minor mishaps of pricey items, dry cleaning, and shipping) are handled by the company, so your giftee will get to focus on how best to integrate each design into their wardrobes. You can also up the ante to $159 per month, which allows for unlimited rental. Return items online or in store for faster service.
Like Stitch Fix, Trunk Club doesn’t bill itself as a subscription service, per se, but a personal styling service. An offshoot of everyone’s favorite department store, Nordstrom, this program works when you sign up to be paired with a fashion expert who hand-selects 10 to 12 items for you to try on over a five-day period based on your personal needs. You’ll pay a $25 fee for their services (free for Nordstrom cardholders), which will be applied toward any purchases you make from the chosen pieces. There’s no obligation to buy, though any items you wear, damage, or remove the tags from will be charged to your account. Your pal or family can request a styled trunk whenever you like, or set up a monthly, quarterly, or alternate schedule for their specific styling needs.
Chances are, your stylish loved one probably already knows and loves Ann Taylor, which is why this unlimited rental subscription box is a relatively low risk pick. For $95 per month, they’ll get three classic, work-ready staples of their choosing sent to their door. Customers can keep pieces as long as they like. Then, when they’re done, they can either purchase the pieces at 40 percent off list price, or return them as they are, since the company also offers free dry cleaning. The best part? You can swap boxes out as frequently as you like, meaning you could practically have a new outfit every day of the month.
If clean, cruelty-free makeup is a priority, Beauty Pie is your best subscription service bet. Beyond offering up premium products you can feel good about using (the service doesn’t test on animals and offers a wide range of vegan options), we like this company because it actually lets you choose your products within a pre-designated spending limit. Those that pay $10 per month or $99 per year will get to select their favorite products up to $100 worth of typical value, while $20 per month will net $200, and $30 per month nets a $300 limit. There is one tiny catch, however, with a three-month minimum required on all monthly memberships.
K-beauty fanatics will flip for the assortment of five to seven trending Korean beauty products found within each JoahBox. While you’ll pay more than you would for other beauty subscription services, your giftee will also be getting full-size products valued at up to $100. At $35.95 for a monthly signup, we’re talking $5 to $7 per product. You can also sign up under a three-month plan ($105.85), or purchase a one-time box to see if they like it. Tips and tricks are included with products, and you can customize the selections with options for birth month, skin tone, skin type, and more.
As the beauty subscription box that started it all, Birchbox is still going strong, delivering a treasure trove of four to six sample-size skincare, hair, and makeup goodies each month, straight to your door. Membership fees range from $13 per month for a yearly subscription to $15 for those that want the option of cancelling at any given time. Curated boxes are hand-selected by the brand’s merchandising team, who keep their pulse on all the latest and greatest in beauty, plus, you’ll get helpful hints about how best to use them. You can also opt in for variations such as sample choice, which allows you the freedom to choose one of your samples in every box.
Oftentimes, the best part of a beauty box is the lipstick or gloss. You can help a lip product junkie cut out all the middle products to get right to the goods with Lip Monthly, a unique subscription that showers members with four to five full-size lip products packed into a cute makeup bag on a monthly ($12.95), three month ($38.85), six month ($77.70), or annual ($155.40) basis.
If your partner’s always forgetting to pick up razors at the store, introduce him to the Dollar Shave Club. He can jump right in by taking a customized quiz that will recommend a list of products for him, including a four-pack of six-blade cartridges and a one-time free handle ($10) with options to add or remove toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, and more, meaning the cost of each box will vary by your partner's personal preferences. It can be shipped every two, three, or four months. Skeptics can also try the $5 starter set of prep scrub, razor cartridges, shaving butter, and a post-shave dew to make sure the product is well-received. If you’re more of a one-time only kind of guy or gal, check out the company’s pre-packaged gift sets, which include some of its most popular products at a discounted boxed rate that ranges from $50 to $100.
Who said monthly style was only for the ladies? Your significant other can be fashion-forward and eco-conscious, too, thanks to environmentally-friendly brand Frank and Oak’s monthly style plan. $25 per box will get him a shipment of up to three hand-selected and sustainably-made pieces valued between $29 to $149 to try for up to seven days. From there, he can choose which (if any) he’d like to keep, with the $25 going as a credit toward the purchase. Monthly boxes can be skipped at any time, so there’s no hard commitment. Better yet, Frank and Oak uses recycled and organic materials and eco-friendly manufacturing methods that ensure he’ll feel good about the items being shipped long before they arrive.
As one of the most customizable auto-shipments on the market, Brickell’s à la carte menu means you can simply shop for the products your hunny already knows and loves from the brand and add them to cart under the “auto-ship” option for delivery once every 30, 45, 60, 90, or 120 days. Free shipping is available on carts that total $50 or more, and you’ll get five percent of your chosen items’ list price. In short? Your man will get exactly what he wants, when he wants it, for less.
Your favorite DIY-er will delight inKnitCrate— a monthly premium dyed yarn subscription service that ensures they'll always have the tools they need to get their knit on. Sign up for a $24.99 monthly fee for them to receive a ball of yarn in one of the company's exclusive hues, an exclusive knit design pattern and an exclusive crochet design pattern every 30 days, delivered by the 15th. They’ll also be part of the KnitCrate community, where they can show off their favorite creations.
If you’ve got a pal that breezes through books fast enough to make your head spin, boy, do we have the gift for you! The Book of the Month Club offers members one of five “wow-worthy” reads each month to select from. Gifts are available in three ($44.99), six ($89.99), or 12-month options ($149.99), and shake out to roughly $12.49 to $14.99 per book. You can also sign up for a monthly fee of $14.99, though months can be skipped at any time if your friend's not quite through with the prior month's selection. Speed-readers will also love the “add-on” choice, which allows you to add two extra books of your choice to your order for $9.99 each.
Chances are, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t love a good candle, and a subscription to Wickbox means an expertly curated selection will arrive like clockwork each month to brighten his or her day. Size options of medium go for $26.95 to $29.95, depending on frequency (monthly, three month, six month, and yearly options are available), while large sizes range from $36.95 to $39.95. Brands rotate by month and the container matches the season for easy display.
Coffee aficionados can never get enough java, and with Copper Cow’s Coffee club, they can drink as much as they want. With the classic box, not only will they get 22 coffee samples (20 black and two feature flavors), their box will come complete with 22 accompanying creamers for $37 per month. You can also choose that it be delivered every two months instead. Alternate subscriptions exist for Just Black coffee ($30/month), Party Pack ($42), coconut creamer ($39), and coconut cream party pack ($45).
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