Choix

Makeuptalk.com forums

Help Support Makeuptalk.com forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 29, 2014
Messages
33
Reaction score
13
Has anyone here tried this subscription service? It cost $20 and you get $10 credit for their store. They are running a promo where you get $10 off the first box also so it seems like a really nice subscription...

 
I just got my first box today. Here's my thoughts about it.

This sub isn't suited for everyone. The $20 monthly fee includes 5 samples of your choice from what they sell in their shop. These samples are larger than foils, but smaller than deluxe samples. It's enough for you to try a few times. For $20, it does seem like you get only a little of actual product. However, these products generally are expensive and considered luxury brands. So I believe you get the appropriate amount considering how much the full sizes cost.

The samples come in jars or tubes. Lip glosses come in a mini lip gloss tube and loose powders come in a tiny shaker jar. Pressed products are depotted into jars and repressed. Lipsticks are sliced into a small piece that also comes in a jar. I believe mascara samples will come in a small mascara tube.

The presentation is what you would expect out of a store that only sells luxury cosmetics. They include a gift box with the order. Inside of the gift box is a smaller box that contains your samples. They also include disposable applicators, which I thought was a nice touch. Since this was my first box, they included a set of travel brushes. The brushes aren't very good quality, but they are to be used with the samples, so quality isn't important especially since they were a free gift.

You do get a $10 credit to their shop with each order. I don't believe these carry over to the next month.

Overall, I think this is a really nice subscription if you tend to buy a lot of luxury brands. I like that they carry some brands that I can't find in person such as Cle de Peau, Dolce & Gabanna Beauty, Ellis Faas, and Kevin Aucoin.

 
Interesting, I'm curious to know if these brands authorize their products to be used/sampled out, since it is my understanding that they basically deposit full sizes in to sample sizes and send them out? (correct me if I'm wrong) - and these are generally brands you wouldn't find in Birchbox, Glossybox, etc, and a lot of them are very strict about who sells their product due to brand image and all that.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, it would seem like they are taking samples out of full sized products. These brands are indeed ones that have a very tight hold on where their products are sold, specifically Chanel and Guerlain. The prices are the same price as they would be from the brand websites and they are all current products. 

I'm not sure if they are authorized for the samples. I'm assuming that they might be using "testers" to dispense the samples out. If they are approved to sell those brands, then that's what I assume is happening. Brands like those generally send out items specifically to be used as testers.

However, if they are not approved to sell those products, it would concern me on how they obtain their full sized products. Since they are the same price, they would only make profit if they were able to purchase the products at a discount.

 
However, if they are not approved to sell those products, it would concern me on how they obtain their full sized products. Since they are the same price, they would only make profit if they were able to purchase the products at a discount.
This is what I was thinking too. I was tempted to try them out because I would love to branch out to some high end cosmetics, but considering how easy it is to buy discontinued or fake high end cosmetics from allcosmeticswholesale, ebay, aliexpress, and so on, I'm a little apprehensive to try it out because I don't know enough about designer makeup to authenticate it on my own.

 
All of the samples I received seem to be authentic. I'm familiar enough with luxury makeup to see when things feel "off." From what I can see/feel, all of the samples I received feel authentic. The powders are very finely milled, the lipstick highly pigmented and creamy, and the foundation silky and flawless.

I've tried a handful of counterfeit makeup for the sole purpose of being able to spot fakes. 

  • Powders will be chalky or gritty. Pressed powders break easily and don't seem bound.
  • Lipsticks will smell off (some luxury brands have a certain "smell" for their lip products). The texture can be waxy or too dry. Most luxury lipsticks have a very creamy texture and glide well over the lips. Fakes can tug too much. Pigmentation can be lacking.
  • Liquid foundations and bb creams can have separation. It can also feel greasy. Fake foundation tends to sit on top of the skin or form some sort of layer instead of melting into the skin. Fakes do not blend well.
  • Lip gloss is one of the harder products to tell apart since gloss isn't as specific as other products. Be on the look out for strange smells and textures. Some of the counterfeiters don't know what the actual product smells like.
  • Packaging is always perfect on authentic products. This means that nothing will be misspelled, text will not appear blurry, logos will not be misaligned. Everything twists/snaps/closes/opens easily. Plastic and metal sections will not have uneven texture or bumpy/sharp corners/edges. Engravings will not be misaligned or uneven. The box itself might come damaged, but everything on the box should be on point.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That's incredibly helpful, @@Deareux ! I've never personally encountered counterfeits but that's because I'm usually pretty cautious about where I purchase stuff from, so I've never really known what to look out for aside from packaging/presentation (which one obviously wouldn't be seen in a repackaged sample).

Also, which samples did you get? Were you able to select each sample yourself?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
When you are on their shop, it gives you the option of buying a full size or a sample. You can choose a sample of anything and in any color. You can even get samples of pressed products. It looks like they break up pressed products, put them in the pot, then re-press them. It's not hard to do that, but it takes time.

I got samples of Chanel lip gloss, Dolce & Gabanna lipstick, YSL powder, Cle de Peau foundation, and Kevin Aucoin highlighter.

Also to add to my tip list, bad packaging standards are a dead giveaway. Kerning is the term for the spacing between letters. Some counterfeits have odd spacing between letters and words. Also, generally boxes for luxury makeup will have text in both English and French. Sometimes there will be other languages too.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
@@Deareux when you get a moment would you mind posting pictures of how the samples came? i cannot wrap my head around how I would get a sample of lipstick. I've seen some pictures of ds lipglosses coming in the box. Would they put the lipstick in mini containers so i would need a lip brush to apply? if they repress powders would it affect the integrity of the powders at all? 

 
this sounds pretty interesting. I've been trying to find samples of Hourglass Ambient lighting powders and Guerlain Meteorites to avail. I know you can swatch them at Sephora, but for me it doesn't really cut it. 

 
The lipsticks are cut into slices and then put into a jar. So you will need to use a lip brush or one of the applicators that they have included. As far as the pressed product goes, if they just used pressure to re-press, then it should be fine. But if they've added additional pressing medium, then that would alter the formula. I'm thinking that they just apply pressure since pressed makeup should already have some sort of binding medium, but I could be wrong.

image.jpg

image.jpg

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I keep becoming more and more intrigued. I do see the appeal because I've been wanting to try some Chanel and dior products but dont really want to gamble with paying full price for a full size - plus $10 off on a full size product is pretty substantial, you won't find that at Sephora.

 
The discount is pretty nice, however I can't seem to find out how to apply it. Their FAQs state that the discount is in the form of store credit towards a product that you sampled that month. I want to buy the Kevin Aucoin highlighting powder which I did sample, but I don't see any sort of discount/credit during check out. I'll have to email them about it.

 
This is very appealing to me because I want all the pretty lippies but in reality how often do I go through a whole tube of it? This way I can try all the different colors and formulas though it's not as convenient to reapply. 

i picked the meteorites to sample simply because I wanted to see if I would get a couple of the balls whole or if it would come in powder form. I think my package came today so I will update with pics.

 
Ooh, this might be a good box for me! I love the high-end stuff, but just can't justify spending the $$ only for it to go bad after 5 uses..for example, I got the free deluxe sample of meteorites from Sephora last year and STILL have tons of it left. I just don't go all out glam that often, and certainly not enough to spring for a full face of the good stuff. And by letting me pick my own samples, I can avoid stuff like lip products that I can't wear due to finicky skin on my lips.

 
I like the concept of a 'choose your own sample' sub, but $20 seems rather high.  I could go to Sephora or a department store and try out or get samples.  Then again, that can be a pain for some people and it's nice that people have this option of sampling in the comfort of their own home.   :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
For me, the value isn't there either but for some people this might be a great option. Usually anything I've got from Dior or Chanel etc hasn't disappointed me even when I've got them without trying on or samples. I seem to gravitate towards certain colors that are usually "safe" for me so that the products I end up getting even without sampling end up working for me. I know I'm very boring when it comes to choosing my colors. :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20"> Sometimes I go out of my comfort zone and end up getting a color I normally wouldn't get. I'll use it once or twice and then it sits in the drawer. 

 
I know this is bumping a long dead thread, but I wanted to just add my experience with Choix.  My husband got me a year long sub for Christmas when they had them for half price ($120).  They don't seem to have a handle on gift subs yet-he had to email them twice to ask them when I would get a welcome email.  They had to actually start over and give me a new account number.  It was just a little confusing, but their customer service is super responsive and quick to answer emails.

When I got my box (5 days shipping but it was coming from San Francisco to Florida), the packaging is super nice, a heavy glossy box holding the the samples and a couple brushes and a spoolie to use.  The samples, though, are TINY y'all.  I ordered the Hourglass Mineral Veil primer and while it was in a super cute tiny squeeze bottle, there wasn't enough to cover my face for one use-much less a couple times to try with different foundations.

The lipstick is a thin slice off a tube, enough for probably 2-3 applications.  The Guerlain Meteorites had 4 balls of different colors, then some broken pieces and dust in the bottom of the container.  Because the container is small, it's a little difficult to get a full powder brush in to swirl around.  I could probably just transfer it to a larger container.

I didn't get a coupon or anything about the $10 I could apply to use in the store, that may be because he only paid $10 a month instead of $20, but if that's the case it's kinda shady to take that perk away just because you had a sale to try to build your business.

I told my husband to go ahead and cancel and get a partial refund back after I got my box.  Honestly, I'd rather resub to BirchBox and PopSugar.  With BirchBox you get larger samples and the points are sweet.  I think $20 a month is way way too much for the amount of actual product that you get.  

 

Latest posts

Back
Top