Ipsy Versus Birchbox: Which to Choose?

One of the things that I've been asked quite often is "What's better, Ipsy or Birchbox?" It seems like a natural comparison, of course: They are both $10/month, they both send out beauty products, and they both surprise us every month with new items.

Even with those similarities, the fact is that the two subscription boxes really are not too much alike, in my opinion. This, of course, means that it's very hard to make a comparison between the two. I will, regardless of that, be choosing a winner for the question "Which one would I sub to if I could absolutely only get one of them each month?" So, here we go!

Birchbox

The first consideration is the products. The two subscriptions definitely send out different products, and while there is some crossover, it is very rare in my experience. Generally speaking, Birchbox sends out the higher end products while Ipsy sends out the less expensive products. This is not to say that Ipsy is sending out bottom of the barrel items by any means: They generally send out nice products that are typically higher end than "drugstore" brands.

For the product consideration, I have to pick Birchbox. I really love the exposure to the high end brands, because while I don't typically drop $100 or more on a little jar of face cream, I certainly love having the chance to try it out and decide if it's my holy grail product. Even though the samples can be on the small side, they are still usually plenty to decide if a product is a must have. In the last year, bottom line is that I have found more products in Birchbox that I just had to rebuy than I found in Ipsy. Examples include the Youngblood Anti Shine Mattifier, the Suki lemon exfoliant, Shu Uemura hair mask, and the Ruby Wing color changing polish. With Ipsy I found plenty of products to enjoy, like the Zoya polishes, but rarely anything that simply blew me away, that I had to rush out and buy again immediately. Plus, most of what Ipsy sent out was already "on my radar" but Birchbox sent stuff I really had never been exposed to/heard of.

Ipsy

Birchbox

The points program is the next consideration. This is really a slam dunk in Birchbox's favor. Every month, you will get 4-6 products to review. Do these little reviews (they take just a minute or so each) and you will get 10 points for each. That gives you 50 points per month on average. In the Birchbox shop, where you can buy virtually everything they have ever sent out in a box and then some, 100 points equals $10. So, if you do the math you can see that every year you will earn $60 in Birchbox shop credit, just for doing the reviews. If you have friends that sign up for Birchbox with your recommendation link you will get 50 more points per friend, making those points add up even faster! You also earn 1 point for every dollar you spend if you shop in the Birchbox store. To make it even better, Birchbox periodically sends out coupon codes that give you little extras or percentages off your purchase. For example, a person who has been with Birchbox for a whole year gets a 25% coupon code. You also get coupon code awards at three months, six months, and nine months!

Ipsy has a fairly new points program, one which is still evolving. For each referral, you get 250 points. For each product review (each product in your ipsy bag can be reviewed) you get 10 points (total 40-50 per month.) While the point totals sound great, they definitely don't buy much in reality. It takes a whopping 1000 points to get any of the products which you can buy with ipsy points. Such products have included OPI polish, a mini of Benefit mascara, a Nyx shadow/gloss palette, a BeautyBlender, and a pack of hair ties. The products are very limited (unlike having the entire huge Birchbox store from which to choose) and while they're nice, it's hard for anyone to get enough points to actually redeem them. It's pretty difficult to think that getting four referrals is only worth a bottle of $7 polish or some hair ties.

Recent Birchbox haul: And example of how great the Birchbox points are. This cost me a total of .36 cents. I used 600 points that I accrued over the last year, along with a 25 percent off code, leaving the total due for this $90-plus worth of stuff under $1.

Birchbox

Ipsy

My next consideration is retail value. This is difficult to determine since each month has a different value. Both subscriptions do always exceed the $10 retail value. The Birchboxes tend to have a slightly lower retail value than Ipsy, but not always. Ipsy tends to have higher retail values primarily because they usually include a full size product or two (full size nail polishes, for example.) So, if you are looking strictly at retail value, then Ipsy is the winner. However, this just isn't a deal breaker for me personally. One thing I realized as I wrote this is that while I do enjoy getting those $$$ samples, if I don't actually use or love them then it doesn't mean much. For example, I have had nearly countless Be a Bombshell products from Ipsy this year, all full size worth $14 or more each -- but they were in horrible unwearable colors sometimes. I'd generally rather have a small sample of a high end brand worth just $5 than a full size $14 product that will never even get used.

Birchbox

Ipsy

Finally, I considered customer service. This is something that I think is vital with a subscription box. When you have shipping problems, product problems, or you just have some questions, it means a lot to have a reliable contact point. With Ipsy, you can contact them via email but not phone. In my experience, it takes anywhere from a few days up to a week (maybe more) to hear back from them. When you do hear back, they tend to be courteous but they really don't seem to "bend over backwards" for their customers in my experience. With Birchbox, I've had very good customer service experiences. You can contact them via phone or email. I've had several occasions to call them, and I've had extremely friendly and helpful service each time. Via email, it does take them around two days to respond, however they are equally helpful via email in my opinion. Because of these things, I have to give the customer service nod to Birchbox.

Ipsy

Birchbox

I was pretty surprised by the results of this, but when I really think about which I'd have to keep if it came down to it...it's Birchbox. The posh products, the fantastic points system, and the customer service really combine to make them stand out for me. I do still love Ipsy and I don't plan on canceling anytime soon -- but now you know what I'd pick if I really had to.
What would you pick if you had to choose just one?