Beauty Army February 2013 Subscription Box

The BeautyArmy subscription box lets you choose which 6 samples you would like before you purchase the monthly box.  You can even skip a month if you aren't satisfied with your selection.  The monthly subscription fee is approximately $11.00 dollars a month.  I just wanted to try this company for a month, and overall, I'm satisfied with the samples.  It's very straight forward, simple, and has good customer service.

1. Not Your Mother - She's a Tease Voluminizing Hairspray.  I really needed a hairspray, so this product was very useful.  It's a nice size for traveling.  I really like it!
2. Mark - Glow Baby Glow in Honey - This is a peachy-pink gloss that's moisturizing and doesn't leave a sticky texture. It has pretty good pigment coverage as well. By far, this is my favorite product of the sample box.  I think this is the full sized lip gloss, but it looks like a traveling size lip gloss.
3. Whip Hand Cosmetics - Loose Pigment Eyeshadow (Medal Of Honor).  This looks like the tiniest sample ever made for ants...  but a little bit goes a long way. 

1. Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque - I love hair masks.  I can't wait to try this soon.  This is the second product I'm happy about since I love to make my hair soft and touchable.  I've read good reviews about this one.  I really wish I could try this more than once.  If they gave me a deluxe size version of this, I would have really loved this box.
2. Enspri - Ultra Collagen - It is supposed to moisturize, tighten pores, and promote elasticity in skin. It looks pretty fancy since you mix two different solutions.  I'm happy to try the product though one trial would be far from sufficient to really judge an expensive skin product.
3. Skyn Iceland - Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels - this gel patch infuses with the skin near your eyelids.   Peptides and botanicals improve blood flow and reduce puffiness while advanced antioxidants help prevent future damage.  I'll save this for whenever I get my next hangover.  :)

Overall
All in all, I think it's worth the price.  The return for this company is very high, and the quality and variety of products are good.  However, I wasn't very excited. I rather have 3-4 deluxe or full sized  sized samples rather than have half the 6 samples in ketchup-packets.  I know I pay about 10 dollars more for the GlossyBox subscription, but the packaging and products were significantly better.  When I also compare previous Ipsy GlamBoxes (From other blog reviews) to the BeautyArmy box, I just can't help but think 10 dollars a month subscription loyalty should give me more excitement and desirable products in terms of brand and size. However, BirchBox may be more comparable to BeautyArmy boxes.  From all the reviews I've read so far, customers' satisfaction with their boxes is unstable as some months are great, and some months have the unfortunate ketchup-package samples. Beauty Army, at least, is stable since you choose what you are receiving. 

Generally, I'm buying the monthly subscription boxes for not only the value and brand variety of the products, but also for the novelty and surprise factor.  Choosing beforehand kind of deflates the feeling of anticipation.  Waiting for the boxes is kind of like gambling, because you have the chance of trying out the best products for a high discount. I have a terrible addiction to beauty products, and subscription boxes really satisfy it in an economically sustainable way.  However, I only want to buy 2-3 boxes a month. I won't continue with this subscription, because I also want to try out BirchBox ($10 for a good mix of skin, hair, and makeup products), Sample Society ($15 for higher end skin, hair, and makeup products), and Ipsy ($10 for make up products).