Amazon Beauty Sample Box: Still available but originally misleading

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I ordered four different Amazon Sample Boxes to check them out.  I’ve received three so far (one is lost in the mail).  I previously reviewed the flavored syrup box.

I just got the Beauty Box.  Before I go into a review of the box itself, here is something I found very misleading about the Amazon sample boxes.

When I first bought the box, it was through the sample page on Amazon.  The small print said that the $9.99 you spent on the box could be used as credit towards products in health and beauty.  This seemed pretty generous compared to the flavored syrup box, which only allowed the credit to go towards purchases of flavored syrup.

The credit would be available seven days after the boxes were shipped.

Now that the credit is available, Amazon linked me to this page about the sample box product, which explains that the credit is only good towards select items (~50 of them) made by the manufacturers showcased in the box.

While this makes sense, this condition wasn’t explained on the original page for the sample box.  I also could not find a way to get to the page explaining the limits from the sample box page.  The process is laid out very clearly in the Beauty Box page–I just wasn’t linked to it until afterwards.

So again, it makes sense that they would require you to buy things made by the brands featured–it just never stated that upfront.

In fact, the Protein Bar Sample Box said the credit would apply to protein bars–true to that, I have the option of 2,000+ other protein bars I can use my credit on (but more on that later)

And now for the review!

The Amazon Sample Box — Beauty Box

The Beauty Box is the only one of the sample boxes that arrived with its own branding.

The rest had arrived in a typical Amazon brown box.

I received:

1. Full sized mascara (worth ~$5)
2. Another mascara, but a sample
3. A large-ish sample of Black brand hair treatment
4. A travel sized sample of Whole Blends shampoo/conditioner
5. A one-use sample of Fekkai shampoo/conditioner
6. A full-size eye brown pencil, with brush and wax (worth ~$6)
7. Powdered foundation sample plus applicator

The value of the box was at least $10, plus you get $10 in credit–which isn’t bad.

But I wish the box gave more opportunity to try out products I’d want to buy a variety of.  For example, having a full-sized mascara is nice, but now that I have a full-size mascara, I don’t need to buy one.  I’m not trying out something I might buy with the credit.

There are a lot of lip and eye shadow products on the list of items I can buy.  If I were able to try out a sample of the Mineral Fushion Lip Gloss or Eye Shadow Trios, there would be a natural “next things” I’d like to purchase from the list–and potentially become a lasting customer of.

I would like to know if the lip gloss feels tacky or smooth on my lips.  I would like to know if the eye shadow is light or heavy–and does it irritate my eyes?

I feel like Amazon really missed an opportunity to allow people to try a variety of products.  It would have benefited them (and us!) to let us try things you can use in a variety of colors for a variety of events.  That’d result in the most post-sample box purchases for them, and result in the most useful information for customers.

Right now, it just feels like things in a box.

Would I get this box again?

If I could go back in time, I’m not sure I would spend the money on this box.  I’m having trouble deciding what item I’d like to use my ~$10 credit on, and the items in the box aren’t helping.

Should you get this box?

I would get the box if you review the list of items you can buy with the $9.99 credit and see items you would like to buy either way.  That makes these samples “free” after the fact.

But if you aren’t sure and wanted to try items out, I’m not sure the items in the sample box would do anything to help you decide things you wanted to buy (unless you fell in love with the shampoos/conditioners, or the foundation!)  Even though the value is over $10 for just the box, I didn’t find it particularly exciting.