By Aisha Al-MuidThe holiday season is soon approaching and it’s the perfect time to enjoy and honor time spent with loved ones. It is also a time to share stories and make new memories. It is a time of giving – giving thanks, giving food and shelter to visitors, and giving gifts! Over the past few years, I have been producing what I like to think of as fabulous guides for giving gifts. Gift giving has lots of wonderful meanings. We give people gifts to show them that we are grateful for them and value the role they play in our lives. Gifts help us to express appreciation for all people do as well as trying to show them a fraction of what it means to be thought-of and loved. As your resident style advisor, I thought I would be open and flexible this year and try something new and unique in the vast sea of perfect gifts. I’ve waded through its depths and have curated a list of the most unique subscription boxes for the ultimate gift that keeps on giving throughout the year for 2019.If you’re new to subscription boxes and don’t know where to start, this list is for you.
The subscription box was born in 2010 with the launch of Birchbox, a $10-a-month beauty sample box. Since then, this business model has spread to nearly every kind of product you can buy. In fact, there are now thousands of different types of subscriptions boxes. One-time gifts are so last year. Subscription boxes—or a subscription service that periodically sends packages to one’s address—are the holiday presents of the new generation. Not only will the personalized box gifts show your loved ones that you’re thinking about them, but they’re sure to last well beyond the holiday season. This year I present to you the perfect gift a subscription box, from fashion, skin care, and even food collections, for your family and friends and beyond enjoy!
For the beauty queen!
Play! by Sephora, Sephora has successfully taken the fun experience of browsing at one of their stores and turned it into an inexpensive subscription box! You get to sample amazing brands and new products, get tips for how to use them, and you can even bring your subscription box to your local Sephora store to get custom tutorials!
Expect to receive the exact brands that are carried in Sephora stores. You’ll typically get a mix of skincare, haircare, fragrance, and makeup items for a total of six samples every month, plus a reusable bag! Cost $10.00 per month. Check out sephora.com
For the Wine lover
Winc. This is the original wine subscription box (it used to be known as Club W), and it’s done a great job at elevating wine subscriptions from the previous “Wine of the Month Club” model. They source unique, small production wines directly from vineyards and winemakers, and keep the prices quite reasonable, too. Expect to take a brief palette quiz when you first sign up. Then Winc will suggest the perfect bottles for you. (You can always change them before the box ships, but it’s a helpful resource for wine novices and experts alike!) Bottles start at $13.00.
For the Men
Dollar Shave Club, Over the years, Dollar Shave Club has branched out to offer products for all your grooming needs (from toothpaste to hair gel), and I’ve been impressed with the quality across all products. Cost start at $5.00 per month.
For the Fashionista
Stitch Fix, acts as an on-demand personal shopper, selecting a mix of clothing and accessories based on an 80-plus question style quiz you take at sign up. The thorough survey helps your stylist nail your taste, price point, and anything specific, ensuring you’ll love at least one item in your box. The best part though? The size-specific subscriptions options include women’s petite, plus and maternity, and men’s big, short and tall, as well as a kid’s subscription for sizes 2T to 14. A membership isn’t required, so you can sign up on a monthly, seasonally or as-needed basis. Cost $20 styling fee goes toward the cost of the items you purchase. If you buy everything in your box, you receive a 25 percent discount.
