Lifestyle Trend: Monthly Subscriptions

Remember back to when you were a kid and you would go to a fair or a flea market and you came across something called a "grab bag". You had no idea what was inside but you still begged your mom for a dollar so you could buy one just for the sheer pleasure of opening it to find a surprise. In your adult life it is still exciting to open something when you have no clue what is inside. Monthly subscription services are just that. You pay a certain amount of money each month and you receive a special surprise in the mail.
These services have been around for a while, for example, "wine of the month club", and things of that nature. Nowadays, the new obsession is a subscription for beauty and skincare products. Two of the most popular would be Ipsy and Birchbox. Many YouTubers post videos comparing the two while opening them for the first time. Both of these services cost $10 a month and provide personalized beauty and skin care products to you each month and are catered toward your needs/taste.
I strongly recommend signing up for at least one of the two because its a great way to learn about new products, up and coming brands, and expand your collection. You may not like every single item in your bag but this can be such a great way to have some "stocking stuffers" on hand for the holidays around the corner, or to just give them away as part of a birthday gift.
The best part about it is the element of surprise. Picture yourself coming home from an exhausting day at work and seeing a package for you and not knowing what's inside. It's almost like receiving a present from a distant relative and if you don't like what's inside you can re-gift it to someone else.
These services are such a great value because for only $10 a month you can get full sized products as well as deluxe samples.
Other than Ipsy and Birchbox, there are other services that cost a bit more but you definitely get more for the higher price. BoxyCharm is a $21 a month service and you get all full sized products from well-known brands. Walmart and Target also have created their own services. You can find a monthly subscription for so many different needs not just beauty. They even have a service called BarkBox for dogs. These services can also make a great gift for someone else because they do allow you to pay for a full year upfront.
If you're iffy about adding an extra cost to your monthly bills, cancel something you don't use very often. Split your Netflix with a friend (if you go months without watching anything until the new season of Orange is the New Black comes out) and sign up for a subscription that suits you and will be worth every dollar.
I personally am an Ipsy subscriber and below is what I received in my bag for November:

To join Ipsy click here
To join Birchbox click here