A Bone to Pick with #BoxyCharm (Subscription Box Review/Rant)

I have been a fan of BoxyCharm since they came out with their revamp years ago. I’m often posting their praises when I share my boxes on here but, sadly, they’re starting to let me down.

October 2021 they announced they were raising their Premium Boxes from $35 to $39.99 (plus tax) but their Base Boxes were going to remain the same. Fast forward to January 2022 and they announced that Base was increasing from $25 to $27.99 plus tax but we were going to be receiving the hottest new brands and new-to-Boxy brands.

I decided to cancel my Premium box because 1—I didn’t want to pay over $40 for a box that had not been the best over the last few months and 2—I’ve been trying to cut down on the amount of makeup/beauty items I’m bringing in because I need to use up the hoard of makeup/beauty items that I have here. Even with the price increase, which is now the second increase, I decided to stick with the Base Box.

This year hasn’t kicked off with the best boxes. Nothing matches my profile and I’ve received several duplicate items. Then March’s Base Box arrived and I was excited. For my choice pick, I selected the Charm Your Cheeks Blush Palette from Ofra and it was confirmed via email after I made my selection.

 

Well, I open my box and pulled out the card, which happened to be the card for Boxy Flourish—this month’s Boxy Charm Theme is Boxy Game Changer. Boxy Flourish was the box from May 2021 (the card is coded C2105127-BA-GWP, which means it was the base box for May 2021 and I received variation 127). I started looking through the products and this is what I received.

 

1-Murad City Skin Overnight Detox Moisturizer

2-KAM Cosmetics Day + Night Eyeshadow Palette

3-Lavish Essential Eye Collection (bush set)

4-Ciate London Bamboo Bronzer

5-Sophia + Marbelle Hydrating Hybird lip balm

I also received the Breakfast in Bed Eyeshadow Palette from Beauty Bakerie (not listed on the card)

This box was the exact same box I received in May 2021—the only thing that changed was the Sophia + Mabelle Hydrating Hybrid Lipstick is a different shade and they threw in a Beauty Bakerie eyeshadow palette, which I’ve received numerous times in Boxy Base.

I paid $30.93 in March 2022 for the same box I paid a little over $26  for in May of 2021 yet, the price increase was supposed to bring *new* products to your box. I email the company basically saying, ‘hey, I received a past box instead of the current box and I’m not happy about it’. This was the reply I received…

 

Basically, it was a brush off. I decided to have a little snoop around their Drop Shop Sale (it’s where Boxy members can shop items at a discount). Not only did they have everything for sale that my mother received in her March box, they had every single item that two of my friends received as well as items that the majority of people on Insta and Youtube received.  

If they had the stock to sale, they had the stock to make sure I received a current box. I have a feeling that they were trying to get rid of their backstock and I’m not okay with that or the fact that I paid more for a box I already received. I’m wondering how many people Boxy Charm did this to this month.

Boxy Charm is turning going downhill rather quickly. This box fiasco was just the icing on the cake. For months there has been issues with choice not opening when it was supposed to—normally it’s been opening half-an-hour to an hour (sometimes longer) after it’s scheduled to open, which makes it challenging for those who scheduled things around the time they announced. Then there’s their ‘oops, we made a mistake and somehow sent out old emails and we have no idea how it occurred’ situation, which is occurring rather frequently .

There’s also been a lot of mistakes with their boxes lately. Not only has some of the products come swatched, there’s been several times when I receive a different product than the one listed on the product card, or a product has been expired. And, sadly, the value just hasn’t been there with some of the past few boxes.

I’m on the fence about Boxy Charm. A big part of me wants to cancel my subscription—I’m just not please with it—but I also want to stay for their members-only Mega Sale and Drop Shop because they offer amazing discounts for products I love but don’t want to pay the insane MSRP for. 

Do you receive Boxy Charm?

If so, have you ever received a past box?

What would you do if this happened to you?