The reference bag
What IPSY offers
IPSY is the beauty subscription that turned a makeup bag of samples into a monthly habit. The Glam Bag is now sold as IPSY Original: five deluxe-size samples and a new makeup bag each month, matched to a Beauty Quiz you fill out at signup, for $15 plus $1.99 shipping. If your reason for leaving is that samples run out, IPSY’s own answer is IPSY Extra, the plan that replaced BoxyCharm — five full-size products for $32 plus shipping. The comparison below uses IPSY Original as the anchor and names Extra wherever full sizes are the point.
- Contents
- IPSY Original sends five deluxe samples across skincare, makeup, and haircare, in a fresh bag every month (you can’t opt out of the bag). IPSY Extra sends five full-size products. IPSY Ultimate is a quarterly add-on of eight full-size products for $65.
- Price and billing
- $15 a month plus $1.99 US shipping for Original, or $171 a year with shipping included. Extra is $32 a month plus $1.99 shipping. Monthly plans bill on the last business day of the month.
- Choice windows
- Original members lock in one of their five products in a window that opens between the 25th and the 29th. Extra members choose three of five from the 1st to the 4th, while supplies last. Miss the window and IPSY picks for you.
- Skipping and canceling
- Cancel, pause, skip a month, or switch to every other month from your account by 11:59 PM PT on the 25th. Anything later applies to the month after. Annual plans are prepaid and don’t refund the remaining boxes if you cancel.
- Delivery
- Ships to the US (including PO boxes and military addresses), Canada, and Mexico. Bags leave IPSY’s warehouse mid-month, and IPSY says to expect them in the second, third, or fourth week. Canadian shipping costs more and includes broker fees.
- Add-ons
- From the 1st to the 4th, members can add up to 10 extra products to the shipment, with deluxe samples from $3.50 and full sizes from $12 to $50.
- On Cratejoy
- No. IPSY sells direct at ipsy.com, and none of the boxes below are IPSY products.
Two details worth knowing before you compare. IPSY can’t guarantee that every product will be vegan or cruelty-free, though its Clean at IPSY labels flag the ones that are. And if you join mid-month, your first bag arrives without the choice window or add-ons. IPSY’s help center has the current terms.
Start with what you liked about IPSY
Nobody cancels IPSY because all of it stopped working. Usually one part did. Find that part in the left column and start there.
| You liked | Start with | Why it carries over |
|---|---|---|
| Full-size products on IPSY Extra | EYESCREAM Beauty Box | Five to seven full-size makeup and skincare items a month for a little less than Extra, with a palette in every box. |
| The Beauty Quiz, and products picked for you | PinkSeoul PLUS Box | You set a skin type and one concern at checkout, and every box is built to that profile, in full sizes. |
| The Clean at IPSY labels | Vegancuts Beauty Box | Every product is vetted vegan and cruelty-free before it goes in, which IPSY can’t promise for a whole bag. |
| Discovering brands you hadn’t heard of | Aster Skincare Box | One small maker’s full-size organic formulas, handcrafted in Texas, instead of a sampler of names you already know. |
| Trying a lot for a little | FaceMaskTonight | Four Korean sheet masks matched to your skin for less than IPSY Original costs. |
| The unboxing more than any one product | TheraBox | Eight items a month, seven of them full-size products, chosen around a theme. |
Compare the boxes
Scroll across the table to compare every field. The first column stays put.
| Box | Best fit | Cost and commitment | Sizes | Customization | Difference from IPSY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPSY Original Reference bag |
Sample-size discovery on a small budget | $15 a month plus $1.99 shipping, month to month. $171 a year prepaid. | Five deluxe samples | Pick one of five, late in the month | Sets the pattern: quiz-matched samples, a new bag each month, add-ons from $3.50. |
| EYESCREAM Beauty Box | Makeup first, in full sizes | $30 a month, no term | Five to seven full size | None, curated by the seller | Makeup-led, with a palette every month. Ships from the US to Canada, the UK, Australia, and Switzerland. |
| PinkSeoul PLUS Box | Skincare matched to your skin | $50 every two months, no term | At least four full size, plus two masks and an accessory | Skin type and one concern at checkout | Korean skincare only, and every second month, not monthly. |
| Vegancuts Beauty Box | Vegan and cruelty-free | About $30 a month at the current listing price, no term | Four to six, deluxe and full size | None, curated by the seller | Body and skin care, no makeup. Free US shipping. |
| Aster Skincare Box | One maker, organic | About $48 a month at the current listing price, no term | Four or five full size | None, curated by the maker | A single brand’s cleanser, toner, day cream, and serums. First box ships within two business days. |
| FaceMaskTonight | Costs less | About $11 a month for four masks, no term | Four sheet masks | Skin type and concern at checkout | Masks only. Ships to the US and Canada. |
| TheraBox | A bigger box | $38 a month at the current listing price, no term | Seven full size, plus an activity | None, curated by the seller | Self-care rather than makeup: bath, body, skincare, and aromatherapy on a monthly theme. |
The alternatives
Full-size makeup, closest match
EYESCREAM Beauty Box vs IPSY
If what you want from IPSY is the makeup, and the sample sizes are the problem, start here. EYESCREAM sends five to seven full-size items a month, mostly makeup with tools and a little skincare mixed in, and the seller’s standing promise is a palette in every box. It has sold on Cratejoy since 2022 and carries a 4.3 rating from 49 reviews.
What feels familiar
A monthly makeup reveal at a price close to IPSY Extra, with a similar spread of color, tools, and the occasional skincare item.
What changes
There’s no quiz and no choice window, so the color story is the seller’s call each month. Boxes ship by the 15th, your first one within about a week of subscribing, and the listing carries a Free Shipping badge with delivery to the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and Switzerland.
- Price and terms
- $29.99 a month with no term, or prepay three or six months.
- Best for
- The IPSY Extra subscriber who wants full sizes for a little less and doesn’t mind giving up the choice window.
Skincare built around your skin
PinkSeoul PLUS Box vs IPSY
If the Beauty Quiz was the part of IPSY you liked, PinkSeoul keeps the idea and narrows it to skin. At checkout you pick a skin type (normal, oily, combination, or dry) and one area of focus (wrinkles, acne and pores, pigmentation, or simply having fun with K-beauty), and every box is built around that pair: at least four full-size Korean skincare products, an accessory, and two masks, imported from South Korea and shipped from California. PinkSeoul has sold on Cratejoy since 2020 and holds a 4.5 rating from 25 reviews.
What feels familiar
A profile that shapes what arrives, and a mix of proven products with new ones to test.
What changes
Skincare only, no makeup, and it comes every two months rather than monthly. Your first box is a welcome box of basics for your skin type and ships within five business days. PinkSeoul says it ships worldwide.
Before you switch: $49.95 every two months works out to about $25 a month, but you pay the $50 up front each cycle and wait eight weeks between boxes. If the monthly reveal is the part you’d miss, look at EYESCREAM or TheraBox instead.
- Price and terms
- $49.95 every two months, no term. Skin type and area of focus are set as options at checkout.
- Best for
- Someone who subscribed to IPSY for the skincare and wants full sizes chosen for their skin, not a sampler.
Vegan and cruelty-free
Vegancuts Beauty Box vs IPSY
IPSY flags vegan and cruelty-free products with its Clean at IPSY labels but can’t promise a whole bag of them. Vegancuts starts from the other end. Every product in its beauty box is vetted as vegan, cruelty-free, and paraben-free before it goes in, and the box runs four to six deluxe and full-size body and skin products a month, no makeup. Vegancuts puts each box’s value at $60 to $110 or more. It has a 4.5 rating from 94 reviews on Cratejoy.
What feels familiar
A mix of deluxe and full sizes, curated for you rather than chosen by you, at about IPSY Extra’s price.
What changes
The makeup is gone, and so is the bag. What you get is skin and body care that clears an ingredient standard IPSY doesn’t apply across the board. Shipping is free in the US. New orders placed by the 10th ship by the 17th of the same month, and later orders ship by the 2nd of the next.
- Price and terms
- About $30 a month at the current listing price ($33 regular), no term, with 3- and 6-month prepay options.
- Best for
- The subscriber who reads ingredient lists and would rather have fewer products than compromise on them.
One maker, organic formulas
Aster Skincare Box vs IPSY
IPSY is a sampler of many brands. Aster is the opposite: one small maker’s own line, handcrafted in Texas from organic plant ingredients like saffron, rosehip, and pomegranate, sent as four or five full-size products a month. A typical box covers a cleanser, a toner, a day cream, and serums, with a beauty bag and a custom note packed in. The listing holds a 4.9 rating from 76 reviews and the Best in Category and Ships Fast badges.
What feels familiar
A full routine’s worth of skincare arriving together, and a bag to keep it in.
What changes
Every product is vegan and cruelty-free by the maker’s own account, and there’s no brand roulette: you get Aster’s formulas each month. Your first box ships within two business days instead of waiting for a monthly cycle, later boxes go out between the 10th and the 15th, and Aster says it ships within the US only.
Before you switch: at about $48 a month this is the biggest monthly bill on the list, well above IPSY Extra. The seller’s retail value claim is $150 to $200 a box and every product is full size, but it’s a different budget from a $15 sampler.
- Price and terms
- About $48 a month at the current listing price ($60 regular), no term, with 3- and 6-month prepay options.
- Best for
- Someone who wants their skincare from one maker with a short ingredient list, in full sizes, and is done sampling.
Costs less
FaceMaskTonight vs IPSY
For the subscriber who kept IPSY for the sheet masks and the $15 price, FaceMaskTonight does one thing and prices it under IPSY. You pick a skin type (dry to normal, combination, normal to oily, or sensitive) and a concern (acne, pigmentation, dryness, anti-aging, sebum control, brightening, pore tightening, or soothing), and four Korean sheet masks arrive each month, chosen against that pair. FaceMaskTonight is a family-owned small business with a 4.6 rating from 25 reviews on Cratejoy.
What feels familiar
Personalization by skin type, Korean products, and a monthly price that stays under IPSY’s.
What changes
Nothing but masks: no makeup, no bag, no surprise category. Eight- and twelve-mask sizes are separate listings for about $17 and $23. Masks go out every Monday, to the US and Canada.
- Price and terms
- About $11 a month for four masks at the current listing price ($13 regular), no term, with 3-, 6-, and 12-month prepay options.
- Best for
- A mask-a-week habit on less than IPSY Original’s monthly bill.
A bigger box
TheraBox vs IPSY
IPSY Ultimate exists for the member who wants a bigger reveal than five samples. TheraBox is the marketplace’s version of that on a monthly cadence. Each box holds seven full-size self-care products, spanning aromatherapy, natural bath and body, skincare, and lifestyle items, plus one activity, on a theme that changes every month. TheraBox says therapists curate the whole box. The seller guarantees $120 in retail value per box and puts the average above $200. It is the most-reviewed box on this list by a wide margin, at 4.6 from 2,882 reviews.
What feels familiar
A themed monthly unboxing with full-size products, and more of them than IPSY sends.
What changes
Makeup is rare here. Think bath soaks, candles, skincare, and an activity card instead of a palette. Shipments go out between the 24th and the 29th of each month, and TheraBox says you can skip a month or cancel from your account.
- Price and terms
- $38 a month at the current listing price ($45 regular), no term, with 3-, 6-, and 12-month prepay options.
- Best for
- The IPSY subscriber whose favorite minute of the month is opening the box, and who’d trade makeup for a fuller box of self-care.
The honest part
When IPSY is still the better fit
Keep IPSY if the price is the point: at $15 plus shipping, nothing on this list sends five products for less, and the $171 annual plan brings it under $15 a month with shipping included. Keep it if you want a say in what arrives from big-name brands — the choice windows on Original and Extra are the closest thing in beauty to picking your own box, and Add-Ons let you stock up on deluxe sizes from $3.50. And keep it if the bag itself matters to you. A new makeup bag every month is an IPSY signature, and none of the boxes here make the bag the point.
If you’re leaving because you want the same editor-curated sampler from a different name, the mainstream option is Allure Beauty Box, which isn’t on Cratejoy. It sends six products picked by Allure’s editors each month for $30 on its subscribe-and-save plan, which the brand values at $125 or more, with free shipping in the contiguous US and a one-time discovery box at $50. The editors do the choosing, so you’re trading IPSY’s quiz for a magazine’s taste.
How we chose these boxes
We started from what IPSY Original sends and the reasons a member might look elsewhere, then went through every beauty, makeup, skincare, and nail listing on Cratejoy with a working buy button and kept the ones that answer one of those reasons better than IPSY does. The shortlist is Cratejoy only. Makeup-first subscriptions are thin on the marketplace, which is why one makeup box leads the list and skincare fills out the rest, and why Allure Beauty Box gets a mention above and not a card. The photo at the top is IPSY’s own image of its drawstring bag with a month of full-size products, from the brand’s homepage.
Questions before switching
Which alternative is closest to IPSY?
EYESCREAM Beauty Box. It’s the one makeup-led monthly subscription on this list, and at $29.99 for five to seven full-size items it sits closest to IPSY Extra. If your IPSY habit was more skincare than makeup, PinkSeoul PLUS is closer in spirit, because it’s the only entry that builds the box from a profile the way the Beauty Quiz does.
Which one costs less than IPSY?
Only FaceMaskTonight, at about $11 a month for four sheet masks. Everything else costs more than IPSY Original’s $15 plus shipping, and the reason is size: they send full-size products. Against IPSY Extra at $32 plus shipping, EYESCREAM and Vegancuts both come in a little under.
Can I choose my products the way I do in IPSY’s choice window?
Not item by item. PinkSeoul PLUS and FaceMaskTonight let you set a skin type and a concern at checkout, and that profile shapes every box. The other four are curated by the seller, the way IPSY picks for you when you miss your window.
Is there a nail box?
IPSY rarely sends nail products. Month of Manis from Lantern & Wren sends a full-size nail stamping plate of the seller’s own design every month, with surprise polish, brushes, or embellishments around it, for $19.99. Shipments leave by the 4th and usually go out the last weekend of the month before. It has no reviews on Cratejoy yet, which is why it’s here and not in the main list.
Can I give one of these as a gift?
The Cratejoy boxes can be given as a gift from the listing page. Gift orders are non-recurring, and some sellers let you pick a gift length. Each seller ships on its own schedule, so check the listing’s ship window before you plan around a date. IPSY sells 3-, 6-, and 12-month gift subscriptions of Original or Extra, to addresses in the contiguous US only.
