8 Beauty Sampling Services to Try

birchbox.com

Join this for: Four or five deluxe samples from an eclectic mix of luxury and niche brands, like Nars, Stila, and Weleda, plus one nonbeauty product, all delivered monthly in a recyclable brown box (the website offers clever tips for how to reuse it).

Cost: $10 per month or $110 per year. You can only cancel a yearly subscription during the first month.

Customization: Besides answering questions about your age, hair color, and skin color and concerns (acne, aging, or sensitivity), you're asked to assess your makeup proficiency level, from newbie to advanced.

One recent box: Arquiste Flor y ­Canto eau de parfum; Borghese ­Crema Saponetta Cleansing Bar for Face and Body; Melvita Rose Floral Water; and The Balm Stainiac Hint of Tint for Cheeks and Lips. Nonbeauty bonus: Cynthia Rowley Band-Aids.

Highlight: Birchbox Points, which are like frequent-flier miles: You earn them by buying full-size products on their website. A $100 purchase gives you 100 points, worth $10 toward future shopping.

beautybar.com

Join this for: Deluxe-size samples from high-end brands, such as StriVectin, Erno Laszlo, DDF, Deborah Lippmann, Oscar de la Renta, and more, delivered in a reusable charcoal gray box each month. Plus, it includes a booklet of beauty tips from Allure editors (a.k.a. us), a subscription to Allure, and a $15 coupon for beautybar.com, good if you spend $50 and at least one of your purchases is from a brand in your kit.

Cost: $15 per month (which is also the value of the coupon). You can cancel at any time.

Customization: There are questions about your hair type (straight, wavy, curly) and texture (normal, coarse, fine) as well as skin type and tone (you can choose from many shades, from porcelain to ebony).

One recent box: Borghese Tono Body Creme; Vbeauté Eye Never Nourishing Repair Eye Crème; Sisley Hydra-Global Intense Anti-Aging Hydration; Vincent Longo Duo Lip Pencil in Lavender Lite and Grape; and Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint in Golden.

Highlight: The full-size Vincent Longo lip pencil retails for $26. The Jouer tinted moisturizer is an Allure Best of Beauty winner.

glossybox.com

Join this for: Deluxe samples from brands like Illamasqua, Caswell-Massey, and Figs and Rouge, an organic beauty line from the U.K., with occasional noncosmetic bonus products, delivered in a stylish box.

Cost: $21 per month, $115 for six months, or $220 for a year. No cancellation is allowed; subscriptions are yearlong or for six months.

Customization: Selections are based on age and style (trendy, classic, extravagant, sporty, chic, or natural), as well as skin type and color and hair type and color.

One recent box: AmorePacific Moisture Bound Refreshing Hydra-Gel; Burberry Beauty Lip Mist Natural Sheer Lipstick in Copper; Phyto Phytojoba Intense Hydrating Mask; Zoya Professional Lacquer in Arizona, a tangerine nail polish; Marvis Whitening Mint Toothpaste; and a GlossyBox goat-hair blush brush.

Highlight: GlossyDots, the brand's customer-loyalty program, allows you to earn 20 "dots" when you post a product review; 1,000 dots gets you a free month.

IPSY

ipsy.com

Join this for: A reusable makeup bag with four or five deluxe samples and full-size products from companies such as Urban Decay, Tarte, and Philosophy every month. Each kit has a theme—nighttime, holiday—and the products are chosen so they go together; that look is demonstrated in a video, some of which feature makeup artist Michelle Phan.

Cost: $10 per month or $110 per year. You can cancel at any time.

Customization: A quiz determines your style profile (clubgoer, professional, vintage/retro—there are 12). You can also specify favorite brands and your hair color and skin concerns.

One recent box: Living Proof No Frizz Nourishing Styling Cream; Philosophy Take a Deep Breath Oil-Free Energizing Oxygen Gel Cream Moisturizer; NYX Lip Smacking Fun Colors in Saturn, a pale pink lipstick; Marbella Permanent Eyeliner Pen in Black; and a sparkly gold makeup bag.

Highlight: The step-by-step video lessons are excellent, with plenty of "aha!" moments, like how to use liquid liner in place of mascara.

beautyarmy.com

Join this for: Control. Every month, you choose six samples from a menu of nine hard-to-find brands, like Skyn Iceland, Lucy B. organic makeup, and Lipsi cosmetics.

Cost: $12 per month or $132 per year. You can cancel or skip a month at any time.

Customization: Skin tone and type, makeup style (natural, dramatic), manicure preference (natural, French, brights), and fragrance preference are all questions.

One recent box: Weleda Iris Hydrating Day Cream; Ineke Chemical Bonding eau de parfum; Faux false eyelashes; Karuna Brightening Treatment Mask; Besame Sweetheart Balm; and Myface Cosmetics Blingtone ­Eyeshadow in Sugar Plum, a purple.

Highlight: Three of the six samples were full size. And there's a referral program: Sign up three friends and you get a month free.

totalbeauty.com/collection

Join this for: Four to six samples per kit from Pur-lisse skin care, Alison Raffaele makeup, and more.

Cost: $15 per kit; no subscriptions.

Customization: None, but since the contents of each kit are revealed online ahead of time, you'll know exactly what you're signing up for.

One recent box: Three samples from Murad (Age Reform Refreshing Cleanser, Resurgence Sheer Lustre Day Moisturize SPF 15, and Resurgence Renewing Eye Cream); Skindinävia Makeup Finishing Spray; Zents Shea Butter Lotion in Ore; two vials of Zents eau de toilette; and a $15 solesociety.com coupon.

Highlight: After the box arrives, you receive email notices with discount codes toward the purchase of full sizes for most of the products in the kit.

beautyfix.com

Join this for: Four or five deluxe samples from an eclectic mix of luxury and niche brands, like Nars, Stila, and Weleda, plus one nonbeauty product, all delivered monthly in a recyclable brown box (the website offers clever tips for how to reuse it).

Cost: $49.99 for each kit. Four are sent a year, and you are automatically enrolled for a year's subscription, which you can cancel at any time.

Customization: You'll answer questions about your skin type and tone and can choose from an extensive list of complexion concerns (enlarged pores, blackheads, hyperpigmentation, and loss of elasticity). Eye color as well as ethnicity and hair color, texture, and length are also taken into account.

One recent box: Vichy LiftActiv Global Anti-wrinkle and Firming Care cream; Perricone MD Nutritive Cleanser; Glytone Acne Self-Foaming Cleanser; Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel; Mama Mio Skincare Boob Tube Bust and Neck Firmer lotion; Alterna Bamboo Smooth Kendi Oil Dry Oil Mist; Jonathan Finish Shine Polishing Gloss; Eminence Organic Skin Care Coconut Firming Body Lotion; and two floral-print makeup bags.

Highlight: If you fill out two surveys per quarter, you get a $25 coupon for use on dermstore.com. You earn a free kit if you refer five friends who sign up.