Birchbox is a New York-based company that sells luxury monthly sample kits to women. Today, Birchbox unleashed a new men’s category that men seeking luxury skincare (and other) samples can sign up for. While many magazines and blogs covered the new Birchbox men’s line, I seem to have missed the Birchbox memo. Have you heard of Birchbox? If you are just as perplexed as I was, here’s the scoop about a new website that gained thousands of subscribers shortly after launching.

Samples -- Get Your Samples!

The best way to test out new products is to get samples of those products. Only, in case you haven’t noticed, lately, getting products from companies is difficult. Some companies (like Sephora, for example) give away samples for free when you purchase items. Other companies, like L’artisan, no longer give away any samples. So, where have all the samples gone? Maybe some of them have gone to sites like Birchbox.

When signing up for the Birchbox newsletter, you will be told that you must wait your turn and await a Birchbox notification letter. When that letter appears, you will be invited to try out some stuff for free (or so the site indicates). I haven’t gotten to the free stuff yet, so I can’t review that portion of Birchbox for you. However, I did get a chance to browse the shopping site. When shopping on the Birchbox site, you can pick out the kinds of samples that you want to purchase.

Types of Samples

You can choose from makeup, skincare, hair, body, fragrance, and other categories. In each category, you will see various luxury items that you can purchase ranging form $10 per item (some lower) to more than $60 per item. The real scoop about Birchbox though is the monthly sample delivery Birchbox beauty box. This box will arrive (if you subscribe) on your doorstep every month. Inside of the box will be 4-5 different samples that have been hand-selected to fit your needs. The samples are packaged nicely and it’s really a lot of fun to discover new samples each month.

You can also send a Birchbox beauty box to a friend or a relative (a really nice Christmas or birthday gift!). The Birchbox beauty box monthly sets are priced at $10 per box, and this includes shipping. You can also buy 3-4 month subscriptions (check out the site for prices). The idea here is to provide women (and now men!) with samples that are hard to get elsewhere, and, really who doesn’t want a small and pretty box appearing on their doorstep each month?

Is It Really Worth the Price?

Birchbox might be worth the price if you have a hard time getting samples of new products (and this can be tough). It’s also worth the price if you want to try out products before you purchase anything (always a good idea). However, you do have to keep in mind that these are samples, so sample sizes do apply, and some months might have a theme (like Teen Vogue), so you may not dig all the samples sent. Otherwise, Birchbox is a lot of fun and, I repeat, this makes a great gift idea! Note: Birchbox only ships to addresses in the U.S. right now, sorry, Canadian ladies!