One thing people dislike about subscription boxes is the surprise factor. You often end up paying for products that you didn’t necessarily want to try. Introducing Choix Elite, a monthly beauty subscription service where you choose the samples you want to receive! Choix carries only high end brands like Tom Ford, Chanel, Hourglass, YSL, Guerlain, Cle de Peau Beaute, NARS, etc… If there’s a certain product you’ve been wanting to sample but never had the opportunity, then read on because this is the perfect service for you.
I saw the potential in this subscription and decided to test it out just for you guys, so you can decide for yourselves if it’s something you’re interested in or not. It’s been a while since I introduced you to a new beauty box after all. I never seem to have time for boxes these days, and even canceled some of my oldest subscriptions like ipsy and POPSUGAR Must Have, but this one seemed unique enough. Alright, let’s take a look what’s inside!
HOW IT WORKS:
Choix Elite is a monthly subscription service that lets you sample high end makeup from the comfort of your own home. Choix Elite membership costs $20/month, and subscribers will receive 5 beauty samples of their choice. Click here to check out the service.
PRESENTATION:
I predicted a box of carefully wrapped samples squeezed into little jars or something like that, but the actual presentation far exceeded my expectations. The samples came professionally depotted into metal pans, and the foundation was placed in a handy travel-sized pump bottle. If that wasn’t awesome enough, Choix also included an empty magnetized palette to put the pans in, and several applicators. I mean, the palette itself probably costs around $10, right?
Each of the pans is labeled at the bottom so you always know what product is inside. I also found the magnetic palette very handy to use: it held the pans securely, but the magnets weren’t super strong to the point when it’s hard to take them out. My palette has one empty spot left, which I will probably fill with a random eyeshadow single I received in another beauty box a few months ago.
MY SAMPLES:
I had quite a few products on my wishlist [more than 5 actually!] so I had to narrow it down by a lot, keeping the most coveted ones. I mean, they’re all coveted on my list, but some of them are harder to sample than others. Without further ado, here are five products I chose to try.
1 // Burberry Eye Colour Wet & Dry Silk Shadow in Rose Wood [$29, available here] has been on my wishlist forever. I own Pale Barley and it’s my most favorite everyday taupe, but I was thinking of picking up Rose Wood, too. I was not left disappointed!
2 // Cle de Peau Beaute Radiant Fluid Foundation SPF 24 in I10 [$125, available here] is a very expensive foundation that was put on my radar by a couple luxury beauty bloggers who swear by it. It’s pretty much impossibly to come by a sample of anything by this brand where I live, so I jumped on the opportunity to try it through Choix. I didn’t want to fall in love with it, but ugh… I just might have to splurge one of these days if I can find a decent sale, it was that good. The shade was spot on – I10 is perfect for my NC15 skin.
3 // Tom Ford Skin Illuminating Powder Duo in Moodlight [$80, available here] – I’ve been drooling over it since the day this palette came out, but gee! Even though I had no issues paying that much for an eyeshadow palette, and twice that for a single Japanese makeup brush, $80 for a highlighter duo sounds like a lot. Yeah I know, I have weird priorities. Anyhow, I wanted to try this duo beyond just swatching it at the store, and I’m quite happy with the performance so far. I like that both of these highlighters look very natural on the skin without turning it into a disco ball.
4 // Tom Ford Lip Color in Naked Coral [$52, available here] – I love a good lipstick, and now I understand why everybody is raving about these. It really is a great formula: rich, hydrating, makes the lips look fuller, long-lasting, and doesn’t feather. The price tag is the only reason I never bought these yet, but that’s about to change. Naked Coral is going straight to my Christmas wishlist.
5 // Tom Ford Cheek Color in Love Lust [$60, available here] is considered by many to be the best powder blush on the market, but it took me a couple of tries to really “get” that. First time I wore it I didn’t notice anything extraordinary, just a blush like many others. The second time I wore it, I actually ran a whole bunch of errands, cleaned, went to the beach to take photos in the sun, so my cheeks were exposed to all sorts of elements. The blush. Didn’t. Budge. And yes, that means it’s going on my wishlist, too.
Playing with my samples was a lot of fun! I decided to do a makeup look using all of the products in my box. I went for a bold winged liner, light coral lips, and porcelain skin.
BOTTOM LINE:
I loved my first experience with Choix Elite! I think choosing your own samples is a fantastic idea, and the samples themselves are quite large. For instance, it will take me 2 weeks of daily use to empty that foundation bottle, and even longer for eyeshadow and highlighters. the lippie is probably a week’s worth of daily use for me because I love to reapply. The fact that everything comes with applicators and in individual pans added to the experience as well. Based on this specific box I can honestly say that it will be worth your time and money if you have no other way of sampling those brands [the closest Nordstrom and Sephora are 40 minutes away from me].
What do you think of Choix Elite subscription service? Which high end products do you have on your wishlist? Let me know in the comments below!
Disclosure: This post features products received for editorial consideration and may contain affiliate or referral links. For more details about my product review policy, copyright, and information about affiliate links, please refer to Disclosures & Content Use page.
