Worth the Splurge?: $5 Walmart Beauty Boxes

I first heard about the Walmart beauty box from youtube. I saw videos of girls sharing what great things they got in their box and for $5 the stuff was a bargain. Technically speaking it is "free" you only pay for shipping of the box. There is only 4 Walmart beauty boxes a year. It releases one box per season. I purchased the winter 2014 box and saw value in the items I received.

What was in my Walmart Beauty Winter 2014 box:

Burt's Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes - $2.99 at my local duane reade store
Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash 1.8 oz - im guessing maybe $2 or less
Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion 1oz - $1.59 at my local duane reade store
Covergirl Colorlicious Gloss in Juicy Fruit - $7.99 at my local duane reade store

The box is worth around $15 not including the packet samples included below.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Shampoo and Conditioner Sample Packets & $2.00 off any John Frieda Luxurious Volume styling product
L'Oreal Paris Color Vibrancy Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Mask Sample Packets ( I actually tried the sample packet and really like this shampoo and conditioner)
Flower Fragrances in Cherished, Sultry, and Radiant one time use samples


However, apparently there was another winter box. And it looks like this:

The other version of Walmart's Winter Beauty Box 2015 that I did not receive:

This box is way better and people on the reddit forums say its a VIP box or something because the average user did not get this box. 

I was so looking forward to my Spring box, but boy was I in for a big disappointment. Prior to receiving my box I also looked up what some you tubers got. Here is what other people got:

Walmart Beauty Spring boxes that I saw other people get, but did not receive:

Box 1

That Rimmel mascara item above, pays for the box itself. I believe it is around $8+ in drug stores.

Box 2

I am pretty sure those lip items pay for the value of that box.

Box 3

The box above has no full size items, but a decent amount of travel size shower items. A lot of people were disappointed with the above box. They valued the the items around a little less than $6 and that was being generous.

So I thought I was going to end up with one of the above boxes. I was totally hoping for a full size mascara or lip item. I figured if I did get the shampoo and body wash box my mother would like it and I would get to try out new shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. I was okay with receiving the shampoo box. I would have been a little disappointed, but had I gotten that box I would have kept my subscription.

Here is what I got, which is even worse than that shampoo box above:

I received no make up items and the only full size item was the wipe which retails for $1.99 in my local Duane Reade.

The above are the coupons and foil packet samples. There is a foil sample of Maybelline's Fit Me foundation in 115 ivory and the Nivea in shower body lotion.

Simple Sensitive Skin Cleansing Face Wipes 7 count - $1.99
Dove Go Fresh Revitalize Body Wash - $2 or less
Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Repair & Moisture Shampoo - less than a dollar
Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Repair & Moisture Conditioner - less than a dollar
Lady Gaga Fame perfume sample - probably $1 or less, most perfume companies give out such   samples for free and I don't even wear perfume because I am allergic.

Total Value:  around $5-6

I wasn't excited by any of these items and feel like they just threw together what was left over from other boxes for me. I basically got what the better boxes had, but with the lip or mascara item, and the sample Neutrogena face cleanser item replaced with $1.99 face wipes.

I don't place value on the coupons because for discount coupons you have to make a purchase to get any value out of it. As for foil samples, companies give them out for free, they have enough product for basically a one time use. So yeah there were a lot of coupons, but I probably won't use any of them, so the value to me is around zero.

$2 off any Loreal Cosmetic item
$2 off Covergirl + Olay Simply Ageless Foundation Product
Maybelline  Fit Me foundation sample in 115 ivory
$2 off any Maybelline face product
Nivea in shower body lotion packet sample
$1 off any Nivea in shower body lotion
$2 off Schwarzkopf hair care or styling product
$3 off one Schwarzkopf hair color


One of the things to know about boxes is some boxes do give youtubers better things in their box because in a sense they are a major advertisement for people to purchase the box. Some of these companies also prioritize the better items if there is a limited amount to ensure those who have a large following get those items, and if it runs out, too bad for the rest of the buyers. I feel that is kind of what happened in my scenario. They simply had a limited amounted of the more expensive items, ran out and just threw together whatever they had left in a box for me.

A lot of people who received the same box I had or even the shampoo box were disappointed. This is because most Walmart beauty boxes usually includes 1 full size make up item that is worth more than the value of the box ($5).

I canceled my subscription because I couldn't see this beauty box going uphill from here. This is definitely a NOT buy. The value simply isn't there. For an extra $5 bucks you can get ipsy or birch or maybe another box that has more return value than this one.

Especially since it is a big company like Walmart. This big company couldn't pull it together and release a box barely worth more than its value when smaller companies like ipsy, birch, etc, can. This box lowers how I think of the Walmart brand.

I recently purchased a year of Birchbox because my friend had some great stuff in hers. I didn't think every box was awesome and great, but hey I figured those boxes give good return on value and I can always save some of those goodies for when the holidays come around to give out to my friends.