Sephora Play August 2018 Subscription Box 239 Review

Sephora Play! is a subscription box that offers five deluxe beauty samples and a bonus foil packet or perfume vial for $10 a month plus tax. Shipping is free. Only items sold at Sephora come inside the box so most items are from well-known, high-end brands. While Sephora does carry a few low-end and luxury brands, they do not really appear in the subscription boxes. There is not a traditional rewards program with this box so you cannot get points for referring friends or writing reviews. It does award 10 Beauty Insider points. This box also applies $10 toward your purchase minimum to maintain your Beauty Insider status. Visit my Sephora page for descriptions on points and status. The $10 charge processes immediately for new subscribers and from the 1st through the 4th for succeeding months. Boxes usually ship from the 11th through the 15th.

The Beauty Bag was the only place to see complete sample history. Although it worked when I wrote the article for the January 2018 box, it is not working now. In case the link is ever recovered, I will leave it here for now. It does remove items Sephora no longer carries. You can view contents on one box at a time accessing the links through your Sephora order history. There are times when I can see all my Sephora history from that link and other times where it cuts older orders off. The past boxes link does give complete details on the last six boxes.

Boxes get customized based on your profile. Make sure you update your Play! Profile, because they do not use the Sephora profile for this box. There is not a lot of variety in the boxes, but there is enough to justify updating your profile. If you received a box that does not suit you, update your profile. You can continue to play with your settings until you are happy with what you’re receiving. If no adjustments help, cancel your subscription. You can view all samples that were available this month through shop the products link. There are at least 12 items (broken link so I cannot open it) listed for August 2018. My box is version 2086239.

Each box comes with a Play! Book. This is a booklet that unfolds into a large sheet of photo paper to show info about all the items inside the box.

It also goes over the theme for the box and shows how the products tie into the theme. The theme for August box is Beauty Schooled.

Each box comes with a Play! Pass. The Play! Pass is only valid in store though the end of the following month. It is redeemable with any purchase (even items not received in the box) for 50 Beauty Insider points. Only one 50 point pass is valid per day, so using two in a single trip will not work. These points may take up to 24 hours to apply. You can also use the Play! Pass for a one-on-one consolation with a beauty expert.

It takes 100 points to receive a deluxe perk, but online orders $25 and over can use a promo code, which is usually deluxe perk. While this is wonderful for those trips you have to make in store or when you are spending less than $25, it will generally be a better deal to order online and redeem a deluxe perk.

Items come inside a collectible makeup bag. The design is usually different each month (but this one had the plain design). This is a small drawstring cotton bag that is very cute but not practical for holding makeup. It does help keep the contents inside from shifting too much during shipping.

The 0.1oz Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Matte Bronzer is worth $10.36. This is a bronzer I really do love. It is a matte shade that is not too warm or cool, so it works as a bronzer and a contour on my skin tone. I have multiples of this already, so I will not keep this duplicate.

The 0.085oz Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Gel is worth $6.68. This is my favorite brow gel, because it keeps everything in place. Whether I use powder, gel, or cream to fill in my brows, this final step locks everything down nicely. I have several of these in full and sample sizes. Since it is something I love, I do not mind having extras.

The 0.04oz MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Rouge Lipstick in C211 is worth $7.33. This is a comfortable lipstick in a beautiful rosewood color that would probably look great on most people. I get too many samples of this color though. It would be nice is MAKE UP FOR EVER sampled more colors.

The 1oz Origins Original Skin™ Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay is worth $8.24. This mask draws out impurities and exfoliates. I have not tried it yet, but the amount of overwhelming positive reviews impresses me.

The 1oz Living Proof T.B.D. Multi-Tasking Styler is worth $5.20. I do not style my hair much, but I like having samples around for the rare occasions I do. This is one I have not tried yet, so I was happy to see this.

The 0.24oz OUAI Volume Shampoo is a bonus foil. While I appreciate receiving these, companies should never charge for them. Thus, I do not place value on foils. My hair is thin, but I have a lot of it. There are times when I can use a volume boost, so I will try this.

The 0.24oz OUAI Volume Conditioner is another bonus foil. I like when the conditioning sample comes with the shampoo, because I typically try to match them together when I use them.

The box has a $37.81 value. This brings the average box value for the year to $34.19. My personal value is $20.12, because I will not keep the duplicate bronzer or lipstick. Those are just two items I never use up, so I do not see the point of holding onto backups. There are times I give the brow gel away, because I always have so many. Until I actually find someone who needs it, I will keep it in my stash. If no one ever mentions needing it, I could end up using it. Sephora tends to give me a lot of duplicate items, but they are usually high-quality, cult classic items that I am happy to pass on. As long as I keep getting great things and I find people in my life who can use them, I will stay subscribed. If you have any questions I did not cover, please visit the FAQ section. I will answer any posted here if I know the answer.

Sephora does not inform a single Beauty Insider of all deal details. Certain offers are targeted and others have different purchase minimums based on the code. Remember to check New Offers and/or Recycled Offers before placing an online order for items you loved from the box. Visit my Sephora! Play Page for more information and other box reviews. See all Sephora Play! articles. View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.

Disclosure: Affiliate Links