In my travels around the interwebz, I’ve come across a multitude of things that are just plain spiffy. One of spiffiest was a site/product called Birchbox. Described as a smart, streamlined, and fun way to try and buy high-end beauty products, Birchbox is essentially a subscription that allows you to try out beauty products before shelling out the big bucks that they tend to cost.

Imagine my delight! But, alas, it was a short-lived thrill as, with many things online, it was only available in the U.S. Because, apparently, shipping north of the border is a hugely taxing ordeal. But I digress.

Instead of lamenting my misfortune, I instead turned to my good friend, Google. The simple phrase “Canadian version of Birchbox” brought me to the most wondrous of websites: Luxe Box by Loose Button.

Luxe Box is a monthly subscription service that allows you to try out high-end beauty products – in actual useable trial sizes. I think we can all agree that there is nothing more irritating that receiving one of the so-called trial samples from online offers or department stores that – if you’re extremely lucky – will do you one application. And the perfume samples that amount to the equivalent of a scented wet-nap are particularly charming.

I mean, we all want the high-end beauty products. But who can afford to dish out that kind of cash on something without knowing if it’s even suited to our body chemistry? Luxe Box has created something that I think most women will agree – has been a long time in the works.

Luxe Box offers monthly ($12), quarterly ($36) and yearly ($120 – which actually gives you two free boxes if you do the math) subscription plans; I signed up for the quarterly as I wanted to really get a feel for the program… but I wasn’t quite ready to commit to an entire year. Oh yeah, shipping is included. How often does that happen?

My first Luxe Box arrived this week and, I think it’s safe to say, they’ve acquired a new fan.

Behold the shiny goodness!

Yes, that IS a full-sized bottle of nail polish.

Included was:

• Lisa Watier Flash Lift Radiance Vial
• Kératase Elixir Ultime
• Essie Nail Polish – 700 Angora Cardi (one of my colours, no less!)
• Olay Professional Pro-X Eye Restoration Complex
• Chloé Eau de Parfum (in a cute wee bottle, not a tiny disposable one-use-only trial)
• And a bonus:  Dealuxe $25 (on a $75 purchase) gift card; though in fairness, if you can afford to shop from Dealuxe in the first place… you care not for gift cards or coupons.

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Oh – if you sign up, tell  ’em I sent you; for every three people who do so, they’ll extend my subscription for a month… for free!