by Claire Plecha
Billie
Are you tired of paying the extra 10-15% “pink tax” on women’s razors? Enter Billie: a subscription service that offers razors specifically made for women, at half the price of in-store brands. Whereas a 4-pack of Venus cartridges will set you back $20, you can score 4 Billie cartridges for only $9. Billie not only lets you pick the color of your razor, but also tailors the frequency of your deliveries based on how regularly you shave. I was initially overly optimistic about how often I would shave my legs (sigh), and after amassing what might possibly be a lifetime supply of cartridges, I was able to adjust my delivery to every 3 months.
If you hate free shipping, love going out of your way to buy something that could have been sent to your house, or enjoy nothing more than overpaying for razors, then Billie is not for you. I’m guessing this is not the case. Side note – the razors leave my legs silky smooth, I have experienced minimal carnage, and in such cases it was almost certainly due to user error (i.e. “let’s see if I can shave my entire body in 30 seconds”).
Care/Of
Until recently, the last time I remember religiously taking vitamins was in college, when my sweet mom would include gummy vitamins in all of my care packages. Whether it be a cost or convenience factor, I just never seemed to be able to make it a consistent part of my routine, until I discovered Care/of. Care/of assesses your unique health goals and diet to create a personalized blend of vitamins made just for you. No more counting out vitamins each morning, because let’s be honest, no one has time for that. Care/of does the work for you – dividing the vitamins into daily pouches that include an inspirational quote or daily challenge, such as “take a picture of the sunset”. Not only are Care/of vitamins convenient and perfect for travel, but they also are more cost efficient than buying vitamins individually.
Scentbird
This might be my favorite subscription service to date. I absolutely love perfume, but always stick to my tried and true scents – never quite able to pull the trigger on a pricey new fragrance. However, my signature scent was recently compromised when the unfathomable happened: my grandmother started wearing my precious Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb. Because wearing the same perfume as an 88 year old is disastrous for my personal brand (please indulge me, obviously I do not have a personal brand), I found myself in the market for something new. With ScentBird, you can “date perfumes before marrying them”, letting you choose from over 500 designer scents every month. “Why do I need to date perfumes?” you might ask. Because perfume smells different from one person to the next, based on the pH balance of the wearer’s skin. This might explain why the cult favorite “Glossier You” smells divine on most subscribers, but made me smell like I had walked through a cloud of ground black pepper. I wish I was exaggerating.
Each month ScentBird sends you a generous 30 day supply, allowing you to gauge the perfume’s staying power, and decide if it’s something you could commit to as a signature scent. Browse by ratings, preferred scent notes, occasion (date night, office, workout…apparently this is a thing) or even based on fragrances you know and love (“If you like Versace Bright Crystal, you’ll love TOCCA Cleopatra”). Select the ones you would like to try and create your “queue” à la early days of Netflix. My favorite thus far is Nest Black Tulip. My grandma will have to pry this one from my cold dead hands.
Claire Plecha is the Director of Communications at Carrie Bobb & Co. and a subscription retail junkie. She spearheads all marketing, public relations and transactional support for CB&Co. Prior to CB&Co., Claire came from Manchester Financial Group where she was the Director of External Affairs overseeing corporate marketing, media relations and community outreach.