So you’re stuck thinking about what to buy for that person’s birthday, or for Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Maybe you’ve left it so last minute you’ve woken up on the morning of the day itself and realised, in a blind panic, that now might be too late to get them anything at all.
Well it’s not. One of the best last minute gifts is sitting right under your nose. In this blogpost you’ll find a list of the best subscription boxes in the UK, and I’ll be constantly updating it with new finds. Get ready to find the best subscription boxes for geeks, beauty lovers, foodies, book lovers and more!
If you don’t want to read the whole thing you can just use these buttons to skip to the each of the subscription boxes in this list:
Beauty Subscription Boxes:
Glossybox
Birchbox
Food Subscription Boxes:
Degustabox
Graze
Flowbox
Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club
Subscription Boxes For Geeks:
My Geek Box
Lootcrate
Book Subscription Boxes:
The Willoughby Book Club
Prudence And The Crow
Tea And Coffee Subscription Boxes:
Pact Coffee
The London Tea Club
Eight Point Nine
Subscription Service For Flowers:
Bunches
Premium Subscription Box:
Not Another Bill
You don’t even have to get a UK subscription box as a last minute Christmas, birthday or Valentine’s Day gift.
The Best Subscription Boxes In The UK
Feel free to send me any reviews, or opinions on any of the subscription boxes below and I’ll add them in with a credit to you.
The Best Beauty Subscription Boxes For 2016
Beauty subscription boxes seem to be one of the most popular kinds right now, thanks to their promotion in big UK beauty magazines. A quick Google search will give you tons to choose from, but these two are undoubtedly still the best of the best.
The first is the Glossybox; the monthly beauty subscription box which brings you 5 beauty products to try for £10 a month (+ £3.25 a month postage). You can get money off each month by opting for a 3, 6 or 12 month plan too, with the longest being just £8.50 a month. You can get anything from makeup, to skincare products, and the boxes are usually highly rated. Check out Glossybox
Then there’s the Birchbox; the monthly beauty subscription box which brings you 4-5 beauty products based on what you’ve told them you already like, for £10 a month (+£2.95 for postage). Just like the Birchbox you get money off for longer plans, and you can expect makeup, skincare products and even food like chia oats if they think you’ll like them! Check out Birchbox
The Best Food Subscription Boxes For 2016
There’s such a variety of food subscription boxes in the UK right now, it was difficult to narrow it down to just 3. So I’ve gone with one for all types of food, one for snacks, and one for chocolate (the best of the bunch, if you’re asking me).
The Degustabox comes with 9 – 14 surprise food products, some which aren’t even in supermarkets yet, for much better value than you’d get each of them separately for in shops. These could be cooking supplies, drinks, full packs of new snacks etc, and costs £12.99 a month (with free delivery woo!). Check out Degustabox
Even if you know next to nothing about subscription boxes, you probably know Graze thanks to their TV and magazine ads over the past few years. With Graze, you can choose from over 100 different snacks and get them delivered as often as you want (every week, 2 weeks, month etc) for £3.99 a box. You can get either the Variety box where you can pick any of their snacks, the Light Box specifically for healthier stuff, or the Kids box for children. Check out Graze
Flowbox is a healthy lifestyle subscription box designed for the health-conscious customer. Their boxes start from £13.45 a month and alongside their classic box, they offer vegan and gluten-free boxes too. Every month you can expect treats such as superfood chocolates, raw muesli, organic protein bars and you never get the same product twice. 1% of their profits also go to charity! Check out Flowbox
And finally, the one we’re all secretly lusting after, the Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club subscription box. The Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club delivers one of 5 chocolate boxes for you to try each month (every 8 weeks for their coveted Rabot 1745 Selection) for £22.95. You can get your first box to try for just £9.95, and honestly paying for a 2 or 3 month subscription of this for someone’ gift would be incredible; especially when they forget you’ve got them that and get home to a box of premium chocolates through their letterbox. Check out Hotel Chocolat
The Best Subscription Boxes For Geeks 2016
Geeky subscription boxes are on the rise in the UK for 2016 it seems, and I sifted through a lot of them to bring you these two top picks. The first is My Geek Box, which brings you a surprise box with a theme every month that includes at least one t-shirt (£15.99 a month). You can see some of their past boxes here, which will hopefully convince you that this is the perfect nerdy subscription box gift for any geeks in your life. Check out My Geek Box
Now, you might be wondering why I included an American subscription box in this, when there were a few more UK exclusives I could have chosen from. And that’s because I’m subscribed to the Lootcrate myself. They seem to have been around a lot longer than the UK geeky boxes, and they’re always quality for around the same price. I honestly love them (and they’ve supplied with at least 6 of my regularly worn t-shirts).
Lootcrate picks a theme each month and sends you t-shirts, exclusive gear just for them like one-off comics and prints, and geeky figures. They cost $29.95 a month which is around £19.40, but this price drops if you sign up for 6 or 12 months. And to be honest, when the amount in the box is worth much more than that and you get international shipping included, it’s well worth it. Check out Lootcrate
The Best Book Subscription Boxes 2016
If the person you need a present for gets through books quicker than you get through your weekly food shop, then a subscription box for books is what you should get them.
The Willoughby Book Club is the best book Subscription Box service for variety; you can sign up for different ages of kids books, the best contemporary books (all the best rising book stars), the best cookery, garden, natural history and even couples books. The price for all of these ranges, but if you wanted the best of the modern charts it’d be £34.99 for 3 months (so £11.60 a month) for one book a month. Check out The Willoughby Book Club
You might think that’s expensive, considering most of the books you’ll be sent are usually worth around £7-£8. But what makes this unique is that the gift is unique to the person you order it for; you tell The Willoughby Book Club what genres of books they like, what they have already, and they’ll hand pick books for them. And let’s be honest, they’re probably a lot more knowledgeable about that kind of thing than you…
Prudence And The Crow are the best book Subscription Box service for vintage books. Tell them the genre you like, eg Science Fiction, and they’ll send you one book a month for £12. Not only that, but you’ll get some lovely little presents alongside it, like tote bags, bookmarks etc. Check out Prudence And The Crow
The Best Tea And Coffee Subscription Boxes 2016
Coffee subscription boxes seem to be much more common (and affordable) than their tea counterparts in the UK. Either way, I’ve picked out my two favourite coffee subscription services, and one incredible tea subscription service to show you.
The first coffee subscription box is Pact Coffee. I spotted these guys about a year ago when they had some offers on for your first box. Even though I didn’t have a voucher to test out their sign-up form for this review, it turns out they give you one for 50% off your first bag when you sign up (normally £6.95 a bag). When you start the sign-up process they ask you what you make your coffee with normally, then some other questions to find your perfect blend. You can choose to have the same coffee sent weekly or bi-weekly, or to try a different coffee each time. Check out Pact Coffee
The London Tea Club asks you multiple questions to find out your ‘flavour profile’, and sends you customised loose leaf tea they think you’ll like. For £10 a month you get enough tea for 6 – 8 cups, or 3 small pots. Check out The London Tea Club
Sophia from Tattooed Tealady mentions Eight Point Nine in her own subscription box guide (which you should definitely check out if you want more beauty or foodie subscription box ideas as she has a really comprehensive list on both), and they definitely look like a good rival for best coffee subscription box in the UK. Eight Point Nine is a subscription service which let’s you can create your own unique coffee blend, or choose one recommended by their expert roasters, and have it delivered for £7.50 a month. And I’ve got to say, the butterscotch flavoured coffee I’ve come up with is really tempting me into trying them out. Check out Eight Point Nine
The Best Subscription Service For Flowers 2016
This is one of the best gifts for a loved one in your life, especially for something like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. Bunches flower subscription service comes in three tiers; Simply Thoughtful which is a bouquet from the classic value range for £16.99 a month, Utter Indulgence which is a bit more stunning a bouquet for £19.99 a month, or Truly Exquisite which is the best you can get for £24.99 a month.
You can keep the subscription for 3, 6 or 12 months, and it’s a lovely way to remind that special someone how much you love them long after they’ve forgotten about the day you were meant to buy it for! Check out Bunches
The Best Premium Subscription Box 2016
There were a few choices I was mulling over to win this spot, but I chose Not Another Bill as the best premium subscription box because it’s truly unusual, and the things your sent will honestly be a surprise.
You can only sign up to a minimum of 3 months (£80), and if you’re wondering what kinds of things you’d get, past boxes have included gloves, soaps, cufflinks and more. Check them out on their past box section if you’re curious. Everything they send is about style and quality, so you truly get your moneys worth. Check out Not Another Bill
As I said before, if you believe I’ve missed out your favourite subscription box, or you have any opinions on the ones I’ve put above, let me know in the comments below or over on Twitter or Facebook.
SEE MORE: 19 Unusual Mother’s Day Ideas You Haven’t Considered >>
Pictures: Kaboompics
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