How would YOU improve Play! boxes?

[suggrr]

After receiving my December box containing a mystery gift, which turned out to be an item I also received LAST MONTH, I started contemplating cancelling Play. It hasn't been fun to receive my boxes for the last few months and the items haven't been all that thrilling. So here are MY personal ideas:

1) Stop it with the repeats. I own six Sephora cream lip stains. I even wore one for my wedding. I did not need a mini of Pink Tea two months in a row. There should be a way for Sephora to track who gets what and try to not send the same sample for at least four to six months if forever is not an option.

2) Allow us to opt out of certain brands. I realize this one would be hard, but I'd love to not receive items from certain brands because I know I wouldn't purchase full sizes of them.

3) If Sephora has an issue with too many variations, maybe cut it back to groups like Glam (volumizing mascara and nude or red lip products for example), Classic (Clinique DDML, lengthening mascara and sheer pink lips for example), and Trendsetter (new products that just came out, colorful eyeliner and lip colors for example.) Let us toggle between them every month, depending on how cutting edge or tried and true we want our skincare and makeup to be. Not everything in every box will be a hit, but at least we can feel like we're more of a party to what we receive every month.

4) FOLLOW OUR PROFILES. Subscribers are receiving products not suited for their skin type. Brands can't market to us and get us hooked on their products if we can't or won't try their products. It's a lose-lose proposition for everyone involved. Why fill out a profile if it isn't even going to matter?

The only thing I actually look forward to now is the printout that comes with the 50 bonus points. The graphics department and writers at least do a consistently great job!

Does anyone else have any suggestions? Is anyone else right on the edge of cancelling? This month, and the last few months, just feel like Sephora is cleaning out their sample closet. No joy and no festivity to this month's box at all. Has the Play! team just given up?

[Bboardgirl]

Its great that you can now claim your 50 play points online, but you really need to let us stack the offers. We should be able to claim a free sample code for our purchase level and get our 50 "earned" play points at the same time!! 

[TheAndiShow]

First, I would ask them to stop infuriating Minority customers by sending Caucasian hair products to people who have African hair. I’ve pleaded with customer service at least 3 different months to stop sending me product samples that I cannot use on my hair. I’ve changed my profile as directed by customer service. Likewise I’ve been sent lip color that doesn’t match my skin tone. Why does Sephora ask for my complexion if they won’t send items that compliment it? This send the message that Sephora values their Caucasian customers more though they advertise as if they embrace diversity. Secondly, the single-use packages are insulting. I was under the impression that these were advertised as deluxe samples of high end products? The photos included with the preview show multi-use samples. I was sent single use packets for the January box for the two photos I attached. Sephora should correct this ASAP. Other boxes like Etsy are actually listening to what their customers want- why isn’t Sephora? Hoping to hear from one of the mods here...

[suggrr]

Refinery 29 has spoilers for February up on their site. No coherent theme, despite the darling "one lippie for you, one for your BFF" theme that Play had last year if I remember correctly. This February is mainly older stuff that's been out for a while. I have two Fresh rose masks already, plus I received one of the Caudalie items and the Kat von D perfumes a few months ago. I'm interested in the Wander Beauty undereye patches, Glow Recipe watermelon sleeping mask and Saturday Skin peel gel. Nothing else. I don't mind Stella, but I wouldn't be happy to receive any of the other perfumes. And I'm allergic to oranges, so I can't even use the second Bite Beauty lip product in a row. Too much orange too soon. I just started Allure's beauty box, so if I cancel Sephora, that money is instead going directly to a beauty box competitor because Sephora won't listen and make necessary changes to the Play box. There may still be shipping issues with Allure, but at least I won't need a magnifying glass just to see all the items and I'll be less likely to get repeats month after month.

[suggrr]

Dishonesty about what we're receiving in our boxes, minuscule one use samples, not shipping boxes until people actually call and ask why they aren't receiving their boxes... going from three samples you could pick and then would actually receive to having the luxury of picking two samples that are usually "out of stock" and get substituted with something you didn't want if you even receive ANY samples at all.

Nordstrom bends over backwards to make sure you get the samples you want. Ulta has a wide variety of brands at different price points and their rewards system is better. Sephora needs to step it up if they want to compete. As of right now, it sure seems like they are content with lagging behind. I just cancelled Play- clearly no amount of discussion about our unhappiness with the box is making any difference- and I will look at shopping with other retailers more from now on. I will show my disapproval by spending more of my money elsewhere. Now to wait for something decent to spend my Sephora points on... 😞

[TheAndiShow]

Nordstrom has a sample box?!

[divaknits]

Makeup to actually match my skin tone. It’s always too light Get rid of the plastic bags. They’re a waste. I’d prefer to opt out of bags period if they’re going to be plastic. Send out boxes right after I’m charged. That always irritates me. Make sure you have enough stock so that everyone gets what they’re supposed to get. This is also unacceptable. Those are just some of the things that bother me the most. I’m sure if I thought about it hard enough I could come up with more.

[suggrr]

I agree with all of that!

[ezzie]

Well, let's see. I would send the actual items that the email says I'm getting. So annoying to get an update on Friday listing the items I'm supposedly getting then when the box actually arrives it's a whole different set of items. Dont send updates if they're not accurate!

[suggrr]

I hear you. I received two out of the six items that even the Sephora website is telling me I received. I like what I received instead- looks like I'm the only one that wanted the mushroom latte!- minus the Bite Beauty lip crayon. It seems like the ball was dropped so many times, over and over, with January's box. And they aren't even acknowledging it.

[suggrr]

Another thing I'd love to see:

SHIP THE PLAY BOX RIGHT AFTER THE SHIPPING LABEL IS PRINTED.

The shipping of these boxes is beyond absurd. I was charged on the 3rd and the shipping label was created on the 11th. I have been checking the tracking obsessively since I have another order to track as well. That order is about twenty minutes away from me. My Play box? Absolutely no movement since the shipping label was created NINE DAYS AGO. My money has been taken, but I have nothing to show for it. I don't think I'm off base in being irritated.

Between the minuscule sized samples in Play, samples I don't even want in Play, slow shipping, not even getting the right samples in my regular orders... what makes us stay with Sephora?

[SomethinBeauty]

1) Yes!  I think I've been lucky and actually haven't received a repeat in my Sephora Play! over the past year, but if these boxes are curated by numbers there should be a simple way to hold off repeats for a year.  I am not against repeats (I'd love to see more Drunk Elephant repeats and not just the oil)!

2) I think it would be great to have the opt out option.  It would be another point to help Sephora know what products will be purchased and which ones don't! 

3) I like the idea of giving customers more say in their boxes.  Right now, I like that the focus is on makeup and skincare.  I'm not a big haircare user, so the current setup works for me.  It would be hard if they have only so many kinds of samples to give everyone all they want, but as long as its mostly there I'm fine.  Maybe let customers pick hair or perfume for their sixth product?

4) Yes, follow profiles!  Maybe ask more questions about likes/dislikes.  It still goes back to point 3) above, if there are limitations on samples available.  I like my Play! boxes (mostly), but have had so many past problems getting the free samples with my orders, period!

5) Dump the plastic bag!  Those go straight to the recycle bin and are never used.  If Sephora wants to be 'green', dump the bags altogether or bring back the other bags and give them out quarterly.  I'd say throw in another sample in place of the bag instead, but technically these subscription services have a lot of packaging waste with these small product packages.

[suggrr]

Great points. I wish we could have more say in the boxes and I'd love a chance to give feedback on the boxes to let them know what I liked and didn't like. I've repurchased a few items from my Play boxes, but some of the stuff that I've received I wouldn't have been interested in sampling in the first place. I'm sure others would have been more than happy to receive those items!

[SomethinBeauty]

Totally!  I do like the chance to try things I'd have never thought to try by doing this subscription service.  However, I know some people are worried about allergies and especially with supplements being included now.  I don't mind trying them out, but finding a way to better curate samples would be great.

[ynga]

I too am on the verge of canceling and I totally agree with you, all I look forward too now is my points. 😞😕☹️.

[suggrr]

I saw someone say that Play boxes aren't going to count towards point accumulation. I hope they weren't correct!

[christyrc]

1. Agree that it would be great to opt out of a brand or a type of item, like all primers, for example. 2. More variety in types of items. 3. No Sephora Branded items. That’s not why we subscribe. 4. I seriously do not care if you even use a bag. Just don’t send low quality samples. 5. Right now Play includes makeup and skincare. There are so many possible combinations. We should never receive a black mascara more than once in a year. 6. Please truly honor our skin tone and skin type. It feels disrespectful when we get mismatches. 7. I would love to see a way to opt out of fragrances all together.

[suggrr]

All great suggestions!!

[Margalee]

Also if there is a skincare or foundation sample you really want and it didn't show in the box just go to the store and request it when you are able. You can get three per visit if you want.

[suggrr]

I'm ok with getting skincare and foundation samples in store. That way I have a better chance of getting something that suits my skincare needs and may be closer to my correct skin tone. But it's an hour roundtrip for me and sometimes the associates aren't helpful or nice at all. I am a little leery of trying lip colors on in store, so I'm happy to try out different formulas with Play even if the color doesn't work for me. I just don't want the same exact lip colors over and over again.

[Margalee]

December's box was a bit of a bummer. All my boxes had been pretty good up to that point. I have been contemplating canceling and going with the on demand boxes. It'd be great if they had a variety and you got to choose your bag, much like the on demand boxes.