Vegan Cuts Beauty Box Makes Gifting A Vegan Easy

Dilemma: there’s a vegan beauty aficionado on your holiday list this year, and you haven’t got a clue what to get him or her. A Birchbox subscription sounds ideal until you realize many of the products contain animal ingredients. What to do? Enter Vegan Cuts, a site that sells vegan products in categories ranging from food to fashion—and makers of an animal-free beauty box that's both swoon- and gift-worthy.

Started by Jill Wiseman and her husband John in early 2011, Vegan Cuts is changing the way people shop for vegan products. “We realized that no matter how strongly we believe in the importance of putting our money into vegan companies, we're just two people,” says Wiseman. “Making it easy for people to discover and buy vegan beauty items allows us to multiply our impact and the number of dollars invested in cruelty-free companies.”

The Vegan Beauty Box Subscription ($19.95/month) brings the latest in vegan makeup, hair, and skin care to your door every month. Inside comes 4–7 cruelty-free products—sometimes more!—in a mix of full and sample size items. Every box will contain at least one full-sized product and be totally different from previous ones, and will always have a retail value of $35 or more. We also love that you can cancel subscriptions any time, not that you’d want to! And, they make gifting easy! There are three different subscription packages you can choose from to have delivered to your giftee’s door: one month for $25; three months for $70; or six months for $115.

The good thing, too, is that if you find something you love, the site is shoppable—so it’s easy to stock up on full-size versions of favorites discovered in the boxes. We’re talking vegan and cruelty-free lotions, fragrances, nail polish, and even goodies from hard-to-find, handcrafted brands like Instagram star Blake Karamazov’s Swagger Cosmetics.

So what exactly did I find in my Vegan Cuts box this month? See all the scores below.

Earth’s Enrichments Calming Spa Seaweed Soap

This minty organic body soap sweetened up the whole box. The rich lather makes it great in the shower, though the sample size fits best next to the bathroom sink. Not only is it vegan and cruelty-free, but it’s also free of gluten, parabens, petroleum, phthalates, and sulfates, making it a gentle bet for everyone.

Rainbow Honey Nail Lacquer in Persephone

Some nail polishes can contain non-vegan ingredients such as carmine or silk, but not this fiery pink-red. Also, you’ll find the date the polish was made stamped on the back of the bottle—such a cute and thoughtful detail.

North Coast Organics Deodorant in Death By Lavender

After I got over the initial glee of the miniature roll-up container (it’s so teensy!), I realized this deodorant really packs a punch. The ingredients are practically edible and rolling it on made me smell like a lavender-infused sugar cookie, thanks to the coconut oil base. If you’re looking for an alternative to Tom’s of Maine and the like, this might be the one.

Pacifica Coconut Kiss Creamy Lip Butter in Lava

This scarlet-colored pot of lip balm didn’t deliver as much color as I’d hoped for, but I loved its sweet scent and soothing protection. The glam packaging and hint of tint certainly made me feel fancy while moisturizing on the go.

Medusa’s Make-up All Natural Mineral Body Shimmer, Blush & Theatrical Foundation in Healthy

Don’t let the shade name fool you—it’s definitely more of a gold glitter than something in the “healthy glow” category. But it certainly adds shimmer and shine! And we love that the mica-based formula is synthetic. The included Kabuki brush was a welcome bonus, because it’s the perfect travel-size powder brush!