Samples/Freebies Time

The girl at the Nars counter in House of Fraser recognises me by now... hehe... in fact, she approached me and asked me if I wanted to try the new Pure Radiance Tinted Moisturiser SPF30 (first time EVER i was offered a sample, without asking!!!) - She did mention she remembered me. :)

They just had 1 light and 1 medium shade to try so she just gave me the best suitable for me and she told me to go back and get properly matched once the product goes on sale.

I quite liked it but I still prefer their sheer foundation. Don't get me wrong, it's still a winner product but the foundation is more dewy and that's the look that I go for.

It's perfect for when you're in a hurry and I, definitely, prefer it to the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer.

Debenhams Facebook' page sent out an invitation to go in store and collect a sample of Bare Minerals Original SPF15 Foundation.

When I got there, the sale assistant didn't know anything about it - well, surprise surprise, it happened before - so I showed the screenshot on my phone and then she was happy to give me a sample.

The colour I got is medium beige N20 - which is a tad dark for me.

I don't think this is giving me enough coverage: my main concern is pigmentation and I still prefer liquid foundation for uniforming my skin. I do like the finish it provides so I'm gonna use it more like a finishing powder on top.

It, also, comes with a tiny kabuki brush: although it's pretty small, it's very dense and it works fairly well.

She gave me the cleanser and moisturiser but I haven't tried these yet.

Finally, I got a copy of Glamour magazine with the Percy & Reed - I went for the Totally TLC Hydrating Mask.
I used it last night and this morning my hair felt bouncy and light.
The only thing I don't really like is the smell - it smells like an aftershave to me.
It's a pre-shampoo treatment to apply on dry hair from roots to ends. Then you need to wrap hair and leave on for a minimum of 10 minutes.
I reckon, now that my hair are short, the tube will last for 4 applications.
Have you picked up one of these products? Which one?

Lancome Visionnaire LR2412 4%
I got this in the post ages ago and I, finally, got around to try it.
I used it like a serum, layered with my night cream, at night but to be honest I didn't see any improvement. It looks more like a cream than a 'runny' consistency of a serum and I felt it left my skin a bit sticky.

Dove Nourishing Oil Care Express Treatment Conditioner

You could order this on their Facebook page. It's a big tube - more a travel size than a sample, I'd say so kudos for that but I didn't think it was anything special. 

It has to be used as a conditioner, after shampoo and then leave it for a minute and some kinda of miracle should happen... well, it didn't.

I think it's an average conditioner... but that's it.

Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Firm

I really like the masque and scrub from this line and I heard good review on youtube about this eye cream; supposedly, you can used it both day and night but I think this is more like a primer and not moisturising enough to become your only eye product. 

It feels like a balm and it takes ages to absorb... plus, it's supposed to fill in fine line and avoid creasing but I haven't noticed any difference, to be honest.

Anybody tried this product??

Estee Lauder Day Wear BB Cream

I ordered this on LatestinBeauty, as many others; it cost a couple of quid by txt - I know, paying for a sample... what was I thinking??!! ;)

The colour is 01 Light and it's perfect for me. It lasted well for 5+ hours without setting and I was never shiny. I'm not blown away and, in comparison with the Garnier one, I choose the Garnier - merely for the price point of view.  I find all these BB creams to be very similar in performance, to be honest.

Also, EL has a floral scent and - at first - it's lovely but It tends to linger on the skin all day.

Which samples have you been trying lately?
xx

GlossyBox - October 2011

Hello girls!

I'm really late reviewing this box - going away I didn't have the chance to write this before but I managed to try the products; I''l try and be concise. :P 

All considering, I think this was quite a good box - value wise.

This was also the 6th box and to celebrate the 6 months, we also received an extra item plus beauty bag.

Dermalogica Age Smart trio: I wasn't happy to receive 3 items from the same brand, even if Dermalogica! The first is MultiVitamin Power Recover Masque with antioxidant vitamins which help skin recover and regenerate. It left my skin so smooth and I loved it!

The second is MultiVitamin Thermafoliant which is basically a face scrub that warms up when in contact with wet face and draws out impurities. Sorry for the lack of swatch for this item but I have decided to keep it sealed as I would rather swap it for something else.

I'm already using The Sanctuary Warming Microbrasion Polish which works on the same principles and I'm happy with it.

Finally, the 6th bonus item - Renewal Lip Complex which is quite a lovely lip balm; I've used it twice a day as suggested but honestly, I didn't experience any miracle. Plus, it smells nice but I can't stand strong smells (especially in lips products) so It happens to be a disadvantaged in my case.

I would say my L'Occitane Shea Butter Lip Balm is just as good (without the price tag).

The bonus lip balm came into this small beauty bag:

Leighton Denny Expert Nails Colour & Care in Hanky-Panky: I don't have any orange nail polish so I was happy to receive this one but I'm starting to have too many now!!! It's getting worst than with perfume samples. 

I liked the bottle and the brush; nice colour and good coverage but I felt it took too long to dry (hence the wee smudge!)

I teamed it with YSL La Laque no 127 here - I like the orange and navy together :)

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Moray: I've never tried anything from Stila ever (I know, shame on me!!) and I was looking forward to find something in a beauty box soon. Unfortunately, I just bought an eyeliner in a similar colour from Becca a few weeks ago so this is also going in the swap box. :( I did tried it though and I can confirm the staying power is impressive.

Btw, I WILL post a look I made with the Becca Line + Illuminate Pencil tomorrow so if you like it and you also received the Stila pencil, you can recreate it. :)

Robert Piguet Eau de Parfums: finally, the usual perfume samples but 3 of them!!! In order, I liked the most: Fracas, Visa and Calypso not so much.

Introducing / Korres

First of all, I order these on Lookfantastic.com - yay or nay?

It was actually an ordeal! Basically, they sent me 2 wrong/faulty items and I contacted them straight away to check how to proceed. After three days still no answer (mind you, I emailed them every 24hr) so I phoned them up (0845 number, not happy about that!) and I was asked to email the pictures of the products that required replacement. Fine, no problem at all and in fact I sent the pictures the same day.

Another three days go by and no sigh of package or reply from them, so I phoned again and FINALLY they agreed to send me the correct items.

Not sure its worth ordering again from them, to be honest - ok, I admit prices can be good (for example, I placed this order because I received a £5 off on orders of £30); also, in their favour I got to say they didn't ask me to send back anything (suppose as they don't do free returns) but if something goes wrong, its a really hassle. 

Poor, poor customer service!

What about you guys? Any bad experience with them?

Anyway, I wanted to try Korres for a while now and here's what I got:

- Milk Proteins Cleansing & Make Up Removing Wipes: nothing exciting about these wipes, good when travelling and milk proteins are renewed to be good for the skin.

- Lip Butter in Pomegranate: I read many good reviews about this one. Quite nice balm and colour is really bright, in fact so strong that you must be careful when apply and use a mirror. I really like the packaging.

 - Yoghurt mask: this mask is for normal to combination skin and it's describe as "ultra-soothing and cooling mask for long-lasting hydration and comfort to oily, yet dehydrated skin". 

This is my favourite item of the lot - it smells amazing, truly amazing and feels even better on the skin.

In the picture, you can also see the day cream of the same collection because they originally sent me the cream instead of the mask. The cream seems a bit too rich for me and its probably better for mature skin, so I will pass it over to my mum.

 

- Milk Soap for Stressed Skin: as you can tell, I like milk (and derivates) in my face products. :)

Usually, I don't use solid soap on my face but if I end up not liking these, they can also be used for the body. They come in a nice box and carving on the bar - pretty! 

Samples! always welcome, especially Dermatologica's ones.

Finally - in the same order - I bought the followings:

- Ole Henriksen's African Red Tea Foaming Cleanser: this is another hyped product in many blogs, but it has failed to impress ME for now. I've been using it for a week now and I would say my skin is 'a tad' worst; I had same breaks out on my chin which, lucky, is quiet unusual for me. I think I'll give it a rest and try it again in a few weeks. I like the foaming pump tho. 

- Murad's Blemish Spot Treatment: as just mentioned above, I don't usually get spots so I merely bought this because it was down to 2 pounds and I needed to reach the minimum amount to use my coupon. :)

It can always come in handy.

Beauty Bric-a-brac

I got a few beauty items in the last week; they're all new products that I've never used before and want to give it a go.






















Dermatologica Gentle Cream Exfoliant: I heard great things about this exfoliant from Lisa Eldridge and totally trust her expertise, she's so talented and professional; I usually use an 'abrasive' scrub on my face twice a week but she explains how these acids work on your skin ad I'm happy to use something gentler but just as effective. Also, they sent me some samples which is always a big plus wherever to buy on one website or another. From www.dermalexpert.co.uk

Dr Nick Lowe Dark Circles Correcting Cream: that's my main issue in this area - dark circles!!!!; i don't get bags but I'm quite self-conscious about pigmentation underneath my eyes (apparently it's also a sign of allergies and it totally makes sense, Miss allergy myself!). I've never tried a brightening cream as such before - I use eye cream regularly but regular, moisturising ones. I heard Shiseido does a good one but couldn't find it for less than £35 so I thought to give this one a go first. From eBay shop.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream: this is a classic - first time try also. I bought it on sale on www.asos.com, love the packaging but I'm not thrilled about the smell. As mentioned before, my allergies, I suffer from rushes on my lips often so I wanna try this to calm any flares ( also, the cream/gel is so thick that I can't imagine actually use it on my skin).

Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF30: this products sounds honestly genius!!! Basically it's sun protection powder to use throughout the day to top up your SPF. it's not a substitute to your morning cream application but sooooo practical to keep in your bag everyday and brush yourself when needed (instead of messy creams). I got it now because I'm going in Italy next week and will be the best location to test-drive. Also comes in SPF45. From www.mankind.co.uk



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