Friday, June 19, 2015

Free Samples, You Beauty!




Last week I was lucky enough to receive a press release from Lush inviting me to trial a couple of their face masks, and since they require refrigeration, I had to go in-store to pick them up. Now, I hardly ever venture into the city (there's only one Lush store in Adelaide and I have to take an hour-long bus ride to get there!) so I thought I'd make it worthwhile by redeeming all my saved up beauty sample email offers at the same time. I've found it's usually just the city department stores that redeem them, as I've tried at suburban ones, with only occasional success.

You may know that I'm on a never-ending quest to find my Holy Grail eye cream. This magical lotion will be a multi-tasking extraordinaire. It will improve my dark circles, puffiness and fine lines simultaneously and magnificently. I recently bought the Thalgo Exception Ultime Time Solution for Eyes and Lips (blogged in this SkinCare Shopping Spree post), and while it's good, it's not great. And it's nowhere near Holy Grail status. So I visited the beauty counters at David Jones and received fantastic, friendly and professional customer service (unlike this recent Bobbi Brown Customer Service Fail), gained a wealth of knowledge and came away with an array of beauty samples to suit my specific needs. My main aim is to try all these wonderful creams and hopefully discover a Holy Grail product that I fall in love with, because it just works that well. Trialling samples gives me the opportunity to discover if I like a product before forking out for the full size. Most of these products are quite expensive, so it's smart to try it first before buying! Yes, I scored a nice pile of freebies, but if I find something I can't live without, I'll go back and buy the full product. And then I'll cry, especially if it's the Chantecaille Stress Repair Concentrate, because that's $254 for 15mls.



I visited Lush in the Myer Centre first, to select my face masks for an upcoming blog post (look out for it in a couple of weeks!). The Sales Assistant was so friendly and helpful, trying out masks on my hands as we discussed my skincare concerns and what problems I wished to address. I didn't even ask for a sample, but she offered to include an Ultra Bland Cleanser sample for me, which is great because it's a cult product and I've never tried it before!




Next up, Mecca Cosmetica. This visit was to check out their eye creams, in particular the Perricone MD Cold Plasma Eye and the Blue Plasma Eye Orbital. When the Sales Assistant asked if I needed help, I told her I was looking for a multitasking eye cream that would first and foremost address fine lines, followed by dark circles and puffiness. She suggested the Chantecaille Stress Repair Concentrate and made up a little sample pot for me, which should last a week. All of these products have received great reviews on the Mecca site, so I can't wait to try the Stress Repair, and I'm still curious about the Perricone MD plasma products!


 


I had an email offer for a 7 day supply of Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Capsules from David Jones, so off I went. I love the gorgeous gold packaging of this little flip-top pot, and I don't know what it is about those little capsules, but they just excite me. This sort of thing seems so luxurious to me, and they're just so motherflipping cute! I think it's the novelty factor, too. The Sales Assistant couldn't wait to show me the anti-ageing range (DO I LOOK THAT OLD?!) and lo and behold, led me straight to the Prevage range, which was on my list to ask about. She tried everything on my (by this stage, very well-moisturised and pampered) hands and then gave me a sample pot of Prevage Anti-Aging Eye Cream SPF15. I'm so happy, because I've been wanting to try this much-hyped range for ages! She did try to sell me a discounted Prevage gift set, but I'm not going to spend a lot of money on something I haven't tried out on my face first.




The Philosophy Sales Assistant was full of helpful tips, like applying an eye serum under your eye cream helps the active ingredients penetrate deeper into your skin, giving you better results, and that the only way to get rid of milia is via a Beauty Therapist, who will lance them out. The horror! We talked a lot about my skincare concerns and she gave me a range of product samples, called things like Time In A Bottle and Miracle Worker (lol) to try out.

The actual Philosophy samples I received:
- Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer
- Purity Made Simple 3-in-1 Cleanser for Face and Eyes
- Time In A Bottle Daily Age-Defying Serum
- Time In A Bottle For Eyes Daily Age-Defying Eye Serum




Lastly, I headed over to the La Prairie counter to redeem my email offer for a sample of the new Anti-Aging Rapid Response Booster. I was pretty excited because I love La Prairie products (the Skin Caviar range in particular) and the results it gives me, the only downside is the price tag, so I was interested to try the Rapid Response for free. I was disappointed when the Sales Assistant said the samples hadn't arrived in-store yet. She was so nice and very apologetic, as they were supposed to have arrived the week before. She took my number to call me once they arrived and gave me two samples of the Skin Caviar Luxe Eye Lift Cream and two of the Essence of Skin Caviar Eye Complex, which I was so grateful for. I love the Skin Caviar products (here's my review of the Skin Caviar Liquid Lift) and can't wait to try the targeted eye cream samples.

Have you tried any great samples lately? Have you loved a sample so much you went on to buy the product?

I'm linking up to the Monday Makeup Madness Linky Party over at Fabulous And Fun Life! Join in the fun!

30 comments:

  1. So much product!! once you find that holy grail eye cream please share. I have recently just bought the Vichy eye cream (£23!!!!! *cries*) and yeah it's good, but still waiting for my dark circles to vanish (yh...that's simply never gonna happen) :p

    Pam xx/ Pam Scalfi♥

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    1. Yes, will do! Hope your Vichy eye cream works with continued use. Fingers crossed for you! :)

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  2. I love LUSH customer service they never make you feel bad for asking for a sample (unlike other stores). I've tried Ultrabland, it is better in winter for me but I have oily-acne prone skin. I recently got a sample of Aveda damage remedy which is quite nice. I'd be interested in checking out more from the brand now.

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    1. Yes, I love how friendly Lush staff are! I haven't tried much from Aveda. The Ultrabland takes a bit of getting used to, doesn't it? I was surprised when it was hard to remove, but then afterwards, my skin felt amazing, so I think it's just something that takes getting used to!

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  3. Look at all these samples! I love it ! DF xoxo


    www.doaner-fide.com

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  4. It's amazing how many free samples are available out there if you ask. I got a couple of free mask and exfoliator samples when I bought some things from Mecca recently and I also got a perfume sample from Priceline.

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    1. Awesome! I buy from Priceline all the time, but have never thought to ask for a sample. Thanks for the idea :)

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  5. What a score!!! The Chantecaille must be made of golden unicorns at that price lol :) Ive heard La Prairie is fantastic so I'll be very interested to read your review!! Great post, as always :)

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    1. Thanks, Christina! The La Prairie and Chantecaille are both giving me brilliant results. I'm going to go broke!

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  6. Wow! Great Samples! I got the La Prairie offer too, but haven't been able to make it in to the city.

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    1. Hopefully they have it in stock when you get to the counter! I love La Prairie stuff, I think you'll love it too :)

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  7. Great scores! How I love a freebie! My friend recently returned from a Sephora experience in the States where she was loaded up with samples without even asking. What a dream!

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    1. Wow that sounds amazing! I always have to work hard for my ONE free sample from Mecca. I need to go to the States! :)

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  8. You did so well Di - thanks for sharing all these goodies, and so looking forward to reading what you think of the products. I'm in love with the Clarins Super Restorative Total Eye Concentrate - it's working wonders on my old eyes ♥

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    1. Haha! Yes I read your post on that the other day. Free samples are the greatest :) x

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  9. You received a ton of stuff. I'm curious about some of those products!!
    x,Abril
    The Color Palette

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  10. An impressive amount of free samples :) I remember those Elizabeth Arden capsule creams, they are perfect for travel :)

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    1. Yes, they would be, I never thought of that. I'm loving the ceramide capsules, my skin is so soft and nourished afterwards :)

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  11. Wow, amazing samples. These photos make them all look very appealing!

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  12. Good on you with all those amazing new samples to try!! I love picking up newbies to try and use to do that all the time when I went into the city! :) Now I don't get in these often enough so I miss out on them most of the time. How nice of them to give you more than you expected. :) xoxo Looking forward to the Lush review!

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    1. Yes, it was a total treat to even go into the city, I rarely go anymore! So I made sure it was worthwhile :D

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  13. Wow you picked up some really great samples and so many of them! I have the ultrabland cleanser but I'm honestly not sure about it. I don't know if I'm not using it right but it just feels way too thick for me and hard to remove! Can't wait to hear your LUSH review x

    emily x ❤ | emilyloula

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    1. Yes, same here re the Ultrabland, Emily! It's such a thick consistency and just doesn't come off. I wipe the excess off with a tissue lol. I still don't know if I like it either! x

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  14. Looks like you are having your own little beauty Christmas party with all those samples. Love it!

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  15. WOW!!
    I must say I had a great read... I have shared your post :)
    I just love your blog !!!
    MyGlossyBox


    Have a wonderful day

    Jade

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    1. Cool, thanks Jadiee. I just watched your Glossy Box review vid, good work! :D

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