Sample Test #4

Day four of sampledom: Shower Fresh eau de parfum by Clean

Again, scents are so personal, and will change based on the chemistry of the person who wears them. But the overall impression is, well, clean. 

A hint of floral, but not over saturated, this scent gives me the feeling of hopping into clean sheets. I wore it on my wrists and neck, and was pleased to see that it was still going strong after the end of a none to stationary work day. I did think it lacked a little spice, but it lived up to it's name perfectly.

Grade: B

Buy the eau de parfum here in the range of $20-$69 in a variety of applications.

Clean as a whistle.

Sample Test #3

Test number three could prove to be eye popping.

It's a Sephora's own brand of eyeshadow in a neat little palette.

Now, I want to like purple, but it's just never really done it for me. But. Intrepid tester that I now am, I'll own the hue today.

First Impression/Application:
*Really have to load up the brush to get a good swath of color on my lid with the purples.
*The light and dark purples came across about 2 shades lighter than they look on the card.
*The top color, "Tender Pink No.27", appeared to be shimmery, but surprisingly didn't transfer that way at all. Much flatter than expected.
*The bottom color, "Tiny Bubbles No.12", surprised me by having actual teensy bits of glitter in it. Seemed like a lot for the office, but great for evening. A kind of platinum blonde gold tone, it highlights perfectly and could be dusted on the collar/cheek bones easily.

Overall:
Super impressed with the staying power - Didn't budge all day (with use of Almay eye base previously covered). I'd purchase Tiny Bubbles and use it regularly, but the others I can do without.

Grade: C
Not what I expected in terms of color or texture, but solid staying power and 1 out of 4 was a winner.

Buy it here on Sephora.com for $12 per color pot.

Flash Sale!

I'll continue with the sample review tomorrow (I've tried 3 more since my last entry), but had to alert the masses:

One of my fave web and catalog shoe sources - Alloy - is having an up to 50% off all boots sale on their website for the next 4 days only.

Alloy has that Forever21 malaise of having to really pick through to find the gems that aren't in the only-appropriate-for-a-14-year-old genre (granted, that's their target market), but their shoes have always treated me right. They carry a wide range of sizes, heel heights, and have proved to be durable, comfy, and stylish every time I've purchased... Which is at least twice a year.

These are my current faves:

Quinn Boot - Image courtesy of Alloy.com

I bought an extremely similar pair last fall at full price (still a fairly good bargain) and have worn them multiple times a week for months on end two years in a row now.

These boots were made for walkin' - Get you some!

Sample Test #2

Today's test could leave me with a major headache by the end of the trial.

Its Pink Sugar Eau de Toilette by Aquolina.

A mix of spicy and sweet, the sugary package's pink and white stripes are topped with a bright red chili pepper to show it's not all fluff.

Overall:
Scents are so personal, but my take was while Pink Sugar definitely lived up to it's name, the undertones kept me from smelling like a bakery. It also seemed to linger longer (say that five times fast) than most Eau de Toilette's have in the past, which I appreciated. Light and airy with a hint of earth, I like it. However, it's a scent I'd rather use in my home than on my body.

Grade: C
Too sweet for my tastes, but I'd use it again in the right mood, or stick it in a corner of my sock drawer cracked open a bit for some scented tootsies.

Image courtesy of Sephora.com

Full Size Info:
Buy it through Sephora at the price of $29-$54 for a 1, 1.5, or 3.4 ounce selection. The scent also comes in body mousse, rollerball applicator, hair perfume, body scrub, and deodorant, among others.

Sample Test #1

Here we go - I'm using my own face as a guinea pig.

Test #1: Cover FX Camouflage Concealer in Light

First Impression:
*Scary orange color, even though it's second to lightest and the spectrum of offerings ranges from X-Light to X-Deep.
*Strange odor: Semi-herbal, semi-medicinal, overall weirdness.

Application:
*A little thick, but goes on smoothly and blends quickly and easily. No more orange (phew!).
*Covers like a dream - I'm instantly flawless.
*A little goes a long way - Just how I like it for $$$ purposes when looking at a new product. I used maybe a quarter of the sample and got all the major areas on my entire face.

Wear:
*Lovely matte finish.
*Didn't do my dry skin any favors - Flakiness showed through, but was squashed with a light moisturizer application over the top. To it's credit, make-up stayed put.
*A little heavy. I don't notice it moment-to-moment, but my face feels way different than normal to the touch (the company calls this "velvety". Hmm.).

Grade: B+
I'd buy it and use it, but not every day. Too heavy. Super fab special occasion coverage.

Image courtesy of Sephora.com

Full Size Info:
Buy it online through Sephora at $27 for 0.5 ounces. The sample is 0.05 ounces, so I'm pretty sure 1/2 an ounce would last for quite a while. Wide range of colors

Samples Are A Girl's Best Friend

Samples, how great are they?

A world of possibilities to find the next best thing in a palm-sized package. I have a stash of all kinds of goodies just waiting... and waiting... and waiting... for me to find the perfect moment to try them out and use them to their full potential. Maybe because they're free, or maybe just thinking I might need just exactly that size of that thing at some specific future moment, but I never actually use them.

This changes today!

I recently placed an online Sephora order, of which every one you get to choose three of their offered samples for that time period. I also (through RetailMeNot.com, posted about here) found a web code to get a slew of other free samples with my order in a tidy little travel case. Here's the stash:

So now my objective is to try each and every one, and give a little review here. Who knows, I may just find the next best thing.

Oh, the possibilities...

Gorgeous on the Go

Trolling Sephora.com one day, I found myself scoping the "Value Sets" section. As a rule, this section of the site offers fantastic little snack packs of all sorts of beauty brands, allowing you to test drive a multitude of colors and categories.

On this day, I found this gem I've come to love:

Image courtesy of Sephora.com

It's the Too Faced Glamour to Go 2 Pack, and my only disappointment is that I missed number one. Containing eight semi-sheer and shimmery eyeshadows on the top level and four glosses and a blush on the second slide-out tray, it's topped off by the mirror (underside of lid above shadows - not seen in photo), and the fact that it's all about the size of a 1/4 of a pack of cards. Magical! My faves in the pack: The yellow looking shadow in the bottom right corner is actually the perfect shade of glimmery gold that I find myself using nearly every day in some capacity, and the nude lip gloss in the top left corner of the bottom tray is almost obscenely perfect.

Downside: No applicators come with this guy. To me, not truly a problem as I'd rather use my own brushes or fingers anyway, but if you're used to the brands that come with their own you may be dismayed.

Priced at $19.50 it may seem spendy, but when considering a regular size Too Faced singular eyeshadow is around $16 a pop... Well, you can see the value.