Sample Bin Review - Sephora Samples

I frequent Sephora. You've probably gathered that. I like the fact that if you purchase something and you aren't happy with it, they will take it back. I LOVE the fact that you can pick up samples of things and try before you buy. That has helped me make some informed decisions before buying and helped me avoid some tragic mistakes. 'Cause watching YouTube and reading blogs will take half your paycheck if you aren't careful.  So, I try it before I buy it a lot. And my ladies at Sephora don't mind a bit. 

The first thing in my bag of goodies actually isn't mine. My daughter was going to prom a few weeks  ago and needed concealer. I really didn't want to purchase a full size for someone that only wears gloss so my ladies at Sephora hooked me up. They matched her and then gave a sample of NARS concealer ($24 for 0.07oz worth of product.  Let's just say I have no plans to try that for myself. It was hard instead of the creamy concealer that I like to work with. It did its job but was sooo drying. 

Mentioning concealer, I have used Bare Minerals concealer ($20 for .07 oz) since I began using concealer.  Because of that, I decided it might not be a bad idea to try some others. Lord have mercy, I tried a ton of others. One of the runners up was the Cover FX Cream Concealer ($27 for .33 oz). I really liked it. The color match was slightly off but it worked almost as well as my Bare Minerals. In the end I decided to go with Bare Minerals because it was a good match. I wouldn't mind having Cover FX as a backup though.

The next goody was a sample of Balenciaga Florabotanica parfum spray ($70 for 1oz). Can you say stinky? I thought it would be a nice, musky smelly it was just a nasty smell. Didn't like it. I would NEVER purchase it.   

Now one thing that I tried and fell in love with was my Bare Minerals Well Rested (it appears that Sephora doesn't sale the powder anymore - bummer - but QVC has it for $26 plus S&H for .03 oz). I wasn't expecting much from it because, well, it's a powder but man! I can really tell a difference when I don't use it. The Bare Escentuals website says that it's a favorite brightening base among the sleep deprived. It's supposed the diminish the morning-drowsiness look. I don't know if I'd go that far but it does brighten the area without that cakey look that I've gotten with other products. 

I always try my best to take good care of my skin. That's why when I heard about Peter Thomas Roth Camu Camu Brightening Moisturizer, I ran to Sephora to get a sample. The 1.7 oz container is $72! I definitely wanted to try before I buy on this one. But, this was a big fail for me. It smelled good, really good but it was too thick and I felt like it just stayed on top of my skin and never really soaked in. I can't stand that feeling so as nice as this smelled, it wasn't for me.

So these samples date back about 4 months.  I know that I should utilize the samples more often. I really do plan on that. That will mean more blogging for you...

...and more purchases for me.

Ahhh the price of beauty.