topic Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings! in Beauty Confidential

March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 16:45:46 GMT

With the Spring Savings event just around the corner and samples from the holiday season gift bags overflowing, what better time to do a March Madness showdown: Beauty Edition!

Foils and deluxe mini's seem to be taking over my stash and I'm hoping there are a few others out there who'd like to do a sample sized showdown to help figure out what they'd like add to their loves list for the spring sale.

Choose to do a bracket style showdown, a mini a day, or see how many foils you can use up in the month of March!

Who's got a stash to test out? What are the winners and the losers? What will make it into your spring savings basket and April Hauls?

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 02:57:03 GMT

I'm setting a personal goal to try out 31 samples of some sort this month. Hoping to find/narrow down to 2 or 3 items I'd like to pick up during the Spring Savings event. Will post a pic of my samples for this month tomorrow!

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 04:05:18 GMT

Products have been chosen and added to the washroom vanity to make sure I'm using as many as possible!

Any one else want to come out and play?

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

nika8v — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 08:49:49 GMT

Wow! Good job! How often do you try them out? And does it interfere with you skincare routine if trying a new product every couple of days? I recently received a lot of variety samples and hoping not to break out from trying everything.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

Kim888 — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 14:07:57 GMT

@missjeanie @What a fun idea!!! I definitely have a lot of samples around as well

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 20:45:44 GMT

@Kim888 @Im trying to help narrow down my sale list… well… as much as I can lol!

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

heartsmyface — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 21:07:08 GMT

@missjeanie I recently did a full on clean out of all my samples but they’re accumulating again so it’s a perfect time to use them up before they get out of control.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 03:02:44 GMT

@nika8v I honestly don't have too many issues trying them all at once. I have super dry skin, but not usually sensitive. I hate to admit how many foils and deluxe samples I have... I'd guess it's easily 10 times the samples shown here. I tried to choose ones that were Sephora sold for this round to see if there was anything that would peak my interest for the sale.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 03:03:49 GMT

This is the mindset I need @heartsmyface Mine are ... ya, lets go with out of control lol.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 03:19:47 GMT

First grouping of samples I used up.

-CT Beautiful Skin -- This is one of those samples that does not have enough to cover my face to discover if I like the formula, just enough to determine that I will indeed need the lightest shade possible if I end up buying. At least it confirmed that shade 2 is too dark, but not too too dark. I should be able to get away with shade 1.
-SR Ice -- It was... fine.
-Guerlain L'essentiel - This was way more coverage than I wear and too dark. I left it on for 6 or 7 hours to see if the formula wore into something nice, but it's just too heavy for me.
-Topicals Hydrating Mask - I had some pretty high hopes for this one. Alas, it wasn't anything special on the moisturizing/hydrating mask front. If I saw this on sale for a good deal, I'd give it another shot, but for now it's just good.
- GR Banana Moisture Cream -- Not moisturizing enough for winter, but I suspect it would be okay in the summer. Dang it smells AMAZING! A possible 'sample made me buy it' purchase.
-Origins Ginzing Brightening Serum - This smelled nice as well, can't say it brightened anything (nor do I expect a sample to do so), but it wasn't bad. Just not a need.
- Fresh Kombucha Cleansing Treatment - This just isn't a product I use in my routine. The sample was okay, but I think I'd just use a micellar water if I was doing a morning cleanse like this.
-PTR Gold Mask - I have tried this in the past. While it looks cool for a selfie... that's about it for this one in my eyes.
- OH Truth Serum - I used this product probably 5-10 years ago and while this was still nice, I think I'd rather try something different if I were on the hunt for a Vit C serum. Smelled lovely though.
- Guerlain Youth Watery Oil - I was excited for this. I was not as impressed as I thought I'd be. It's more watery than oily and my dry skin needed ... more. Maybe more of a summer product for me.
- Philosophy Hope in a Jar - It's been a lot of years since I've used this. It was maybe okay for me 20 years ago, but it was so meh. There are better out there.
-Laneige Water Bank Moisturizer - I have no idea why... but I've been a Laneige fan. I've got to say however... this was nice. A summer moisturizer for sure... but a nice one. I think the GR one edges this out only because I'm a sucker for a fruity scent.... but I won't discount this one so fast again.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

heartsmyface — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 05:02:41 GMT

Here’s my samples for the evening. I think I may switch it up and throw the Eve Lom cleanser in my cart instead of the Fresh strawberry scrub this round. Edit- Indidnt realize Sephora no longer carried Eve Lom. I swear this sample is a new one….🧐I actually love everything here. This sample challenge is a bad idea before a sale😅

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

CookieGirl1 — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 05:00:38 GMT

@missjeanie somehow i missed this thread when you first posted it but I LOVE this idea!

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

CookieGirl1 — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 05:02:21 GMT

@missjeanie I'm interested in knowing how you like the . I like a lot of things from Amika but I haven't tried that one.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 13:55:16 GMT

@heartsmyface I could have sworn I've gotten an Eve Lom sample in the not so distant past as well.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 13:55:52 GMT

Jump on in @CookieGirl1 !

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

itsfi — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 12:43:26 GMT

@missjeanie, I just saw this thread this morning. What a great idea! I've pared down my samples significantly during the last couple of years, BUT a quick glance at where I stash most of them definitely shows me that they've crept up on me and I have more than I thought I had. This'll be a good (and fun!) way to make sure I keep them top of mind. I'll aim to post over the weekend the samples I've used up so far this month (not a lot - grrr!) and what samples I'd like to work through by the end of March.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 19:47:46 GMT

@itsfi @I’m actually doing better than I thought I would be this month. Im thinking of grabbing out another bunch of foils to set on my bathroom counter. Join in anytime, im thinking of doing another on in September before holiday sale season too.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

itsfi — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 19:58:37 GMT

Woohoo @missjeanie! 🙌🏼 That’s awesome that you’re making good progress! 👍🏼 It’s always great to use up samples. Even better when you use them up when a full size can still be had if you like the product. 🤪

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 00:33:13 GMT

Ha!! @itsfi It's like you know me! I don't know why, but I always think "oh I'll keep this to try when I'm travelling since it's so small"... then I don't travel for a few years.... or have so many samples I could travel 365 days a year lol. There may or may not be a few I can't get anymore in those sample bags.

Re: March Mini Madness: Sample Showdown to Set up for Spring Savings!

missjeanie — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 00:50:19 GMT

Well I've used up a few more of the samples I set out (put em in a little open box on my washroom vanity), so I decided to pull a few more out of my stash bags to give myself a good challenge to keep up for the month and get my sample stash down a bit more. I went for a bunch of foils as they feel more 'doable'. I'm finding that with a lot of work from home, I'm willing to put on a foundation that may not fair so well, since over zoom it's not super obvious if it's a massive dud.

New Samples coming into the project;

Samples I've used up

-Replica Autumn Vibes-- This was... not for me. I enjoy what's typically a masculine leaning scent, and even own a few mens fragrances. This one to me though, was leaning masculine, but had a smokey type feel to it, which isn't my jam. Glad to have tried it though, as I was planning on picking it up and now I'll save that dollar for something else.
-SC Coconut overnight mask -- Pretty sure these are waaaaayyy older than I should still have in my stash and I'm not sure they count as samples, but in my mind... they only do a few uses. This was fine. I wasn't a fan of the packaging and have other sleep masks that do more for me. I have three or four more of these somewhere that I need to use up ASAP.
- KS Wrinkle Warrior Serum - This was actually good. Did my fine lines go away? No. Did I expect them to? No. I think is meant to be a plumping/brightening product and I think I get as much from using a sheet mask.
-KVD Saint fragrance -- Is this still available? Straight up, KVD gave me a bad taste in my mouth the last... however many years, so it's not something I seek out. I didn't fall in love with fragrance either so... I'm not feeling a loss.
-Fresh Deep Hydration Sleep Mask Duo-- I haven't bought Fresh products in a few years. The fragrance in these reminded me of the cleanser and it was a nice throwback. The duo was actually really nice and I'd consider a purchase based off this sample. This is a great example of how a sample can sway me. I'm not a regular Fresh customer, but I may take a closer look at this one. This is a possible purchase for me.
- Clinique Smart Duo - Meh.
-Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream- I like this. That said, I don't think it's worth the dollars. Will I use it, heck ya, will I buy it... ehhhh... I'd rather try something new or enjoy a promo from time to time. Full disclosure, I have had full size of this one in the past.