The Gratis Thread 🛍🎉

[cianni]

A place to say thank you, provide reviews and first impressions, or follow up on gratis received after more use!

Many of us have been very lucky to receive gratis (thanks Sephora!), and I’ve been finding that while it’s easy to initially post about receiving it and initial reviews, it’s not as easy to follow up! 

I thought maybe we could have a dedicated thread to follow-ups and reviews with products we’ve received after we’ve been using them for a while, especially because it’s sometimes hard to find the original thank you and first impressions threads.

[SportyGirly125]

@eshoe Thank you

[KatieBT]

@SportyGirly125 woo hoo!! Enjoy your goodies!

We hope you love the llama card and llama-themed Makeup Eraser 🙂 If you can't tell, we love any opportunity to bring up llamas!

[SportyGirly125]

@KatieBT Thank you so much for choosing me. I love the whole box of goodies and already started to test some of it out. 

[Titian06]

Congratulations,  @SportyGirly125 !  What great sounding products!  Looking forward to your review.  💖💖💖

[SportyGirly125]

@Titian06 I am loving the YSL perfume. It has a sweet and fruity scent. The Banana Soufflé I tried today and wouldn’t call it a cream. It’s more borderline gel/cream.  I think if you have dry/really dry skin and need hydration this wouldn’t be the right product unless you lather another moisturizer on top of it. 

[yankeefaithful]

@SportyGirly125  Wow, what a great gratis!! So many new products to try!! So glad you received all these and can't wait to hear your thoughts on all them, especially the Glow Recipe Banana Souffle!! Enjoy!!😊

[SportyGirly125]

@yankeefaithful Thank you. I tried the banana soufflé today and wouldn’t call it a cream. It’s more borderline gel/cream.  I think if you have dry/really dry skin and need hydration this wouldn’t be the right product unless you lather another moisturizer on top of it.  It smells like banana pudding. Yum 

[faeriegirl]

Update on Briogeo, Tom Ford, The Inkey list, and Good dye young gratis. The only products that didn't work for me were the BRIOGEO - B. Well Tea Tree + Eucalyptus Clean Deodorantand THE INKEY LIST - Sea Kelp Serum. The deodorant is ok but I am not a fan of the scent. It works for light to moderate activity but not anything more than that. The Inkey list serum is nice and it didn't cause breakouts but the only benefit I noticed was a little bit of extra hydration. The BRIOGEO - Don't Despair, Repair!™ Honey Moisture Deep Conditioning Maskis fantastic I had previously purchased it and I love it. It smells great and it is so moisturizing. GOOD DYE YOUNG - Prime Color Kind Hair Primeris great for detangling and my hair feels really soft after using it. I didn't think I would like TOM FORD - Soleil Neige Glow Drops Liquid Highlighterbecause it looks really dark but I love it. It blends so well. I mix a couple of drops into tinted moisturizer or foundation and it looks great. I have gotten several compliments on it. 

[sprocketta]

Checking in on a gratis I received a while ago. I am wearing these socks today. They are comfy and express my thoughts on lipstick.

[2manyperfumes]

I have my socks and purple sweater ready for the season lol @sprocketta ❤️

[curlychiquita]

I love wearing my BIC socks, too, @sprocketta.  The are so comfy and fun!

[lmaster]

those are so comfy!! @sprocketta 😍

[KehDee]

Congrats on those gratis items ladies!!

[Luvstravel]

So far I've tried 3 items from my gratis gift. I used the Briogeo bear honey conditioning mask. At first smell, it reminded me of the days I used Laura Mercier creme brulee bath items. The smell is fabulous! It worked great and the Briogeo had my hair feeling so soft ( especially since I had it colored a few days before) I would definitely purchase this item! Next I used the Briogeo tea tree and eucalyptus clean deodorant. It definitely smelled a lot like menthol. It felt slick after putting it on. I only used this several nights after a bath. I'm not sure I would wear this in daytime because of the smell. Some people might not be put off by the smell, but I'm more of a powder deodorant smell person. I did use the Inkey List Sea Kelp serum. There was no odor I was able to catch. It went on smooth ( I only used one pump ) I tried this for a few days straight with no adverse reaction. Would I purchase, I'm not sure. Since there is no brightening, tightening or extra benefits besides reducing pollution particles ( I'm not in a large city) I probably will stick with my routine serums. I still need to test out the Tom Ford highlighting drops. Since it's not summertime, I might mix a few drops in with my face lotion for an all over glow ( hopefully I won't be too shiny ) I also need to try the hair primer! Thanks again Sephora and @TeamBIC for letting me try out these great products. I really appreciate it 💋💋💋💋

[sonnydee]

Tried another gratis product this week, this time the good dye young primer. I used it on dry hair to tame & smooth out mostly. It did a pretty good job. And it didn't weigh down my hair. Which, in my case I already have straight & fine hair that can easily lack body so that's VERY important! Im due for another color so I'm curious to see how it will protect that. Overall a good experience & the hubs told me I smelled great, which I replied, "oh, it's my hair" so bonus points for that! 😽 Thank you @TeamBIC!

[cianni]

@sonnydee Thanks for the primer review!! I have pretty fine hair too with a slight wave (it’s a 2A or 2B depending how long it is), so I’m pretty wary of these types of products because I’m scared of the added weight/potential greasiness. Will have to think about picking this up!!!

[missjeanie]

Great idea to use it on dry hair @sonnydee ! I’d tried it for about a week on my damp hair after a shower, then let my hair air dry over night. I saw absolutely nothing different than if I’d done nothing to my hair. I’ll try it on dry hair this coming week now! 

[sonnydee]

So. ...with my picky skin, I dip into new skincare at a snail's pace. I used the 1nkey Sea Kelp about a week ago, one pump. It was a bit hard to spread because, it soaked in almost immediately. It does have a scent but faint & goes away almost immediately. I applied my moisturizer as usual & that was that. No adverse effect. No worries. 😏 Cool. I waited a bit & used it 2 days ago, this time 2 pumps & used all HG moisturizers/cleansers. The 2 pumps were more like it👏 This time, I'm sad to say I woke up with something & I know it's not purging. I NEVER break out here or there (a second spot decided to join in this morning)😳Not sure what my skin is not liking, the ingredients list is short & I don't have sensitive skin 🤷 I don't see this as a total bust though, this experience as made me curious to add a serum into my routine to increase my cell turnover & thanks to Sephora promos/samples. I have alot to choose from! Thank you @TeamBIC again, love trying out new products, even if my skin is not game. 😅 for reference or in case anyone's curious, I'm oily, acne prone (still!😒)

[missjeanie]

Oh good to know @sonnydee , I’ve only tried this one once so far. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on it once I start using. Hopefully you find some other winners in your gratis package!

[missjeanie]

I was lucky enough to recieve this Gratis opportunity from Sephora and @TeamBIC to test out as well!  

I tried out the Good Dye Young's Hair Primer on Friday.  I put it in my damp hair Thursday night and let it dry overnight (as I normally do).  To be honest, it had a lovely scent going on, but I didn't really notice anything different than usual.  I'm purposely trying to give this product a few tests before breaking into the Briogeo's Honey Bear Mask. But dang... that mask sure smells amazing!  I will say that the Bumble and Bumble primer I normally use is 37$ for 250ml and this is 33 for 150ml.  I do enjoy the BB scent as well.  We'll see if this has any change in my hair after a week or so of use.

I also tried out the Briogeo's tea tree oil deodorant.  I typically wear a clinical formula from Dove or Secret, but have been curious about the more natural deodorants. I tossed my regular deodorant in my purse Friday just in case this ended in disaster.  Disaster averted.  While I'm not huge on Tea Tree as a scent, it wasn't as obvious as I though it might be once applied.  The directions say to apply twice a day.  Does anyone apply twice a day?  I'm not super active with exercise so this will be more of a wear test for those of us who are lazy?

The Tom Ford highlighter is way too dark for my skin tone, and I'm not a big highlighter gal to start off with.  I was thinking I might try it out as bit of a wash on my eyes?  I was thinking maybe a body highlight during the summer, but as someone who wears SPF like I own stock in it... we'll have to see.

The Inkey kelp serum will be tested out as soon as I'm done one of my current serums. I know some people wear a dozen at a time, but I'm a 2-3 in a day kinda gal.  

Thanks again @TeamBIC , @briogeo , @GoodDyeYoung , @TheINKEYList , @tomfordbeauty !  I'm looking forward to giving these all a good go round!

I always love the wrapping!So excited to try these all out more!

[ShortErica]

@missjeanie I tried the deodorant. After you stating the instructions say to apply twice daily my expectations were low. Definitely does not last on me. The scent isn't as offputting as I worried since I'm not a tea tree fan. It does apply super smoothly. From my few natural deodorant tries Schmidts > Farmacy > Briogeo. Schmidt's survived the day but does not apply as nicely as the others. Maybe that's the key. If it applies nicely it will also "apply off" nicely -> not long lasting. I guess this is my least sweaty time of the year and a good time for me to use it!