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.

[tsavorite]

Congratulations, @naturalooks15 !  Love to read the reviews!

[naturalooks15]

Thank you @tsavorite 

[ather]

@naturalooks15  Congratulations!!!

[naturalooks15]

Thank you @ather 

[Brutalitops]

Thanks for the review @naturalooks15 ! Have you ever used Kate Somerville ExfoliKate™ Cleanser Daily Foaming Wash with AHA & Enzymes 4 oz/ 118 mL or INDIE LEE - Brightening Cleanser? I know those are more chemical than physical exfoliation oriented but the KS is my staple cleanser and I've been on the lookout for a cleaner replacement

[naturalooks15]

@Brutalitops  I haven’t used either of those. Any reason you want to switch up the cleanser?

I would compare wishful to Tatcha rice polish in some ways. When you initially mix rice polish with water, it’s the same texture though rice polish you rub between your hands and it becomes creamy foam with no grit. This one is paste so it still has some coarse texture by the time you put it on face. After you add more water and scrub it becomes softer.

performance (as in results/ brightness) also felt similar to Tatcha rice polish.

ETA: instructions say, apply it on clean face so my assumption is this doesn’t replace cleanser. Rather replaces exfoliating toner in the routine.

[Brutalitops]

OOOOoo @naturalooks15  I did/do really like the rice polish. And I'm just looking for a gentle daily exfoliation step that's got better ingredients than the KS but I wasn't a huge fan of the indie lee is all

[faeriegirl]

Thanks for the review @naturalooks15, that scrub sounds great!

[naturalooks15]

@faeriegirl  Yeah, pretty good first impression. Plan to use it 2x this week and see. 
I did get dry patches the next day but I generally get them from most exfoliant plus I was outside (and it was snowing) for quite a bit of time so can’t say for sure that this caused those dry patches. When I try this week, it would be usuals environment so I would have better idea.

[sprocketta]

Great review @naturalooks15 this makes me more excited to try it.

[naturalooks15]

@sprocketta  Yay ! Let me know how you like it.

[Titian06]

@naturalooks15 - Thanks for such a detailed review and pics!

[naturalooks15]

@Titian06  Glad it’s useful

[WinglessOne]

I’m VERY excited and grateful to receive these brand new Sephora PRO beauties in the mail today! I’m also very sleepy right now (this is way early for sleepiness, for me; I don’t normally even think about going to bed until 1 AM CT), so I can’t play with them tonight no matter how badly I want to (I WANNA PLAAAAAAYAAAAAAWN 😄 :()—but I’ll start using these soon! Maybe even tomorrow! If nothing else, the no. 96 blush brush will see action tomorrow. 

The brand new relaunched Sephora PRO brushes, received as generous gratis from Sephora.

Here are some quick comparisons to a few other brushes in my collection. The old Sephora PRO no. 64 is quite different from the new 70, but I included it anyway. The blue brush is a Chikuhodo Fuji Makie contouring brush I’ve never used, because I don’t contour. I included it for scale. 😄 The big thick brush in that photo is the Koyudo powder buffing brush I use to apply powder foundation (on the rare days I wear any) an/or finishing powders. I’ll try the new no. 70 with powders, plus give it a try with one of my tinted moisturizers. 

Foundation brushes: 2 Sephora PROS (old vs. new), a Chikuhodo, and a Koyudo.Blush brushes: Sephora PRO, my favorite cheek brush ever (Chikuhodo Z-4), and a mini MAC cheek from a set.Crease brushes: Sephora PRO, 2 Wayne Goss, and a Sonia G.

Thank you so much, @TeamBIC ! I’m sure I’ll dream of doing my makeup with these brushes tonight. 😄 

[PrettyPaint]

Congratulations @WinglessOne. And oh my goodness, those blue Chikuhodo brushes. Ahhhhh!

[curlychiquita]

Congratulations, @WinglessOne! You're the perfect person to test out new brushes for us!

[ShortErica]

Thanks for all the photos @WinglessOne! And congrats!

[lipstick4soul]

Congrats @WinglessOne !

[Luvstravel]

Congratulations on receiving this great Gratis @WinglessOne.

[Sunnysmom]

Wow @WinglessOne what a great collection you have and congrats on the awesome gratis! 💞

[WinglessOne]

Thanks everyone! And congrats to everyone else who received these brushes! I’ve decided to let them unfurl in a brush holder for 24 hours before using them. 🙂 

Meanwhile here are a few more comparison photos: 

New 59 hasn’t finished unfurling (un-brushguarding) itself; old 59 is misshapen due to a brush guard mishap.Lots of eye shaders.Side profile of Sephora Pro 14 vs. 2 other shaders.Side profile of Sephora Pro 14 vs. Sonia G Worker Pro.Side profile of Sephora Pro 14 vs. MAC 217 blender.Sephora Pro 14 and MAC 217 blender.