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.

[faeriegirl]

Thank you @curlychiquita! It was great!

[missjeanie]

@faeriegirl 😍

[faeriegirl]

@missjeanie  I meant to take the red sunglasses too, but I forgot them at home.

[Titian06]

@faeriegirl - What a bummer!

[makeitup305]

@faeriegirl looking great!

[faeriegirl]

Thank you @makeitup305!

[SportyGirly125]

@faeriegirl Lovely picture. 

[faeriegirl]

Thanks @SportyGirly125 !

[Titian06]

Great pic, @faeriegirl ! 😘

[faeriegirl]

Thank you @Titian06!

[itsfi]

I received this fun gratis 2 weeks ago and have been testing out the beauties since. Thank you @TeamBIC and the Sephora Collection Team for these treats! Timing on this delivery could not have been better - it served as a lovely pick me up on an otherwise 'meh' day and I have been testing different products or a combination of items every day since receiving this gratis! I feel very fortunate to have been on the receiving end of your kindness and generosity. 

Overall Thoughts: 

Spoiler

So many things about this package gets a thumbs up from me - first of all, can we talk about the presentation and packaging? The design of set up reminds me of those acrylic makeup storage organizers - the functionality of this packaging is superb as is the photo - what a lovely way to reflect the broad shade range of this concealer collection (50 shades!!!) Some of these beauties are not new to me, having previously purchased them - the foundation, palette, eyeliner, mascara, and lip stains have made their way at one point or another into my daily makeup routine, though the foundation and lip stains are in different shades that what I already have. 

The foundation shade (18.5Y) I received has very, very strong yellow undertones. It's not a great color match for my skin tone on its own but it may work better mixed with another of my foundations. I purchased the shade 17.5N a year or two ago and will see if mixing the two makes for a better match. I'll give the mascara another try, maybe layering it with another mascara to see if it performs better for me that way. I'll pull out the palette and mascara that I have and plan to donate the ones I received in this gratis package to a local nonprofit group that assists women re-entering the workforce with their resumes, mock interviews, and providing interview clothes, makeup or accessories. 

Concealer Wear Test:

Spoiler

Like others who received this gratis, I also received the concealer in 3 different shades - 17.5N, the color I was matched with (and the foundation shade I already have), along with 15.5N which I'll use on my under eyes and 20.5N which I'll try my hand at contouring with - that should be interesting! I put 17.5N to the test immediately - I had been dealing with some breakouts along the area around my mouth and chin - what great testing conditions for this concealer!  I used the concealer in 3 different ways over the course of 10 days - applying one layer of the concealer as foundation (shown in upper right corner); applying 2 layers of the concealer and doing some spot treatment with it (lower left corner); and applying it how I would normally wear concealer - as a spot treatment over one layer of the foundation. The latter approach (how I normally wear concealer) performed the best. I applied the concealer with my fingers, but when I used the foundation with the concealer, I applied the foundation with the beauty sponge and the concealer with my ring finger.

The consistency of the concealer is on the thicker side, but is creamy and lightweight. It goes on nicely but dries down faster than other concealers I have. I find the formulation is better suited for me to cover or conceal redness and blemishes. I tried it as an under-eye concealer and while the formula isn't bad, it's not the best fit for my drier under eye area. I prefer the serum concealer from the Sephora Collection for my under eyes. That being said, this newish concealer does a nice job at concealing areas of redness (parts of my cheeks and around my nose) and covering up dark spots and blemishes. I set it with the Sephora Collection foundation powder and that works well to keep the product in place, but it will transfer onto a covid-mask. 

[sister13]

Congratulations on the lovely gratis from Sephora! I love SC! Thanks for the reviews! @itsfi 

[lmaster]

Congratulations 🎉 @itsfi 

[CookieGirl1]

Love the pic you posted, @itsfi, and thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂

[SportyGirly125]

@itsfi Congrats on the gratis. 

[itsfi]

@SportyGirly125, thank you. Congrats to you as well. 

[SportyGirly125]

@itsfi Thank you 

[faeriegirl]

Congratulations @itsfi! Enjoy all the SC goodies!

[itsfi]

Thank you @faeriegirl! It was a very thoughtful and generous gratis.

[lmaster]

@TeamBIC thank you so much for the Sephora collection gratis!

I'm a little embarrassed bc I thought this was an amazon box with kids presents in it,,, so who knows how long I've actually had it 🤦😂 

Today I decided to start wrapping... And behold...

Can't wait to try everything!!!

[sister13]

So awesome! Enjoy the gratis! @lmaster