Foil Challenge

[ather]

I know we all talked about this but I need it in writing to hold myself more accountable! I have picked out around 28 foils that I am hoping to get through by the end of Feb. that’s 1 foil a day unless I decide to stack more than one! Here’s what I’ve picked randomly! 

 

[itsfi]

June 2025 Foils

Month-To-Date = 16 (13 shown here from vacation; others will be part of an empties post, to come later)

Year-To-Date = 49

❤️ Sol de Janeiro Beija Flor™ Body Collagen-Boosting Elasti-Cream with Vegan Collagen and Bio-Retinol is my favorite scent in the SdJ collection (though I note that I really haven't tried the releases after 40 Bom Dia Bright)

👍 Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Visibly Firming Refillable Body Cream with Caffeine-Rich Guaranà (x2) - the scent that started the cult following. Such a beachy scent; the shower gel in the original Bum Bum scent is intoxicating!

👍 Peace Out Salicylic Acid Acne Healing Dots should be with the empties section, not foils. Oops. I prefer the patches from The Inkey List and the Day Dots from this brand but the OG will do just fine, especially when a huge zit made an appearance at the tail end of my vacation. I hesitated to pack this but I'm glad I did; if only, I would have also packed a clay mask or AHA serum. Lesson learned. 

🐐 Farmacy Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer 1.7 oz/ 50 mL (x4) - even in humidity, my skin can use a more emollient moisturizer like this one. Keeps my skin moisturized after being on a plane, in air conditioning and out in the sun for most of the day. I use lighter layers on the parts of my skin that lean more oily.

🐐 EADEM Milk Marvel Dark Spot Serum with Niacinamide and Vitamin C 1 oz/ 30 mL - love, love, loooove

👍 BondiBoost HG Shampoo & Conditioner Set for Thinning Hair with Rosemary - my recollection is that @ather is a fan of this shampoo & conditioner and if my memory is right, I completely understand. My hair felt soft, smooth and happy on the days I used this combo. Full sizes are on the list for the fall or year-end sale - I need some time to work through the shampoo and conditioner sets that are already open.

😐Cecred Hydrating Shampoo and Cecred HydratingConditioner - I wanted to like these two, but the scent was too strong and too peppery for my liking, at least with these foil samples. I'm gonna have to follow up with some friends who I know have this combo to see if that held true for them as well, or if, perhaps, my foils were off.

🐐  AmorePacific Treatment Enzyme Peel - this is one I continue to come back to. There are many similar products on the market, and many of them perform quite nicely as well, but this one from AP is a tried-and-true favorite. So finely milled and leaves my skin exfoliated, cleansed and hydrated. There's an herbaceous like scent to it that might not be for everyone, but I enjoy it; it's how I know it's from AP.

EMOJI KEY

Spoiler

🐐= product is a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in its category [I have a personal requirement that before a product receive this designation, I have to have finished a minimum of two of the product (with at least one being a full size).]
❤️= Love
😘= Like and would repurchase
👍= Like but would not repurchase (at least not immediately), usually because I like another similar product more or because I have other similar products to work through before making a purchase
😐= Lackluster = it's okay / meh, includes products that are fine enough but are not suitable for my particular skin / hair type or concerns
✖️= No [This is usually given to a product that irritates my skin]

[itsfi]

May 2025 Foils

Month-To-Date = 8
Year-To-Date = 33

😘  Pleasantly surprised by the Tower 28 Beauty SOS FaceGuard SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen 1.7 oz/50 mL. I'm good with SPFs at the moment as I have a couple of Korean and Japanese sunscreens on their way here, but after trying out this sample, it's on the list to pick up at a later date. [Edited to add: that "later date" may be sooner than originally planned ... oopsy @ather ‌‌😅]

😐  I used a foil sample of DAMDAM Mochi Mochi Luminous Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer 1.8 oz / 50 g a while back, maybe even a year ago (?) and thought it was fine as a face moisturizer, but not something I'd purchase in a full size. I found these four foils while doing some decluttering & decided to transfer the product into a jar and mix in what remained of the Kayali Eden fragrance to use that combination as a body lotion. Each product is "fine" on its own, but perform better together! 

😘  I picked up Sephora Favorites Fruits & Flowers Travel Spray Perfume Discovery Set w/ Redeemable Voucher during the spring savings event and included it as one of the items for the Shop Your Stash Challenge. Of the 8 fragrances in the set, I already had a full size of the Jo Malone Frangipani Fragrance. After trying out the perfumes in the set a few times over the last 3-4 weeks, I've narrowed it down to four fragrances from the set that I really like, including the Valentino Green Stravaganza and Maison Margiela Beach Walk. Still debating though on which perfume I'll redeem with the voucher / certificate.

Emoji Key: 

Spoiler

🐐= product is a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in its category [I have a personal requirement that before a product receive this designation, I have to have finished a minimum of two of the product (with at least one being a full size).]
❤️= Love
😘= Like and would repurchase
👍= Like but would not repurchase (at least not immediately), usually because I like another similar product more or because I have other similar products to work through before making a purchase
😐= Lackluster = it's okay / meh, includes products that are fine enough but are not suitable for my particular skin / hair type or concerns
✖️= No [This is usually given to a product that irritates my skin]

[ather]

@itsfi  The sunscreen sounds like it was a hit! I have a few already that I need to work on but I will add it to my favs so I remember to pick it up next!! I am curious now that you may be picking it up sooner!!!!

Great job making products better by combining them!! So smart!

[itsfi]

@ather, my love for the Tower 28 SunnyDays is longstanding so chances were good that I'd like the sunscreen. And I do. From the handful of uses I was able to get from the foil sample, I'd say the consistency feels like a hybrid of the LIGHTSAVER Tinted - Activated Mineral Face Sunscreen Broad Spectrum - SPF 33 1.69 oz / 50 ml and Saint Jane Beauty Luxury Sun Ritual Pore Smoothing Face Sunscreen SPF 30 1.7 oz / 50 mL. I'm hoping tht Sephora has a promo gwp for a mini size or that it shows up as a foil sample we can add at checkout. 🤞

[caitbird]

April 2025 foils: 3

I liked all of these, but not enough to immediately repurchase.

[itsfi]

It's great to work through your samples @caitbird. and a plus when they're all ones you like. When you have a lot of products you're working your way through, it can set a high bar on which products you'll actually repurchase. 

[itsfi]

April 2025 Foils

Went out of town & made a long weekend of it. Used up more foils in that one trip than I have all year to date. 😂 All but one are loves or GOATs, with one product a potential GOAT in the making.

👍  The lowest rated product from my foils this month is a like, which makes this month's foils all good ones. LANEIGE Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Cream Moisturizer for Moisture Barrier Repair is a nice one for my skin in the warmer seasons as the Intensive version can sometimes be too rich for my skin, but I'd been traveling and in heavily air-conditioned spaces so my skin was on the drier side. In these instances, I use this version of the moisturizer as I would a serum and that worked out very well this trip. 

❤️Augustinus Bader The Ultimate Soothing Cream Refillable Moisturizer is a well loved product in my skincare arsenal. Wouldn't be surprised if this achieve's 🐐 GOAT (Greatest Of All Time status) after I've made my way through the full size. A worthy splurge. I believe @curlychiquita is a fan of this moisturizer (but I will be interested to hear her take on how the La Mer compares to it).

❤️/🐐  Farmacy Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer 1.7 oz/ 50 mL is a dry skin gal's friend in colder seasons or when traveling. At one time, this was a GOAT product for me but it's gotten some competition of late. Still a beauty and so long as the formulation remains the same, I wouldn't pass up a sample, foil or deluxe sized. 

❤️/🐐 Tatcha The Indigo Cleansing Balm Moisturizing Makeup Remover 1.9 oz / 54 g is a beautiful cleanser - gentle and effective and oh, so elegant to apply and massage onto the skin. It straddles that line between love and GOAT - if we're being sticklers here (and sometimes I can be), there can only be one GOAT per category, right? Though I'm sure I could find a way to fine-tune a category if I really wanted to. 😅 

❤️  I've been hoarding the foil of the Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Ultra Hydrating Body Butter (discontinued) for the longest time. It's one of a small handful of body creams/butter that are staples for me - I try new ones but the staples earn their space on my Top Shelf. I have but haven't yet tried the new formulation but will soon. I wonder if I have another one foil of this older version; would make for a good comparision or throwdown - I'll have to look through my body care samples @ather.

🐐  Moisturizers with vitamin C are not a new thing now, but this LANEIGE Radian-C Cream with Vitamin C 1.0 oz/ 30 mL was a go-to for my skin when it first launched in South Korea and here in the US many years back. In the colder seasons I use this as a serum from time to time, and in the warmer months, it does a beautiful job as daytime moisturizer. 

❤️These steam eye masks are similar to the Kao Megrythm Gentle Steam Eye Masks 🐐, which are my hands down favorites in that category. These are designed for other parts of the body, like the upper back/neck area and legs. They came in handy after a looooong day. I applied ones for my legs all over my legs - a pair for the ankles, calves and I even applied a pair to my left shoulder. It didn't completely take away the soreness (and it's not designed to) but it sure did make all the spots I placed them feel better. Ahhhh...

Foils Dashboard (as of April 30, 2025):

Month-To-Date = 14 (a record for this year)

Year-To-Date = 25

[curlychiquita]

@itsfi It’s been a few weeks, and I definitely like the Augustinus Bader The Ultimate Soothing Cream Refillable Moisturizer better then the La Mer The Rejuvenating Night Cream. I like the original La Mer Crème de la Mer Moisturizer better than the night cream, too. But I don’t hate the night cream and will use it up!

[caitbird]

@itsfi  wow, so many foils, great job! A trip is the perfect time to use foils or samples, too! I don't travel much, but I pet sit for neighbors and stay over at their houses sometimes, so I like to pack foils and samples for those occasions when I can. So much more convenient than schlepping a bunch of full sized products back and forth!

This reminds me that I have a sample of Tatcha The Indigo Cleansing Balm Moisturizing Makeup Remover 1.9 oz / 54 g  that I have in my "to try" stash - will have to move that one up in the rotation! I've been really wanting to try it, as I've only heard good things here on BIC.

[ather]

14 in a month!!! @itsfi  That’s so amazing!!! 🤩 you are a rockstar! And all favs! That’s such a nice feeling! I feel like I feel the same about LANEIGE Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Cream Moisturizer for Moisture Barrier Repair  it’s nice  glad it worked out for you on this trip!! Those steam eye masks are so relaxing especially when on a trip! 

[itsfi]

March 2025 Foils  

Checking in a bit early with my foil count this month as I don't foresee using up any additional foils this month, @ather. I'll update this post if that changes. 

Fragrance is such a personal thing, not just what we're drawn to, but how the different notes and combination of those notes interact with our body chemistry, the climate, etc. My feelings on the foils this month all came down to my scent preferences. No loves, or products I would pick up in a full size, from this batch, but that's alright. 

😕  PHLUR Missing Person Eau de Parfum 1.7 oz/ 50 mL is a favorite of many, but it didn't smell like anything to me. I tried layering it with other scents and that helped to bring out certain notes in the other fragrance. 

👍  DIOR Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet is a pretty floral fragrance, one that would be wonderful for the spring and summer. I would use this if I had another vial (which I would not be surprised if this were the case), but I have other fragrances with similar notes that I like more.

😐  The products themselves, Youth To The People Superfood + Niacinamide Body Cleanser with Antioxidants & Hyaluronic Acid 16.4 o... and the Youth To The People Superberry Firm + Glow Dream Body Butter with Niacinamide, Hyaluronic Acid + Ant..., performed well - nice formulation and consistency, and they did what they are intended to do. The particular combination of earthy and herbaceous notes in this one, however, is not for me - it was too strong for my preference. 

Foils Dashboard (as of March 25, 2025):

Month-To-Date = 4

Year-To-Date = 11

[ather]

@itsfi  Great job! Hmm PHLUR Missing Person Eau de Parfum 1.7 oz/ 50 mL  was a miss. I think there is so much scents out there it’s ok for it to be a miss!! Too bad the YTTP are also misses. I haven’t tried any of these either! 

[itsfi]

@ather, I know the scent has a huge fan base; it just isn’t for me. Same with the scent on the YTTP. Yes, so many scents out there - and I somehow have more of that sample sizes than I remember picking up or requesting. 😝 It seems like a sorting project needs to happen at some point. 📝

[ather]

February foils! 

I actually used more than I expected since half the month I was sick. All I loved. And will consider purchasing once I get through my current stash.

I have a ton of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Extra Strength Daily Peel Pads #i have to be careful using them since they are a little to strong on my skin. Maybe in the warmer months it won’t be as drying for me. 

[curlychiquita]

I’m glad you’re finally feeling better, @ather! Great job on your foils, though.

[ather]

@curlychiquita  Thank you! I still have. Cough but I’m feeling myself now! 

[itsfi]

February was a rough month for you but you did a fantastic job with samples @ather.  🙌🏼  I spy some good ones - tarte marula oil is a good one - good for nails/cuticles too! 

[ather]

@itsfi  Yes! I was surprised I actually used any since I was so sick! I need to up my game again. I have been getting more. 

[itsfi]

What? I think your foils game is already strong @ather but I look forward to seeing you up it! Foils are going down!! 😅

[ather]

@itsfi  Omg so funny!!! 😆 yess those foils need to go down!! I feel like a couple years ago I was better at using foils but lately I’ve been slacking!