Sunday, May 31, 2015

Project Use Up Those Freakin' Samples: Halfway Progress Update

It's been a month since I started my Project Use Up Those Freakin' Samples, and we have another month left to go, so I thought it's perfect timing for an update! I'm going to give you my counts so far, include some shots of what have been used up (please let me know in the comments if you have any questions on the products that aren't mentioned otherwise!), and share some of the favorites I've discovered.
Overall, I think I've been doing really well! I've used up 9 deluxe samples so far. Depending on their size and purpose, these minis can last me anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks, so I think 9 is a really good number. Now, when it comes to my foil packets...
I've used up 29 so far! Not bad, huh? You know, the crazy thing is that despite the fact that 29 seems like quite a lot, I feel that I haven't made a big dent in my make-up bag stuffed with samples. I haven't actually counted how many were in there to begin with, but I'm guessing there's still A LOT left. So I think that after the end of this Project, I will need to incorporate the remaining sample packets into my regular routine to get them out of my stash.
Now for some favorites; even though I've tried a fair number of new products, I've only found a couple I liked enough to consider purchasing a full size of at some point in the future. I really enjoyed using my sample of the HABA VC Lotion, a moisturizing toner/essence with Vitamin C. I though it was an excellent alternative to a heavier daytime serum for the summer, when my skin tends to get oily very quickly. In fact, I liked it so much that I purchased a similar product with a lower price tag, the Rohto Hada Labo Hyaluronic Acid Lotion (review forthcoming).
I also really enjoyed my sample of Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm, although I doubt I'd drop a hundred bucks on a cleanser in any foreseeable future. I still quite like the Dermalogica Ultracalming Cleanser I used to have a full size of, and the Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Toner with niacinamide worked well on my skin. For bodycare, the Nuxe Reve de Miel hand cream felt moisturizing but non-greasy for the daytime, and had a beautiful honeysuckle scent. The Ayres Body Butter in Jasmine and Rosemary had an interesting whipped texture that glided wonderfully on the skin, and the fragrance was very interesting - I was finally able to figure out that it smelt quite similar to a cough syrup I used to use as a child.

I'm still quite pumped about my sample project and I'm looking forward to knocking more out in June. Thankfully, despite some cautionary tales from you guys, my skin didn't totally freak out from trying out different products most of the time, although I did experience some issues with product incompatibility - like when I layered a serum and moisturizer that must have been quite heavy on silicones, and my foundation annoyingly started to roll on top of them. Have you guys discovered any new interesting products by using your samples recently? I know a few of you were thinking of joining me in this Project, and if you did, how has your progress been?

7 comments:

  1. I wanna try that Dermalogica Ultracalming Cleanser too. It seems like a good one. I thing it is something worth trying out.

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  2. Hi Monika,

    Congrats on using up so many! I bet it feels awesome :)

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  3. I'm trying to pan some palettes, (2 lancome and 2 Dior quints), a blush (Duwop mango), several eyeliner and 2 lip liners, 3 lipsticks, 3 lipglosses, 2 highlighter and 2 bronzer and it is HARD!!! I hit pan in all my powder products but I still have a long time to go before finishing those products. I just finished the last 2 months one MAC eyeliner (first time ever), 2 perfumes, 3 lipsticks but they were all old and almost done.

    This project still make me use more my lipliners and glosses. I really have to force myself to use those and every time i'm telling myself I will not buy another gloss EVER! LOL but yah feel good finishing products. I have no problem finishing skincare, as for samples they usually end up in the trash. I have problem skin and i'm to scare that my skin will react badly to those.

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  4. Nice work Monika - I am still trudging along with my Project but hope to start something like this for my samples soon too. Part of me enjoys forgetting some things in my stash and discovering fun things but the storage is bugging me and I think I'd feel better with a streamlined collection full of higher quality overall - we'll see how that goes ;)

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  5. Whew, you're doing good! Keep up the good work, empty that sh*t! ;-)

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  6. Wow lady, you are on a roll!!! Really impressed with how much you've used, both the deluxe samples and foil packets - 29?!!! Gah in my dreams ha ha :-P I need to do a sample purge, but am having a much harder time deciding on those vs. everything else - completely the opposite of how I thought I would feel!

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  7. oh my gosh, how many did you have to begin with! I only grab for samples when I travel for work. Great job.

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