Sampling Life

As many of you know, especially if you read the first 5 months of the blog postings last year, I get a lot of samples.  Today I decided to use nothing but samples and report what I learned.

I started my day by washing my hair, and used TRESemme Platinum Strength Strengthening Shampoo. (1)  A little of this product goes a long way. It lathers very well, even in our hard  water. 

I followed that up with the Conditioner from the same line (2).  You need to leave this product in for 2 to 3 minutes.  Personally, I prefer a 2 in 1 product, so I can condition at the same time as I wash my hair. It is good though, that the TRESemme people put the Shampoo in a Black bottle and the Conditioner in a White one.  You don't have to try to read the bottles, to grab the right one, when you may have soap or water in your eyes.

Next I used Olay's Moisturizing Body Wash (3) which is a 2 in 1 Cleanser and Moisturizer.  It has a wonderful scent of something reminiscent from my past.  A delicate version of Neutrogena's Rainbath, perhaps.  The package said to use it with Olay's soft cleansing puff, but I didn't have one handy. It says it will work into a lather, but using just my hands, that didn't happen at all.  Could just be our hard water.

Since I was into Olay products, I next chose their Total Effects Body Moisturizing Treatment. (4) I know the body wash was supposedly an all in one, but I have dry skin at this time of year and this product is supposed to fight the 7 signs of aging.  It says to concentrate on affected areas of the arms and legs. Well, the skin just above my ankles is dry and flaky and gets really itchy so, while I spread it everywhere, I did concentrate on there.  It absorbs quickly and leaves no greasy spots.  I like that.

Okay, so now my hair and body are clean and moisturized. Next I reached for a deodorant.  I used Dove Ultimate Supreme go Fresh Cool Essentials.(5)  It smells kind of like cucumbers, I think.  Fresh anyway.  It's a solid cake so it doesn't glide on as smoothly as my regular gel style deorderant, but it didn't leave any sticky residue either, so it passed that test.

Now the face.  I washed it with a product from Simple (the Sensitive Skin Experts) called Refreshing Facial Wash Gel (6).  It says it's kind to skin, and it is. I have rosacea.  This product is gentle and I use it often.  It leaves me soft and clean without any tightness upon drying.

Next I applied Mario Badescu's Aloe Lotion (7) with a cotton ball.  That was probably not necessary after the Simple Facial but I'm testing, right?  This is a clear lotion, not a moisturizer, but more of a toner, I believe.  Now my face if really soft and healthy looking.

Mario Badescu is a brand I just discovered in the past year. They have several products I'd happily use more of in the coming years. They have a drying cream you can dab on pimples and it just dries they up in no time. It is skin coloured too, so you could likely camouflage the spot if you wanted to use it during the day.  They also have a product called Bee Pollen Night Cream that I really love.  As night creams go, I don't remember ever waking up and feeling my face so soft and non-greasy. If I were to treat myself to one product tomorrow, this would be the one.

I brushed my teeth with Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief toothpaste. (8)  It left my whole mouth minty fresh.  My teeth are not normally sensitive, but I liked this product so much that I may just buy it anyway.

I finished off the face with Garnier Ultra Lift AntiWrinkle Firming Cream. (9)  I love this stuff.  I did the 28 day challenge when it first came out.  It not only firms but gives me a smooth non-shiny finish that seems to fill pores and make me look more youthful. At my age, that's a good trick!  I likely would have continued using it after the 28 days, but I still have other products on hand to use up first.

I'd have used some makeup about now, most days, but I'm sick, and not planning to go anywhere so I'll save that until the next time I do this sample testing thing.  Oh yes, I'll do it again as I've lots of samples here.  I'm not sure everything listed above still exists, as products seem to come and go so quickly these days, but I'll try to incorporate more recent acquisitions next time.

Oh, let's not forget the eyes.  One of the most recent sample products to come into my home is the Aveeno Fresh Essentials Anti Fatigue Eye Roller. (10) This leaves a nice cool feeling as the liquid rolls on by way of a metal ball.  No tugging fingers needed around the eye area with this product.  I think it will be a real treat, especially during the summer months, to feel that cool ball on my face.

By this time, I'm all clean, soft and moisturized from head to toe.  But I am, as I said, not well just now as I caught that nasty cold bug with it's accompanying cough, so I'm going to lay around all day with a stack of books and a pot of tea. 

At the end of the day, I did come back to tell you I tested some Garnier Anti-Wrinkle Firming Night Cream.(11) It's a rather thick cream but it's non-greasy and absorbs quickly. 

At the end of the day, my hair is still shiny and well behaved, even though I've been laying on it most of the day.  There is no sign of flaky skin around my ankles, my face is still soft, smooth and not greasy. It looks good, despite the fact that I had no makeup on all day.  I think this was a successful day of testing, and I look forward to doing it again sometime in the near future.
 

Freebie Friday - Feb 8

This week, among other things, I received two samples, along with coupons for $2 off each product.  There is a major difference in the size of the samples, but I was previously given a full size bottle of the smaller one, so I'm certainly not complaining.

Garnier Intensive 7 Days Body Lotion is my new favorite.  It is non-greasy, absorbs well, and the Shea Butter variety that I chose has a scent I really like.  The original deal got me a free product coupon for a full sized bottle, but when I was offered another sample, I was happy to see they let me have it, and I assure you that I will be using that $2 off coupon to buy more.

Meanwhile I got another laundry detergent to try this week.  This time it's one called Method. I've never heard of it before, but it comes in a handy pump style container.  The sample they sent me is enough to do 8 loads.  That will give me plenty of time to assess how well it does laundry in our hard water.  I really like the idea of a pump dispenser.  No measuring, or pouring, just a couple of pumps and we're all set to wash the clothes.  The container is constructed in such a way that you can see the hose from the pump through the bottom, so apparently you can get every drop of the detergent by just tipping the container so that the hose is in the wee remaining bit.  No waste.  This sample lists the scent as Fresh Air and the package says it's "made by and for people against dirt."

Besides samples this week, I also got a cheque for $20 from Legerweb.  I've done surveys for them for several years now and made about $100 from Legerweb alone in the past year.  You can sign up on your own, but if you happen to know me, it would be great if you asked for a referral.  I'd get an extra dollar the first time you took a survey.

Finally, I also received a $5 gift card for Tim Horton's that I won from taking part in a contest on the Canadian Free Stuff website.  I'll be taking my man out for a treat this weekend, with that.

All in all, I think that was a pretty good week.

Free Stuff is No Bother

Some days, going to the post office is really worth the walk.  Today I got three pieces of mail with free things in them.  One was a box from Proctor & Gamble.  They send out boxes full of samples at least a couple of times a year. A lady at the post office noticed my parcel and said, "Oh, P&G" and I immediately asked if she get this too.  Her answer was, "I can't be bothered with that." 

That box had samples of Pantene shampoo and conditioner, Bounty paper towels, Tide Pods, Dawn Ultra Concentrated dish detergent and what looks to me like a full size Febreze room freshener.  It's good for 30 days anyway, and came in a lovely Mediterranean Lavender scent.

There were other things available too, but Proctor and Gamble lets you choose the things that would be useful to you. It would be no good, for instance, if I were sent something for a dishwasher, since I don't have one.

The Garnier Intensive 7 Days Body lotion was sent as a consolation as everyone who had entered a contest on Facebook was sent an e-mail to tell us we had won a full bottle, 2 full weeks before the contest was even over.  I still have a chance of winning that, as they sent the samples and a coupon for a dollar off as soon as they realized the here had been an error. 

And yes, you do see a $50 Bon Appetit gift card.   I won $25 worth of credit at Card Swap through a blog I read, and the rest of the money spent to buy this card arrived in my Pay Pal account from having done some surveys.  Card Swap has all kinds of cards available and I picked this one as my hubby is often trying to feed me, so I figured it was my turn and he won't object if it's done card I didn't actually spend my own money on.  Bon Appetit is good for all our favorites....Montana's, Swiss Chalet, Kelsey's, Harvey's, and somewhere else I'm not acquainted with. 

The very notion of someone not wanting to be bothered, when it comes to free stuff, just boggles my mind!

Sept 22 
Correction:  Apparently that little Garnier sample was something I sent for myself, on Sept. 5, not what they are sending because of the contest error. For that I will get a coupon for a free full sized bottle of Intensive 7 Days Body Lotion. I tried my sample this morning and I already know I will enjoy the full sized bottle.