Sunday Review - Foil Packets

Okay! So, I set out with a goal this year to start using up my samples.  I'm really terrible for hoarding product and just going to my old faithfuls! So, I figured I would start small and use up the foil packets.  I'm not done yet, still working on that but I figure I have amassed enough to share an opinion or two.

First group of products is stuff that I wouldn't purchase. Probably a big reason to this is it's hard to get a good feel for skin care trying it once or twice.

Jouviance First Defense Antioxidant Emulsion was a really nice product. It's a fairly liquid cream and has a citrus smell. It's a grapefruit colour. It's probably not something I would buy since it's really costly and didn't blow me away.
Yves Rocher HydraVegetal Gel Creme. Nice fresh scent, light.
Biotherm Aquasource. This was actually nice and light as well. It has a minty pine tree type smell.
Clinique All About Eyes. This was a decent product. It's very light and has a cooling soothing feeling.
Marcelle Energizing Hydrating Gel. It was okay, not much scent.

Another group of products, that are good but nothing I need to have.

John Frieda Frizz-Ease Shampoo and Conditioner. Nothing wrong with these but since I've started using sulfate free shampoo, I don't tend to go back to these kinds of shampoos. It did help to control frizz.
NeoStrata Anti-Aging Serum. These had a nice light scent and didn't feel heavy. There was so little product in each packet I had a hard time determining if I liked it or not.
Clinique Moisture Surge.  This has a really nice gel consistently, very minimal scent and feels cooling on the skin.
Biotherm Blue Therapy Serum.  This has a really refreshing scent.  It's a really nice product. But, $65 for 30ml is a little pricey for me when I have more inexpensive products that work for me.
Roc Multi Correxion 5 in 1 Anti-Age Moisturiser.  This has a nice clean scent, but it does feel a bit heavier. What I do like about it is that it's supposed to help with wrinkles, sagging, dryness, brown spots and dull tone. It's not a bad product, I just didn't care for how it felt on my face.

Garnier UltraLift Day Cream. This is something that I am currently sampling. I LOVE the smell. I love how it makes my skin look dewy and fresh in all the right places.  I don't find that it's doing too much for my small wrinkles and after trying all these different products I'm starting to miss my regular routine. I have 1 of these on the go and 9 more on the way! :S
Biore Nose Strip. I find that these do work much better than the 90's version.  In a twisted sort of way they are fun.  I find that in about 24 hours, your nose kind of goes back to looking the same if you have some minor blackheads.  I like that the newer version has slits on it so you can form it around your nose much better than in the past.
Nivea Moisturising Day Care. This has such an amazing smell, that I am almost tempted to get it just for that reason! :) It's a really light clean scent. I think I actually would move this to a pile of something I would look into buying if I didn't have a bazillion face creams to use.  It does feel amazing on the skin.  It's also affordable.
DHC Eye Bright. This wasn't anything special. A little does go a long way and I think that sample was good for about 3 uses!
DHC Facial Moisturiser. Again, nothing special that I feel the need to have and it was a pretty small sample for skin care.

Now, onto some of my favourites and a couple of not so favourites!

Garnier Moisture Rescue.  This is a mint coloured gel cream that feels so refreshing and light on the skin. It has an amazing smell. Your skin definitely feels hydrated. This is something that I would definitely go out and buy based on this sample.

Pur-Lisse Moisturiser. This is one of those samples that I tried to squeeze every last drop from.  I really enjoyed it and would definitely consider buying in the future.  It's a really nice light cream on the liquid side. It's fast absorbing and non-greasy. Bonus, that it's SPF 30!

Lise Watier Lift & Firm Eye Cream. This is one of those packets that lasts forrrrrever and you wish it didn't.  I don't know why I can't throw it out.  I have another that I am using right now and I think I just need to toss it. Although, it doesn't come out thick it sits on the skin and doesn't want to absorb.  It's something that I would definitely not purchase. Having been using it for a week, I find that my eye area actually looks more dark and dull.

La Fresh Eye & Lips Makeup Remover. No. It just doesn't work that well. the cloths are thin and they don't do a very good job removing makeup.  Even just for my light application I would need 2.  Even if I did that, washed my face after and toned I would still wake up with some makeup under my eyes in the morning! I have no idea how. I don't want to be scrubbing my eye area raw and stretching it all over the place.

La Fresh Nail Polish Remover. Another no. These particular wipes did 3 nails top. Even in some cases 2.  They are super saturated but they dry up SO fast. Plus, the smell is overwhelming and you may want to use a gas mask while using these. After trying about 6 different La Fresh travel wipes products, I can say with certainty that it is NOT a product for me at all. Too bad, love the concept of any kind of travel wipe.

Annabelle BB Cream. This one was okay, but definitely not one that I would repurchase. I find that you do need quite a bit of this product to get coverage. I find that the product likes to settle in lines, thus looking like you've caked your makeup on.

Gosh BB Cream. This one I don't like at all! This one is in 02 beige and it's too dark for me. I'm not very dark, but I'm not pale. The worst thing about this product is that it doesn't blend very well and it pills. It pills!! That's so gross and almost feels like you've wasted your time putting on makeup to that point.  I'm not sure if it's pilling the moisturiser on my face or itself! I won't be buying this product.

Marcelle BB Cream. I almost bought a kit of this BB Cream and something else with my SDM Mega Redemption points. I'm *so* glad that I didn't. The product itself smells nice, is light, blends well, works pretty good...BUT...I was so shiny mid morning that you can see your reflection in my skin! That cannot be had. So glad, I didn't waste my money.

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream. So, some of you may have heard me talk about how disappointing this product was, since I did buy a tube of it when it first came out.  Maybe, it was so hyped up I was expecting more.  That said, I went back to this sample sometime last week and compared to all the above creams, it was REALLY good. Based on trying the others above I think I would consider buying another tube of the Maybelline. After the nightmare of trying all these products, I got to this, showed up at work and one of my employees told me that I looked so awake and fresh and healthy! Ok, score for you Maybelline. You're still not my favourite product, but you make a good base. ;)

There you have it.  A quick review of some of the samples I have been playing with this year.  Have you tried any?  If so what did you or didn't you like?

Hope you've had a great weekend. Are you one of the lucky ones who has a long weekend? :)

XO

~A