Beauty Blabber: Using Samples

When I was still very young and I discovered that you can order free samples online I went wild. I started collecting a ton of beauty samples and ended up with a whole entire box filled with samples of all kinds of beauty products. From perfumes to moisturisers to makeup products. I collected it all. Recently however I started to think about them, and the fact that I haven’t touched a single one of those testers in over 3 years. This made me think: how useful are these samples, how necessary are they and should I use them more often? In today’s beauty blabber I wanted to talk to you guys about this topic. So, if you’re interested in reading about what my opinions are on using samples, make sure you continue reading!

When you want to buy something new

There are a couple of different occasions where I do think that using or getting samples of a product is very useful. For example when you want to buy a new product that is kind of expensive and you’re not sure whether you’re going to like it or not. In those instances it’s a great idea to ask for a sample. I once did this at Lush when I was interested in buying one of their moisturisers and didn’t know which one would be the best for my skin. I also once got a sample from a MAC foundation that I really ended up using.

Even though this is a great way to see whether you’re going to like the product or not that you’re eyeing, I generally don’t do this. Whenever I really want to try something I usually just go ahead and order it online. I know this is definitely not the best way to do things and I definitely think that this is risky, but that’s just the reality for me. And also: the times when I did get these samples, I didn’t end up buying the product either even though I did like the product.

Miniature products vs one use samples

There’s also two types of samples. You have the miniature products. The ones that come in little tubes or jars. And you have the ones that come in sachets or just on the back of some kind of card. While it’s always nice of a brand to give these away for free, the chances are pretty large that when something doesn’t come in a miniature thingy, I won’t use it.

That’s not because I’m ungrateful, it actually has a couple of pretty decent reasons. One of which is that when it’s a one time use thingy, I can only try it for one day. When I’m debating on getting like a moisturiser, I do need more than one day to figure out how my skin reacts to it. And the same thing goes for perfume. I can’t decide in one day whether or not I’m truly going to like the scent for a longer period of time.

Another reason why I wouldn’t use these one time use thingies is because you can’t really smell what you’re going to put on before you put it on, and that’s a risk. You know those thingies that come on the back of a card. You have to rip a bit of plastic off and the product releases. Of course you can try to not get it on yourself before giving it a good sniff, but more often than not your fingers will be covered in it already and you will smell like that the whole entire day. If you’re not sure the scent is something for you, that can be quite a risk. When it comes in a little spray thingy, you can first spritz it away from you to make sure you actually want to wear that scent all day long.

To travel

After all of these reasons why I wouldn’t use a ton of samples, there is one occasion when I do like to use samples: when I’m travelling. Every time I travel I open up my big box of samples and grab a few products that I’m going to try throughout my vacation. Obviously it’s a bit of a gamble whether you’re going to like it or not, but when talking about a body lotion or shower gel I don’t think it’s that risky at all.

Conclusion

Overall I don’t hate samples. I still love collecting them, especially if they come in reasonable sizes. It allows me to try a product I don’t already have and I like that. However, the purpose of a sample is to get you to buy the product -I mean, I can’t think of another reason why a brand would give them away for free- and that actually never really happens because of a sample. At least, I have only once bought a product because of a sample and I have used a ton back in the day. So in my opinion samples are fun, and a nice way to try things out. I think they are useful to get before purchasing something rather expensive. But for me they aren’t necessary.

And that’s my two cents on samples. I hope you enjoyed reading today’s beauty blabber and be sure to let me know what you think of using samples and whether or not you actually buy products because of a sample!