Making sense of all the branding here is a challenge. Allure is a magazine. Beauty Bar is a website. Sample Society is the name of the subscription box sponsored by Allure and Beauty Bar. The Sample Society box costs $15 a month but since you get a $10 gift code every month to spend on the Beauty Bar site, the cost of the box is essentially $5....IF you make use of the gift code. The catch (and it's substantial) is that you have to spend $50 to use the gift code. The Beauty Bar website is stocked with an extremely wide variety of well known products and brands so it isn't hard to spend $50 there. (I just transfer some of my normal Walgreen's & CVS spending to Beauty Bar.) OK, let's see what arrived in January's shiny red box!
Here's the group shot. There are usually five samples but this time, there are six. Maybe they slipped something extra in at the last moment?
As always, there is a mini magazine put together by the editors of Allure magazine. This is one of the best guides found in any beauty sub box. It has a page for each item in the box with color photos, information about what the product does, how it looks/feels/smells and "why we like it" plus the full size retail price.
I have seen very few Philosophy products in subscription boxes which is not too surprising, considering their retail prices. So this quarter ounce sample of "Renewed Hope In A Jar", an anti-aging facial moisturizer is most welcome. Supposedly, this product results in noticeable radiance within half an hour of application. Two ounces of this stuff retails for $47. If I stretch this sample, I think I can make it last a couple of weeks.
Next is a brand new eye color product from Revlon. This is called "PhotoReady Eye Art Lid + Line + Lash". I received a stunning shade called "Peach Prism". I was impressed to find that this is the newest eye product featured on Revlon's website....great scouting job Allure! There are two color coordinated eye shadows here; one is a cream and the other is a glitter. The cream shade can also be used as a liner and the glitter shade can work as a highlighter. So this is truly a multi-faceted product. I'm not sure this particular shade is right for my skin tone but there's no denying how beautiful it is.
There is a half ounce sample of Light-Weight Deep Conditioning Creme Rinse from Philip B. According to the brochure, this makes your hair "crazy shiny and easy to detangle". A key ingredient is jojoba which gives a healthy looking sheen. There is probably enough in this sample for about four or five applications.
As you can see, I did a very poor photography job on this little Erno Laszlo Sea Mud Deep Cleansing Bar. (Photographing it upside down certainly didn't help!) Anyway, this tiny soap is less than two inches in length. It contains Dead Sea mud, charcoal powder and glycerin and is supposed to be a great facial cleanser for those with oily skin. This cult favorite has been around for 75 years and was favored by Jackie Onassis, Greta Garbo, Madonna and Uma Thurman, among others.
Although I am a die-hard Essie fan, I've recently come to appreciate the beautiful range of colors offered by Zoya. Each Sample Society box for January contained a full size bottle of either Eden, Leslie, Tiana, Lillian or Rayne....all lovely soft pastels. The one I received is Leslie, which is a delicate shade of lavender.
Oddly enough, this StriVectin Intensive Illuminating Serum sample is not shown in the information booklet and it's also not listed in the box contents shown on my Sample Society account. If I were Allure, I'd be making all kinds of noise about this one as it is probably the highest value item in the box! This product improves skin clarity for a brighter and more even complexion. Coincidentally, I've just finished a similar StriVectin sample. Although the pump container is small, it is surprising how long these last. I got at least a month's use from the last one. One ounce of this stuff retails for $89 so this quarter ounce sample is worth about $22.25. See why I get so excited about StriVectin samples? Oh yeah....AND they work!
Sample Society boxes can be somewhat hit or miss so I'm glad to say the January box was a total hit for me. In checking other reviews, I see that quite a few different products were received in boxes received by other people. I don't remember filling out a profile when I signed up but then again, that was long ago and things may have changed. Either way, I'm not complaining....for $15, this was one great box!
If you're interested in subscribing to Sample Society, use code 5FORYOU to get $5.00 off your first box. Also, you can use code CBLA1620 for 20% off your first order on any of the extensive Beauty Bar family of brands, which you can find in tabs across the top when you go to Beauty Bar's site. (Since you already get a $10 discount code with each Sample Society box, this code will not work on BeautyBar.com.)
Don't forget to subscribe to this blog if you want to receive regular updates on all the latest subscription boxes!
Thanks for reading,
Cheryl
use code: CBLA1620
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Disclosure: Views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own. Product discussed in this post was purchased with my own money. Post may contain referral or affiliate links.
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