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Allure Sample Society
Cost: $15/month
Ships To: Continental US.
Coupon Code: “5FORYOU” to save $5 off your first box.
Sample Society, which arrived here this afternoon, is the brainchild of the editors of Allure Magazine. Each month they select a curated mix of five deluxe skin, hair, makeup and fragrance samples and deliver them to your door. Your subscription also includes a coupon for $10 off $50 a BeautyBar purchase each month and an Allure penned “mini-magazine” which gives you the details on all the samples.
Sample Society ships via UPS and always takes just a few days to arrive. It arrives in a box that is slightly bigger than a Birchbox. I should save all the boxes I receive for a month and take some comparison pictures!
The first look wasn’t overly impressive. Lots of great brands, but the samples seemed small.
The April 2015 Sample Society included the following products to test out that are currently loved by Allure’s Beauty Editor:
~Benefit Cosmetics the POREfessional ($4.13): I love this product. It goes on smoothly and really works to hide pores. You can wear it over or under makeup too so if you decide you need a little extra coverage after foundation or BB cream this will do it.
~Bumble & Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil VOC ($0.78): I am so bummed that this sample size isn’t larger! I tested this oil immediately and it made my hair much shinier and silkier. It smells amazing as well. The information booklet describes it as a mixture of gardenia and coconut. I am going to have to grab the full-size of this. It’s just that good.
~Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream Fragrance ($1.79): This is described as an “airy floral fragrance” and has notes of blackberry, grapefruit, pear, jasmine, lychee. blue wisteria, white woods, musk and coconut water. I think it was just a little too floral for me. I thought it lightened up during the dry-down, but still not enough for me to love it.
~Mt. Sapola Lavender-Chamomile Lotion ($1.96): I liked the actual lotion itself, but wow, the scent is STRONG. The information card says the scent is “no joke” and I agree. I can maybe handle this as a hand lotion, but as an all over body lotion? No way.
~Illume Tonka Noir Tin ($3.15): Tonka Noir is a “warm, sensual floral”. It’s a gorgeous scent and smells very rich and maybe even a little sexy.
~Jane Iredale Rio Just Kissed Lip Plumper ($5):I am not a big fan of lipstick in general, so this is just kind of there for me. I’ll give it to my SIL (who loves lipstick) and to use and enjoy.
All totaled I came up with an (estimated) value of $16.81 for the April 2015 Sample Society. Sure it’s more than the $15/month cost of the box, but it’s much less than the “normal” value this box products. Had a few of these samples been a little larger (my picks would have been a larger candle, more hair oil and a larger size of the POREfessional) I would be much happier with this box. This month’s box reminded me of a Birchbox, except it was $5 more and we don’t get any points for reviewing the products.
Did you get Sample Society this month? What’d you think of the box? If you are interested in signing up or just want to learn more, click here and use the coupon code “5FORYOU” to save $5 off your first box!
