I seem to accumulate piles and piles of sample packets, which I often “save” rather than using. Why? I have no idea.  I might have saved them forever, but two lovely bloggers have inspired me to actually use & review them.  Joyce over at -->BronzerBunny --> has been writing some posts that are collections of short reviews of sample packets (find them -->here -->) and Liz over at Beauty Reductionista has just completed Sample Month – a whole month of reviews of samples! You can find all of her posts tagged “samples” here.

So – these will be quick reviews / first impressions, based on one use of each product. First, the makeup:

Burberry Beauty Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base: I rarely (never) use a shimmery product all over my face, but this is so subtle it’s actually wearable – very much radiant and dewy with no obvious shimmer. Lovely texture.  I’m still not sold on this type of product, but if you’re looking for an all-over-face luminizer, this one is fantastic.

Hourglass Fluid Makeup: Surprisingly, a good enough match to be wearable.  Medium plus coverage – did a good job covering up some redness on my chin.  Sunk in to my pores a little bit on my cheeks, but I should have used my Hourglass primer to see how they performed together (I applied on moisturized skin). Nice finish, felt light, lasted well. Worth checking out if you’re in the market for a foundation.

I tried out four cleansers:

Philosophy Purity Made Simple: I have been wanting to try this forever, I’ve heard so much (mostly good, some bad) about it.  I tried it on a day I was wearing moderately heavy eye makeup with non-waterproof mascara; I had to wash my face twice to get most of the eye makeup off, it still didn’t get it all off. It was slightly drying (even after one wash). Dislike, would not purchase.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil: I use Shu Uemura cleansing oil every day, but have never tried another oil.  The DHC is much, much thicker and oilier feeling, I did not like the texture. I had to wash my face after using the cleansing oil; I don’t need to do that with the Shu. Dislike, would not purchase.

Fresh Soy Face Cleanser: I’ve tried out two separate packets of this over the past year, and both have smelled really off / sort of rotten to me.  I thought maybe the first packet had expired, but the second smelled the same; then I checked some online reviews, and people seem to either love or hate the smell. I am in the “hate” camp. I scrubbed my face after using this to get the smell off; I can’t even evaluate this as a cleanser because I just cannot stand the smell.

Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash: I was a little scared of this one – foaming usually means drying, and this claims to be an exfoliator, so I initially thought it might be really harsh. But, it was actually quite lovely. It barely foamed at all, it did have some kind of micro beads for exfoliation but they were very gentle, and it left my skin feeling clean, but not stripped or dry.  I also enjoyed the sweet scent.  I wasn’t wearing makeup when I tried it, and my guess is that it wouldn’t remove makeup well enough for me to use in the evening, and probably is actually too drying for me to use in the morning, but it is a nice cleanser for someone else to use!

And three miscellaneous samples:

Dermalogica C-12 Concentrate: This is supposed to improve skin discoloration and uneven skin tone.  Of course, I knew it wouldn’t have much of a result in one application – but I didn’t end up using it even once.  I applied it, and it feels like a super-silicone-y primer; not surprising since the first few ingredients (after water) are all silicones! I didn’t feel comfortable going to bed with a layer of silicone on my face, so I washed it off. I’m not sensitive to silicone as far as I know, but I don’t really like the feeling. So, this isn’t for me.

DDF Ultra-Lite Oil-Free Moisturizing Dew: This is a lovely moisturizer – light, but very moisturizing. I usually layer multiple moisturizers, so I was skeptical that using just one “ultra-lite” moisturizer would be sufficient for my slightly dry skin, but this did a very good job moisturizing, while still feeling light. It sunk in quickly and completely.  I did end up adding another moisturizer after a hour or so, but this is obviously not targeted toward my skintype. This is a great moisturizer, and definitely worth checking out if you have normal to oily skin.

Fancl Lotion: This is a lotion in the Japanese sense – that is, a moisturizing liquid you apply after cleansing and before moisturizing, not a creamy lotion.  I really liked this, it was moisturizing and very light feeling. I’m not actually in the market for this type of lotion at the moment since I’m using this Hada Labo lotion, which I would definitely recommend, but I do like the Fancl.