It never hurts to ask

I remembered my ULTA coupon today! I also brought the entire catalog with me...a little way for me to stay focused.  I wanted to pick up Too Faced's "a la mode eyes" (sexy St. Tropez eye shadow collection). As an added bonus, it qualified for a gift all on it's own. The cashier rang me up and I was about to go about my merry way when I remember the gift, so I pulled out my handy dandy catalog and asked if the gift was still available.  Sadly, it wasn't...but because I asked, the girl behind the counter put together a few little samples just for me.  I ended up with a lip brush, a bareMinerals primer sample packet and 2oz sample of "it's a 10".  I actually have the full size of "it's a 10" and really like it, so all in all it was a pretty decent sample selection.

Too Faced, a la mode eyes

So, when it comes to ULTA's 21 days of Beauty...be sure to know what offers are available, and it doesn't hurt to ask if they're able to sub in some other samples!

pretty please...just be polite

It has never occurred to me to go into a store and ask for something for free...but in the cosmetics department it happens all the time (and I do mean all the time).

"You have samples?", "What will you give me today?", "What's the free gift?" are all I seem to hear sometimes.  Yes, the makeup counters do sometimes have samples, but a lot of time, the managers sets the rules as to how they are to be handed out.  (Usually, it's ok to give them out with a certain number of items purchased, or a specified amount has to be spent, or an account has to be opened.)  These are the general-unwritten rules of the free samples.

Do these rules get bent? Yes. Do I bend them sometimes? Yes.  When do I bend these unwritten rules? When the customer is POLITE.  More than anything, if a person is courteous, and respectful to me (the sales person), I will do my darndest to make them happy.  All that I need is for that customer to say a simple "please" and/or "thank you".

I can't demand that a customer be courteous to me, but I can hold on to whatever samples I have for the customer that is. (It's the closest to a superpower I might ever have.)


(In case you couldn't tell, it was a rough day at work)

How was your day?

boxes of pretty (delivered monthly!)

Several of the beauty blogs I read have been talking about their monthly beauty boxes. These sounded like some fun programs, so I checked them out.  Basically, you sign up (or more likely, you put your name on a waiting list) and when there is room for you, you subscribe.  Most programs run about $10 a month, with options to cancel.  For the money, you receive a package of assorted samples (and sometimes full size products, depending on the program).  Sadly, a lot of these programs are not yet available in the US (but the websites promise their working on it).

I put my name on a bunch of the lists, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.  Within about a month I got notifications from two programs; My Glam Bag and The Look Bag.  I signed up for both (and quietly vowed to cut back on my willy-nilly beauty spending)...shortly thereafter a few more of the sites let me know that I could join their programs too...maybe later.

I came home from my lovely weekend and had both packages waiting for me.

I was super happy with the Glam Bag. There is a LipQuench from the Dermstore that has become a daily use product for me.  I appreciated the brushes too (I've been needing a new slanted eyeliner brush anyway). The bag is small and cute, a lovely little purse size. There was also a liner from Urban Decay in a teal color (which I may not have picked up on my own, but is worth a try).  I went out and bought some eyelash glue, so I'm looking forward to trying out the lashes too. So far I'm totally jazzed about my beauty subscription.

The Look Bag was a little less jazzy for me.  The Jovie lotion is a great size, but a little too much fragrance for my taste. I'm looking forward to trying the Pur~lisse essential daily moisturizer with SPF 30. There is a Laura Mercier perfecting water, that I'll have to check out online, because I'm not 100% sure what it's for. There is a fragrance sample (in Water Garden, could be nice..we'll see) and lastly I received a hair oil from Orofludo (?, never heard of them, but with summer coming my hair is sure to get dry at the ends).

The Look Bag, after the Glam Bag was a little bit of a let down...but hey if it doesn't work out I'll cancel and try a different program. No worries.