little white truths: Sachet city: samples used in January 2015

Sachet city: samples used in January 2015

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It was definitely time to do a sachet city post; it's amazing how quickly one accrues a bag of samples - particularly when you're looking out for them.

Some of these were from subscription boxes, some taken from magazines in my obstetrician's waiting room (hey, if no one else wants them...), some were given to me by friends and others by lovely lasses at Mecca when I've gone in there to work out what to spend my precious gift card from Santa on. I say 'precious' because, if you don't know, I'm on a beauty spending ban - so any 'free' Mecca dollars are extra gold!

Zkin bundle from Violet Box: Zkin Purifying Cleansing Gel; Zkin Rebalancing Lotion; and Zkin Line Smoothing Serum

This is a nicely presented little kit. Unfortunately it's for oily or combination skin, and my skin is dry.

Also unfortunately, the small size of these sachets (1ml for the serum and 2ml for the others) made it pretty hard to give a definite review of these products - I reckon you need at least 3ml and 5ml is a better amount.

What I can say is that I like the smell of each (fresh and herbal) and enjoyed using them, although I'd like to see what they have for dry skin because I need heavier products. Also, the cleanser instructions are a bit much - you have to emulsify on the first cleanse and then remove the product with a makeup pad, then cleanse again - but maybe I'm just lazy. I like the lotion the most out of the three.

Talika The Light Essence

This is meant to boost the appearance of youthfulness, brighten the skin and reduce the appearance of dark spots. You apply this after cleansing and before moisturising, and it does have a brightening effect - which is then lost at the hands of how good (or bad) your following skincare routine is, so I'm not sure that it adds anything extra.

I think you'd need to have a good play with something like this over time to work out if it's adding anything for you, and at $140 a pop, I'd want to know that it was definitely amazeballs and be seeing immediate results before even considering forking out that kind of dough. So unless someone hands me a bottle, I don't think I'll be trying it again!

By Terry Hyaluronic Face Glow in 02 Nude Glow

This is a matte primer with a sheer tint that you can wear on its own for a lightweight, barely there coverage. Unfortunately it's too pale for me to do that.

This is a really awful product on my skin. It clings to dry patches and sits in pores, plus it 'pills' and leaves me with little dots all over my face that I have to remove. This is on top of the visible dots left behind by the product sitting in my pores. Yes it mattifies, but it also dries my skin out. It smells exactly like Ralph Lauren's Safari, which is the only good thing about it. I applied my foundation over this and ended up having to wash my face and start again, because the pore-dots were still visible and my skin looked old.

Horrible!

Glamglow Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment

This mask apparently uses the latest advanced technologies, providing deep extreme hydration for instant results and long term benefits. It moisturises, replenishes and soothes the skin, leaving you with a healthy, glowing complexion. It'd want to at $75 a pop ; )

The sample lasted me a few uses and it's certainly a lovely product - smells and feels nice on, hydrating and nourishing - it's just not worth the price tag I reckon. Not a hell of a lot going on in terms of after-effect.

Glamglow Brightmud Eye Treatment

Another one that'd want to be good because it costs $75! You're meant to see instant results in three minutes: eyes appear firmer, smoother and brighter with dark circles diminished.

It's a thick cream that smells like raisins. You're meant to apply a whole pouch to each eye (and there's a lot of product) and then wipe off the excess after three minutes. When it comes to wiping off excess, I'm usually one to use that excess and apply it to eg my face or body, because why should the tissue have all the fun?!

Did my eyes look brighter and fresher and more plumped afterwards? Yes. Would I pay $75 for this? Absolutely not.

Estée Lauder Perfectionist Youth-Infusing Makeup SPF 25 in 3N1 Ivory Beige

The colour wasn't a bad match for me - a little pale but workable - and I liked the runny texture. It was definitely one of those products that looks natural and sheer, but is also buildable if you want deeper coverage.

Happy with the SPF (essential these days I reckon) but wasn't happy with the product itself: it sat in my pores so I had little dots all over my face. I'd expect more from a high-end brand. I can't comment on the lasting power as a stand-alone product because this was a one-use sample and I had to chuck powder foundation over the top to manage the pore-dot issue, since I was going out that day and didn't want to look like I was speckled in paint.

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Day Cream

This one's formulated to visibly improve the quality of young skin. Designed for women in their twenties, the cream is enriched with perline-P, a combination of three perfecting actives, to help reduce the appearance of pores while improving skin texture and tone.

Ok, so I'm a little old for this then ; ). I wasn't wowed by it anyway: it's nice enough but didn't mix well with makeup when applied over the top - it separated my base and gave me a splotchy look - so I won't be trying that again!

Lendan Age Delay Neck & Décolleté Firming Cream

An anti-ageing cream targeted at the neck and dec. Now look, where does one draw the line in terms of the number of different creams you reach for daily (eye cream, serum, moisturiser, stretchmark lotion, hand cream, foot balm)? I'm drawing it here. I do not need a separate cream for this area.

This is a lovely product and you'd do just as well using it on your face too. It smells nice and feels hydrating, it's just not a stand-out. Also, it contains SPF 10. Is it just me, or is that a bit of a random amount? If you're going to include sunscreen in a product, include a decent amount. With SPF 10, you almost might as well not bother with it at all.

Chihtsai Instant Treatment

This is an intense leave-in moisturiser for your hair. I'd never heard of the brand so I did a quick Google search, and the small number of reviews on this product have been glowing. It took me a few goes to get the amount used right (it often does with leave-in hair products): at first I didn't apply enough, and then when I added more it was too much. By the third application I think I got the amount just about right.

The product's fine, I just don't think it's amazing. It's one of those leave-in treatments that seems to moisturise well, but also leaves your hair rather sticky and weighed-down in the process. I wouldn't buy it but I'm glad I've tried it.

Eve Lom Flawless Radiance Primer

This is apparently a moisturising and age-defying primer that aims to target imperfections - and it's a really lovely product. It hydrates, brightens and smooths skin. Thankfully it's a 3ml sample so I was able to use it quite a few times and get more of a feel for it.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I don't have an HG primer and I haven't had the best luck with primers in terms of what they do for my skin (might as well just use a hydrating moisturiser) and prolonging makeup wear. This one might just be different, however. What I plan to do is source another sample or two to see if this product should be going on my wish list.

Garnier Perfect Blur Primer

If you're after a mattifying, line-blurring primer, I'd be going for this instead of eg the By Terry product above - and this feels the same (if not better) than Benefit's The POREfessional, it just has a much cheaper price tag. This product is up there with L'Oreal's Base Magique and it's one I'd recommend sampling in eg Priceline next time you're there.

I'm not a big fan of mattifying primers, but this is a pretty good one. It's smooth and velvety and it doesn't pill, which is one of my issues with these types of pore-plugging primers. Definitely worth a look-in.

Apot.care Irido-Radiant Light Texture Cream

This is described as a lightweight cream that targets lined, slackened and reddened skin for a clearer, more radiant complexion.

I quite liked it - the smell and feel especially - it's just that a 1.5ml sample really isn't enough to judge a product by. You'd think a company could spare an extra ml or two in the interests of allowing potential customers to trial their products properly!

What I liked about it is that it feels very light but still super hydrating. Nice and velvety without being heavy. I wouldn't buy it because I haven't tried enough of it - plus it costs $152 a pop (!).

Elemental Herbology Harmonising Cleanse Oil

This is a gentle cleansing oil that uses botanical extracts to sweep away impurities and makeup. I do love me a good cleansing oil, and this one is definitely good. Oil cleansers tend to remove makeup super well (particularly from the eye area) and this is no exception. I wouldn't pay $52 for it however. Plenty of oils (whether dedicated cleansing oils or otherwise) are available that you can use to remove makeup and I generally find it hard to distinguish between them.

Kate Somerville CytoCell Dark Circle Corrective Eye Cream

This is meant to reduce the visible signs of ageing around the delicate eye area, and apparently instantly alleviates the appearance of puffiness, diminishes dark circles and dramatically reduces the appearance of fine lines.

Look, it's a good eye cream and it does have a temporary effect in terms of reducing fine lines and hydrating the area well. It's not a stand-out for me however (I can tell it's good, but I have other good eye creams on hand) - unlike the ExfoliKate product from this brand, which was so amazing that I'd be buying some if it didn't cost $98 (!).

In sum

Some great products here but most of them are well beyond my price range. Fortunately I didn't fall in love with anything! The one that interested me most was the Eve Lom primer, so I'll definitely try to pick up another sample of that if I can.

Very glad to have finished these off: if I didn't make time to trial sachets, I'd be swimming in them by now!

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Sachet city: samples used in January 2015

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