Magazine Sample Sachets - Skincare

Hi there everyone!

'Naileys' look away now haha

Although nails have completely overtaken my blog lately, and I'm happy about that, amazingly there are some other things I like.  Free things are one of those things.  However I'm terrible for hoarding things away and forgetting about them.  When Glamour Magazine had a free Nails Inc polish on the front (the only Glamour I ever bought) I took out the sample sachets and put them in a drawer.  Then I forgot about them. 

Anyway, as part of my New Years resolution to get more organised, I was clearing out one of my lotions and potions drawers and came across these samples.

There were four:


I decided that I could probably use three of these together.  Start with the ROC moisturiser, then on with the Nivea primer, and then the Max Factor foundation.  I'll try the BB cream another day.

I suppose then that you need to see my ugly mug?  Apologies for the terrible poses and the awful photos.  I hate having my photo taken, which is why I like nails haha.  Plus I'm not at all photogenic.  Plus you can see now what I mean about those big eyebrows!  Apparently big eyebrows are 'in' for 2013.  Yeah, that'll be why I let them get this way ;-)

So here I am, not long out of the shower with clean skin.  All that I've used so far is a squirt of toner.  My skin is not too bad, mostly I put that down to Decleor oils and Prolagene Gel, although it does get hormonal (don't we all lol):


And here's what I thought of the products:

ROC Hydra+ Bio Active Moisturising Cream SPF15 Normal Skin
I threw the packet away before I copied down the description (typical) but an online description I found (Marie Claire) says:

If you suffer from sensitive skin, then negotiating the right skincare products can be a beauty minefield. RoC has tackled the issue, and created the Hydra+Bio Active range, that is not only tailored to sensitive skin, but also to particular skin types, whether dry, normal or combination. £12.95

 

What I thought:

Looking for the description, I found out this product has been discontinued so I won't harp on too much about it. 

How much in the packet? 1.5ml/0.05fl.oz

Enough to do a whole face? Yes enough for face and neck comfortably

What was it like?  It had a nice smell, a bit like a light nivea cream smell, sinks in in about 5 minutes.  It had quite a thin fluffy texture, and did leave my skin feeling moisturised.  I wouldn't have like to have paid £12.95 for it.

Would I purchase?  No

 

Nivea Essentials Express Hydration Primer

They say:

We all know what it’s like to rush through your morning skincare regime with one eye on the clock.  So we’ve come up with an easy way to look fabulous fast. NIVEA Express Hydration Primer moisturises your skin and absorbs instantly. Giving you a smooth base you can apply make-up over straight away. For a look that lasts all day long. £4.99.

What I thought:

How much in the packet? 1.5ml/0.05fl.oz
 

Enough to do a whole face? Yes, and neck
 

Instant absorbtion?  No, took alot of rubbing in
 

Other thoughts: Didn't leave a slippy feeling like other primers, instead once rubbed in, skin feels a bit 'grippy'.  Fresh gentle Nivea smell which wore off quickly.  I did get a little bit of 'roll-off', but not as much as I had with the No.7 primer.

At the moment you can get a free sample of this if you want to try it for yourself on the Nivea website.link HERE although I don't know if it's international or just UK.

Would I purchase? Probably not

 

 

Max Factor Face Finity All Day Flawless foundation in Natural

 

They say:

All-Day Flawless 3-IN-1 Foundation with SPF 20 has been designed with a primer and concealer built-in, to give your look durability. The primer gives a smooth, even base for hold. The concealer corrects for a flawless look and the foundation gives a light, flexible finish. Now you can be certain that they will match, because they’re built-in, so you can be sure of a gorgeous flawless finish all-day long. Believe in beauty that lasts and lasts. £8.99

What I thought:
How much in the packet? 2ml

Enough for a full face?  More than enough, I ended up getting it everywhere.  Enough for at least two full applications.  I didn't realise it was supposed to already have the primer in, I couldn't tell how that made any difference.

Other thoughts: It was quite runny and it did have full coverage.  Not really any sense of skin left, however it did seem to emphasise my pores and a few of my deeper wrinkles.  The shade was fine for me, which was lucky.  Heres how it looked with everything on:

It has evened out my skintone, but in real life it did look a bit heavy, and I did have some cakey patches after a couple of hours. 

Would I purchase? No, but if you are looking at full coverage foundation, this would be a good alternative to Double Wear Light by Estee Lauder.  I already own that and it reminded me of it.  As I use (and like very much) the Bare Minerals powder foundation, I guess I'm spoilt now by the light feel of that, and so liquid foundation felt a little heavy to me.

I can't really decide if there's enough difference between the before and after pictures, in real life it was a huge difference, but by the time I'd got round to doing blogging today I'd lost the light, but hey, live and learn!  I've had a really productive day today though, decorations are down, house is all tidy and neat again.  Have been for a walk/run (bit of both), and started some organising.  Also so far am sticking to Dry January (no alchohol), so the blog got pushed back and back in the schedule.  Have still managed to squeeze it in though.

And there we go, certainly not a usual blog post for me, but I got rid of a few things out of my beauty drawer, and also got a blog post out of it, so win win!  This counts towards my organising resolution as it was part of a clear out so I'm happy.  Do you hoard freebies away like me?

Until next time...

MASPOOASE x x x
 ~Wendy~