Beauty Bar Sample Society August 2014 Review, Unboxing, Pictures

After total revamp in July with a box that blew it out of the water with some seriously amazing products, Sample Society was officially taken over by Allure editors. Two of their most important [in my opinion] guarantees are “on trend” and “variety”, I’m guessing that means we will no longer see boxes with 5 moisturizer samples. For August, Allure Beauty Director Patricia Tortolani hand-picked some of the hottest products of the season, including everyone’s favorite Too Faced Melted Lipstick and Ciate nail polish!

HOW IT WORKS
For $15/month Sample Society will send its members 5 deluxe-sized samples from beauty brands like stila, Murad, Sisley, Alterna, Butter London, and Too Faced, and a $10 off $50 monthly discount code to BeautyBar.com. As a bonus all new members receive a complimentary one-year subscription to Allure magazine (a $12.00 value). There is no official word about that anywhere, but the magazine just randomly shows up in your mailbox one day. Click here to join Sample Society. You can also buy some of the past boxes here.

Now, let’s see what we got in August!

Ciate Paint Pots Nail Polish in Cha Cha Cha – Allure released a spoiler for this sample before the boxes shipped, which got many subscribers very excited. After all, Ciate is a fancy brand that many of us haven’t tried yet, myself included. I honestly was never really interested to purchase it because I felt like there are better brands at half the price.

But now that I have it in my hands, I obviously want to know what their products are all about. Cha Cha Cha is a very bright, almost neon orange cream jelly that sets with semi-matte finish. I don’t think I’ve seen matte jellies before, so this was new to me. I actually liked the brush size and shape, it was very easy to use. The only problem I experienced with this polish so far was the streaky application. There is just no way I could ever apply one or two coats evenly, so in these swatches you see three, with no top coat. Speaking of top coat, those who hate the semi-matte finish can top it off with something extra glossy like Seche Vite 🙂 I’m sure it looks gorg!

Oribe Surfcomber Tousled Texture Mousse – my hair is super long right now and needs a serious trim, we’re talking at least 3-4 inches. Until that is out of the way [and I plan to get it done soon-ish], I don’t think I will bother with hair styling, because my baby fine hair will be inevitably weighed down.

Oribe is one of those chic hair brands that you can often hear stars buzzing about, but it’s always nice to be able to find out if that high price tag is justified. Looks like this mousse has very good reviews online, and that’s promising! I squeezed a dollop in my palm to see what it’s like, and I’m happy tp report that it has a pretty nice smell to it, as well.

Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Melted Peony – Funny, this is the color I would have picked for myself if I was shopping for these liquid lippies. All subscribers received Melted Peony, and sounds like Sample Society wants to keep it that way in the future to reduce “box envy”.

I must admit, for all the raving reviews they were getting, I honestly didn’t think my sample was that amazing. The formula is unforgiving to imperfections: if you have any visible dry spots or deep lip lines, it will accentuate them. I was also not a fan of the smell, it was buttery-bitter and reeked of chemicals. I have very sensitive nose, so I get scent-induced migraines quite often. It’s possible that I got a dud, but it’s also possible that I might be among the few people who simply don’t like this lippie. The color is really pretty, though, and it does remind me of peonies for sure. It’s one of those products that looks better in pictures than it does in real life.

Kate Somerville Dilo Oil Restorative Treatment – I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed with a Kate Somerville product before, and if I have, it must have been so long ago that I don’t even remember it happening anymore.

I use oils on my combination skin with caution, but this one didn’t seem to make me break out or clog my pores. I used a few drops in the PM under my night cream and woke up to super soft skin. Happy to report that this looks loke a great product!

Jane Iredale Longest Lash Thickening & Lengthening Mascara – I received this mascara sample one too many times across several subs already, and was never a huge fan of it. It makes the lashes look fluffy and fluttery but still natural, I’d say even too natural maybe. It’s like your lashes, but better kind of effect.

Some people think it’s weird, but I think it’s really nice that this mascara comes in a tube. That makes it so much easier to use up, without wasting any product!

THE VERDICT
I’m happy to report that Sample Society impressed me two months in a row now, and I really hope to see them consistently deliver this kind of brand and product variety. I’m also pleased that they chose to send the same shades of color cosmetics to everyone, that way no one feels bad to receive a color they didn’t want while someone else got a shade they wanted. Box envy can be a very nasty thing sometimes, and can totally ruin one’s sampling experience. Personally, I was happy to finally be able to try highly coveted Melted lippies, and luckily I determined that my bank account won’t be overdrawn anytime soon because I had to have all the shades. I also really enjoyed Kate Somerville oil, and while I most likely won’t be purchasing it, I will happily recommend it to my family and friends, and maybe even buy it as a gift. I think my Mom would like it 🙂 *hope she’s not reading this*