Beauty Bar Sample Society Unboxing and Review: May 2013

I cancelled my Sample Society subscription back in October when there were still no box variations and everyone was getting the same products. Things have changed a lot since then, and I wanted to see if those changes have been for the better, but apparently I picked the wrong month to find out 🙁

I decided to resubscribe mainly because I don’t currently have any boxes coming at the beginning of the month, and Sample Society has always been diligent about early shipping. My box arrived during the first week of May, which made me very happy until I saw the contents. After checking out various forums and other bloggers’ reviews, it seems like May was probably their worst month to date. Talk about bad luck 🙁

About Beauty Bar Sample Society:
For $15/month Sample Society will send its members 5 deluxe-sized samples from beauty brands like Murad, Sisley, Alterna, and Borghese and a $15 off $50 discount code. As a bonus all new members receive a complimentary one-year subscription to Allure magazine (a $12.00 value).
Click here to join Sample Society.

Kate Somerville Somerville360 Tanning Towelettes
From time to time I get self-tanning product samples in my subscription boxes, and I really wish they worked for me. They just don’t. The only product that I approve of right now is Beautisol Wash-off body bronzer that I reviewed in this blog post. It’s a shame that I will have to give away such epensive tanning towelettes, but c’est la vie.

Alterna Bamboo Shine Luminous Shine Mist
I did like this hair mist, but I can’t say it’s my must-have. I like that it’s color-safe and free of sulfates, parabens and phtalates, and on top of it all it smells really nice. I have achieved the same results with the current hair gloss serum I’m using, and I probably won’t switch. Still, this is a great-sized sample, and I will keep it for traveling.

Jane Iredale Forever Pink Just Kissed Lip & Cheek Stain
This stain provides a lovely pink color to lips and cheeks, that gets intensified with each subsequent layer. The color shows up better on the lips than it does on the cheeks, and the formula is fabulously creamy!

Dr. Brandt Flexitone BB Cream SPF30
I’ll admit, I have not actually tried this sample, but after stalking other bloggers’ reviews I concluded that it’s going to be much darker than my skin tone. I decided to not even open the cap to preserve the purity of this sample, so it can still be truly brand new when I give it away.

Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream
This moisturizer was formulated for severely dry skin, and although mine does get a bit dry sometimes, it’s not dry enough to start using a cream like this. I decided to re-purpose this sample as a dry spot treatment, so I tried it on my cuticles and loved the end result! The strong smell of camphor can be a little off-putting, but it doesn’t linger for long and I only apply it at night anyway.

The verdict: I plan to stick around for at least 1-2 more months just because I reeeaaallllly want that box of goodies in the mail, which makes waiting for the rest of my subscriptions a bit more bearable. This month the retail value was definitely there, but to be this box was not worth $15 spent. I’m hoping that June will bring us better samples 🙂

Are you a Sample Society subscriber? What do you think of this month’s box?

Disclosure: I bought this.