Beauty Sage Sample Box Review: October 2012

Beauty Sage regularly offers sample boxes for only $5/box + shipping and you can buy as many as you want. This October they offered a choice of 8 boxes: Editors’ Picks Sample Box; Dry Skin Box;  Scent-Sational Box; “Free Of” Box; Look Younger Box; Clear Skin Box; Don’t Stress Box; Pampered Body Box. I bought the first four and here is what I got!
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1. One Love Organics Skin Savior Sample Jars x3 (0.32oz)
This is supposedly a do-it-all multitasking balm which can be used as a cleanser, cuticle balm, moisturizer or blended with your pressed powder to create a custom-shade beauty balm. I heard a lot of good things about this company and glad that I finally got to sample one of their products. I decided to try the artsy uses and blended it with my blush to create a tinted lip balm, and mixed it with my loose Stila powder and a bit of my leftover pressed powder to make a custom shade BBcream. Interesting results!
Fun fact: All One Love Organics products are hand-made, hand-filled and produced in small batches. No wonder they sell out so fast!

2. Shea Terra Marula Whipped Shea Butter x2 (2oz)
Mmm this smells soo delicious I thought I’m putting a dessert on my skin! I’m not sure what marula is but the smell of this whipped body butter is almost ovewerwhelmingly sweet-almondy which I adore. It may sting a little due to the potent active ingredients but that tingling sensation should go away in a couple minutes. It not greasy and quickly absorbs into the skin which is a great thing for those of us with oily or combination skin types. I also love that this yummy butter smells just as good on the skin as it does in the jar! I also sampled Rose Hips Black Soap, plain black soap powder and Rose Water from this brand and fell crazy in love with all 3. I think I’m becoming a Shea Terra devotee 🙂

3. VMV Hypoallergenics Armada Face Cover 30 x3 (0.54oz)
It’s a decent daily moisturizer that protects against UVA and UVB rays outside and infrared rays from halogen lamps and computer screens indoors. It’s surprisingly lightweight and goopy, and the sample comes in a tube with a spatula that you use to get the product out. I’ll give it a try for a week and see if it does anything for me, but the first impression was very positive.
Fun fact: VMV products are 100% fragrance, phtalate and preservative free.

4. 21 Drops #11 “De-Stress” x2 (0.1oz)
I love perfume oils and all sorts of aromatherapy blends. This anti-stressing mix smells like so many familiar things! I think about my lavender closet sachet, fresh laundry, food spices, herbal tea, sore throat candy, mom’s hand cream and my collection of soaps. Not sure about the de-stressing properties but I find this fragrance very pleasant, although I wouldn’t wear it outside.

5. Snowberry Nourishing Lite Day Cream x2 (0.2oz) 
This is a very lightweight peptide-rich anti-aging moisturizer, and I love seeing peptides in my skincare because they really work well for me. My face and neck instantly felt soft and hydrated and I noticed a slight lifting effect as well. This moisturizer would be perfect for anyone with oily or combination skin types to combat the first signs of aging.
Fun fact: Snowberry packaging is always super cute!

6. Snowberry Smoothing Eye Serum x1 (0.07oz) 
I was just raving about this serum in my recent BeautyFix review! It’s really great at tightening the under-eye area and getting rid of the bags. Highly recommended!

7. Kneipp Valerian & Hops Herbal Bath x2 (0.68oz) 
Sometimes I drink valerian herbal tea to relax, so taking a bath with valerian essential oils would definitely help me relax. Make sure your bathtub is at least half-full to prevent this elixir from coloring it blue. Good thing I read the directions before pouring it into my bath right as I turn on the water as I always do. Also try  to keep it away from cats because they go crazy about valerian – it’s practically catnip.
Fun fact: Kneipp brand started in 1891 in Wurzburg, Germany when naturopath Sebastian Kneipp cured himself of tuberculosis using only natural herbs and hydrotherapy.

8. Beecology Original Honey Hand & Body Cream (1oz) 
Despire what the description says, this product doesn’t smell like honey. Think more like aloe vera meets cucumber kind of scent. I like that it’s very fresh and non-greasy, yet it leaves my hands soft and nourished like a heavier hand cream would.

9. Beecology Honey & Botanical Sulfate-Free Shampoo (1oz)
I love sulfate-free shampoos, they are perfect for my colored hair! I don’t think there were any that I didn’t like. This shampoo is nice and creamy and smells like honey and flowers. As with all sulfate-free shampoos, you need a lot to thoroughly clean your hair but the result is totally worth it. As soon as I made the switch I noticed that my hair is thicker, healthier and shinier than it was before.
Fun fact: Founders Amy and David Rzepka agreed to keep a coworker’s beehive at their place knowing very little about bees. When the original owner couldn’t take it back, the Rzepkas became permanent beekeepers. That’s how Beecology was born.  Named over a family dinner – an ode to the word “ecology,” the blend of people and environment.

10. Sophyto Omega Daily Moisturizer (4ml)
This is just an “ok” moisturizer, I prefer the ones with SPF and this one doesn’t have it. It’s unscented so it smells like most Clinique products, which I’m personally not a fan of. Unfortunately for me it won’t work as a primer, I wanted to use it under my foundation and it made it flake off. So all in all I wasn’t too impressed with this sample.

11. A Perfume Organic Urban Organic 
I received this sample in my June Glossybox. Lots of people didn’t like it but I actually did, I think it works well with my skin’s natural smell. It’s very citrusy and warm, with slight notes of your favorite salad herbs and spices. I thought it was a very interesting scent.
Fun fact: This perfume is 100% natural, it contains only Vanilla Bourbon, Sandalwood, Ginger, Lemongrass, Lime peel, Lavender EO, Grapefruit, Cedar, Clove, Basil, Geranium, Orange Bitter essential oils and nothing else!

12.  Kahina Giving Beauty Facial Lotion (0.15oz) $5.81
I’d say this face lotion is great for anyone going for all-natural skincare, it’s nourishing and moisturizing and really made my skin plump and soft to touch. It contains organic argan oil, shea butter and beeswax.

Well, that’s it for my Beauty Sage box reviews. I definitely got my money’s worth — $92 worth of samples for $20 — and sampled some great new brands and products. I’m happy that I purchased four boxes instead of just one and received a nice variety, so even if I got several repeats I wasn’t disappointed at all. Also right now you can get a sample box for free with any $75 BeautySage purchase.