What a stingy bugger...my free sample frenzy!

I love a freebie - who doesn't! But I often find myself a little bit embaressed to go and claim free samples from the Myers or DJs cosmetics counters. Its silly, I know, but I hate the judging look some of the sales assistants give me. Don't get me wrong - there are some fantastic sales assistants out their who are so passionate about their brand and are just dying to share their knolwledge and allow you to try a sample in the hope that you fall as head over heels with the product as they are. But then there are the sales assistants who, when they look at you, have 'what a stingy bugger' written all over their faces. Those are the ones that I am scared of!

However, I had recently won a competition from Instyle Magazine that required me to go to the Shiseido counter at Myers to pick up the prize - a personally designed Jayson Brunsdon cosmetic bag with a Shiseido lipstick and lip liner (see pic to the left) - so I thought that I may as well check out Joy's blog (BeautyBargainQueen) to see what other freebies I could pick up whilst I was at it. The Shiseido prize was quite nice. The make up bag is really a small purse, about the size of a CD, so good for keeping a few essentials in your handbag. The lipstick was gorgeously cream - it spread on so easily; however, it is probably a bit bright for me so I passed it on to mum. Though, I swatched it before giving it away and now looking at my swatch I am thinking that I might have made a mistake giving it away - it is actually quite a gorgeous colour and not as bright as it seemed when I was wearing it. I usually wear tinted lip gloss so perhaps that is why it felt so bright.

Shiseido Perfect Rouge Lipstick swatch

I had heard that the Limited Edition BENEFIT b.right! Radiant Skincare Trio was a really cool sample to get so headed to the Benefit counter after I had picked up my prize from Shiseido. It certainly was a great freebie. If you have a look at the pic below, it is the box to the right. In it was a 10ml sample of the new Triple Performing Facial Emulsion moisturiser, 10ml Foamingly Clean Facial Wash and a 3ml sample of the It's Potent Eye Cream. The Benefit sales assistant also did a demo of the products on my hand. The smell amazing and did leave my hand feeling lovely. I have not yet tried the b.right range as I am trialling some other products at the moment but will put a review up once I have taken them for a test drive.

I then hit the Estee Lauder counter to see if I could get a sample of their Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipstick that I had seen advertised on Facebook. I was in luck! I received a card (top right in the photo below) that contained samples of four of the new shades. I have swatched the shades below. I must say that i was ver impressed with this sample. Each little square of lipstick would give you at least five wears of the lipstick - more than enough time to fall in love with a shade!

I had also downloaded a couple of Biotherm vouchers from BeautyBargainQueen for a fragrance and a blemish balm but at 10.00am there were still no staff at the Biotherm counter so I gave up and went home. Below is my haul from my free sample frenzy. I now have a bunch of new products to play with, without having spent a cent! Totally worth the 'what a stingy bugger' stares I got from one the sales assistants!

My super stingy haul!

Swatches from the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipstick sample card.

Swatches of each of the colours on my hand
L to R: Lilac Lover, Crystal Coral, Blushing and Scarlet Siren

I also decided to do some lip swatches. Before I go on I need to apologise. It was not until I started photographing myself did I realise just what a lopsided smile I have. I had previously noticed it in photos but hadn't paid much attention. It wasn't until now, when I wanted a nice symetrical smile did I realise just how impossible that is for me. When I was a kid, maybe three or four years of age, I remember asking mum how do you smile. Even now, 27 years later, I still remember her reaction. She looked at me as if I was a bit special and told me that you just lift the conrner of your lips up and smile. Ok, so maybe I don't ctually remember her reaction after all this time but I definitely remember asking that question and that is how I would react if a kid of mine asked a weird question like that! So, for a few years until I really worked it out, I have the most stupid smile in photos - its not actually a smile - I was just showing my teeth. It has defintiely improved over the years, though I guess it is still a little unique. Please don't let it distract you too much from the lip stick colours!

Scarlet Siren (Creme) - a very bright red. Too bright for me.

Estee Lauder Scarlet Siren (71) Creme Pure Colour Long
Lasting Lipstick

Blushing (Creme) - this was my favourite. I love it and can see myself wearing it quite often. It is a very natural and flattering pink.

Estee Lauder Blushing (55) Creme Pure Colour Long Lasting
Lipstick

Crystal Coral (Creme) - this came out nearly clear - it had next to no colour on my and defintiely no hints of coral. If anything it added a slight pinkish hue to my lips, but I wouldn't have described it as coral.

Estee Lauder Crystal Coral (11) Creme Pure Colour Long
 Lasting Lipstick

Lilac Lover (shimmer) - on the card I though that this would be my favourite, but it is actually quite sheer. I didn't mind it, and could definitely see myself wearing this as a day time colour but the colour was a lot more sheer than I was expecting. It is a very natural sweet pink.

Estee Lauder Lilac Lover (34) Shimmer Pure Colour Long
Lasting Lipstick