What's a 'Month of Foil?
It's nothing complicated I simply concentrate on using up all the sample sachets of product I have accumulated in an effort to use up old product and declutter, I try to do it once a year.
If I had multiple samples of the same product I used them up one after the other. Obviously with only one or two applications of product it's difficult to form a proper opinion of results (although I could pretty much tell with a couple of uses if I didn't like something) but if I had multiple sachets the cumulative use of them allowed me to be a better judge of them.
How did it go?
Well, if I say so myself, I had a rather successful month and I managed to use up a total of 132 foil sample sachets.
I was out the gate running with this project as I had plenty of samples to choose from and on the first day I opened a lot of sachets! I started ripping sachets open but soon found that some sachets are better made than others and after a few messy openings I learned to keep a pair of scissors to hand to avoid spills and waste. I did find that even with neatly clipped corners it was easy to squeeze out too much product and I certainly used more product than needed on quite a few occasions to use up what had oozed out or to finish a sachet if there wasn't enough product left for a second application.
On day one I was full of enthusiasm but when day two dawned I must say that I wasn't thrilled by the prospect of only using samples. Luckily I had a good selection to choose from and by the time I had had a rather luxe morning shower (Tata Harper face wash, Rahua shampoo and conditioner, Jo Malone body wash and body lotion and a spritz of Diptyque) I was back on track.
After a week I was a little fed up of samples and took a night off and made a routine that incorporated all of my favourite skincare items. The next day I felt a bit guilty and was enthusiastically back on the sachets!
Two weeks into the project I was accustomed to using sachets. I had got into the routine of selecting different products each day and choosing what to use up next, although I'm not sure if that was because it was easier as I had less choice of products perhaps? I had by this time used up lots of odds and ends and had used up certain categories of product such as body lotions and cleansers so I was back to using full sized products for at least some of my routine.
At the end of the month I was pleased to have put all those samples to good use. I had discovered a couple of new products to put on my shopping list and tried out a few things that I didn't like at no expense. A couple of times during the month I dipped into my usual products if I felt my skin needed special treatment/attention but overall my skin looked pretty good considering how many different products and combinations I had used on it - I did have a lot of samples though so I could still tailor my skincare needs.
The Products.
Skincare.
I used sixty three samples of skin care over the month. Eleven of these were cleansers but I did use two sachets of Kiehl's Calendula Face Wash as body wash as I find it to be far too foamy and drying on my face. In addition I used a sample of exfoliator, SW Basics Exfoliant which was fairly gentle but frankly felt odd - I was rubbing a bunch of pantry ingredients on my face. I also opened two face wipes, although I didn't actually use the Olay Daily Facials as it stung as soon as I put it on my face.
I used seven sachets of eye cream. I loved Dior Prestige Concentrate Yeux but both Dermalogica Total Eye Care SPF 15 and DHC Eye Bright made my sensitive eyes smart.
I used fourteen sachets of serum. I enjoyed the four sachets of Kane NY Serum Savant that I used but it is very expensive. Chanel Hydra Beauty Serum and Dr Dennis Gross Ferulic and Retinol Wrinkle Recovery Overnight Serum were also very good and I would consider buying both of them.
I had many sachets of facial moisturiser so I picked the ones that I liked the best to use. In the end I used eighteen sachets of moisturiser and five sachets of face oil. The creams that I liked the best were Dr Sebagh Vital Cream, Kate Somerville Goat Milk, Kat Burki Vitamin C Intensive Face Cream, Sunday Riley Tidal, Bakel Oxyregen, and Belif The True Cream Moisturising Bomb.
Finally I used five sachets of masks and one sheet mask. I prefer a mask that applies directly to the face rather than a sheet mask, and the best masks I used were Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask and Fresh Rose Face Mask.
Haircare.
I used thirty nine sachets of hair care, seventeen were shampoos and twenty two were conditioners. I did intend to use a hair mask but didn't manage to get around to it... I loved using Rahua again, I had almost forgotten how good it is, and I also enjoyed the Oribe Gold Lust products. I must say though that I find it so annoying that shampoo and conditioner samples are both the same size ( with the exception of samples from Shea Moisture) as no matter how hard I try I always end up using more conditioner...
I used sixty three samples of skin care over the month. Eleven of these were cleansers but I did use two sachets of Kiehl's Calendula Face Wash as body wash as I find it to be far too foamy and drying on my face. In addition I used a sample of exfoliator, SW Basics Exfoliant which was fairly gentle but frankly felt odd - I was rubbing a bunch of pantry ingredients on my face. I also opened two face wipes, although I didn't actually use the Olay Daily Facials as it stung as soon as I put it on my face.
I used seven sachets of eye cream. I loved Dior Prestige Concentrate Yeux but both Dermalogica Total Eye Care SPF 15 and DHC Eye Bright made my sensitive eyes smart.
I used fourteen sachets of serum. I enjoyed the four sachets of Kane NY Serum Savant that I used but it is very expensive. Chanel Hydra Beauty Serum and Dr Dennis Gross Ferulic and Retinol Wrinkle Recovery Overnight Serum were also very good and I would consider buying both of them.
I had many sachets of facial moisturiser so I picked the ones that I liked the best to use. In the end I used eighteen sachets of moisturiser and five sachets of face oil. The creams that I liked the best were Dr Sebagh Vital Cream, Kate Somerville Goat Milk, Kat Burki Vitamin C Intensive Face Cream, Sunday Riley Tidal, Bakel Oxyregen, and Belif The True Cream Moisturising Bomb.
Finally I used five sachets of masks and one sheet mask. I prefer a mask that applies directly to the face rather than a sheet mask, and the best masks I used were Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask and Fresh Rose Face Mask.
Haircare.
I used thirty nine sachets of hair care, seventeen were shampoos and twenty two were conditioners. I did intend to use a hair mask but didn't manage to get around to it... I loved using Rahua again, I had almost forgotten how good it is, and I also enjoyed the Oribe Gold Lust products. I must say though that I find it so annoying that shampoo and conditioner samples are both the same size ( with the exception of samples from Shea Moisture) as no matter how hard I try I always end up using more conditioner...
Body Care.
I used twenty one sachets of body care products. Four of these were hand lotions and of these I found the Diptyque Hand Lotion and Mario Badescu Hydrating Hand Cream to be very good.
I used five sachets of shower gel and I really enjoyed the Jo Malone ones which were strongly fragranced and left my bathroom smelling wonderful. I would buy these rather than Jo Malone perfumes, they were that nice.
I used two sachets of body oil which I found them to be very messy in this format and ten sachets of body lotion. I had three sachets of Amlactin Restoring Body Lotion which was very rich and emollient but smelled so awful I could only use it on my lower body.
Make Up and Sun Screen.
I used nine sachets of make up. Four of these were primers. I found YSL Forever CC Primer to be very thick and uncomfortable and it left a very noticeable white cast on my face. DHC Velvet Skin Coat was a waxy silicon primer, I find these to react badly with my skin so I didn't even attempt to use it. Luckily I had a sachet of Hourglass Veil to restore my faith in primers!
I also loved Too Faced Shadow Insurance, it was the best eye primer I have ever tried and I will certainly get this when I next need an eye primer.
I used two sachets of tinted sunscreen, neither of which I liked all that much and two sachets of foundation of which I found Chanel Ultrawear Flawless Foundation to be way too matte and dry looking but Dior Nude Air was very good, it was light and natural looking and lasted very well even in hot weather - I may have to splurge on this!
And that's it for foil samples for the moment. I still have a few in stock but I'm looking forward to using my 'normal' products. As ever I found this month to be a useful exercise that pointed me in the direction of both a few things to purchase and a few to avoid.
I also loved Too Faced Shadow Insurance, it was the best eye primer I have ever tried and I will certainly get this when I next need an eye primer.
I used two sachets of tinted sunscreen, neither of which I liked all that much and two sachets of foundation of which I found Chanel Ultrawear Flawless Foundation to be way too matte and dry looking but Dior Nude Air was very good, it was light and natural looking and lasted very well even in hot weather - I may have to splurge on this!
And that's it for foil samples for the moment. I still have a few in stock but I'm looking forward to using my 'normal' products. As ever I found this month to be a useful exercise that pointed me in the direction of both a few things to purchase and a few to avoid.
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