Sample Society May 2014

[Sarahmarie43]

I tried the Juice beauty cc cream today and it was awful! So greasy that I had to wipe it off before I put on my foundation. At least I know to stay away from it now..

 

[Lyllis]

I thought I remembered reading that you get a free subscription to Allure mag with your first box.....I don't see anything in the box about that, are they not offering it anymore?

 

[JenTX]

Kit B here and another Ouidad product. This will be on my trade list. I used a different Freeze eye product and it worked well on my puffiness and seemed to lift and tighten the eye area a bit.

  

The one problem I had when I cancelled was when I resubscribed, I had a few duplicates and they said it was because I cancelled. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> So I'm afraid to cancel again but wish we could get more hair/makeup products.

  

Box B is kind of "meh" for me right now--this will be the second of the same Ouidad product in a sub box in three months! I'm not ready to cancel yet, but I'm not ready to run out and use my monthly coupon code either.

  

I got my box how the hell do I post a dang picture?

Oh for pete's sake, now the picture is gigantic AND sideways. This new site blows.

  

I got Kit B today (the one @@Bizgirlva posted above). Cancelled. The samples just seem so small, and I wish Sample Society would at least put one color cosmetic in every box (the Beauty Bar site seems heavily makeup-oriented, so I think it would make sense). Oh, well. I'll be saving an extra $15 a month.

I also got kit b and also am tired of Ouidad coming in my box. I actually thought they had sent me this same exact product before and I emailed them and they said they didn't. I can only see the last year worth of my boxes on their site so there is no way for me to know for sure. This was supposed to be their last shot as the last few months have been pretty lame. I'm really thinking of canceling now but then I think of the days when they used to send good items and this box had such a high value. I have subscribed since mid-2012 so I guess I subscribed back when they were more in their "hay day." I do like when they send the nice smelling candles, makeup, hair accessories, etc. I just am kind of getting tired of the same brands over and over again, and for so many hair products since I'm pretty happy with my hair routine right now (and not a fan of the always-present Ouidad). This box also costs me almost double birchbox since I also have to pay tax in New York for this. Plus, I don't get points like I do with birchbox.

So talk me in or out of it.... Should I stay or should I go? Do I give them one last shot in June? This was once my favorite box!!

 

[Bflopolska]

oh wow..... that Juice Beauty DOES smell bad! I swatched it on my hand and it seemed to blend well but I guess that I'll have to hold my nose whenever I actually do try it on my face. Edited to add..... I'm really curious if all Juice Beauty products stink or if it's just this one because I've always wanted to try the Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel for Sensitive skin.

Juice Beauty stinks, in a variety of ways. I have not yet tried the tube of CC cream I got, but a year or so ago I bought that set that came with a highlighting stick, lipstick and pressed powder. The lipstick stank to the ends of the earth, and the powder was one of the worst products I have ever tried in my life--when I swept a brush over it, huge clumpy flakes of powder broke off, leaving a broken pit in the middle of the compact that turned into a gigantic pothole after another couple of tries. And this was with a soft and fluffy Ecotools powder brush!  Juice Beauty is quite possibly the one "holy crap" brand across the board for me.

 

[PeaJay]

I thought I remembered reading that you get a free subscription to Allure mag with your first box.....I don't see anything in the box about that, are they not offering it anymore?

Was wondering the same thing, however shortly after I subscribed, I started getting Allure. I assume this was not a coincident.

 

[ashleylind]

I just canceled my sub. While I might come back to it later on, I'm currently on sample overload and need to work through what I have...and the 7 beauty subs I'm getting in May won't help that either.

 

[Lyllis]

Was wondering the same thing, however shortly after I subscribed, I started getting Allure. I assume this was not a coincident.

Ah, thanks, they probably just send it out. I was kind of hoping for a code or something so I could see if I could get the digital version instead of the paper mag. But since it's free, I ain't complaining. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Bizgirlva]

I also got kit b and also am tired of Ouidad coming in my box. I actually thought they had sent me this same exact product before and I emailed them and they said they didn't. I can only see the last year worth of my boxes on their site so there is no way for me to know for sure. This was supposed to be their last shot as the last few months have been pretty lame. I'm really thinking of canceling now but then I think of the days when they used to send good items and this box had such a high value. I have subscribed since mid-2012 so I guess I subscribed back when they were more in their "hay day." I do like when they send the nice smelling candles, makeup, hair accessories, etc. I just am kind of getting tired of the same brands over and over again, and for so many hair products since I'm pretty happy with my hair routine right now (and not a fan of the always-present Ouidad). This box also costs me almost double birchbox since I also have to pay tax in New York for this. Plus, I don't get points like I do with birchbox.

So talk me in or out of it.... Should I stay or should I go? Do I give them one last shot in June? This was once my favorite box!!

Things I like about Sample Society:

• Shipping. I get mine next day. It's always consistent, fast and reliable because they don't cheap out. I also happen to love my UPS guy, even if he misses me when making a delivery, he'll circle back around at the end of his route to drop my SS and Sephora orders.  Birchbox shipping is just all over the place.
• Focus on skin care and high-end brands that I would normally NEVER try.  I've been introduced to some really high end brands through SS that I can't really find at stores locally.  High end brands are occasionally thrown into my other subs, it's few and far between.  
• $15 coupon each month, while I don't use mine every month, you can essentially deduct the cost of your box from a $50 order each month.  And occasionally I've found some promo's on beautybar.com to be stackable with the coupon, so you can really get a great deal.  
• Customer service is 24/7 and they're always been extremely helpful. And they let us "cheat" and call them for the box contents before it's loaded on our dashboards.
• Packaging: I save them and use them for storage since they are mostly plain and black, I can even put my boyfriends junk in them and he won't complain that they are pink or girly.  
• Makeup, when they send makeup it's usually a good brand, good colors and decently sized.  
• Trade are easy, the sizes of sample of the stuff I don't want are pretty good size/value, I can easily trade most of my unwanted hair products.

Things I dislike about Sample Society:

• Too heavy on the hair care/skin care that isn't for me. I don't give a crap about anti-aging products or high spf's. I think we get too many useless moisturizers and I have no use for heavy hair masks or deep conditioners.   
• Repeat brands: I wish there was a bit more variety of brands.  

 

 

[JenTX]

I just canceled my sub. While I might come back to it later on, I'm currently on sample overload and need to work through what I have...and the 7 beauty subs I'm getting in May won't help that either.

LOL! Which 7 to you subscribe to?

 

[JenTX]

Things I like about Sample Society:

• Shipping. I get mine next day. It's always consistent, fast and reliable because they don't cheap out. I also happen to love my UPS guy, even if he misses me when making a delivery, he'll circle back around at the end of his route to drop my SS and Sephora orders.  Birchbox shipping is just all over the place.
• Focus on skin care and high-end brands that I would normally NEVER try.  I've been introduced to some really high end brands through SS that I can't really find at stores locally.  High end brands are occasionally thrown into my other subs, it's few and far between.  
• $15 coupon each month, while I don't use mine every month, you can essentially deduct the cost of your box from a $50 order each month.  And occasionally I've found some promo's on beautybar.com to be stackable with the coupon, so you can really get a great deal.  
• Customer service is 24/7 and they're always been extremely helpful. And they let us "cheat" and call them for the box contents before it's loaded on our dashboards.
• Packaging: I save them and use them for storage since they are mostly plain and black, I can even put my boyfriends junk in them and he won't complain that they are pink or girly.  
• Makeup, when they send makeup it's usually a good brand, good colors and decently sized.  
• Trade are easy, the sizes of sample of the stuff I don't want are pretty good size/value, I can easily trade most of my unwanted hair products.

Things I dislike about Sample Society:

• Too heavy on the hair care/skin care that isn't for me. I don't give a crap about anti-aging products or high spf's. I think we get too many useless moisturizers and I have no use for heavy hair masks or deep conditioners.   
• Repeat brands: I wish there was a bit more variety of brands.  

 

I pretty much agree with all of this. Just wondering if the pros outweigh the cons or not.

 

[Bflopolska]

Things I like about Sample Society:

• Shipping. I get mine next day. It's always consistent, fast and reliable because they don't cheap out. I also happen to love my UPS guy, even if he misses me when making a delivery, he'll circle back around at the end of his route to drop my SS and Sephora orders.  Birchbox shipping is just all over the place.
• Focus on skin care and high-end brands that I would normally NEVER try.  I've been introduced to some really high end brands through SS that I can't really find at stores locally.  High end brands are occasionally thrown into my other subs, it's few and far between.  
• $15 coupon each month, while I don't use mine every month, you can essentially deduct the cost of your box from a $50 order each month.  And occasionally I've found some promo's on beautybar.com to be stackable with the coupon, so you can really get a great deal.  
• Customer service is 24/7 and they're always been extremely helpful. And they let us "cheat" and call them for the box contents before it's loaded on our dashboards.
• Packaging: I save them and use them for storage since they are mostly plain and black, I can even put my boyfriends junk in them and he won't complain that they are pink or girly.  
• Makeup, when they send makeup it's usually a good brand, good colors and decently sized.  
• Trade are easy, the sizes of sample of the stuff I don't want are pretty good size/value, I can easily trade most of my unwanted hair products.

Things I dislike about Sample Society:

• Too heavy on the hair care/skin care that isn't for me. I don't give a crap about anti-aging products or high spf's. I think we get too many useless moisturizers and I have no use for heavy hair masks or deep conditioners.   
• Repeat brands: I wish there was a bit more variety of brands.  

 

I don't know if I can improve on this!

Most months, I get a good box. I find it a little (okay, a LOT) treatment-heavy, but it's good, solid-quality stuff for the most part, and with few exceptions the sizes are very generous. I find that makeup is worth the wait--for the most part I have received either full sizes (a huge Vincent Longo shadow trio comes to mind) or very good-sized minis, like the Diego Dalla Palma lipstick a few months back (which I liked so much I bought two full-size!) As I am pushing 50 I don't mind anti-age products so much, and instead get a little annoyed if the Murad product they send is more anti-acne. The coupon code is a nice little perk which I find myself using 4 to 6 times per year.

The only drawback I find is the repeating brands, but it hasn't yet driven me to cancel--I have never met a Jane Iredale product I didn't like!  I am particularly tired of Alterna and Ouidad--not because I think either of them are bad, but because I have an overload especailly on Alterna, as every box and bag out there was frequently handing it out in the past. I have not received repeat products, with one exception (Dear Sample Society--enough Stila Beso liquid lip color. I beg you.)

 

[puppymomofthree]

oh wow..... that Juice Beauty DOES smell bad! I swatched it on my hand and it seemed to blend well but I guess that I'll have to hold my nose whenever I actually do try it on my face. Edited to add..... I'm really curious if all Juice Beauty products stink or if it's just this one because I've always wanted to try the Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel for Sensitive skin.

I really like the green apple peel.  It does not smell bad.

 

[Blessedmommi]

This is my first box. Reading all these comments I gather they don't give a lot of makeup products? For the price I'm hoping I can put together a nice collection of all types of beauty products.

I got kit E for May which includes:

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream-SS

Borghese Fango Body Refining Polish-SS

dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF 30 Deluxe Sample SS

Murad T-Zone Pore Refining Serum Deluxe Sample SS

Sonya Dakar Flash Facial Deluxe Sample SS

 

[JenTX]

I don't know if I can improve on this!

Most months, I get a good box. I find it a little (okay, a LOT) treatment-heavy, but it's good, solid-quality stuff for the most part, and with few exceptions the sizes are very generous. I find that makeup is worth the wait--for the most part I have received either full sizes (a huge Vincent Longo shadow trio comes to mind) or very good-sized minis, like the Diego Dalla Palma lipstick a few months back (which I liked so much I bought two full-size!) As I am pushing 50 I don't mind anti-age products so much, and instead get a little annoyed if the Murad product they send is more anti-acne. The coupon code is a nice little perk which I find myself using 4 to 6 times per year.

The only drawback I find is the repeating brands, but it hasn't yet driven me to cancel--I have never met a Jane Iredale product I didn't like!  I am particularly tired of Alterna and Ouidad--not because I think either of them are bad, but because I have an overload especailly on Alterna, as every box and bag out there was frequently handing it out in the past. I have not received repeat products, with one exception (Dear Sample Society--enough Stila Beso liquid lip color. I beg you.)

I bought that full size lipstick too!

 

[ashleylind]

LOL! Which 7 to you subscribe to?

Birchbox (2)

Ipsy

Sample Society

Glossybox (2)

Beauty Box 5

I'm thinking that in June I'll just be back down to Birchbox and Ipsy. I'm running out of space. Plus, I just decided to go to Chicago in October for a wedding, so saving money would be a plus.

 

[beach16sm]

Juice Beauty stinks, in a variety of ways. I have not yet tried the tube of CC cream I got, but a year or so ago I bought that set that came with a highlighting stick, lipstick and pressed powder. The lipstick stank to the ends of the earth, and the powder was one of the worst products I have ever tried in my life--when I swept a brush over it, huge clumpy flakes of powder broke off, leaving a broken pit in the middle of the compact that turned into a gigantic pothole after another couple of tries. And this was with a soft and fluffy Ecotools powder brush!  Juice Beauty is quite possibly the one "holy crap" brand across the board for me.

This made me think of the tube of Juice Beauty Reflecting lip gloss so I dug it out again to see if I could tolerate the taste, smell & feel of it better now........ nope, it's still as nasty as I remembered it to be! It's a shame because it does have a nice color and shine to it.......

 

[sasha3000]

I also got kit b and also am tired of Ouidad coming in my box. I actually thought they had sent me this same exact product before and I emailed them and they said they didn't. I can only see the last year worth of my boxes on their site so there is no way for me to know for sure. This was supposed to be their last shot as the last few months have been pretty lame. I'm really thinking of canceling now but then I think of the days when they used to send good items and this box had such a high value. I have subscribed since mid-2012 so I guess I subscribed back when they were more in their "hay day." I do like when they send the nice smelling candles, makeup, hair accessories, etc. I just am kind of getting tired of the same brands over and over again, and for so many hair products since I'm pretty happy with my hair routine right now (and not a fan of the always-present Ouidad). This box also costs me almost double birchbox since I also have to pay tax in New York for this. Plus, I don't get points like I do with birchbox.

So talk me in or out of it.... Should I stay or should I go? Do I give them one last shot in June? This was once my favorite box!!

I would give them one more month. If June is not better, save your money. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[sasha3000]

I just used the Sonya Dakar Flash Facial and it was fun. I watched and felt my dead skin and other stuff ball up. After I rinsed my face, my skin was glowing and looked better than when I use my Clarisonic, if that is possible. My skin is a little dry but it looks clear and bright.

 

[ashleylind]

I just used the Sonya Dakar Flash Facial and it was fun. I watched and felt my dead skin and other stuff ball up. After I rinsed my face, my skin was glowing and looked better than when I use my Clarisonic, if that is possible. My skin is a little dry but it looks clear and bright.

That's encouraging, because I love my Clarisonic!

 

[Lyllis]

Things I like about Sample Society:

• Shipping. I get mine next day. It's always consistent, fast and reliable because they don't cheap out. I also happen to love my UPS guy, even if he misses me when making a delivery, he'll circle back around at the end of his route to drop my SS and Sephora orders.  Birchbox shipping is just all over the place.
• Focus on skin care and high-end brands that I would normally NEVER try.  I've been introduced to some really high end brands through SS that I can't really find at stores locally.  High end brands are occasionally thrown into my other subs, it's few and far between.  
• $15 coupon each month, while I don't use mine every month, you can essentially deduct the cost of your box from a $50 order each month.  And occasionally I've found some promo's on beautybar.com to be stackable with the coupon, so you can really get a great deal.  
• Customer service is 24/7 and they're always been extremely helpful. And they let us "cheat" and call them for the box contents before it's loaded on our dashboards.
• Packaging: I save them and use them for storage since they are mostly plain and black, I can even put my boyfriends junk in them and he won't complain that they are pink or girly.  
• Makeup, when they send makeup it's usually a good brand, good colors and decently sized.  
• Trade are easy, the sizes of sample of the stuff I don't want are pretty good size/value, I can easily trade most of my unwanted hair products.

Things I dislike about Sample Society:

• Too heavy on the hair care/skin care that isn't for me. I don't give a crap about anti-aging products or high spf's. I think we get too many useless moisturizers and I have no use for heavy hair masks or deep conditioners.   
• Repeat brands: I wish there was a bit more variety of brands.  

 

Great overview, thanks!  This was my first box, so your post was really interesting to read.  

I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm disappointed, I'll enjoy trying all of these products.  I was just a little taken aback at a) the fact that it was an all-skincare box (kit D),  and B) the prices of the full size products.  

I've been with Birchbox for about 8 months now and often buy the sampled products, so I'm not averse to paying for the good stuff.   These products are a pretty good jump up in price, though.  A $65 moisturizer, a $99 exfoliator.  They'd have to have near-miraculous results for me to spend that, even with the $15 off.   

I don't know, I'll stick with it awhile and see how the next few boxes look.   On the upside, as you said, where else do you get the chance to try products like this.   I would like to see more variety in box contents.   Skincare is nice, of course, but one of the things I like about Birchbox is the range of products you get - for example, last month's box had nail polish, shampoo, conditioner, eyeliner, and body wash.  I'm hoping to see more like that from SS.   Beautybar has a really good selection of products and brands, I hope to see more of them in the boxes.