#365 Days of Samples: Week 6

Week 6 of my #365 Days of Samples series saw me finishing 6 more samples, including one that I chose the very first week. Whew, glad to have that one out of the way after almost 5 weeks of use :-) If you are unfamiliar with what this series entails, it's where I attempt to finish 365 samples in 365 days, and I learned about it from ElleS on Youtube.

The sample that took me 5 weeks to finish is the Living proof Perfect hair Day (PhD) 5-in-1 styling treatment. It wasn't a bad product, but I just did not get excited about using it for some reason. It is supposed to deliver 5 different benefits to your hair - smoothness, volume, conditioning, strength, and polish - and I do appreciate that it is silicone free. But like I said, it did not excite me, so I would not purchase, especially at it's $27 price tag. Now on to a product that did get me excited - the Arcona Magic White Ice.

I believe I received this sample a while back from beauty.com, which has since closed down. It was only about 1/3 full, so I was able to get through the deluxe sized sample in a week. This is a gel moisturizer that is supposed to:

• Neutralize free radicals with cranberry extracts and white tea.
• Totara extract helps to kill bacteria on skin.
• Hydrate skin with white cranberry complex, hyaluronic acid and mucopolysaccharides.
• Neutralize free radicals with vitamins B-5, and E.

I prefer gel moisturizers as they work well with my oily skin, and this one has a subtle fragrance that had me huffing my hand afterwards. Arcona is a spa-based brand that has expanded and features enzymatic-based ingredients such as high concentrations of antioxidants, plant lipids and extracts, sea vegetables, essential oils, vitamins and minerals. I don't hear much about Arcona in the blogosphere, but they are a brand I find intriguing. I would consider purchasing ($42 for 1 oz.) once I run through my overflowing stockpile of skincare products.

I've been curious about the CosRX AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid, and I was able to get 2 uses from the foil sample. The formula features apple water, which contains natural AHA's which are supposed to boost the effectiveness of the 7% glycolic acid while still remaining gentle to skin. After the first use I did have several whiteheads flare up on my chin. Coincidence or purging? I don't know, but I will probably seek out a full sized bottle ($18) at some point.

I did not care for the DERMAdoctor Litmus pH Correcting & Renewing Glycolic Acid facial moisturizer ($55 for 1 oz.). It felt greasy on my skin and I do think it was on the verge of going bad, as it smelled slightly 'off'. The formula is oil free so I'm not sure why it felt so greasy on my skin, but I used it twice before deciding not to finish the sample. Considering the formula contains 5 different parabens, I'm surprised this had gone bad, but then again no telling how long I've had this sample......and I do not plan on purchasing.

The DHC Eye Treatment Essence Peptides ($42.50 for 1 oz.) is liquid in it's consistency and I got 2 uses out of the foil, which is not enough to tell anything. I've used a full bottle of their Neck Treatment Essence with peptides and it was hard for me to tell if it did anything. I have no plans to purchase.

I like Nirvana Black by Elizabeth and James ($85 for 1.7 oz.), as evidenced by the fact that I had already used half of the sample before I started this series. I like pairing it with the Nest Moroccan Amber body butter, which I picked up on sale from Sephora when Nest redesigned their packaging and discontinued this particular fragrance in the body creams. While the notes listed for Nirvana Black are violet, sandalwood and vanilla, it complemented the Moroccan amber, sweet patchouli, heliotrope and bergamot from Moroccan Amber perfectly. However, I discovered something interesting about Nirvana Black when I wore it to my mom's house. I can barely smell it after I apply (nose blind?) but she found it over powering to the point where her sinuses burned and she felt nauseous. I don't think I over applied, but even if I did, that response makes me wonder if she had a bad response to the synthetic chemicals used to mimic sandalwood. It could be how different people process the scent, but I saw plenty of reviews on Fragrantica that used words like gasoline, cat pee, backstreet alleys where people have illicit quickies, and manboy-ass. Yes, I kid you not, manboy-ass. I won't be purchasing and will make sure not to wear any additional samples around my mother :-) Now, on to the samples I randomly selected for week 6. I'll list the new samples first and then the ones from previous weeks that I am still working on. Also, I managed to pick 4 DHC foil samples, so clearly I've got quite the stockpile of DHC foils to work through.

1. DHC Face Wash Powder (foil)
2. bareEssentuals Stroke of Light (deluxe sample)
3. boscia Oil-Free Night Hydrator (deluxe sample, probably half full)
4. DHC Resveratrol Essence (foil)
5. DHC Olive Leaf Cream (foil)
6. DHC Ceramide Cream (foil)
7. Wild Child by Pinrose (foil)
8. Keratase Resistance Vita Cemont Topseal hair reconstructing milk (I need to look for this, I think I misplaced it) (foil)
9. Sunshine Oil by Milk Makeup (deluxe sample)
10. Abeille Royale Face Treatment Oil by Guerlain (foil)
11. Eve Lom Moisturizing Mask (foil)
12. Obliphica Seaberry Hair Serum (deluxe sample)