Sample Society January 2013

It's time for Sample Society January 2013! I have been receiving boxes from Sample Society for several months now and I continue to be pleased. There are several products from this month's box that I really have enjoyed using.

My usually combination/oily face has been really dry for some reason this winter, which is why I love the Clark's Bontanical Moisture Mask. This moisturizer absorbs quickly and does not leave my skin feeling oily or greasy at all. The full size (1.7 oz) retails for $72.

To compliment the moisturizer, Sample Society sent Snowberry Instant Deep Cleanser. This cleanser is supposed to deep clean and instantly remove make-up, oil, and environmental pollutants. It retails for $51 (1.7 oz).

I always love to receive more fragrance. Although I'm not crazy about Nicole Richie herself, I do like her perfume, Nicole Richie Fragrance  eau de Parfum Spray. I like anything with notes of blackberry and I think this smells really good. If you order from Macy's, you will get the 3.4 oz Parfum Spray + free hat + free scarf + free  Dior mascara + free shipping for $69 ( I love Macys!).

I was a little disappointed with the next product, not because of the product itself, but because of the fact that it leaked out in the box. The product was Malin + Goetz Bergamot Body Wash. I do really like the scent and lather of the body wash, I just wish I could have gotten more use out of it as it was a nice size sample. It is supposed to be good for people with sensitive skin and does not have harsh detergents. It retails for $18 (8 oz)

I always need more eyeliner, so I was excited to find a full-size kohl pencil from Lord & Berry. This Lord & Berry Silk Kajal Eye Pencil has a very rich color and goes on smoothly. It sells for anywhere between $8.50 and $15.00.

The last product was a bonus, and I have been using it daily on my hair with great results. It is Pantene Age Defy Thickening Serum. As much as I hate to admit it, my 38 years of life is catching up with my hair. It is thinner than it was when I was in my 20's, so if I can find a product that will help it appear thicker and healthier, awesome! The full-size sells for $19.99 on Amazon (4.2 oz), and I do have to say that I have been using this sample daily for about 10 days and it is still half way full.

Overall, I loved the products I received in this month's box. I will probably definitely purchase the Pantene Age Defy Thickening Serum and possibly the Malin + Goetz body wash using my $15 off code. I would love to buy the facial moisturizer, but $72 is a bit out of my price range.

Want to sign up for Sample Society? Click here to get on their waiting list. Use my referral code: REBE721088 and you will get 20% off your first order on each of their sites (could total up to $160 for you!) and I will get a $5 credit to my account.

Red Hot Love Giveaway

Want to spice up your love life this Valentine's Day? What better way than with Durex products!

I am giving away 4 lucky winners a Durex Pleasure Prize Pack. 

Each winner will receive a Durex Play Vibrations Pleasure Pack paired with either a 3 pack of Durex Performance Intense Condoms or a 3 pack of Durex Extra Sensitive Condoms.

Enter a comment below to win!

I will notify winners on 2/3/2013 to get contact information.

Rules:

Contest begins on 1/25/2013 and ends on 2/2/2013. One entry per person.

Resolutions Cravebox

Just when I think Cravebox has topped out, they take the cake again. I was completely blown away by the Winter Favorites box, and I have to say that I love this Resolutions box equally as much if not more. I was purely delighted when I opened the box.

My absolute favorite thing in this box was the Sunrype Fruitsource fruit bars and Just Fruit and Grains bar. Now that I have adopted a healthy eating lifestyle, approved snacks are limited. These bars are 100% fruit and very tasty. I got three Mango Strawberry bars and one Summer Berries Just Fruit and Grain bar. These are very filling and satisfy my sweet tooth. I will definitely be buying more!

I have loved Mary Kay products for a long time and the Mary Kay Timewise Repair Eye Cream is no exception. Yes, I have to admit, as I near the big 40 I am noticing some lines and wrinkles around my eyes. Hopefully this eye cream will help diminish those pesky little lines. At $40, this product greatly exceeded the $15 paid for the Cravebox.

These days I am all about diet drinks, which is why I was delighted to see two cans of diet soda in my Cravebox. They included 10 calorie 7-Up Ten and A&W Ten. I already like the diet versions of these two sodas so I am excited to try the 10 calorie versions.

Something completely new to me was the Cocoa Via drink mixes. Hey, anything chocolate is fine with me! I love chocolate milk, but since the healthy eating thing I have given that up. I haven't tried this  yet, but I imagine in skim milk it will be tasty. They also included some fruit flavors that you can add to water or plain yogurt or a smoothie or anything, really.

I was already aware of the next product, but I already like it. Actually, I had previously received some samples of this from other companies, which is fine because now I have a lot of it! The product is Pantene's Moisture Whip. It is a mousse product that makes my fine hair really soft and smooth.

My son made off with the Zone Perfect Perfectly Simple Bar. He is all into nutrition bars right now, so he was happy to try it out. I got the toasted coconut flavor. While my son is not wildly crazy about coconut, he did eat it rather quickly and said he really liked it. I will be purchasing more for him. There is not photo of the Zone Perfect bar because it got eaten immediately before I could get my camera!

There was also a sample of Metabobalance Tea from Celestial Seasonings. I have used their teas for many years and this one was as delicious as I expected.

There were also several coupons included in this Cravebox:

Free Smart Ones Entree

Free Wholly Guacamole Product

$0.75 off Celestial Seasonings tea

$1.00 off Perfectly Simple Bars

I have to say that I was more than impressed with this Resolutions Box. Cravebox, you have done it again! 

If you would like to get your own Cravebox, sign up here. Make sure to use my email as a reference: rebeccamarietta@gmail.com

Winter Favorites Cravebox Giveaway

I am giving away one Winter Favorites Cravebox!

This Cravebox was awesome and if you missed out, here is your chance to get one. If you want to see what was inside, click here to read my review.

If you haven't signed up for Cravebox yet, click here to create an account. Be sure to add my email address to the referral section so I can get credit for you: rebeccamarietta@gmail.com

Back to the giveaway...

The winner will receive one Winter Favorites Cravebox

Just enter a comment below to win! I will contact the winner for their address when the contest ends.

Contest begins on 1/12/2013 and ends on 1/19/2013 at 12:00 am CST.

One entry per person. Persons who enter more than once will be disqualified.

Teen Time Cravebox

I went to take pictures of the Teen Time Cravebox and this is all I saw:

Apparently a 13 year old girl is not interested in a paper insert or a coupon because that is all that was left when I got to the box.

Upon further investigation, I learned that there was indeed more in the box. I based this thought on the fact that my daughter was furiously chewing gum and her lips were extra shiny, all the while asking me what Vitamin E oil is. It was then that I said, "hey! The gig is up, girlie, now let's see what was in your box!"

The vitamin E question stemmed from a bottle of Fruit of the Earth Vitamin E Skin Care oil. It seems to have multiple uses, from facial moisturizing to reducing scars. 

The chewing was a result of the ID gum, obviously very tasty and teenager-friendly. Also included was a coupon to buy one get one free.

My daughter absolutely loves the Mary Kay Nourishine Plus Pink Parfait lip gloss. Every time I look in my rearview mirror in the car, she is reapplying. The color is very non-assuming, perfect for a teen!

The Schick Intuition Tropical Moisturizing Razor was also a big hit, since smooth shaved legs are a priority for my teen.

Finally, there was a sample size bottle of Pantene Moisture Whip styler. This is like a mousse, but it also moisturizes the hair. 

Overall, I have to say the Teen Time Cravebox was a huge hit. My daughter is always excited when I get a Cravebox, so it was very exciting for her to get her own. I do hope Cravebox will do more boxes like this.

Want to sign up for Cravebox? Please put my email address in the "Referred By" section after you create an account and login: rebeccamarietta@gmail.com.

Coffee Lover's CraveBox Contest!

Welcome to my first ever Blog Contest! What better to be giving away than a Coffee Lover's Cravebox. I received this box back during the first of December. I loved it, blogged about it, and won the blog contest on Cravebox. My prize was goodies to give away to you!

Click here to read my review of the Coffee Lover's Cravebox.

Did you get a box the first time and "Crave" more? Did you miss out on the box lottery? Have you never heard of Cravebox, but just love free coffee? Then this contest is for you!

Enter your comment below and on January 2, 2013, I will pick one lucky winner who will receive the Coffee Lover's Cravebox above!

I will contact the winner on January 3, 2013 by midnight CST to get contact info.

Click here to learn more about Cravebox.

Contest begins on 12/28/2012 and ends on January 2, 2013. One time entry only. Persons who enter more than once will be disqualified.

Popsugar Must Have Box December 2012

First off, let me say that I was a little disappointed when I saw my Popsugar Must Have December box. It arrived in a plain brown cardboard box. Now, I must point out that I in no way believe that this was Popsugar's fault. I really think it got damaged during shipping and the shipping company had to replace the original box. Here is how it arrived at my house:

After my initial disappointment upon seeing the box, I ventured deeper into the box to see what I had received. I always get very excited when I know my box is on the way! I do have to say that several boxes I have gotten recently from different companies have been damaged during shipping. Very annoying! Can you be more careful, UPS and USPS?

Here is the first item I found in my box:

These are Bodum Bistro Mugs, a double wall glass mug in a set of two. The mugs are 10 oz and retail for $30. They also have a breathable bottom. I have enjoyed using these with my morning coffee.

Next, to go with the Bodum mugs, was a sampler box of Tea Forte. This is the Sampler Petite Ribbon Box, retailing for $12. This box includes a variety of flavors:  Earl Grey, Black Currant, White Ambrosia, White Ginger Pear, Green Mango Peach, Jasmine Green, African Solstice, Chamomile Citron, Raspberry Nectar, Lemon Ginger. Looks tasty!

What is that lovely smell? It must be the Jaboneria Marianelle soap! I do believe I got shorted one soap, though, probably due to the damage during shipping. I have emailed Popsugar and am awaiting their response. I received the Antioxidant Moisturizing Milk Bar, which smells heavenly and will be just the thing for my dry skin during this cold weather. There was also supposed to be a Rejuvenating Face and Body Milk Bar. Each soap retails for $14, for a total of $28. Maybe I will hear back from Popsugar and they will get me the missing soap.

This next little item will come in super-handy! It is a Pinch Provisions Minimergency Kit. This kit has everything a girl would need for any of life's little emergencies. It is in a small case, so it fits well in any handbag or purse. Included in the little case are hairspray, clear nail polish, nail polish remover, emery board, lip balm, earring backs, clear elastics, sewing kit, double-sided tape, stain remover, deodorant towelette, pain reliever, tampon, breath freshener, dental floss, and an adhesive bandage. This could be very helpful indeed! Retails for $13.

Yummy Bodgon's Peppermint Poles! These are Peppermint Sticks dipped in Dark Chocolate. Perfect for the holidays! This box of 21 sticks retails for $3.99.

When I saw the next item my first thought was, "what the..." But then upon further inspection, I saw that the lipstick stain was SUPPOSED to be there! I am talking about GoSwype, a cloth wipe for your touchscreen device that removes just about anything, including 98% of germs and bacteria. These little babies are available in a variety of styles and retail for $1.99. This could be very useful in my germ-ridden library full of elementary children.

The last item (which I almost didn't notice because it had gotten stuck under the flap of the improvised cardboard box) is a $30 gift card to Rent the Runway. With this concept you can rent a designer dress for a special event for as low as $50, without having to spend hundreds of dollars buying it. You select a date for up to 6 months in advance, rent the dress for 4-8 days, and return in the pre-paid envelope. They also have jewelry you can rent to accessorize.

Total value in Popsugar's December Box was $118.98. Not a bad deal for $35. While this wasn't Popsugar's most exciting box in my opinion, it was still delightful to receive. I always feel like I'm getting a present for myself with this box. Of all the subscription services I've tried and read about, Popsugar takes the cake! Where else can you get in excess of $100 worth of products for only $35?

Want your own box? Click here and sign up! Use the code REFERFRIENDS for $5 off your first order.