Sample Rundown #10

It's time for another edition of Sample Rundown! And this time, I actually have a lot of positive things to say. Am I sick? Am I broken? I dunno, maybe I just got lucky this time.

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado -- This product has been all the hype in the beauty community for years. Every time somebody asks for an eye cream recommendation, the Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment pops up, and it's not hard to see why. I found this product very rich, creamy, and easy to spread, but weightless on the skin. It soaked in within the hour and made my undereyes feel soft and moisturized. Also, it's a fun green color! Do I think this is going to be a must-have product, though? No, not really. It does do a great job of moisturizing and I can see it working decently under makeup if you have very dry undereyes, but it doesn't do much else. The ingredients list isn't that inspiring, either.

Verb Leave-In Mist -- First, mad props to this sample for being very generous and lasting a squillion years! (Actual time 3 weeks, ~12 washes, but you got me.) I have super fine, quite frizzy curly hair that doesn't do well with most anti-frizz products, partially because my hair gets weighed down so easily, partially because I don't use a blow dryer and lots of haircare needs heat to work. But a dime-sized amount of this mist finger-combed through my hair left me with incredibly soft, bouncy, frizz-free curls! And it kept working: I braid my hair at night to prevent tangles, which unfortunately tends to make it quite poofy in the mornings, but the Verb mist kept it sleek and wavy and work ready. I think something in this product might have given me two little pimples on my right temple, but my skin is so weird right now that it's hard to tell. I'll consider purchasing a full size of this one.

Paula's Choice Skin Revitalizing Lotion with 10% AHA -- Paula's Choice recommends that you use this in tandem with another moisturizer, which should be your first clue: this product is not hydrating. Its real purpose is to exfoliate your body overnight, and the exfoliant is suspended in a lotion base to make it less drying, not actually moisturizing. That being said, this stuff spreads easily (two sample packets covered my entire body) and has a lightweight texture. It does smell pretty rank, but the smell fades. I found that after using this product, the keratosis pilaris on my arms was reduced and my skin was softer and glowier for about 3 days. While this product is totally effective and quite nice, I don't know if I'd pay $27 for the full bottle when I get decent physical exfoliation from a $5 tub of St. Ives Apricot Scrub.

NYX lip liner in Mauve around edges. Freshly applied on left, blotted on right.

Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Creme in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang -- This is the lipstick that comes in the current Sephora birthday gift, and it's just as beautiful as I expected it to be. The formula is extremely pigmented, slick, and comfortable; it's rare to find a formula this pigmented and yet still lightweight. I'm not wild about the glossiness of it, and the wear time is a "pretty good" 4-5 hours rather than "stupendous" 6+ hours, but it's such a nice formula otherwise that I don't mind just blotting it down or reapplying. The shade Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is an almost universally flattering plum pink that looks great freshly applied and blotted down to a matte finish. The one thing that gets me is that this stuff is $30 a tube. Eek! Still, I might get a few more shades, because I think this is a formula that would day light pinks and beige nudes true justice.

Let me know what you've been trying!