"I want your everything as long as it's FREE" -Lady Gaga

This summer after turning 25(eek!) I had a meltdown and started to see signs of aging on my fore head and decided to spend $100 on anti-aging cremes. Now, I will not say what product it was because I do not want to alter anyone's impression of this line, but it RUINED my skin for a good 2 weeks. I mean bumps, HUGE pimples- I literally did not leave the house unless I had to. So, I finally returned it and luckily the counter did refund me my money- if they hadn't, I would've been blasting them on here, haha. Hey- good customer service makes a difference!

It's happened to all of us: the temptation to buy a new perfume or skincare item without ever trying it. The other day I contemplated buying a $36.00 skincare item from the Bobbi Brown website. I was tempted to buy this item because I knew she has outstanding make-up, but it also had great reviews. Now, my problem is I have sensitive skin and I never know if a product is going to make my skin break-out, like the one I bought this summer.

I asked one of my friends at work what she thought and she said, "Why don't you get a free sample first?" Yes, what a good idea, I thought. If I had done this from the beginning with the anti-aging creme, I would've seen the product was no good for me.

Moral is, you never know how a product will react with your skin or how a perfume is going to smell on you. Most counters will give you a free sample of a face creme or perfume for you to try out to see if you really like it before dropping a load of money on it.

Sephora will give you 3 FREE samples with any online purchase. In store, if you sign up for the Beauty Insider you can get one FREE sample with any purchase- but they subtract your beauty points in-store.

Nordstrom Make-Up counters will most of the time give you a free sample if you tell them you are interested in the product, but would like to try it first.

For perfumes: test it on your fore arm and let it sit for at least 30 minutes before deciding to buy it. Half the time they smell good at first, but after 15 minutes I get a headache because they are too strong.

Tip:
You can usually find name-brand perfumes at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Filene's Basement, etc. Since you cannot test these because they are usually in plastic wrapping, make sure you have tried/owned it before. If not, they may not let you return it since it's been opened and you are out of $30!

XOXO