FreshFaced sample haul!

After months of waiting, a shiny little package arrived at my doorstep yesterday! You know who it was from? FreshFaced! I cannot tell you how excited about this I am, and not just because my first order got lost in the mail, hence the months of waiting. Luckily, they sent me a replacement that did not get lost.

FreshFaced is a lovely little online shop that supplies a number of great brands, leaning more towards the luxe end of the price scale. They're headquartered in the Great White North of Canada, so Canadian beauty lovers rejoice! Now you can get fancy brands like Tata Harper and Marie Veronique without having to pay for shipping from California or whatever. I don't really know.

You may be asking yourself, why would an American order from a Canadian website? Blasphemy! There are plenty of shops in the good ol' U S of A to order from! Well, I can sum it up in one word...

Samples.



FreshFaced provides samples of nearly every single one of their products (exceptions include items like mascara), which fills me with an unnecessary amount of glee. I have yet to find another supplier that does this. Sure, plenty of shops will provide you with random samples with a purchase, but with FreshFaced, I can pick exactly which samples I want, for less than a buck a pop! Unfortunately, for us yanks, this also means a whopping $20 shipping charge and a lengthy wait for your samples. However, you can get samples of some pretty swanky stuff that would otherwise be difficult to get your hands on without dropping a Benjamin or more. Maybe it's my upbringing, or the fact that I'm pretty broke right now, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much money on a skin care product without trying it out first.

Even if I had eighty bucks lying around to throw at some sparkly-eyed beauty maven emerging from a pool of crystalline water to hock cleansers and masks at me (I'm looking at you, May Lindstrom), I wouldn't do it.

All in all, I think it's worth the $27.50 to get ten amazing samples, and until an American site -- or really any site with less pricey shipping -- provides the same service, I'll be sticking with FreshFaced. I only have one minor complaint: the samples are a bit small. Now, if I wasn't spending so much on shipping, this wouldn't really be an issue. I'd understand. Each sample is only about $0.75. However, I wish I got a little more for close to thirty bucks. While the amount they provided for the cosmetics was perfect, they were a bit skimpy on the skin care. I ordered several masks and I'll get barely one use out of each. Alas, nothing is perfect.

My samples included: Vapour Organic Beauty Illusionist Concealer, ILIA Beauty Tinted Lip Conditioner in Bang Bang, Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser, Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask, Stark Green Tea Detox Clay Mask, Stark Cypress Purity & Defense Oil, May Lindstrom Skin The Problem Solver Correcting Masque, May Lindstrom Skin The Clean Dirt Cleansing Clay, Marie Veronique Organics Everyday Coverage, Kahina Giving Beauty Antioxidant Mask.

All I'm really saying is, keep a lookout for reviews!