Feel Unique Pick and Mix Samples Review #2

Feel Unique have a Pick and Mix Sample service where you can choose five samples for £3.95 and get a £3.95 voucher once you've confirmed that your order has arrived in the post. To find out more about Feel Unique's Pick and Mix check out my post here.

Elemis Pro Collagen Oxygenating night cream 2ml (Full Size 50ml for £95 here)
The Pro Collagen range is Elemis's bestseller, the 'marine' ingredients are Laminaria Digitata and Red Coral which helps to maintain optimum skin condition while the Mediterranean algae, Padina Pavonica helps to improve skin suppleness, firmness and elasticity. The oxygenating benefit is helped by the anti-oxidant rich sesame and avocado oils delivering free-radical protection.

This cream is heavily scented which reminds me of Nuxe Huille Prodegiese. It sinks into the skin quickly and mositurises well without being greasy. I got 4 uses from this 2ml sample so you don't need much. My dehydrated skin has been feeling tight across my cheeks and this cream has alleviated it a little. My skin felt supple and looked healthy and slightly more radiant. The sample size meant that I couldn't test whether it delayed any signs of aging in the long term and I don't really have lines or wrinkles yet to see a difference in the short term. However I think this works to keep the skin moisturised and it does brighten up dull skin but the strong scent was a deal breaker for me because that can sometimes trigger my asthma attacks. The price of the full size jar is very expensive, retailing at £95 for 50ml. While a premium brand like Elemis spends a lot of their budget on clinical trials and sourcing the most effective ingredients, there is a part of me that thinks that you're just paying for the fragrance. Perhaps when I'm nearing 40 I might notice an anti aging effect but right now it's not worth it for me. 

Elemis Gentle Rose Exfoliator 3ml (Full Size 50ml for £31 here)
Elemis Gentle Rose Exfoliator is a manual rather than a chemical exfoilator. It's a gel that contains micro jojoba beads rather than environmentally damaging plastic micro-beads to exfoliate the skin. However the beads are very fine and it seemed like they weren't enough of them to do the job. I found it more effective when I used two fingers to rub in small circular motions to get the beads to exfoliate. I have sensitive skin so anything with the word 'gentle' on a exfoliator will get my attention but it didn't really feel as if I'd got rid of any dead skin cells but rather I had given my skin a mini massage.  This smells exactly like Turkish delight, the rose is there but it's not overpowering.  I love the smell of jojoba but I couldn't smell it at all in the product which is a shame. Although Elemis says to use this once a week I feel that you could probably use this daily as it's so gentle. However I think that this will be ineffectual on most skins so I wouldn't recommend it.

Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips Matte Revolution lipstick in Secret Salma (Full size 3.5g for £24 here)
When I was looking at swatches of Secret Salma online the lipstick looked like a bright almost fluorescent pink. However it's actually a darker, dusty pink that is a step up from a neutral looking pink and it is really pretty. It has a vanilla like smell. The sample cardboard applicator worked quite well. First you unseal it, fold the card over and place it between your lips as if you were blotting lipstick. Unfortunately it only has one or if you're lucky two applications so I couldn't really test how long it lasted on my lips but it didn't make my lips feel dry or uncomfortable. I am planning on buying one of Charlotte Tilbury's lipsticks although I haven't decided which one to get yet!

Dermalogica Intensive Moisture Balance (Full Size 40ml for £40 here)
This feels lightweight but it's moisturising enough to use after a shower or bath when you need hydration the most. It also makes my skin feel soft. I also find that a little goes a long way so a bottle would last a while. It's creamy but also a bit greasy and takes awhile to sink in. The main reason why I wouldn't purchase this in full size is the smell! Although it does have some flower and leaf extract it does not smell herbal or of essential oils, it actually smells like it should belong in an industrial factory. Normally I prefer fragrance free products as my skin is very sensitive and fragrance is a common irritant. Unfortunately the smell lingers even after the cream has absorbed into the skin so it's a no from me.

Daisy Dream Marc Jacobs EDT 1.2ml (Full Size 30ml for £42 currently £35.70 here)
This is categorised as a fruity-floral perfume but to me it smells mostly like a sweet floral perfume. This perfume is inspired by 'boundless daisies and blue skies' and it is a clean, fresh scent and the bottle matches the scent exactly. I really like this perfume. The opening notes are blackberry, grapefruit and pear. The middle notes are wisteria, jasmine and lychee. The base notes or dry down consists of white wood, musk and coconut water. I can smell the blackberries, grapefruit, blue wisteria, jasmine and musk. I don't like very sweet scents so the grapefruit balances it and saves the perfume for me. I couldn't detect the coconut at all. While the smell is nice and sweet it's also fairly generic, it doesn't stand out. As the sillage is fairly soft and the smell is pretty inoffensive it would be good to wear at work. It tends to last around 3 hours on me which is OK I guess for an EDT, although I have read reviews of people complaining that for the amount of money this costs the scent should last much longer. Maybe the EDP is the way to go. This is a light floral scent that would be good to wear in the daytime in spring or summer.

Feel Unique Pick and Mix Sample Service #1

Hello Everyone! If you haven't already heard Feel Unique offers a Pick and Mix Sample Service. It works like this - you can choose 5 beauty samples for free and you just pay the postage and packaging which is £3.95. Then Feel Unique will send you a voucher for £3.95 which you can use on any future purchase (but not the Pick n Mix.) It's almost like you get to choose what you want in a free beauty box!

So you can only use this once a month and it's limited to UK customers for now. If you order on the 8th the next time you can use it will be the 9th of following month. It's not a subscription service so you can dip in and out whenever you want and choose whatever you want! Items are mostly high end and mainly skincare, body care and perfumes. There is a search function that can search by sample type (vial, sachet, tube, card and pot) which is really helpful as then you know what size sample you've chosen which helps you to get the most product for your money. You can also search by brand or by department (e.g. make up/ fragrance) which may save you time as there are around 300+ samples to choose from. Just so you know the Pick and Mix system doesn't let you buy two of the same product. There is also a selection of products for men- mainly aftershave, cologne, shower gel and moisturisers although some products are unisex. The products do change throughout the month but I've also seen products that I've  missed out on come back. Brands that are currently in stock include Caudalie, Elemis, Isadora, Charlotte Tilbury (foundation), Kiehls, Dr Hauschka, Emma Hardie and many more.

Here are the items I picked up....

Elemis Nourishing Omega Rich Cleansing Oil 2ml
This cleansing oil is 90%  jam packed with oils that include sunflower seed oil, castor seed oil, rosemary leaf oil and patchouli leaf oil. The Omega 3, which nourishes and calms the skin comes from the rose of winter oil and chia seed oil. The pomegranate extract is rich in Vitamin C which helps detoxify the skin and boost collagen.

This is the first cleansing oil I've tried. You apply it to dry skin, add water to emulsify the oil so it becomes a milk and then rise away with warm water. I've used it three times at night and once as a wake me up morning cleanser. It smells like essential oils and in particular of grapefruit which is very refreshing. Elemis describes their cleansing oil as a 'non stripping, gentle formula.' It did not irritate my sensitive skin and made my skin feel soft. However it wasn't great at removing makeup but this might be because I didn't use enough. I'm a bit on the fence with this one- however I will say that although Elemis is a luxury brand, the amount of product in the full sized bottle for the price is very generous with 195ml for £31.

Caudalie Moisture Recovery Cream 2ml
I added this to my basket as my skin felt a little tight and dehydrated. Caudalie Moisture Recovery cream aims to restore the hydrolipidic film and strengthen the skin barrier function, leaving skin soft and moisturised. The grape and borage oils, grape-seed polyphenols and sodium hyaluronate all hydrate the skin.This also has matte finish to the skin. I wasn't keen on the smell, it smelt a bit like cinnamon mixed with other essential oils but the smell isn't overwhelming so it's OK. I have sensitive skin and this didn't irritate my skin and I felt it did a good job of moisturising my skin.

Caudalie Vine Body Butter 7ml

This body butter contains Caudalie's trademarked Vinolevure which is extracted from wine yeast and helps to keep the skin moisturised while reinforcing the skin's immune defenses. Other key moisturising ingredients are shea butter and grape seed oil. The orange blossom and orange wood smells fresh and invigorating (although it smells a little like grapefruit to me.) The texture is like a lightweight cream rather than an heavy balm or butter and absorbs very quickly into the skin. Caudalie claims that this body butter offers 32% hydration after 8 hours. While it mositurised pretty well, I didn't find that that the hydration lasted 8 hours later. To be honest I found that The Body Shop's Mango Body Butter much better and it keeps the dry skin on my elbows moisturised for much longer.

Isadora Nude Sensation Fluid Foundation in 16 Nude Almond 3.5ml 
This is a yellow based foundation but actually looked peach/orange on me which was a shame. It is fragrance free and smells neutral or a little bit like water paint. It gives medium coverage.

Nars Laguna bronzing Powder 1g

I saw the words Nars and Laguna so I popped this into my basket without realising the sample was on a card. The powder is long wearing and very pigmented and needs some blending.  It suits my tan/olive skin tone but  I think it may be too dark for those with pale skin tones. It also contains glitter but this is not noticeable when applied onto the face. I can see why it's so coveted and it's something I will probably buy in the future.

This post is Not Sponsored by Feel Unique and I bought the products with my own money.