Samples Received/Redeemed: 26 Nov - 30 Nov 2012

And now, it's time for another episode of Samples Received & Redeemed. I am really glad to say this has been a almost rewarding week, in terms of samples redemption. 5 items, which meant a total of i item received per day for the entire week. Could have had a 6th item, but then, can't blame staffs who misunderstood instructions -_-

With the exception of the Venus Beauty one in which I was a little too excited. Should have asked and clarified before going down to AMK so soon, but still, I am definitely glad that the issue has been resolved and fans of Venus Beauty should not have any problems redeeming their goodies from Monday onwards ;) As apparently, the staffs at Venus Beauty AMK misunderstood instructions and I was correct. But not before hogging a little attention from some random dude who probably thought I was having a cat-fight with the outlet staffs instead. (Yeah, if you're the dude in a dark green T-shirt inside AMK's Venus Beauty outlet at around 10:50am, I'm talking about you. Sorry to disappoint, but there's no fighting that you probably was expecting to watch and gossip about.)

Basically, there's nowhere on Venus Beauty wall post that states that customers with the NOPS Silky Repair Hair Shampoo bottle is eligible to redeem only 1 item. Technically, the wall post stated that if you haven't finished using the shampoo, you can flash (and then keep) the bottle and pay S$9.90 to buy a NOPS Pink Clay Brightening Mask. But if you surrender your empty shampoo bottle (in which you cannot keep it), you can get a Mizon Active Slim Body Cool Wash for free.

This simply meant that our shampoo bottle works both ways, no matter how you look at it. Only to have the outlet staffs insist that if I flashed the shampoo bottle, they have to take the bottle back. So correct me if I am wrong, if I am a male flasher who runs around flashing women, do my victims keep something from me, the flasher, as a "souvenir"? I don't think so, and this shows that the outlet staffs are definitely ignorant of the word "flash". What's worst is that, despite trying to explain to them what "flash" meant ("Flash" meant I show you the bottle and I will still want it back cos it's un-finished), they insist that flashing the bottle meant they take the bottle back. And throughout all these, none of the 2 staffs that attended to me and gave me a warped version and re-interpretation of the word "flash" bothered to actually try and call their main office and re-confirmed or checked with the relevant office staff. (I've worked in F&B and regular retail positions, so I know if there's any discrepancies or that certain instructions are vague, the first thing I should do is to call and hunt down a relevant person who is more clear on the instructions. Not insist my own interpretation is correct..)

I knew I was right that I can get 2 items, 1 free and the other which I pay S$9.90 for, so as soon as I reached home, the first thing I did was to go to Venus Beauty's facebook page and clarified with them. Asked the same questions twice and both times, I was still proven correct by whoever is manning the page, it was the staff's mistake all along. It was rather disappointing that I came home with 1 item, instead of 2. So, I was asking if there's any way I can get a redemption letter of some sort to get the NOPS Pink Clay Brightening Mask at S$9.90. Even if they are selling it cheap, they are still earning our money after all. Turns out, previous redemptions that includes redeeming with redemption letters were frowned upon due to "saving the environment" outcry. I say it's because some fans don't have a printer at all.

Understandable if you are a teenger, but definitely not understandable if you are already a working adult who actually have a pc or laptop to log onto Venus Beauty's Facebook page and yet do not have a decent printer to print out a redemption letter. What I don't understand is that, a redemption letter is a redemption letter. There's no need to buy a fancy S$5000+ printer with all the awesome stuffs in it when you could have bought one that probably cost less than S$200 that lets you decently print. Said people with no printers at home and yet have "state-of-the-art" laptops are probably the ones who have no qualms about logging into Facebook in the middle of work, which meant they could have simply go for lunch the earliest in order to come back to their workplace the first/earliest/quickest, and secretly but quickly print the redemption letter out. (Next time if Venus Beauty said they cannot issue redemption letters, you know you can safely blame it on the folks who insist they do not have a printer at home.)

Enough of my yakking now, here's a look at the goodies I've got in the past week.

Well, unmarked envelope from Rachel K Cosmetics. If you are a regular sample redeemer, you should probably be aware of the apps used by Hada Labo and Rachel K, including some other companies. They use the same type of app. This means that if you have previously redeemed a sample from them, the app will inform you that:

Oops, you have redeemed this sample before. You can share and invite your friends to redeem one too!

But if there's something new to be redeemed, that message will not show. Instead, what you see are the necessary empty boxes for you to fill out your name, mailing address, email address, etc to redeem a sample.

I still remember the last sample I redeemed from Rachel K was the Collagen + Lotus Stem Cell Hydrogel Mask. So, as soon as I realized I can fill up my information again, it just simply meant that there's a new sample up for grabs. It's called Swiss Apple Stem Cell Technology, which is actually a Day Cream.

Excitedly, I quickly began spamming everyone I know who is interested in getting one. But I doubt anyone believed because I didn't state exactly what type of sample ^^; (I know, it's my fault this time, too excited and forgot to indicate the name of the sample). But as soon as I received this in my mail, I quickly snapped a photo, uploaded and shared to my Facebook account and my Facebook page in order to get everyone to redeem their sample fast fast!

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Go over to Rachel K Cosmetics Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Rachelkcosmetics, Like their page. Next, click on Free Sample!, fill in your details and wait for the sample to be delivered to your house/mailbox.

Envelope stated that it's from Invida Group and I really had no idea what it was. Until I started gently pressing the envelope and realized there's something soft yet squishy in there. I took a wild guess and hope it's from Papulex and well, I was correct lol

It was also another one of those "I-was-playing-games-on-Facebook" day when I saw this on the right side, where all the Facebook advertisements are shown. Needless to say, I clicked on it and realized it's free sample(s). And hurriedly spam everyone to get theirs too!!

Samples consist of:

• Papulex Moussant Soap free cleansing gel x 2 (5ml each)
• Papulex Oil-free Cream [For acne prone skin] x 2 (5ml each)
• A booklet explaining acne cause, how to treat acne

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: First of all, go over to Papulex Asia Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PapulexAsia, Like their page. Next, click on Papulex Free Sample and fill in a short question, which is relatively easy. The answers to the question are: Nicotinamide, EU-Patented ABA and Zinc PCA.

Once you have checked the answer boxes and fill in your details, just sit back and wait for the samples to show up in your mailbox.

So, I suddenly received an envelope from Venus Beauty near the end of the week. I was rather surprised and thought, "Oh noes! Did I do something wrong??" But I am insistent I did not! I didn't "tackle" them unless they have free things to give away xD

The back of the envelope said "SURPRISE! =)" and I thought, must be some wonderful B-Day present. I hope I am right ^^

I opened up the small blue envelope with loads of Korean text imprinted with the word Mizon and these are the goodies I got:

• Returning Starfish Cream x 1
• Trouble Clinic All In One Snail Repair Cream x 1
• Multi Function Formula Snail Repair Intensive Ampoule x 1
• Original Skin Energy Placenta 45 x 1
• Original Skin Energy Peptide 500 x 1

All I can say is, I wub wub wub you Venus Beauty!!

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: For starters, I did not redeem this anywhere on Venus Beauty Facebook page. However, I recommend you to Like their page to be informed to giveaways, samples, freebie redemption that are constantly brought forth to reward their fans. I'm definitely guessing this sample pack is a B-day present somehow xD

So, finally Lab Series mail arrived. This was a rather impromptu sample request that Lab Series posted on their wall. I know I spammed everyone and updated on my Facebook page as soon as I am aware of it. But if you happened not to know it, then I'm sorry to inform you that this particular sample giveaway is over for a month or 2 already.

And this is why you must be a fan of my Facebook page, so you can be updated as soon as new sample redemptions are up ^^
So, the samples in these impromptu sampling exercise are:

• Daily Renewing Cleanser x 2 (5ml each)
• Skin Recharging Water Lotion x 2 (7ml each)

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Be a fan of Lab Series Singapore Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LabSeriesSingapore in order to be informed of free samples, impromptu sampling exercise.

Sampling exercise for this sample is over, however, if you are a fan of my Facebook page, you should be informed of it as soon as I post it up :)

So, Venus Beauty updated the latest V-Promotion on Thursday. And excited old me decided to go the very next day on Friday, without first checking to ensure that their outlet staffs are fully aware of the redemption mechanics. So, I've only got a Body Wash to show and tell *cries nonetheless* But anyway, save the box as soon as you redeemed this Body Wash, who knows we might need to return it in order to exchange for another goodie from them :D

Mizon Active Slim Body Cool Wash x 1 (200ml). I forgot to include a photo of the cap off, but I assure you that it's foil-sealed to ensure nothing leaks out while you are on your way home after redemption or going on with more sample redemption or even window-shopping. Just remember not to throw the box yet.

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Remember the very first freebie Venus Beauty let us redeem with a redemption letter? It's a bottle of NOPS Silky Repair Hair Shampoo. Whether you have finished it or not, Venus Beauty has come up with their latest V-Promotion involving that bottle. You can either flash your un-used/un-finished/un-touched shampoo and pay S$9.90 to purchase a NOPS Pink Clay Brightening Mask. If you have already finished the shampoo, you can surrender the empty bottle back to Venus Beauty and get the Mizon Active Slim Body Cool Wash for free.

But what if you want both? Easy!

Transfer your remaining/untouched NOPS Silky Repair Hair Shampoo into another re-usable shampoo bottle. If you had to buy one, get it from Daiso instead. For S$2.00, you can choose 250ml, 400ml, 1000ml, whichever your needs or preference, but I generally recommend 400ml as it's the standard amount for hair shampoo.

As soon as you reached the AMK outlet, flash them the bottle first to buy the NOPS Pink Clay Brightening Mask at S$9.90, but DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT let the staffs take the bottle away from you. Flashing the bottle meant they only see it, not take it from you. Once you are done paying for your S$9.90 Pink Clay mask, then you surrender (a.k.a give back) the empty shampoo bottle to redeem your free Mizon Active Slim Body Cool Wash. I've already confirmed with Venus Beauty that all their fans are eligible to get both items with just 1 empty shampoo bottle.

If for whatever reason the staffs suddenly forgot how the redemption is supposed to work and insist that by flashing your shampoo bottle at them meant they take it back, keep the bottle immediately and insist that they call their office to clarify as this issue is already resolved via Facebook and that you as a fan and customer is eligible to enjoy 2 promotions for 1 shampoo bottle. (Trust me, I know how bad you feel like tearing your hair out already.)

Why not like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PuNiaosProductReviews to be informed of latest samples I found, which is duly updated? Also includes updates to contests that I've sourced out for you to join. It will definitely save you the trouble of having to hunt them down :)