Samples Received & Redeemed: January - March 2016

Before I started this off, a little bit more information on this long-awaited post. The reason why it's dated January to March 2016 is because towards the start of this year, I know I need to put up this post. But at the same time, I am still a little unsure how soon I will start blogging back on this space, although hopefully, I don't wish to take too long either. It's also partly because, as I have already mentioned in at least a post back that sample redemption seemed to have taken a back burner sometime from when I went on a un-announced hiatus and I was rather confident the samples I can get my hands on for the first 3 months of 2016 is going to be little by comparison to the samples I first got my hands on when I first started blogging here.

And because the samples I can get my hands on for the start of 2016 is rather little, chances are that, I will and definitely forgot exactly when I got them, so simply put, I'm just going to label this post as samples collected from January to March 2016 instead of the usual monthly. But rest assured that next month onwards, I will get it back to a monthly sample acquired post or as we all know it, the monthly sample ritual. And before I start, I would also like to clarify that most sampling activity featured for the samples in this post will most probably be over. But honestly, less talk from me and onwards to the sample which everyone is long waiting for~

Kustie Lavender Shower & Bath Gel @ 100ml

I first saw this in it's full retail size glory in Watsons last year, but then, I didn't wanted a big bottle of shower gel back then as I've never tried this before, especially shower gel that claims to have flower petals in it. So, I sort of bypass this. But a year later, Watsons came up with a travel-size version of this and I instantly grab a small bottle of the Lavender one without any hesitation. Lavender has the benefit of treating insomnia, nervous stomach, and anxiety. And at the same time, Lavender can be used as a treatment for flatulence, colic, and depressive headaches, and many modern herbal practitioners use the herb to treat migraines in menopause.

The most important part of Lavender? It has a long history of use in natural remedies and as a natural scent and perfume. It’s calming scent makes it soothing to the respiratory system and it is often suggested to be diffused to calm coughs and colds. Many massage and beauty products use lavender for its scent and its supposed ability to promote relaxation and stress relief, though this has not been well studied. In alternative medicine, use of lavender essential oil or lavender salves is sometimes recommended for muscle pain or aches or to promote restful sleep. (As quoted from Wellness Mama)

Besides, how many shower gels have boasted of real hand-picked flower petals? Not much from my personal encounters and experiences, so it's like a small travel-size luxurious treat I can have without burning a hole in my pocket. Not that Watsons stock up much expensive products in the first place :D

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: No sample for redemption. However, small travel-size versions of shower gels tend to get snapped out rather quick at Watsons (at least the one at my heighborhood), so good luck if you intend to find the same exact travel-size version. But hey, the actual retail size version isn't really expensive too, might as well get the big one and treat yourself lavishly to the wonderful scent of Lavender and flower petals.

Kleenex Moist Toilet Tissue @ 8 sheets in a pack

Kleenex Moist Toilet Tissue - Contents of Sample Pack

When I first saw this commercial online (I haven't watched television in like, 4 years+. So, I cannot confirmed nor give a date on when it should have appeared on the television), I was a little mystified in all senses. I mean, I understand the part where after the shampoo session, none of the shampoo were washed off. It's more like, how does a human's head get compared to a human's butt all in one context is the entirety that baffles me. In my humble opinion, they should use a scene from a baby's diaper changing session to better reference this new product.

The real actual method to promote this product is to have a baby diaper changing scene where after wiping a baby's bottom with toilet paper, the second final step is to use this moist toilet tissue to ensure the baby's bottom is thoroughly wiped clean as the human eye is prone to over-looking parts of a baby's poo poo. It's just typical human nature to over-look this part. Then, the final step to dust a layer of baby powder on said baby's bottom to ensure dryness until the next poop session progresses. This, I would have understand at the first video outlook that it is a product made for human butts.

To be honest, from when I first saw the video until I received the sample version of this product and opened it up to take a peek at the usage instructions, I was still very convinced it's a lie that it's for human butts. I kept thinking its actually for when you decided to wash your hair with shampoo, but got tired and lazy from washing off the shampoo and hence, decided it's a good idea to wipe off the shampoo with this product. Sorry Kleenex, you did the commercial wrong. Or rather, Kleenex, please fire the person who came up with the commercial as that person doesn't understand your products in the first place T_T

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Sampling activity is over. However, take note this is a product meant for human butts instead of human heads when purchasing the retail version.

Summer' Eve sample product kit

1. Summer's Eve Feminine Wash for Normal Skin @ 5ml
2. Summer's Eve Feminine Cleansing Wipes for Normal Skin @ 1 Wipe

Sometimes, I think Summer's Eve is a much more better cleansing wipe product for our female bits then other brands, cos Singapore is "Summer" all year round and the "Summer" in "Summer' Eve" really reflects that well. Plus, it's mostly "summer" in our female bits most of the time too, not that I want to emphasis this part -_-

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Sampling activity is over.

Moist, Diane featuring Hebe as it's Spokesperson. I like that Moist, Diane products looks so luxurious but yet affordable at the same time.

Moist, Diane Shiny Shampoo Extra Shine @ 10ml
Moist, Diane Shiny Hair Mask Extra Shine @ 10g

The first time I saw Moist, Diane was inside Tokyu Hands, it was a off-day from my ex-job and I had also received my bonus. So I was thinking of splurging myself a litle on Japanese products to feel pampered like a princess although I ended up only buying a cute-looking makeup remover and pore peeling pack. Too much "feast" for my eyes and senses, literally as the "princess" in me wants everything there while at the same time, I don't want everything there as not every product is suitable for me to use LOL

Anyways, I would gladly purchase the Conditioner and Hair Mask instead as my hair and scalp has gradually gotten used to another hair care brand and I really don't want to mess it up by using another brand new product until my hair and scalp condition has settled down.

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Sampling activity is over.

John Frieda Full Repair Strengthen + Restore Shampoo @ 50ml
John Frieda Full Repair Strengthen + Restore Conditioner @ 50ml

John Frieda was originally conceived by John Frieda a.k.a Alan Howard Frieda, a British celebrity hairstylist and founder of hair salon and hair product businesses. The hair product business was acquired in 2002 by Kao Corporation, Japan. So essentially, the pro-Japanese wave personality in me is ecstatic that Japan has another product. despite not originally conceived by them, but yet has another award-winning product up their sleeves. Take that, Korea! But on a serious note, this product does sounds like it has a really long history with hair and has also established itself with fashion magazine cover shoots, judging by the glamorous Caucasian model photos I see on their FB page.

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Sampling activity is over.

Que Origin samples I received.

Que Origin Lavender Shower Bath @ 10g
Que Origin Lemongrass Shower Bath @ 10g

I first got to know about Que Origin via FB, subsequently joined one of it's contests and promptly forgot all about it. Until just a few months back while browsing around and saw that one of my favorite beauty blogger (her link is listed in my "BLOGS I ♥") had this post on Que Origin. And being Singapore, contests kinda gets known by us simply because we love to share the news of new sampling activity and contests. And when I checked my email, I realized that I was really a few hours away from redeeming my so-called complimentary Que Origins shower bath sets.

All went well at the check-out page, until I realized that although the website and email received claimed that it is "free", I still have to pay for shipping costs. Now that my friends, is not free no matter how you look at it. If you say it is free, it means free shipping as well. If I have to pay for shipping, then it's not entirely free, isn't it? And besides, they held the contest and picked only that many winners, not the entire country. Hence, I am really sure that it wouldn't kill them to do a little good by forgoing the shipping charges for the folks who supposedly "won" in their contest.

Needless to say, I simply forgot about getting the so-called free complimentary shower bath gels when I still have to "pay" for something. In return, they ended up sending another email urging for my mailing address so they can send me the sachet samples instead, which conveniently comes free without any shipping. In other words, they are sort of "cheating" with the tagline "free" when it isn't :(

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Sampling activity is over.

Nivea sample, which I belived I have redeemed from The Sampling Store

>br> Nivea In-Shower Skin Conditioner Whitening x 2 sachets @ 10ml each

Honestly, I really hate and detest the current The Sampling Store sample redemption procedure. I don't even know if there's any more free samples left to redeemed. The old platform was easier and relatively simply to look at and understand. The current platform is more like a "Request" and/or "Redeem" button that you click on that doesn't let you know if there's still samples remaining or exactly how many samples remain. It's like, for all I know, there's only that final sample left and subsequently, I didn't know there are at least X amount of people logged in at the same time as me and all of us clicked that horrid button at the same time. How ah?

And besides, the not-so-clear "Fully Redeemed" button at the top left of the image is so easily over-looked that it may take a few pages until the person trying to redeem the sample finally sees it and realized "Wow! Waste of my time requesting so many things only to realize there's nothing left because it's fully redeemed"..

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: I believed it's also fully redeemed since they had so many fully redeemed samples. They should at least remove images for samples fully redeemed to save us the grief from thinking there's something left only to find out nothing is left. Or at the very least, slap the "Fully Redeemed" image right across the product itself, which will make seeing it even clearer.

I got to know about this sampling activity on Facebook.

Physiogel Hypoallergenic Calming Relief Gentle Cream Cleanser @ 10ml
Physiogel Hypoallergenic Calming Relief Face Cream @ 5ml

Pamphlet detailing various Physiogel products in it's range and a Contest sticker thingy

Luckily, my skin doesn't get red most of the time. But when pimples are about to show up, the red spots are the tell-tale sign, so let's hope it works for me before the pimples decides to make a special appearance.

WHERE TO REDEEM SAMPLE: Go over to https://freeinmyskin.com/sg/sample.aspx and fill in the form. Wait for sample to show up in your mailbox. As the page is still working at the time of this post's release, I think the sampling activity is still on-going for now.

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 health, beauty & lifestyle tips regularly. It will definitely save you the trouble of having to hunt them down :)