If you’re anything like me you love buying and trying new products. I’m always buying new things. In this post, I thought I might share with you a few of the products on my radar that I sampled this month, and what I thought of them.

Caudalie Divine Legs Tinted Body Lotion

Being someone who you might have noticed is super pale, I’m wary of tanning products. They can often be too dark for me, or have that weird smell, but there are a couple that I like. I also tend to go for natural looks, so I don’t like that tanning can be hard to use and then leave you looking fake and orange. This delicious smelling lotion from Caudalie is really nice, though. It’s not sticky or messy, and gives a natural, even, healthy glow that’s tinted so you can build over time, without going orange. Unless you want to be orange of course.

Caudalie Vinosource Moisturising Sorbet

I adore Caudalie, and was pretty happy to get this sample. (I swear by their SOS Morning Eye Rescue, amazing) The Vinosource range use grape extracts that are full of antioxidants, and all kinds of good stuff. It’s said that it can actually improve your skin over time, making it less sensitive and helping it maintain optimal moisture and fighting free radicals. I only had enough for a couple of days, but I loved it’s gel/crème texture and my skin felt happy and moisturised all day. Brilliant.

Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch

I rather liked this product. It’s slightly thick, but smooth. A bit goes a long way. It smooths the skin, hiding little imperfections and evening out pores, and the idea is that you can wear it by itself or under makeup. It made my skin feel really healthy and nice, so when I removed my makeup later, my skin felt good. I really liked that. I used it under makeup. As much as it made my skin happy though, and it did do a little perfecting, as a primer or base, I still prefer the Chanel Le Blanc. But I think this is a great product too, especially for those of you who find that the Chanel primer is too pale or whitening.

Clarins Multi-Active Jour

Purporting to target your fine lines and boost antioxidants right into your skin, I rather liked this day cream. I think Clarins are one of the more reputable brands, and though I couldn’t see a reduction in fine lines, my skin did feel healthy, moisturised and soft. I have combination skin, and it didn’t make my skin shiny or oily in my t-zone. Lovely.

Nivea Crème Care Cleansing Cream Wash

This is one of those products that you just wipe on and rinse off in water. I quite like these as a step one of my cleansing routine. This is actually really good because it doesn’t leave your skin feeling dried out or tight. It says it’s for all skin types though, and I feel like maybe it’s not so great for oily skin. I have combination skin and although I loved that it was gentle, I’m not convinced that it cleansed deeply in my t-zone.

Aromatherapy Associates Hydrating Rose Face Mask

I quite like Aromatherapy Associates, though I’ve only sampled one or two of their products. I just love the way they smell and they look so fresh in their white and blue. This one I had a little tube of, and used in the shower after a gentle cleanser (you can use it after an exfoliation as well, it’s gentle). I left it on for about 5 or 10 minutes while I put a mask in my hair, and it did refine pores and give my skin a healthy, hydrating boost. I found out that you can use it over a face oil overnight, which is pretty cool for those times when your skin needs a moisture boost. It’s a good product, but not better than other face masks, in my opinion.

Garnier Ultimate Blends Body Restoring Lotion Honey Treasures for Very Dry Skin

Part of a new range of hair and body care from Garnier, I love all things honey scented or based, so I was pretty happy to come across this sample. It smells divine, kind of warm and summery, and it certainly does soften and moisturise without being sticky. I don’t have superdry skin, but this did feel rich so I think it would work well for those of you who suffer from really dry skin. I loved it.

Garnier Ultimate Blends Mythic Olive Balm for Dried Out Hair

I usually really like Garnier products, but this one did nothing for my hair. I like leave in conditioners and masks, they’re great for moisturising curly hair, which tends to have dry ends. You put in in, leave it for 5, and wash out. Voila. Except, it did nothing more than my conditioner normally does, and less than some of my more expensive conditioners.

L’Oréal Elvive Extraordinary Clay Masque For Oily Roots

So, this is kind of different. You use it on dry hair, working it into the roots and then leave it for five minutes. It’s a funny texture, as it says on the label, it’s a clay, and it’s a bright blue, which I found kind of cool. It’s lightly scented, not over powering. The idea is that by working it into your roots, it will absorb the oil and impurities, and then you won’t have the oily roots/dry ends issues. I only get this problem sometimes, but when I used it, I just found it weird. I have thick hair, and couldn’t work it through well. The results… inconclusive. It was difficult to wash out and I didn’t feel like there was a huge difference. Perhaps one for someone with fine hair.

So those were the things I tried this month. If you like it you might also like this post about doing your makeup entirely with samples HERE or this post about Korean Jelly lip gloss HERE.

(NOTE: These were sample sized items that came with purchases and things like that, not sent to me by anyone for review.)