Reader Mail: The Free Sample

In today's Reader Mail:

Dear BS:

This is pretty random, but I am pretty broke, and I was wondering if you have any ideas for beauty stores that give away free samples. It's not that I'm trying to scam anyone, it's just that I'm trying to make my purchases go as far as possible. Any help you or anyone else could provide would be awesome!

Love,
S.

Oh! We only have one, but it is in our experience totally fool-proof. A woman at Sephora once gave us a huge tester of the Smashbox Corrective Primer—so big it was like half the actual tiny travel size we almost bought—and we love her. (Find her at the International Terminal at SFO.) Doesn't the Body Shop give samples? We worked there in high school but can't quite remember. Anyway: Kiehl's. We've never bought anything at Kiehl's without getting a sample. This was true as we made our twice-yearly purchase of our favorite conditioner. We know it is not cheap, but we cannot say strongly enough: This shit lasts for fucking ever. We were trying to cut down on our purchases of $18 bottles of hair conditioner, but we've been through four bottles of the Pantene stuff, we're estimating, in the last two months, so the Kiehl's, which for us usually lasts around six, works out to be cheaper, anyway, and is way better for our hair, anyway. And last night we went home with samples for Over-Night Biological Peel and the Foaming Non-Detergent Washable Cleanser, the former being some sort of night repair thing we think we are going to apply when we get back on a plane. Which we should be doing soon enough. That peel stuff is $40 for 1.7 oz., and we got .17 oz. for free, so we're thinking we scored a $4 sample there. Times are tight, etc. So: yay, Kiehl's!

Above: the Over-Night Biological Peel, $40

LB would like to add:

You can also get free samples at most beauty counters of department stores, as well as Sephora. True, Kiehl's gives them to you all nicely package in single-serving sizes, but at Sephora you can basically get any single thing you want and then some. Department stores can be more of a challenge - you may have to feign interest and have them apply some kind of products to you. But hey, it's worth it if money is tight.

-LB