Latest in Beauty is a website in the UK that offers three free samples a month for the price of £1 (via SMS) to cover post and packing costs. The idea of it is that you can try stuff out for nearly free and meanwhile offer feedback about the products the next time you log in. The premise of it is great, but I have been a member for about 7 months, and it has moved somewhere to the back of my subconscious, like the winner of last years X-Factor and the doughnut maker.
Free!
Who doesn’t love a freebie right? I have ordered from them about 3 times now and the samples I’ve got have been pretty lame. The samples are either extremely stingy, or they are just bizzare products that I would never have wanted to try or buy in the first place. In fact, the lack of variety and brands is a big problem on this website. If you like Mary Kay, John Frieda and Celebrity purfumes, then you are in luck!
Here’s what they have to say about themselves:
We’re tempted by every new product that comes on to the market, but if we bought every single one we’d soon be out of cash. However that’s not the biggest problem.
Let me stop you there. We beauty addicts are tempted a lot, yes, but that’s why there are testers in shops, reviews to read, and samples to get. We don’t actually buy every single thing we are tempted by…because we don’t vomit money.
The biggest problem is not knowing whether that new age defying moisturiser is really as good as the makers say it is. However good it looks we can never quite be sure if the money is worth it. And why waste money on something that just doesn’t work? /
Let me stop you again. Beauty makers, if you like, will always produce and brand their goodies in a positive light. Some promises are just exaggerated, of course, but without trying something out we will never know. And we are well aware that no cream will ever really remove those deep set wrinkles or that missing eyeball.
That was the thinking behind Latest in Beauty. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a website where you could simply select the beauty products you wanted to try in the comfort of your own home? No pressure, no sales, and no more wondering if that dynamic new product was really worth buying or not.
Yes but you don’t have a good selection just a number of mediocre products that most of us, even someone who very much keeps up with beauty/make up trends, has never heard of before. Also samples, especially the tiny sachets you send, will never be enough to evaluate whether the product is actually any good or not.
And it’s a real win win situation. The beauty companies we approached were only too happy to give us the trial products as long as we gave just one product to each person. They also wanted us to ask you what you think about their products so they could use that information to help them develop new ranges with you in mind. And don’t worry, we will never pass on your personal details to them without your consent.
But it gets even better for you – some companies are so excited about getting in direct contact with you that they are giving away great products and prizes as well as free trial products.
Don’t companies give away free samples anyway? If these weren’t all brand that no ones every heard of, we could, infact, just go into boots and ask for a sample for free couldn’t we?
Just be sure to come back once you’ve tried it and tell us what you think – we’re very eager to get your point of view! There could also be some great new products just waiting for you to discover them.
It’s called free market research – infact do Mary Kay own this company? Because they always seem to be giving Mary Kay away. Luckily, I have been quite keen to give them my opinion, because so far its been ‘Crap, Crap, Crap’
Yes I could find a new product I loved…maybe. But since everything seems to be home shopping-esque – Mary Kay, Avon, Virgin Vie – I am sceptical. They also have quite a lot of low end brands – like a face mask that you buy from Tesco and Waitrose – not that I am a snob, but I don’t see wasting £1 on getting a sachet of face mask that costs £3 for 100mls.
So remember you can only pick three samples a month, one from Skincare, one from Make Up & Fragrance and one from Hair & Body. Some of the sections are weaker than others (skincare is quite poor) but you HAVE to pick one from each, you can’t substitute any.
Also beware the text system – you need to send them one and they send you a code back to confirm the order. My cheapskate friend used my phone to text for her order and then I tried order from my account and it wouldn’t accept the code as it came from the same mobile – which I found slightly hitler-esque. They still took my £1, of course!
Verdict:
Needs FAR more variety, needs a better sample structure, not just crap we can pick of for free in Boots anyday and a better system for the payment via text thing. Might check it again in 6 months and see if it’s improved.
Recent Comments