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Have You Sampled Beauty Sample Sites?

November 21st, 2009 by Karen 10 Comments

Members Only Beauty Sites

Rue La La! Have you heard The Skinny? Exclusive Beauty VIP members-only sample sites are Haute!

And new ones are cropping up all the time — sites that sell collections and sets filled with sample beauty products at prices that often amount to HUGE savings of 50-75% off (versus purchasing the products separately at retail). Some, like Beauty VIP, go a step further, delivering members-only coupon codes and discounts on cosmetic surgery, beauty services and spas.

Membership’s usually free but required to browse the deals or to place orders online. Ironically, there’s rarely anything exclusive about joining these sites. A name and email address are all that’s typically required, but there’s just something alluring about the promise of exclusive goodies. 🙂

10 Top Beauty Sample Sites

Gilt Groupe
Site: Gilt Groupe
Shtick: Mainstream beauty (Jemma Kidd, Mario Badescu and more) and fashion stuff, too

Rue La La
Site: Rue La La
Shtick: Luxury fashion, house stuff and beauty

SWIRL by Daily Candy
Site: Swirl
Shtick: A product of Daily Candy; clothing and accessories up to 80% off retail

Billion Dollar Babes
Site: Billion Dollar Babes
Shtick: Fashion, home and beauty products by Michael Kors, MD Skincare and more

The Fairest
Site: The Fairest
Shtick: Big mix of brands including Anastasia and FusionBeauty

The Skinny
Site: The Skinny
Shtick: Simple concept and not a lot to it; brands featured like Bare Escentuals, Dermaquest and Perricone MD

NewBeauty TestTube
Site: NewBeauty TestTube
Shtick: Little choice; they send you a new sample set/tube once every three months

Beauty VIP
Site: Beauty VIP
Shtick: Actually charges an annual fee (about $50/year); has a huge array of deals, but their discounts are usually around 20% off

Haute Look
Site: Haute Look
Shtick: Fashion, beauty and stuff for home

Market for Drama
Site: Market for Drama
Shtick: Typically just one discount/sale at a time; I like their product writeups, though.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Have You Sampled Beauty Sample Sites? / Originally published November 21st, 2009

There are 10 comments on this post. Leave yours.

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Comments

  1. Rebecca says

    November 21st, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    I actually signed up for a few of these… and then promptly forgot about it. I get e-mails from some, but they go straight to my junk folder and I haven’t really paid them much attention. But I’m thinking I should start to look into them again – I absolutely loooove free samples!
    In fact, I love pretty much anything with the word ‘free’ in front of it 😉
    .-= Rebecca’s last blog post… Aussie Deeeeep Conditioner: It’s a Follicle Miracle! =-.

    Reply
  2. amy says

    November 21st, 2009 at 2:36 pm

    I look at them sometimes, but site such as Haute Look charges 18% international fee. After the exchange rate, shipping and international price, I might as well pay full price a the store.
    .-= amy’s last blog post… Tarte Treasure Chest Tier 2: Matte Eyeshadows Review, Swatches and Final Thoughts on All 32 Eyeshadows =-.

    Reply
  3. Shiny says

    November 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    I have bought off hautelook before (a headband not makeup) but after the astronomical shipping costs + customs to Canada it is really not a good deal. I do love the window shopping, and drooling over some of the higher end stuff on giltgroup

    Reply
  4. Lisa says

    November 21st, 2009 at 3:19 pm

    I’ve actually gotten stuff from Haute Look and for me it was great! The stuff took awhile to get to me, but since I got it at such a good buy I’m cool with it. I did just sign up for the test tube thing. 39 bucks 4 times a year is cool to be able to try out new stuff (thats the price with shipping and everything.)

    Reply
  5. Michelle says

    November 21st, 2009 at 3:42 pm

    I’ve gotten some great deals on Haute Look — I was lucky and the shipping was just $5 for the order. I got Rock and Republic stuff (normally very pricey) for 50-60% off. I also got some great Urban Decay stuff for cheap. I believe Urban Decay is having another sale on Haute Look next week . . .

    Reply
  6. Catherine says

    November 21st, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Oooh, I’m a member of Gilte, Hautelook, The Fairest and The Skinny but I wasn’t aware there were so many more! Thanks for sharing!
    .-= Catherine’s last blog post… Join Shop’n’Chomp’s Giveaway! =-.

    Reply
  7. veronica says

    November 21st, 2009 at 5:45 pm

    I’ve bought from Gilt, BillionDollarBabes, RueLaLa and HauteLook with great success! You should also check out Editor’s Closet and Ideeli. I’m not a huge fan of The Fairest, the brands they usually have don’t appeal to me.

    Just signed up for Swirl, I’ve been a DailyCandy member for a long time, so I’ve been looking forward to this. Thanks for the info on the others too!

    V
    .-= veronica’s last blog post… Anything but “gloomy” with The Gloomers =-.

    Reply
  8. diana says

    November 21st, 2009 at 7:24 pm

    I’m a member of all these sample sites. They have tons of great deals and discounts on some of my favorite designers and beauty products.

    Reply
  9. Marisol says

    November 22nd, 2009 at 11:32 pm

    I belong to Gilt, Rue La La, Billion Dollar Babes, The SKinny & Row Nine. Have only purchased on Gilt and been really satisfied with my purchases.

    Will be checking out Swirl and HauteLook. Thanks!
    .-= Marisol’s last blog post… This is what a make-up no buy looks like =-.

    Reply
  10. Tiffany says

    November 23rd, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    I’m signed up with a few of these sites, but whenever I’ve started to order I realize the shipping charges basically make up for any discount 🙁

    Reply

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog
Hi there! I’m Karen, your friendly neighborhood beauty addict, and I’m a Bay Area girl who hoards brown eyeshadow and covets coral lipstick. Every morning, I wake up and say, “I’m going to do something other than a smoky eye today.” Then…I end up doing a smoky eye anyway (most days). When I’m not putting on makeup, taking pictures of makeup or writing about makeup, which I’ve been doing daily since 2007 (!), you’ll find me hanging out with my hubby (“El Hub”), my four-year-old daughter (Connor Claire) and my torbie girl cat (Pretty Girl Rosie, a.k.a. PGR).

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