How to Organize Samples from Independent Mineral Makeup Companies

One of the biggest reasons that I think people hesitate to order online is that they can’t try it first to see if they’ll like it or not.  With many mineral makeup ‘Indie companies,’ that’s not the case.

Meow Cosmetics sells all of their samples for $1.00 and they are quite generous with the product amount. This lets you try a vast array of colors and products without worrying that you’ll buy a product and you won’t like it. For the price of a $1.00 if you don’t like it, you won’t regret it. They also offer sales that range from 10% to 25% off, so if you wait for a sale you can even buy your samples for a less expensive price. Meow samples come in baggies.

Aromaleigh samples vary by collection, but usually range from $.85 to $2.20 depending on product. Aromaleigh is also very generous with their product samples. I was able to get almost a month’s worth of use out of one blush sample, which really impressed me. Aromaleigh has weekly sales, so you can wait for one of their weekly sales and get the samples or full size item 25% off. Aromaleigh samples come in baggies.

Lumiere has samples as well, and I believe they all come in small sample jars and are $2.50 each. They also tend to have a deal that if you buy so many samples, you get 10% off.

A great thing about samples is if you have trouble finding foundation to match your skin tone, you can mix samples easily enough to find out what blend works for your skin, and then you can order that custom blend, or buy both products and blend it yourself! Sometimes private labels such as this will make custom blends of foundation upon customer request.

While I used to prefer to get samples and put them in jars, because of how much room jars take up, I’ve started to prefer sample baggies. I then put the sample baggies into a binder.

Some people will buy small storage containers with drawers from places like Target. Something like this bead organizer might work for people who use sample jars:
http://www.amazon.com/Darice-Purple-Bead-Caddy/dp/B0019IKGOM/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1231447432&sr=1-16

Other people use boxes like you’d put photos or index cards in.

I prefer my sample binder. I can use dividers in my sample binder to separate by brand, and then within those, by type. I find this much easier to store on my vanity than several storage containers.

Another reason I prefer to order samples, in addition to being able to try something without worry is that it allows me to have a plethora of colors and wear different colors every day. Variety is the spice of life, and I really like my variety!

You can see DecoDiva’s full post about how she organizes her private label cosmetics in her binder at her beauty website:  How To Store Mineral Makeup Samples.