January ’22 – A Round Up Of All The Samples & Free Items This Month & How I Got Them

By all means call me crazy but I actually got a bit emotional typing the month and year into the title of this post. It makes me so happy that I was able to see an entire year of blogging through 2021 and now here we go again!

Beauty

3 x Revolution XX Eye Shadow Quad Palettes – free via redeeming my Boots points – I waited patiently for a brilliant offer as I wanted 2 palettes but wanted to make sure I made my points go as far as possible. I pounced when I saw a 3 for 2 offer on Revolution and stacked this with student discount. Each palette has an RRP of £10 each. I got 3 for £18 which was covered with my loyalty points.

Babyliss Heat Styling Brush – free via redeeming my Boots points – this is something I would never have bought as I rarely make effort with my hair. However, I had it cut quite a bit shorter in December and wanted to find a way to style it quickly and easily. This was on a store promotion down from £30 to £25 and I got 10% student discount on top.

Dr Jart Samples – sponsored social media advert – I received a sample of their cicapair colour correcting product last year and really like it. This made me keen to try more from this brand so I claimed a trio of sachet samples to give a go.

J Lo One Perfume Sample – sponsored social media advert – I’m fully aware last year I wrote about applying for less samples unless I really wanted to try them. A friend of mine had heard really good things about this fragrance and reckoned I’d like it as they know my taste in perfumes so I claimed to try for myself.

L’Oreal Hair Conditioner Full Size – Marie Claire Beauty Drawer. I was so pleasantly surprised when this arrived as they’ve generously sent a full 200ml size bottle.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair & Primer – samples from a sponsored social media advert.

Gifted Packages

Ocean Saver Starter Pack – the brand previously sent me their innovative cleaning product concentrates that you drop into empty spray bottles to reduce plastic waste. They contacted me at the start of the year offering to send me a item of their choice up to a certain value in exchange for sharing my eco new year’s resolutions as a story on my Instagram.

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Monthly Round Up – The Best Ways I Made Money, Saved Money & Bargains Finds In January ’22

Somehow the first month of 2022 has drawn to a close already. I didn’t bother setting any fixed New Year’s resolutions but one goal I have is to have a summer wardrobe I feel confident in and love. This goal gave me some serious motivation to investigate what I wanted my style to be before going through every item of clothing and footwear I own as well as bags, jewellery, beauty products and more. Since Oct I’ve sold 18+ items and now have another nearly 20 floating in limbo waiting for someone to rehome them. I’m loving the buzz from decluttering and getting funds from it!

Made Money

I really amped up my decluttering and selling efforts this month. I separated my wardrobe into two categories – items I loved and those I wasn’t sure about – nothing left in the uncertain category is safe! I decided to give Vinted a go after seeing many people rave about it on Instagram. I’ve previously thought there wasn’t much point getting the odd £2 here and there but don’t mind when I’m making the effort to visit a Post Office once a week at the moment anyway. By mid Jan, including sales from Oct-Dec I’d made £310. I’ve set a target of £500 for my decluttering. Here’s a breakdown of some of my sales:

• £7.50 – a pair of shoes – eBay
• £2 – a top I was prepared to donate to charity thinking it would never sell – Vinted
• £22 – clothing – eBay
• £10 – clothing a relative gave me over Christmas to add to my selling efforts – eBay
• £5.50 – a brand new lipstick – eBay
• £6.50 – clothing – eBay
• £31.00 – clothing – eBay
• £7.00 – hand bag – eBay
• £12.50 – jewellery – eBay
• £3 – a top that just wouldn’t sell on eBay finally gone! – Vinted
• £12 – jewellery – eBay

I tried reducing prices of items on Vinted when I knew I was off to the Post Office the next day and within 30 mins had a £3 sale for something I thought no one would ever buy.

Saved Money & Bargain Finds

I purchased both of these hauls at the very end of December but somehow they slipped through my December haul post net! I bulk bought from 2 brands I love when I saw amazing sale prices. I know both of these hauls will help me save money through 2022 which is why I went so crazy with adding to my basket.

Lee Stafford sale haul – I bought what will likely turn out to be a year’s supply of hair products for £25.02 from the 70% off Lee Stafford sale. I’ve loved this brand for over 6 years but would never pay full price for the products. I picked up 13 items for my £25.02 and got free home delivery by spending over £25. I stocked up on essentials like dry shampoo which I get through in 6-8 weeks at a time for £1.50 a can.

The Body Shop sale haul – I stocked up on several items in the sale including 3 of their iconic 200ml body butters for £5 each. They usually retail for £16-18 which I could never justify paying. I’ve loved this brand for over 8 years and always used to stock up in the sale to see me through the year so decided to go for it. I also bought a make up remover half price for £6 and 3 minis to add to my present drawer. Their threshold for free home delivery was £25 and if you spent £30 you got £5 off.

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Every Eco Conscious Beauty, Skincare, Home & Lifestyle Swap I Tried In 2021

Every now and then I like to reflect and see how far I’ve come. Back in the summer of 2020 I wrote a post about a few eco swaps I’d like to make to try and do my bit for the planet. I wrote this post without being as dedicated to the cause as I am now. With each switch I made in 2021 the more I realised how easy it could be and that it didn’t need to be crazy expensive to do better for the environment. Some of these products were gifted but, as ever, my thoughts aren’t influenced by this.

I’m really proud of this big list I’ve put together. Rest assured more changes will be coming.

Toiletries & Beauty

Old Item	New Item	Successful Swap?	Trying Something Else?
Deodorant in plastic packaging	Wild Refill	YES	NO
Shower gel	Paper wrapped bar soap	YES	NO
Hand soap	Paper wrapped bar soap	YES	NO
Plastic shampoo bottles	Earth Kind shampoo bar	YES	I have one from Ethique but would use this one again
Plastic conditioner bottles	Ethique solid conditioner bar The Body Shop Refillables	YES (for travelling) YES (for weekly use)	NO
Disposable razors	Friction Free Shaving razor	YES	NO
Plastic packaged body scrub	Homemade Body Scrub using coconut oil and sugar	YES	NO – I loathe the idea of DIY skincare but this stuff is heavenly.

Things Still To Try

I want to try solid block body moisturisers and lip balms in plastic free packaging.

Skincare

Old Item	New Item	Successful Swap?	Trying Something Else?
Garnier Micellar Water	The Body Shop Chamomile Cleansing Butter	YES	I love this so much but… YES – Ethique solid make up remover bar
Cerave Cleansers	Beauty By Zero Face Wash	YES	YES – I’m open to ideas! I’m hoping the Cerave bars land in the UK
La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo Day Cream	REN Evercalm Global Protection Day Cream	YES	YES – but only because sadly this is very pricey
Clay Face Masks	The Body Shop Himalayan Charcoal Mask	YES	NO – nothing measures up to this for me
Disposable Cotton Pads	Reusable Cotton Pads	YES	NO

Household & Daily Life

Old Item	New Item	Successful Swap?	Trying Something Else?
Laundry Liquid	EcoEgg	YES	NO – one of the easiest, cheapest and best swaps I made in 2021.
Fairy Liquid	Ecover Refillable Washing Up Liquid	YES	YES – Ocean Saver’s solid washing up liquid block
Bathroom Cleaner	Ocean Saver Bathroom Cleaner	NOT SURE	YES – I’m open to suggestions!
Toilet Cleaner	Ecover Toilet Cleaner	NO	YES – I’m going to try this brand’s power version. It’s brilliant for limescale but not the best as a toilet cleaner.
Plastic Wrapped Loo Roll	Paper wrapped loo roll (Home Bargains)	YES	NO
Binning Fruit / Veg scraps	Compost Bin with Biodegradable bags	YES	NO
Binning Soft Plastics	Recycling at large supermarkets	YES	YES – trying to reduce the amount of soft plastic in my life where possible
n/a	Reusable metal straws	YES	NO
Disposable coffee cups from cafes	Reusable travel mug	YES	NO
n/a	Refillable glasses cleaner	YES	NO – my local optician lets you refill for free after buying the bottle once

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Rate or Hate? A Review Of Every Mask I Used For My Acne Prone Combination Skin In 2021. Including When Beauty, REN, Epoch & La Roche Posay Effaclar.

With each mask I tried the more I wanted to just go back to a product I know and love. I did complain about it messy and wanting to find a cleaner alternative but after trying several this year that didn’t even come close to measuring up I know a good thing now when I see one!

When Beauty Creamy Mud Pore Clarifying & Minimizing Mask – RRP £14 for 30ml

I got this from a Feel Unique Beauty Kit last year making it nice and affordable.

Likes: gentle peppermint scent, definite creamy texture, easy to wash off, zero sensitisation, glass jar packaging

Dislikes: didn’t get results at all

Rebuy? No

REN Glycolic Lactic Radiance Mask – RRP £36 for 50ml

I got a generous sample size of this from my Space NK loyalty club birthday gift

Likes: I think this helps with any hyperpigmentation from post breakouts, pretty gentle

Dislikes: the texture is a bit like sticky honey which I find very weird

Not sure abouts: I’ve used this about 10 times now and even still can’t place how I feel about this. The smell reminds me of children’s orange scented medicine. The texture is quite gloopy and I’m not super keen on it.

Rebuy? No

La Roche Posay Effaclar Mask – £14 for 100ml

I got this with a LRP haul at the very end of 2020 getting discounted products and several free samples.

Likes: gentle, easy to wash off, creamy texture, no mess

Dislikes: smells like tea, I don’t notice any results from using this

Rebuy? No

Epoch Glacial Marine Mud Mask – RRP £29.53 for 200g

I was kindly sent this after winning a giveaway from Kara Olivia Beauty

Likes : gentle, easy to rinse off

Dislikes: period after opening was only 6 months and the tube was huge so product went to waste. I also didn’t notice any positive improvements.

The Final Word

I’m honestly done trying clay masks now. Although it is horribly messy and a bit of a trial to wash off The Body Shop Himalayan Charcoal Mask hugely helps me with any dark or enlarged looking pores. It comes in a glass jar, the company is making eco efforts and the product lasts me 9-12 months so is affordable when calculated based on this.

Forever Saving For A Rainy Day

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