A Foil a Day in February 2019 – Challenge to Use and Review the Beauty Packets Deal Shopper Collect

What do you do with all those foil packets you collect? Trying a foil is a great way to see if your skin reacts to the product, you cannot tolerate the smell, the consistency is annoying, or if there is anything about the product that bothers you. Sampling a foil and thinking you need to have that product in your life is rare, but it does happen. This is most likely to happen with products where you can see instant results. My plan is to try a foil of something new or something I have not used in a long time every day during a challenge month. To give my skin a break from constant new products, I will only complete foil challenges in even months. Feel free to take part in this challenge with me. If you are a fellow deal shopper, I bet you have a lot of foils stockpiled in your collection.

I suggest trying a variety of new products instead of too many of one type. Too much change can irritate the skin, and it easier to see how a specific product reacts when you are not introducing new items to that area too often. If you have sensitive skin, I  also recommend you only try one new product a day to know what is causing irritation should you react to something. The 28 products I’ve selected for February 2019 are below. As I use them, I will edit in my first impressions. They will not necessarily be used in the order listed. I want freedom to grab whatever item I want each day and write about the products when I choose to. Some foils are big enough for multiple uses, so I may come back and edit more detailed reviews if I notice anything else from extended use.

7th Heaven Black Seaweed Peel-Off Deep Pore Detox – I always enjoy a peel off mask that is not painful and comes off in one piece, so I can look at my face via the mask and see what if anything the mask did. This mask checked both of those boxes. It did not do much else though. There were no signs that it pulled anything out of my skin. My skin did not look brighter or more firm afterward either. In fairness to this product, I do not have oily skin. Someone who does is better suited to review this.

Alterna Haircare Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture Conditioner – I tried this before, but a single sample was not enough to cover all my hair. This time, I used 2 0.25oz samples and found it was enough. Now, I can finally offer a proper review. There was some frizz reduction and my hair did look clean. It did not seem special enough to justify the price tag though.

Alterna Haircare Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture Shampoo – I tried this before, but a single sample was not enough to cover all my hair. This time, I used 2 0.25oz samples and found it was enough. Now, I can finally offer a proper review. There was some frizz reduction and my hair did look clean. It did not seem special enough to justify the price tag though.

Alterna Haircare Caviar CC Cream 10-in-1 Complete Correction Leave-In Hair Perfector – The main thing I want from a leave-in is detangling. I do not really care what other nine things it does if it cannot do the thing I really need it for. Since I have a bigger sample of this, I will try it to see what of the 10 it promises does it actually deliver on. It does not detangle hair very well at all.

Amore Pacific Moisture Bound Rejuventaing Serum – This is a thick serum that added hydration to my skin. I would need a bigger sample to see if it does anything else.

Beautaniq Radiant Glow Sheet Mask – This is a really wet mask, so it makes my skin feel deeply moisturized. I did not notice it added any particular glow.

beautyBlender liquid blendercleanser – It does seem to work as well as the old version, but it takes a lot more product. If I were to purchase this I would spend a small fortune.

BLAQ eye mask – I’ve decided not to place eye masks in these foil challenges anymore. Since I never know when my eyes will be puffy with dark circles, it is hard to test them the way they are intended. The April challenge was getting ready to start and I did not have one good opportunity to see how these work. Use the search bar to see if I tried them again later and they made it into an empties. For now, I can only tell you that they feel refreshing. Most of the moisture stays in the package, so I do not find they moisturize the under eyes as well as some other masks. My eyes were neither puffy nor experiencing dark circles, so I cannot review the effectiveness for either of those issues.

Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte’s Magic Cream – This really did feel incredible. My skin was super plump and hydrated. I did not apply makeup on top, but I bet it would have looked great if I did. The price is still a little hefty for me, but I would happily use any samples I am fortunate enough to receive.

Clinique Smart Custom Repair Serum – I cannot tell if this does anything, but it does not irritate my skin. Based on this foil, I will try the bigger sample I own to see if it has long-term effects. The consistency is a little thick, so it does add some moisture to my dry skin.

Davines MINU Hair Serum – My hair does not have color (at least not any I care to keep), so I cannot review the product that way. It promises shine, and I can confirm it delivers.

Dermal Q10 Collagen Essence Mask – This was hydrating and soothing. I did not notice much else, but I never expect much from these super cheap masks.

drybar On the Rocks Clarifying Charcoal Shampoo – This lathered nicely and had enough product for my entire hair. At 0.23oz, most shampoo packets would have fallen short. It gave my hair the squeaky clean feeling I expect from a clarifying shampoo.

Freeman feeling beautiful Hydrating cactus + cloudberry Water Gel Mask – I tried this first as a sleeping mask. Even with a relatively light application, my face kept sticking to the pillow. When I applied it as a sleeping mask the second time, I used an application so light that the product mostly absorbed into my skin before I even fell asleep. Yet, when I finally laid down, my face once again stuck to my pillow all night. Knowing I would not leave this on my skin overnight anymore, I decided to apply a really liberal amount to my face for 10 minutes as a hydration mask. After I rinsed it off my face, it was still sticky. No worriess, I thought. That happens sometimes until the product seeps in. Then, it was time for bed. I laid down, and my face stuck to the pillow. This is just too sticky no matter how I used it.

Hask monoi Coconut Oil Nourishing Deep Conditioner – This left my hair feeling softer, less tangled, and less frizzy.

Hempz Sweet Pineapple & Honey Melon Herbal Volumizing Conditioner – This smells amazing and definitely provides lots of volume as promised. My hair looked super frizzy though, so I would not purchase it.

Hempz Sweet Pineapple & Honey Melon Herbal Volumizing Shampoo – This smells amazing and definitely provides lots of volume as promised. My hair looked super frizzy though, so I would not purchase it.

Hempz Tahitian Vanilla & Ginger Herbal Body Moisturizer – This smells nice, and I liked the formula. I cannot say I would run out and buy it, but I would like to sample it again.

It Cosmetics Confidence in a Cleanser – This smells nice and lathers well. It does not leave my skin with a squeaky clean feeling, but it does not dry it out too much either. I find it somewhere in between one that strips and cleanses well and one that gently cleanses but leaves skin soft.

It Cosmetics Confidence in an Eye Cream – This is a rich eye cream that make my under eyes feel very moisturized. I did not notice it brightening, because I find the apricot tint goes on clear. When my skin is plump, my fine lines do not look as bad. As this plumps my skin, it also makes my lines look less noticeable.

LA Fresh travel-lite Makeup Remover Wipe – This is a large wipe that is not particularly wet or dry. It removes eye makeup without burning, although I did get a slight hint of an uncomfortable feeling. When I used my micellar water afterward (to test its effectiveness), a decent amount of makeup came up on the cotton. While I have yet to find a makeup wipe that removes everything, I’ve found others that remove more than this one.

Murad Rapid Resurfacing Peel – This had an instant brightening effect. Thankfully, I have a box, so I can see if there are any long-term brightening effects. It did not irritate my skin, and it made it feel clean and smooth.

NuFace Prep-N-Glow Cleanse + Exfoliate + Hydrate – I loved the exfoliating side. The little beads are perfect without being too harsh or too gentle. Since the cleansing side did not lather, I did not feel like my face was really clean. My skin did feel very smooth and dewy. If I used this again, I would just use a foaming cleanser first.

Patchology FlashPatch Lip Renewal 5 Minute Hydrogel – I decided to apply this lip mask before a day of testing a new liquid lipstick. Liquid lipsticks are really awful on my lips. This is less wet than most other lip gels I’ve used, but it worked extremely well. My lips felt moisturized long after I applied it. It was not until the liquid lipstick I applied dried down before they started feeling dry. That blame all goes to the liquid lipstick. Lip gels give me a whitehead near my lip within two days of application more than half the time. If that does not happen with this one, it might be a keeper.

Paula’s Choice Resist triple-Action Dark Spot Eraser 7% AHA Lotion – I did not notice any changes, but a product like this takes time to work. It does have the brown consistency, which does seem to work better than similar products that have a different color. If I got a bigger sample, I would try this again.

Sephora Charcoal nose strip – It did not really pull much out of my skin, but in fairness to the product, my skin did not have much to clear out. This always pulls a lot out of my husband’s skin, so I know it works. I am not convinced it works better than the Biore strips, which are a lot cheaper.

Ulta Beauty Orange Grapefruit + Papaya Super Juice 1-in-1 smoothie shower gel, bubble bath & shampoo – This smells like fresh oranges, which is a scent I really love. Unlike some of its sister products, this is not as thick. It lathers well and does not require a lot of product to do so.

Ulta Beauty Pink Sorbet Moisturizing Body Lotion – I love the baby powder smell this has. It does seem to moisturize, but it does not pass the scratch test. Less than 24 hours after using it, I get white marks when I scratch an area I applied this to. That is a sign that it is not moisturizing enough.

Vichy Pore Purifying Clay Mask – I did keep this on longer than recommended, so it did start to dry on my face. Unlike some clay masks, it started to feel really soft as soon as I rinsed it off. That leads me to believe this dries my skin out less than an average clay mask, which my dry skin appreciates. When I use my second sample of this, I will take it off right at 5 minutes, because I have a feeling it will leave my skin even softer. My skin did look pretty clean when I rinsed this off.

vitabath Spa Day Cool Spearmint & Thyme Body Wash – This has a decent lather and a strong spearmint fragrance. It also rinses clean.

What do you think about my February 2019 Foil Challenge? Let me know below. Thanks for reading about this challenge, and a special thanks to anyone who follows along with the challenge. It only makes it more fun to complete it with other people. See more challenge articles. View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.