About The Sample Cellar

Thanks for visiting my page! My name is Orla, and I've been mad about skincare and makeup for the past 5 years or so.  I live in Wexford and I'm a mother of 3 kids, so I need all the help I can get!

The Sample Cellar is an idea I had been toying with for about 2 years.  In fact, it’s something that first came to me in a dream one night and I woke up and made a note in my phone immediately, on 4th January 2021 according to my notes app!

I tested out the theory in 2022 with samples of May Lindstrom’s famous (and eye-wateringly expensive!) Blue Cocoon, which proved very popular! Some who sampled it loved it and went on to purchase the full size, others discovered that they didn’t like it.

Those who purchased the full size did so safe in the knowledge that they were investing their hard earned money in a product they had tried and loved. Those who didn’t enjoy the sample, potentially saved themselves from the upset of spending a fortune on something they wouldn’t enjoy. Win-win!

When the idea first came to me, we were mid pandemic and I wanted to buy/try some new makeup releases but couldn’t get into beauty counters etc. at the time due to travel restrictions. A prime example would be the Nars Soft Matte Complete range which launched mid lockdown.  I was really keen to try it but just couldn’t get my hands on a sample!

Having said that, I find beauty counters quite inaccessible in general, being located only in the cities and huge department stores. Really not handy for so many of us!

I find some, not all, of the girls (and guys) on counter can be a little intimidating or just find they’re not on my wavelength, and I sometimes feel a bit judged if I’m honest!

At beauty counters, I often feel like I’m scrounging if I ask for a sample, and have had really bad advice in the past when it comes to shade matching.

Findation.com is a great resource for finding a shade, but you can sometimes be in between shades, or maybe you’d like a tan shade and a no-tan shade, but you’d still like to try the formula first, see how it suits your skin, how it applies, how it wears, if it works with your favourite SPF, primer etc. Finding your shade is only half the battle!

Of course, this isn’t just a makeup issue, the same also applies to skincare, perhaps more so as skincare products can be infinitely more expensive and more problematic/ reactive depending on your skin and the ingredients.

Obviously I’m talking mostly about non “drug store” brands, high end and online only brands, as well as those that might only be available in the US or other countries.

Yes, it is sometimes possible to get samples from places like Cult Beauty, Look Fantastic, Space NK for example, but you can usually only get them with a full size product purchase and then you’re limited to a small number of sample options to choose from.  Travel sizes/minis are also available to purchase for some products, but they are very limited and these can be quite expensive themselves.

Creams, cleansers, serums, oils, balms, gels, SPF; whatever the product, we want to know the scent, the texture, how it behaves with other products and under our usual makeup etc.