Don't you just love free stuff? Clinique's Gift-With-Purchase from Dillard's: Part I

Author: Figgy

Oooh, I love me a nice Free-Gift-With-Purchase. And out of all the major brands that sell at department stores, I've found that Clinique is usually the winner when it comes to a great GWP. I've also always trusted Clinique products, so I felt pretty good about spending the minimum $21.50 needed to get it from Dillard's. And as a bonus, I get to review a bunch of Clinique products at once!

It all starts out with a truly cute makeup bag, in the Clinique colors of orange and pink. Very pretty and it's big enough to hold a lot of products while also being a perfect size for my purse.

The bag came with three skin care products and three bits of makeup.

First up is the Superbalanced Powder Makeup with SPF 15. It's supposed to be a sample, but I was happy to see that it's actually a fairly generous one--there's 3.5 grams of the powder, which should last me for a good while. It matches my skin beautifully, too. It's a nice powder makeup that gives me good coverage and, best of all, doesn't clog my pores and keeps the shine away for a whole day at work. My only problem was the brush it came with--it was tiny and flat, which didn't make for good application. But then again, there's only so much you can expect from a free brush. Looking at the actual sizes, I'm not sure I'll pay the $35 for the full-sized product, but it's a good alternative for me to wear when my Bare Minerals runs out. But I really did love how much product came with a free sample. It's that kind of thing that keeps me coming back, Clinique!

Next up was the Moisture Surge lotion. I love this stuff. It's refreshing and light and (like a all Clinique products) comedogenic. I'm very sensitive when it comes to fragrances in moisturizers and Clinique has always been my go-to brand for fragrance-free porudcts. The sample is a 1 oz tube and will come in handy for when I travel, and I think I will save it for those pesky winter days when my skin gets so dry. It's also just a wonderful lotion to wear in the morning. Again though, the actual product is $35, which is far outside my price range, but I'd absolutely consider buying it if I had the money.

Last in the Skincare samples is the Clarifying Lotion. This is part of Clinique's "3 Step" face-cleansing products, and it's basically a toner you use after you wash your face. I've used it before to finish cleaning my skincare routine, but I've found it gives me some bad dry spots if I use it every day. It's a good travel size and the full-sized product is pretty cheap (around $11, so it's an easy way to get to the $25) and it lasts forever. But I've heard some iffy things about the 3 Step system, so be sure to try it before buying if you can.


Phew, that was long. Let's run it down:

Superbalanced Powder Makeup: 7/8 tentacles, with one tentacle taken off for the crazy amount of product you get with one turn of the applicator...an amount that you can't put back at all.

Moisture Surge Lotion: 8/8 tentacles, with a tentative last tentacle for the price of the full-sized product.

Clarifying Lotion: 5/8 A good toner but can be a bit drying and some of you might not even need a toner at all.