I don't do haircare reviews for a living and I do have multiple haircare product reviews here on my blog. It is an outlet for me to find out what products works for me and my thoughts on the products. With every product review comes with expenses on that particular product. Let me tell you some hacks you can go to search for products without having to hoard products and burst your bank account!
1. Samples are Your Best Friends!
Some of you may think, a sample isn't enough for you to test it and give a fair opinion if you like it or not. False. I believe if you test out the product and like it on first impression, you may be more compelled to buy a full sized based on that first impression. Also if a company is genuinely confident of the product that they are promoting at that point of time, be it a new launch or a company that can give you samples to try, try it! you never know what hidden gems you might try!
Here in Singapore, there is a site called Sample Store, and they have multiple products that they release from time to time and you just have to pay shipping! They occasionally have promotions where the shipping for 4 samples for $3.99 (U.P $5.99). It's one of my favourite stores to go to online for samples to try out! Best part is that I get to leave reviews for others who are also interested to try and redeem the samples themselves!
Bodyshop also does have occasional samples for you to redeem in stores during their product launches. You can sign up for their membership or even just sign in to check on new releases!
LUSH also has samples for you to try out too to see if the product works for you. Since their items are quite pricey for a tub or jar, I think it is only fair for you to test out if the product does work for you personally before you commit to the full sized. I have some favourites from LUSH but the price point just makes you think twice.
Go search for some of these kind of initiatives in your country and redeem some yourselves!
2. Sniff out good Discounts!
Everybody loves a good discount! Brands and sales do happen online very often and we are no strangers to online shopping at this day and age. Coupon codes and payday deals, clearance sales from brands, they would usually let you know in advance and encourage you to make a wishlist of the items you would love to get during their timed sale period. So hop on those discount wagons and see what they have to offer. You don't need to be the first people to hop onto the hype wagon to get a product, you probably end up spending way too much on that product that you might not be using very often anyway.
Good stores to check on these products are Lazada, Qoo10, Sephora, Iherb and maybe some of you favourite stores too! Just do a little research now and then and keep a lookout for their advertisements whenever you are on Youtube or just browsing the web!
Scout for wholesalers that retail products cheaper even when you purchase single item. This one is a little harder as these will require you to make that decision to purchase the full sized item at a discount. Finding a retailer/wholesaler that can give you a lower pricing for a single item purchase is even harder, but it is not uncommon. Lots of competitors are now finding ways to cut the middleman and dealing directly with the consumer to get them to save more coin when they purchase with them directly.
3. Travel Sized Products
I love travel sized products! I find it more condusive for testing out what works and what doesn't. I also love travel sized makeup because of the duration of a product you will use it. Travel sized items will usually come in either a small packaging or a single use sachet. They usually are pretty affordable since they are more like "samples" to save space during your travels. Great for testing out and contemplating if the full sized product is worth the purchase for you.
4. Second Hand Product
I do occasionally prowl places which sells used items like Carousell, GlamBot for those products which are sometimes used or used lightly and the owner wants to let go at a cheaper rate due to some reasons that the product doesn't suit them. I usually get hair serums and some hard to get samples on there, as some sellers do have hair products that I would be unable to purchase as a regular consumer. Salon samples and overseas products especially are hard to track down and to ship it over, a full sized item may be out of my budget. Do keep in mind that you don't want to hoard products.
5. Earn Cashback to offset your purchases!
Sign up for cashback websites like Shopback, Ebates etc. If you have a Debit/Credit card linked to a bank that will give you cashback above a certain amount purchased. All these little things can offset your expenditure on the items you will purchase for your reviews.
These are the 5 tips on how to save your coin while you are starting up your reviews. I always like to plan ahead and list down products that interests me and when the time is right and I can get a hold of the product, I then start to do my review on them. I hope these tips will help you kickstart your own planning and motivate you to do some financial changes so you don't have to sacrifice your hard earned money.
Till next time!
MSCHFF managed!
XOXO