Tip of the Day #9: Mineral Makeup Samples

I've only recently started to venture into mineral makeup again (after the personal disaster that was Bare Minerals). These days, it seems like every company is releasing their own line of mineral makeup - and fake ones are popping up everywhere. How do you know which lines are legitimate and trustworthy? Oftentimes, a good company will offer very cheap or free samples, which you should take advantage of before trying any new company's makeup. Here, I've compiled a list of some companies that give free samples, and which charge a small fee for them.

Free Mineral Makeup Samples


Everyday Minerals will give you five free samples (scroll down to see the kit) of your choice of three foundations, one blush and face color, and one concealer. All you have to pay for is whatever shipping method you choose! My shipping cost a mere $3, very affordable.

Ocean Mist Cosmetics, which I've heard good things about, also offers their "Try Me" Sample Kit - including three foundations, a concealer, a face color, and a finishing powder - for free. Shipping is a little pricer than some other sites at $5.30 for the most basic, but the sample sizes are reasonable and the quality might make up for it.

Signature Minerals is giving away six free color samples, plus the cost of shipping, on their site as well. The nice thing about this company is that you can also sample their eye colors! And if you want to make any purchases, they're offering 15% off everything through July 18.

Other Mineral Makeup Samples


Alice Cosmetics, featured in a Spoiled Pretty giveaway, sells sample sizes of their mineral products for $2.50 each.

Alima Cosmetics gives sample portions of all their products, prices varying from $1-2 each, including their foundations, shadows, blushes, and lip balms! This appears to be another very high-quality, affordable line of mineral makeup that I'll have to try for myself.

Beauty from the Earth offers a five-piece sample set with any five products of your choosing for $5, or $1 per sample. They also offer a ten-piece set for $10, or a 20-piece set for $18. The website claims the amounts given will be enough for a few applications. They also have some great prices on their full-sized products!

Coastal Scents, now famous for their brushes and mineral makeup, provides samples for many of their products ranging from $1-3, as well as sampling kits for their foundations.

KT Naturals offers a six-piece sampling kit for $5 that includes four foundations, one blush, and one finishing powder, as well as free shipping for orders over $50.

LauRess is giving samples of their products for prices that range between $1-3 per sample, including foundations, blushes, eyeshadow, and lip glosses.

Lumiere Cosmetics is offering their own Try Me! Sample Kit for $9, but the price includes free US shipping - so that basically, you're getting the kit for $6. Not a bad price at all! The sample sizes also look fairly large, unlike some other companies. They also offer free shipping on orders over $25 right now with a discount code on the site.

Meow Cosmetics provides small sample versions of all their products, from foundation to eyeshadow, for $1.00 per sample bag. The portions vary with each product type; see the website for full details.

Hopefully this list is enough to keep you busy sampling and swatching for a long time! Enjoy, ladies!

Do you know of any other sites with great samples? What's your favorite brand of mineral makeup?