As you should all know, by now, I love samples. Miniatures, sachets, testers, tiny tubs and tubes and bottles – I have tonnes of them. Quite literally – a few months ago, I had to tip out a whole drawer of my dresser and ‘decant’ my samples lovingly into individual containers, marked for ‘face’, ‘body’, ‘hair’ and ‘makeup’. (Obsessive, moi?) The reason I love these miniatures and samples so much is that I do so much travelling – not the ‘two months away’ type, for which you can pretty much pack full-sized product, but the ‘one rushed night in a Paris put-you-up’ typed travel. This travelling requires precision packing – and for this, sample-sized product is an absolute godsend.

Please take to the stage, Miss Lucy Rose – Princess of the Organic and Natural Beauty internet shopping sites! I’ll make no bones about it – I like Lucy Rose. I like their attitude, and I like their products. They are polite and caring and everything that a non-huge-massive-corporate-beast-retail-site should be. They stock a massive range of brands – many have already been recommended right here on this site; Madara, Lavera, Laveré, Trilogy, Burt’s Bees, John Masters – too many to list here, but you can go and browse for yourself!

And now, a genius idea: Sample Service. You choose two samples of pretty much anything stocked in the store and they will be posted to you for £1. That pound is completely redeemable against any purchase that you then make. The whole pound business is quite clearly to stop unsavoury individuals from ordering thousands of sachets and cute mini-pots, which is absolutely fair in my opinion.

I have trialled the sample service at Lucy Rose to see if it is painless and easy and I can declare that it is. Here’s what I did:

1. Browsed the site here to see what I wanted to try out. I already knew that I would be re-purchasing a Trilogy product which made my £1 a safe investment!

2. Clicked on the Sample page here.

3. Requested ‘Face’ samples, but specified ‘John Masters’ in the details so that I could try a few of his beauty products. I could have been even more specific, but I let fate take over!

4. Added my samples to my ‘basket’ and paid by Paypal.

5. My samples – pictured below – arrived the next day! I actually specified two hair products too (naughty me!) because they are invaluable for overnight stays!

This is a brilliant service – I wish that all online stores did it. It makes expensive purchases far less risky because you can give them a good test – the face products especially give you two or three applications in one sachet. Haircare samples probably give you one application, but it’s easy to tell how that product works for your hair and scalp and whether there will be any adverse reactions. It’s a great, risk-free way to discover new products – and to be able to test them on short-haul modelling trips!

Bravo Lucy Rose, I love this idea – you’re a travelling model’s saviour!