When you write about beauty, you end up accumulating a lot of products; samples of everything from glowing face plugs to sparkle glosses to serums that deposit tiny hairs onto your eyebrows. I try to use everything that looks at least marginally interesting at least once in the service of educating myself about what's out there (so that I at least sort of know what I'm talking about when it comes time to write about my favorite finds), but more often than not one use is enough: I'm picky about texture, and often find products too oily, or too thick, or too drying, or too something to make them worth incorporating into my regular routine.
When I finish a sample down to the very last drop, and am still thinking about the product two years later, you know it's a good one.
Way back in 2013, I hosted an event for Macy's in Seattle. Hosting these events involves arriving at the venue around sunrise, and makeup artists and hairstylists are generally happiest when you show up with virtually nothing on your face or hair, because all that does is add a step (taking off whatever you've already done) to their job. But that can be tricky, because...you know...it's sunrise. And sometimes you get there and immediately need to say hello to clients, and run lines with supermodels, and do various other things for which you would really prefer to be wearing a little mascara.
