Sample Saturday: Biore Restore Skin-Boosting Night Serum

Beauty samples have to be popular. They are everywhere. I am finding more and more of these flat sample packages in my magazines. I get them in the mail. Companies that have a Facebook fan page often have sample lotteries. If I oreder a product, the company usually puts in a wee sample of another product they think I might like. We love samples!

I like them too. There's a bit of excitement in a miniature version of the large size. Try before you buy. Check it out with no financial investment!

Here is the full-size version of a sample I tried...

Biore's 'Restore' Skin-Boosting Night Serum. Biore is the same company that brings you those nose strips that you wet, apply, let dry, take off and get grossed out with the junk it gets out of your pores. I bet you've tried those samples!

Here's the scoop on the serum before I share my own story about it.

This has been my favorite part of my night time skin regimen for over a year. I love what serums do to my skin. Biore tops them all for me. When I apply this, it slides on so smoothly. My skin drinks it in. And in the morning when I touch my face, I cannot believe how soft and smooth it feels.

This serum is a creamy serum. It feels cool on the skin and the smell is a slight citrus fragrance. I'm showing you about 1/2 a pump from the bottle. A full pump takes care of my entire face and down my neck. I apply this after washing my face at night, I let it dry and then I touch it up with a heavier moisturizer if my skin feels a bit tight on the tops of my cheeks and forehead. I don't use 'Restore' under my eyes as I have another product I use there.

Taken from the box, Biore describes it as follows:

Nourishes & soothes skin as you sleep for a brighter, more rested appearance in the a.m. Oil-Free. (This product) infuses your skin with powerful antioxidants and skin regenerating vitamins A and C while you sleep. Featuring soothing chamomile and aloe, plus a blend of rosemary, sage and nettle extracts, this formula is designed to work overnight to help recharge skin's appearance so you wake up looking refreshed and ready to face the day. 

All great and wonderful stuff, right? I love it. And when I finished a miniature sample bottle of this, I got more.

So, here's my story...
I have a habit of saving small samples like 'Restore' until I travel. These are perfect for packing into my makeup kit as I won't go without my skincare items. I got this one sometime back in a sampler kit from Target. Silly me, I saved it for my Christmas trip to my brother's in 2010.

I, then, discovered, how great this product was. My skin had never felt so smooth in the morning. And I was in Denver with practically zero percent humidity. My skin wasn't used to that at all, living in Florida!

Thus, I began to use it regularly when I got home. When it got down to the end, I went to buy more. I checked Target, nope. Then Walmart, Walgreens and Ulta. No. I got on the Internet and my heart dropped: they had discontinued it! Gasp! No!!!!

Now, just where do you go when you are looking for a hard to find (HTF) beauty product? Yes, I went to Ebay. There I got a lot of 3 bottles for around $12. The bottle in the photos is the end of the first of those three. It lasted about 10 months.

Moral of my story: don't hold onto samples because I might learn that I'm too late to purchase full sizes. While hunting for replacements, I see that Biore doesn't, currently, have any serums in its line of skin care. Biore, please come up with a serum again just like this one!

I have to know...has this ever happened to you?