Sat, Aug. 1st, 2009, 11:24 pm fr3b - Singapore's 1st Sampling Concept Store
Today's the launch of Singapore's 1st Sampling Concept Store - Fr3b at Stamford House and it's my pleasure to be invited to the Store just before the Grand Opening @ 11am to experience the whole sampling concept! As usual, bestie was with me for the exclusive invitation and she sure did enjoyed herself too!
Riding up the escalator to the 3rd storey, a clean and white store front with a very familar logo welcomed us! *as it was the launch today, stacks and stacks of cartons with products & goodies were cluttered around but they'll all be cleared and redeemed by the crowd.
A little information about the Sampling Concept Store: The usual Fr3b.com allows you to check-out samples online for your sampling needs and those samples you have selected will be delivered to your home address with a norminal postage fee. Each check out is limited to only 4 samples (if you have sufficient points which is easily accumulated from referals and reviews of the products you have checked-out).
With this new Sampling Concept Store which is a members-only access store (members have to pay a membership fee of S$28 a year to gain access to the store), you are able to sample more products (up to 8 samples per visit) especially for products that is too bulky for postage (they have full retail size products up for sampling). No more worrying about lost / damaged mails and hefty postage fees!
Once you enter the store, you'll be given a little basket for you to place the samples you would like to redeem with an SMS guide. If you do not have sufficient points for redemption, the SMS guide in the basket guides you to instantly gain points for a quick review of products you have not reviewed.
Once you've gotten your little shopping basket, walk through the blue curtain and it reveals an entire store filled with shelves and shelves of samples!
Over a hundred and 20 choices of samples just for all members! You'll be spoilt for choice like me and bestie!
Notice the tube that bestie's reaching out for? Its a full retail tube of Freeman Facial Masque! Next to that are rice snacks, retail size too! There are hair dyes, hair gels, etc at retail sizes up for grabs too. Best of all? Each sample in the store is still redeemable for just 2 points. YES, just 2 points per product! How cool is that?
BB Cream addicts like myself would totally appreciate the wide variety of BB Cream samples! The entire range of BRTC, Rojukiss and even a new brand, Elisha Coy! You'll get 2 sachets for sampling and they are only 2 points per 2 sachets!
Walking around the store, you'll notice booths and booths of retail products on display. These are not for sale. Infact, nothing in the store is for sale. These are merely testers of newly launched products you are able to get in stores. Great marketing strategy yes?
I like the idea of having a one-way traffic flow. You walk in through one door and exit through the other. No more messy crowds!
Once bestie and myself were done selecting our 8 samples each, we took our little shopping basket and checked-out at the counter at the entrance. Its probably due to the fact that they are relatively new to the entire check-out process so it was a little slow but I'm confident that the Fr3b team will be able to improve the check-out process in time to come.
Oh, upon checking out, the friendly staff prints a 'receipt' with the remainding points in your account and all the outstanding reviews you have yet to do from your previous sampling experience.
What's more enticing to the membership that you pay S$28 a year is that, all members are entitled to a free goodie bag worth over S$50. In the goodie bag, its not only samples! Random full retail size products are included too!
Read on to take a look at my goodie bag! Its well worth the S$28 I tell you!
After completing our 1st Sampling Concept experience, this is what I took home! Best friend took home something similar but with a different contents of goodie bag and 8 different samples that she chose.
These are free with the S$28 membership fee that I paid and for attending the launch of the Concept store. A Dermalogica makeup bag (there were limited quanities of this), the Goodie bag and a copy of July 2009 Teenage magazine with a Free Acnes Medicated Creamy Face Wash that I absolutely adore!
The dermalogica makeup bag / case filled with the goodies from my goodie bag. This case is pretty cool! It comes with 2 compartments, including one zipper compartment to contain your little cosmetic items. I do not usually travel with alot of cosmetics (because it gives me the excuse to buy new makeup when I'm travelling) so I do not own a large makeup bag. My next trip, I'm gonna utilize this! Thank you Fr3b, Thank you dermalogica!
And these are the goodies in my goodie bag! I'm sooooooooooooo excited to have received the BRTC Jasmine Water BB Cream (FULL RETAIL SIZE worth over S$40! *jumps*),Rojujuss Pure Vita C Dual Booster(retails for over S$50 at Watsons), SANA Irohauta Blotter Paper &SANA Naginata Eyebrow Pencil. All full retail sizes! And not forgetting other samples like the Dr Jart+ Silver Label Rejuvenating Blemish Base, Dr Jart+ All Out Black Head, EDT vial from Diesel, Ginvera Nutri White Hydrosoft Whitening Stretch Mask, NuTeen Acne Away Gel, Bio-Essence Nugeno Men skin care, etc.. These are well worth the S$28!
Bestie received some similar sample products with a Canmake giftpack that consists of a full retail size fragrance, nail polish and an eye shadow trio and a full retail Metholatum Lip Balm. I did not manage to find out the other stuffies she received but I did notice other goodie bags that contained the full retail pack of Mentholathum Acnes facial kit that contained a facial wash and the oil control mask.
What goodies did you receive in YOUR goodie bag?
And these are the 8 samples that I checked out earlier. A pack of OB Tampons, Fantastic Delites Rice Snacks - Sweet Chilli & Sour Cream Flavour, Derm's Secret Vit-C Glow Serum(I've been very interested in Vitamin C Serums like the 5th Giveaway's prize as they have very skin cell repair properties), Beauty Talk OxyAqua, Beauty Talk OxyMask(bestie and myself each grabbed this! We have been very intrigued by this product but was not willing to splurge on the retail size), BRANDS Prune Essence Innershine and 2 new BB Creams, Elishacoy Always Nuddy BB 24 & Always Tripple BB with SPF30.
I have 3 BB Cream reviews to complete from today's experience! YAY to Fr3b!
I'm definitely gonna drop by Fr3b's Sampling Concept Store again for more samples! Thank you Fr3b especially Elfaine for today's experience!
Have you gone for your Sampling experience? Be part of Singapore's 1st Sampling Concept Store today!
Not a member yet? Fret not, join today to be part of this whole new sampling experience!
I was there before the opening so bestie and myself were the only ones there. I did not stay till the crowd arrived so I can't tell you about the crowd. hehe.
But do try to go soon to get yourself the goodies! :P
i have no idea man. i have so many cleansers. dont know why either. i have not bought a cleanser (except the neutrogena wave refills) in a long long time but i can't seem to complete any. so weird hor. hahaha
i was there today but my goodies bag is so different from urs... i guess there's a different for top referral. =p
i agreed that the checkout system is slow and sort of messy =x... i only got 7 items instead of 8 cos they said i have checked out 8 items. but that my faults for not counting before hand. ><
overall, i still like the concept and enjoy getting the freebies.. haa
yea, the checkout was a little messy even when my best friend and myself were the only ones there. i can imagine when there's a crowd, how messy it'll be. well, there's room for improvement fr3b team!
yea, the entire concept is really cool huh? i'm looking forward to more new products for sampling and more promos with goodie bags! hehe
i can come up with a hundred and one reasons why the States is better too!the grass is always greener on the other side. hehe =D
Samples are given freely in the States but not here in Singapore. Companies are pretty rigid when it comes to sampling but all thanks to such a sampling hub, we consumers are able to sample products! hehe
You were so lucky. In my opinion, my goodie bag is not even worth the $28 that I had paid for (quite disappointed). What I got was a Acnes set which consist of 2 mask + 1 facial foam (but I do not have oily skin, so still thinking what I shld do with it), 1 sunplay 130 sunblock (which even though i did not like but still definitely useful), 1 piece Ginvera Nutri white stretch mask, a set of Sana's natural resource trial set (which looks like sth that would make me happy), Cosmo Pro and the rest of the stuff are all samples - 2piece rice cracker, nugeno men skincare, nuteen ance away gel, subtle senses voucher.
And didn't managed to grab any samples as I was rushing for time (due to the fact tat I went during the peak afternoon period).. Looking forward to the next time I make a visit, hopefully there will still be something nice left for me to sample. :D
There was about 10-15 people in front of me when I reach, and there was like double the amt of people when I left ard 3.45pm. Total waiting time was abt 30min +
haha I wouldn't mind a canmake set and some lip balm. Somehow I had a feeling that I will get the sunplay sunblock, and I really did. Hope they dun run out of the Oxy mask samples anytime soon..
Wow, your goodie bag does seem worth the $28! My goodie bag only had: 2piece rice cracker, nugeno men skincare, nuteen ance away gel, subtle senses voucher, a ginvera mask and the ACNES 2 piece masks and wash...
yea, i emailed to enquire about the goodie bag too and was told that the "ACNES Goodie bag range" of goodie bag got a glitch as the staffs missed out some great goodies for us which WAS MEANT FOR US!
Elfaine from Fr3b called me personally and mentioned that they just realise it after Fr3b'rs told them yesterday evening and she will arranged to have the goodies repacked and collect them somewhere next week from the store again or as and when we want to come to the store to collect the Free samples. they will be sending us an email for notification.
she apologised for the inconvenienced caused and the long waiting time :( i guess many of you experienced it. i actually qeued for an hour just to get INTO THE STORE
but well, as the whole concept is new and it was their 1st operating day, we should forgive them la...
yeah, i don't blame them for the glitches since they it was their first day. :)
haha, i queued for 1 1/2 hours just to get in the store and the avacado mask was already all gone by then! *sighs* (and that was in the afternoon no less)
wow I din noe saturday was so crowded.. went today around noon time, there was only a few pple ard. Heard from the staff that the goodie bag's value will decrease as the days go by.. so hurry up and sign up !!
my goodie bag consists of a full size Eucerin clarifying facial tonic, full size Acnes medicated oil-control moisturizer, full size medicated Natural Resource protect powder, Ginvera Nutri white hydrasoft whitening stretch mask, a sample tube of Elisha Coy Always Nuddy BB24, Platicare cream (not sure wad is this), Perry Ellis EDT sample, Jean Paul gaultier EDT sample, NuTeen Acne away gel sample.:)
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