Why Fyrinnae doesn't offer eye shadow samples.

A few years ago, perhaps seven, we first started offering samples. They were about 1/8 of a teaspoon in *gasp* in little zip-close bags. Which I refuse to call "baggies", as that is the brand name of a sandwich-type bag that has no closure. Anyway, after a while, maybe in 2006, I changed to small clear polystyrene jars. The samples for most products were 1/4 teaspoon, which was, and still is, the average size allotted for samples with small independent cosmetic companies. Products like foundation and finishing powders got more per jar, since one uses more per application than an eye shadow or whatnot. These were first $1.25 to $1.50 then $1.50 to $1.75 when I had to increase product prices slightly once.

A couple years later, The perfectly-sized scoops we used were altered by the manufacturer, and ended up being slightly larger (of course we could have used others, but this ended up working out better). To compensate, I just increased the size allotted per product to 1/3 teaspoon - except for the Arcane line because of the ingredient and price difference, increased the price a little (to $2 for shadows), and stopped calling what was clearly a large amount of product a "sample" and changed it to "Mini". Face products are still samples, as you need more and won't get 15-20 uses out of a tiny jar, but by now you all know that a Mini jar of shadow is no sample, and it can last weeks, even months. A sample of product should allow the consumer to try the product at least once, ideally 2-4+ times, but isn't meant to be a substitute for the retail size(s). So, for the past few years, our 1/3tsp Mini size is the small eye shadow you can buy without risking a large purchase, and yet still have plenty to last for many uses. The blush is somewhat in between; there's about 1/3tsp in each sample jar, and that should last for a few applications, but depends on how much you use (and blush application isn't as precise as eye makeup). Most of the time, we err on the side of caution and give a little more than 1/3tsp of product. Primers and finishing powders come close to filling the jar.

Have I bored you all yet?

We're looking forward to bringing out a few new things next week, if all goes well. I'll see how things are after this weekend, but at least the pace has finally slowed down a tad.  All orders through the 22nd were sent off this morning, and just a few remain from 4/23.