I love free samples. When I lived in New York, I would take the subway into the East Village just to go to Kiehls for their free samples. If you targeted the right employee at Kiehls (person under 30 who looks like they want to party, versus older more responsible adult-type), you could walk away from there with half a years worth of Kiehls.

A few months ago I was visiting my parents in Boston on an extended stay and got a facial at the Bliss Spa downtown. I have to get facials regularly because skin is so oily it’s a mini BP disaster. Because I go about once a month, I usually end up going to one of those cheapo, no-frills facial places in LA where for $50, a gruff Eastern European woman will extract gunk from your face, try to get you to pay for a microdermabrasion treatment which you decline, and kick your ass out of there. Once or twice a year, I’ll treat myself to a more spa-like facial, and that’s exactly why I chose Bliss.

Bliss Spa one of those places I read about in my early 20’s when I was living in post-9/11 New York that was a fancy place where only famous people went, like Moomba, or the entire neighborhood TriBeCa. I think I remember reading Gwyneth Paltrow being part of a bridal party that was all treated to pedicures at the Soho Bliss or something.

The Bliss locker room and waiting area is pretty much the sickest thing ever. Besides getting a robe and slippers, and having every conceivable steam and wet room you could want (which I never use, because I don’t get what these rooms are supposed to accomplish. But I still like that they exist.), when you’re waiting for you treatment, there’s like a huge feast in front of you. At Boston Bliss there were cookies, mini cupcakes, tiny olive pimento sandwiches, sliced fancy cheese and crackers, dried fruit, regular fruit, cut-up vegetables and dip, and that fancy water with sliced cucumbers in it that when you try to make at home it tastes disgusting. Basically the Bliss waiting area has the same spread as a medium-fancy wake. It’s the fucking best.

The facial I got was sick (the kind they extract quickly and expertly, and afterwards then they massage your feet, arms, and scalp until you fall asleep). On the way out, a nice Bliss girl offered me some free samples. I chose to take two samples of Glam Glow, at the insistence by the Bliss girl that they would “change my life”.

Young women talking about how beauty products will “change my life” is how I ended up with two drawers full of pricey crap in my bathroom at home which I never use. But this was free, and she was vehement, so I took them.

A few weeks later I used the sample. Holy shit. It was the best mask I have ever used, even including the ones that are applied during a facial. Besides smelling good and feeling all tingly, it left my skin visibly smooth and glow-y the very first time I used it. I’m not someone who uses masks, ever; I mean who has fifteen minutes to let a mask do its thing? But this one made such a big difference I now use it every Sunday while I go through the mail and write checks.

For: Men and women who want a refreshed look, and to add weeks between facials.