The research begins!

I got home from our trip from Sweden on Saturday 7/30 and Monday Aug 1st I tuned into as many conference calls as I could. I think there were three that day ... Beauty Society, Chartreuse and Joan's call. Joan is one of Sensaria's top leaders and she had a call to announce who she tried and who she went with. It was a popular call and very informative. All these calls were wonderfully informative but it sure made my head spin. I was still tired and jet lagged from the trip and it didn't help that my son was going through some medical issues that we thought were more serious than what it actually turned out to be. My whole week was quite the whirlwind and this is what I checked out during this time.

During the last two weeks of July I had been reading about what other leaders in Sensaria were considering and I followed their progress. One that surprised me was Private Quarters because it was so radically different than anything else. It was high quality bed and bath linens plus other things too. I dismissed this company at first but then heard what great things the leaders were saying and then Sensaria's Training Director got hired on there so that started to peek my interest. The more I read about them the more I liked what I heard. I could see myself fitting right in with their message and it seemed like a wonderful company with heart. More on this later! :)

The company that Joan picked was Votre Vu and my Sensaria leader had a get-to-know Votre Vu party with Joan to sample the products. So, I made the 1.5 - 2 hour drive like I often do to attend the team meetings. I figured there wasn't any more team meetings and I already planned on going before Sensaria closed its doors so why not? It was a good opportunity to find out more about why Sensaria shut down so suddenly and also to see what the fuss was all about. I knew about the company of course because Sensaria's former President joined their team a few years ago. I had also tried some Votre Vu products before but only lotions and things like that. I wasn't impressed with what I tried before but I wanted to see if the skin care was as good as they say it is. We sampled all the products and heard about how they are marketing the products too. I didn't like most of the skin care scents and didn't feel compelled to try it on my face. It reminded me of an expensive department store brand and some of the products felt very heavy to me. The prices seemed a bit high too and I didn't like the fact that hardly anyone pays retail for the product. Most people join their preferred customer plan to save 30-50% or they become a Brand Ambassador and sell the product. Why inflate the prices to give a false sense of getting a good deal? I am not a fan of binary compensation plans so all of these things ruled out Votre Vu for me. However, it did appeal to a lot of people in that room as most of my upline team decided to join.

Another consideration for me was Beauty Society which a few leaders decided to join. They seemed to be the most similar to Sensaria's skin care and their compensation plan was similar too. I was put off by all the hot pink and cutesy tongue-in-cheek product names but if some of these die-hard Sensaria leaders picked this company then I had to try them myself. I called their home office and asked for samples and waited for them to arrive. In the meantime, a few gals were getting together to talk about Beauty Society so I went. After seeing the products in person and touching and smelling everything I had a better feeling about this company. I was definitely willing to put them on my face to test them out. I just wish I didn't have to wait a week before getting my samples but they did come at last. It was a bit confusing to figure out all the product names and what to use when but they told me to call back when I got the products so I did. It really helped and I must say I was super impressed after the very first use. I remember touching my face like that 7 years ago when I first tried Sensaria's products! I liked the way they smelled with the exception of the Anytime Anywhere moisturizer. It was a soft fragrance but maybe I would use the oil free moisturizer instead? Overall, it was an immediate and fabulous feeling that I had! Definitely a top contender! It is too bad they didn't have any body care products ... just a little makeup and lash growing serum which looked pretty cool.

Ok, next (I don't know the order I tried everything but let's just go with it) I tried Chartreuse which is a small company based out of California. This company came recommended from another Sensaria rep that I have known for years and it was a company she considered before going with a non-skin care company. They were very eco-friendly and had lots of nice sounding items. I really wanted to like their products. I really did! The prices seemed affordable but after listening to a info call from the founder I got a funny feeling. She was a little too green and eco-friendly for my tastes. Also, they were the only company who was not willing to send me free samples. We had to order them ourselves and the shipping was rather high on a small box of samples that didn't weigh very much. The discount code they gave me only paid for the shipping so it didn't feel like I was getting any sort of deal. Then when the stuff arrived the eye cream had totally separated which wasn't appealing at all. I think perhaps I ordered the wrong samples for the skin care as I don't like creamy cleansers but it said it was for combo/sensitive skin. It smelled very natural (which wasn't always good) and it looked like someone made it in their kitchen. I had to wash my face again with my Sensaria cleanser to feel like my face was clean. I also didn't like their moisturizer either as it was too greasy and didn't soak in. I also tried some body washes and lotions too and I actually liked the Vanilla Almond Shea Butter body wash. I loved the smell and it was wonderfully moisturizing without being sticky. I tried the kid's body wash and it was just okay for me. I wish the smell was more appealing as it was an odd combination for me. Sweet orange, aloe and rosemary? I didn't like the Lemongrass body wash as it was very runny and I just don't think the scent meshes well with my body chemistry. I even tried the Lemongrass lotion and it was the same. It feels nice however but I just didn't like the smell. I also really liked the Vanilla Almond Shea Lotion but it needs to come in a tub or something as it was very thick. I would consider ordering lotions and body wash from this company and maybe the high shipping is more justified if they are heavier items?

Next up on my sampling list was NYR Organics. A networking friend had suggested them and gave me a local gal's name. Not too long after that very same gal found me on Facebook. I thought it was definitely a sign for me to try out this product line! I had heard of other people in Sensaria trying it too so I thought I would give it a shot. I met up with the gal and she was extremely nice and very helpful. It seems like a nice company and it is one of the few certified organic companies out there. They came from an apothecary background and their product line is heavily based on essential oils. Yes, the products were strongly scented but at least they weren't heavily perfumed. It was just different. I did take some samples home and try them out but I would rather see great results than have an organic, essential oil skin care. I love what they are doing and how much they care about the environment! I am just not organic enough to truly love these products.

So that wraps up the first week!