Product Reviews and Free Samples

I've always been a fan of free stuff, (hey who doesn't love something for free) and I'm a member of several sites that provide free product samples for you to try at home. It was recently suggested that I start a new blog talking about the different products, (and sample sites) that I've tried.
It's also come to my attention that many people give positive reviews of products they have received from sample sites, just because they want to have a good reputation, and get more free samples; when reality is half the people claim things just because they're free, and not because they'll be used.

This Blog is going to be different though. If i don't like a product, then I'm going to say it.
So here I am ready to share my experiences, and here you are looking for answers about new products.

Got any questions about products that I've tried, feel free to ask.

To get you all started at to give you all the opportunity to try some of the items that I have reviewed try these websites. Underneath each link there is a little bit of information about the 'catch' with each site.

Pinchme
pinchme.com.au   (Australia)
www.facebook.com/PinchmeAustralia
The Site:
Pinchme offers people samples to try in exchange for reveiws. And if you dont review your sample within the set amount of time, then you cant claim anymore. Samples vary from face wash and handcream, to babys nappys and dishwasher tablets.
The Catch:
1.To register with Pinchme you need to provide your mobile number to verify your account - you cant order samples until you do this.
2. Pinchme operates on a reward system, so until you have a high enough number of points you can only claim one sample per week, and samples are often out of stock within minutes of being released.

BrandPower Home Tester Club
www.brandpower.com (Choose from 16 country's including Australia)
The Site:
Brandpower and the Home tester club sends out samples for you to share with your friends and family. Then sends a link o your email address for you and your friends to complete surverys and share your thoughts about particular products. In Australia BrandPower makes TV ad's based on reviews of products.
The Catch:
1. You cant just choose a sample and trial it. To test a sample you put in an 'expression of interest' and answer a few questions about yourself, then THEY choose who they send samples to. So there is no guarantee that you will get the sample you asked for. (or any sample at all)
2. Its often weeks or months between different samples.

Mouths Of Mums
mouthsofmums.com.au (Australia)
The Site:
Mouths Of Mums is a site especially for all you Mothers out there. The website has an interactive community of mothers who offer help, advice and opinions on different topics. (Amber teething beads has been a huge topic for discussion) Mouths of Mums also do product reviews on items that are relevant to mums. samples include books, kids tablets and learning games, health and fitness items etc.
The Catch:
1.There are often a limited number of items available, you are required to answer a survey about the items you would like to review, and more often that not, you dont get chosen.

The Soup
www.thesoup.com.au
The Site:
Soup has a huge range of products to sample from books, to face wash, to pet food. Soup also sends samples for you to share with your friends.
The Catch:
1. You cant just select a sample you would like to try. You fill out a questionnaire, then you are sent invitations to different sample trials, which you must then go through another questionnaire saying why you would be a good person to try the product. There is no guarantee that you will get chosen though.
2. Soup often sends requests for people to arrange parties or get togethers with friends where they can discuss the product theyre trialing, so unless your a social butterfly, this may not be the site for you.

Contagious Network 

http://www.contagiousnetwork.com.au/
The Site:

Contagious network has a website that a lot of the time malfunctions, so that you cant actually sign up, but its worth persevering, because the sample campaigns are awesome.
The Catch:
1. With contagious network you cant sign up for all the trials, in fact due to the website not working most of the time, you cant even see samples. However, if you fill out your profile, contagious network will send you emails with trials they think you might enjoy. From there you fill out a short survey and they let you know whether or not you have been selected, then they send out our sample in the mail.
2. As part of contagious network you are required to share all your samples with friends, not just use them all yourself. You're also required to take photos of you, your children, or the parties you have and include them in your review to be considered for future samples.

Nudie Juice

This sample was sent to me courtesy of my friends at Contagious Network.
As far as juice goes, I tend to purchase whatever is cheaper at the time and still tastes good I've never been one to buy the organic juiced simply because they're so much more expensive and I wasn't convinced that they would taste any better

Firstly I should note that I was sent this sample specifically to give to my kids, and to share with my friends children, however adults drink juice out of boxes too right? Yep, they might have kiddie designs on the boxes, but they're easy to grab on the way out the door to work. (Hey i've even been known to have a go at the puzzles on the back of the box in my lunch break)
Nudie juice is advertising their claim to fame as having nothing but pure fruit juice in every box, with no added water, and i did notice that there are no ingredients listed on the box. Although I'm not so sure how accurate that claim to fame is, because the juices look quite processed, and certainly look, and taste nothing like what I can produce in my juicer machine with 'just pure fruit.' But they still taste quite alright, and the kids will happily drink them, so that's always a bonus. Although the apple and blackcurrent flavour is extremely bitter and not so great tasting
However, having said that the size of these packages is quite different to the traditional 'Prima' style juice box, and it doesn't fit as nicely in the traditional style Tupperware kids lunch boxes, it takes up quite an amount of room being so tall.
Another complaint against nudie juice is the straw. While the straw its-self is nice and easy to use, you simply pull the clear part of the straw out until it 'clicks' into place with the white part of the straw and viola you have an extended straw; But, the holes in the top of the pack are quite small, and they only just fit the size of the straw. This i presume is to stop little kids being able to squeeze the box and make a mess with juice coming out of the straw hole, but it also means that it can be quite hard to get the last little bit of juice out of the box, especially for little children who havn't quite mastered the art of sucking strongly, and as a result, they tend to leave about a centimeter of juice in the bottom of the box, (which then later spills out into the bin making a sticky mess).

The Verdict: The juices taste pretty good, and the kids love the games on the back of the box, however they aren't readily available in all supermarkets yet, and are currently only available in the chilled sections of select Woolworths stores. I would definitely consider buying these for the kids.