Ugly Bathrooms R Us (Ayton Moon Consultancy)

Member Name: sersha

Product:	Ayton Moon Consultancy
Date:	13/12/04 (352 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: free good quality products for little effort

Disadvantages: trials fill quickly, being unable to change your name and password

I'm always a sucker for a freebie and not adverse to filling in the odd survey provided I know there will be something in it for me. Usually I prefer it to be cash, but free beauty products are always nice to have too, so I'm a fan of this particular site.

Ayton Moon Consultancy (the company behind the website www.cosmeticresearchonline.co.uk) trial products for some large companies, by sending out samples to folk like you and me, and asking us what we think of them. All that is required is to fill in a profile on their website and keep it up to date, so that they can decide which trials to ask you to join. You can profile other members of your family as well, (including wee ones!) which means you have a greater chance of receiving products to sample. The profile includes questions on your health, skin type, what sort of products you generally use, and so on. They then email you when they want you to join a trial, and if you accept (in enough time, as often places get filled quickly), they send you the product within a couple of days. The product they want you to test comes with instructions on how to use it and for how long. So far I have received samples of hand cream, facial moisturiser, and other similar products to try out at home. Sometimes you will be asked to compare two products, sometimes just sent one. Often the products are in unmarked containers so that you have no idea which company you are testing for, which means you can't help but be objective about it. You can always find out who the company was afterwards by contacting the site. Of course, this does mean your bathroom will be full of plain, inexpensive looking containers, so if you are a bathroom snob you might need extra storage cupboards :-)

The product is yours to keep after the trial is over - and in my experience we're not talking single use sachets but real, life-size bottles, which will last for some time. When the trial closes, you fill in your feedback at the website, usually in the form of a multiple choice questionnaire. Sometimes you will be asked to submit your comments. And that's it until the next time. It's important to be punctual with your feedback: there is a scoring system which means that dedicated members who respond on time are more likely to be selected for "additional" extra trials. It's nice that there is a reward for effort in this way! In the same vein, if you always forget to log on and give them your feedback, your "star" rating will drop and you won't be offered many more trials.

When I first read about cosmeticresearchonline.co.uk, my first thoughts were a) must be dodgy products and b)I bet I never get selected for trials. Just in case your thoughts are the same, let me reassure you that the products I have tested have been for well known, respected companies (some of whose products are out of my price range!) and that there is nothing dodgy about them: they are all tested for safety in the same way that products for sale are, so there is no more risk of an allergic reaction to them than with something you buy over the counter. In fact, they actively seek people with sensitive skin or conditions like excema to test trials, so don't be put off if you suffer from something like these. Furthermore there has been absolutely no testing on animals on these products. As for b) I HAVE been selected for trials, albeit only 4 to date - but for example, as my profile indicates that I don't wear make-up at all, I am unlikely to be asked to test it, which eliminates a good number of their trials! I have found though, and this is possibly the biggest negative point, that sometimes trials fill up so quickly that by the time I race to the site to sign up, the trial is full and can't be joined. Your success in this respect will depend on how often you check your email!

Registration is easy: just go to the website and sign up. (You will need to agree to the terms and conditions of course, one of which requires confidentiality about the products you are testing.) The website itself is well designed and easy to use, and there is even a tour you can take to familiarise yourself with it if you aren't sure about anything. Annoyingly the username and password they provide you with cannot be changed to one of your own choosing: you will have to keep it safe somewhere, so that you can find it easily in the mad rush to sign up for trials. Once you have registered, fill out your profile and just wait for your first email invitation to join a trial!

Overall I think this site is worth the effort. You might need to spend 30 minutes filling out your profile in full, although you can of course choose not to answer all the questions if you don't want to. But you WILL be rewarded

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