Splashing Out At Avon | Haul

Once upon a time, I used to be Avon representative. 

It wasn't a very fun job at all and I certainly didn't reap all of the benefits that they promise to you. Working on 11% commission only on sales over £75 is hardly a big earner and a lot more time and effort goes into the process than is originally advertised. You must go essentially go door to door around your neighbourhood, or pester the other females in your life, delivering and handing out brochures in hope that someone will flick through and place an order. A few days later you must then trek back out again to collect these brochures from every house and people are supposed to leave them on the doorstep with their orders filled in but many people do not do this and you must pester them for it. Then, online you must order each of the products ordered by your customers and they are delivered to you, to your house. Here comes the bad part: you must then go out again to each customers house, this time with their products, and deliver them but also collect the money in cash there and then from the person. What happens if you go all the way to a persons house with their order and they aren't in? You can't leave it on the doorstep and walk away, then you haven't collected the money for it. So that is the tricky part of actually making sure that people are in and have cash available to pay to you when you arrive. By the time you have stopped pestering your customers, handed out their products and collected payment, you must then send away all of the money you collected and send it off to Avon. If you are short on the amount of money collected for some reason, maybe you couldn't get hold of somebody or maybe they changed their mind, then the money must come out of your own pocket to make up for it. Also, each customer is entitled to a refund too if they so wish and this must come out of your own pocket. All in all, not a simple process! 

On my first attempt I made sales of £32, so received no commission. On my second attempt I made sales of £45. But still received zero commission because I hadn't reached the £75 sales threshold. By this time I decided to give up as I had badgered my neighbours, family, and my mum's work colleagues for 2 months and had put in a lot of my own time to deliver their products to receive nothing in return for it. 

So, one day last month when an Avon brochure landed up on my doorstep for the first time since I moved house, I realised that some poor soul must be trying their hardest to make a few sales so I had sympathy and put in an order to help them out! Avon has never really been a brand that has appealed to me and for some reason I think it's always had the stigmata that it is for older people. I had a good flick through and saw a lot of things that caught my eye - here is what I ordered:

(I haven't tried a single one of these products yet so there will be reviews to come, I just want to show everybody what is out there and the range of products that are available; there is more than just nail varnish and foundation sold by Avon!)

Morroccan Argon Oil Leave In Treatment 30ml - £2.99
This was going to be a sure order for me. It's currently Avon's featured product with an introductory price of just £2.99 (usually £5.00). I've seen this pop up on blogs time and time again and each time the review on it was positive. I'm a huge fan of using oil on the ends of my hair and I am looking forward to trying out a super cheap alternative to others on the market and seeing how it lives up to the other leading brands.

Morcoccan Argan Oil Shampoo 250ml - £1.50

Moroccan Argan Oil Conditioner 250ml - £1.50
If I was getting the leave in oil treatment I thought that I might as well go all out and get a matching set of shampoo and conditioner to reap the full benefits and get the advertised '360 nourishment'. At £1.50 for a 250ml bottle that's an absolute steal and it isn't going to be the end of the world if I don't love it.

Acai Berry & Shea Oil Hair Souffle 125ml - £1.25
Ever the lover of deep conditioning masks and leave-in treatments to help out my damaged hair I couldn't resist ordering a hair 'souffle'. I've never heard of a mask be called a souffle before so I don't know if there's an actually difference or if it's just Avon trying to be different. The directions say to distribute evenly throughout wet hair after shampooing, leave for 5 minutes and then rinse thoroughly. It smells absolutely GORGEOUS and I love that there is a warning on the tub that the product is not edible! The tub isn't very big so I'm not sure how long this will last but I am looking forward to rotating this into my shower routine and hope it will nourish my hair a bit.

Strawberry and White Chocolate Shower Gel 200ml - £1.30
I don't need another shower gel at all, I have a cupboard full of bottles waiting to be used! I was attracted to the idea of a strawberry and white chocolate scent though and it won me over by being so cheap too. This is something a bit different to the usual scented shower gels that you find and I thought that I would enjoy it and at least give it a try.

Blemish Clearing 3-in-1 Cleanser/Scrub/Mask 125ml - £5.00

Blackhead Clearing Daily Cleanser 125ml - £4.50

Pore Penetrating Invigorating Scrub 75ml - £4.00
I've been looking to try out a new skin care regime for quite a long time as mine is a bit all over the place at the moment. I do use a cleanser, exfoliator, toner and moisturiser but each one is from a different brand and I feel that if they were all from the same brand or range then they would work in harmony with each other and the results would be stronger. If my thoughts on this are true or false could somebody let me know??
Anyway, Avon stocked three different ranges in their skincare: Blemish Clearing, Blackhead Clearing and Pore Penetrating and across all of the ranges there was an offer of 3 for £6. I couldn't decide which range I wanted to go for as I could do with benefits from all three, so opted for one thing from each range to give them a try and see what I think. I was originally just going to go with the 3-in-1 Cleanser for £5, but if I could get another 2 products for an extra £1 it would be silly not to! I made a fantastic saving of £7.50 with this offer and got almost two products for free.

Total: £14.54

I think that's such a bargain price for 8 products, including a shampoo, conditioner, oil treatment, deep conditioner, shower gel and full skin care set! All of the items appear to be good quality too so the quality isn't compromised with the price.

Do you ever order from Avon? Have you ever been a representative too?

♥