22 Comments »

1. Hi Erika,

   Is the sample really free? Or do you have to pay when 30 days are up? I find the “free 30-day trial” a little confusing.

   Comment by Kahani — July 11, 2008 @ 6:54 am

2. I went to the website and ordered a free trial yesterday after reading about it in your blog. But I was just reading some things about the company on the BBB (better business bureau) and other website and I thought you should know about it.
   The company offers you the “free kit”, and apparently once you receive it, it comes with a letter saying that if you don’t return your “free” product” within 30 days, they automatically charge your credit card US$96 every month or something like that. And I also read that, by the time the product gets to your house, you only have a couple of weeks to send it back. So it is a big SCAM. I think it would be helpful if you mentioned this detail on your blog post, so people don’t fall in the trap. I am going to call them now and see if I can cancel my “free trial” order.

   Comment by Thais — July 13, 2008 @ 9:26 am

3. Wow, thank you for letting us know, Thais!! I’ll update the post now… All the best, Erika

   Comment by Beauty Editor — July 13, 2008 @ 9:47 am

4. No problem! Hope this helped.

   Comment by Thais — July 13, 2008 @ 10:37 am

5. I looked again and they do not mention this on their website. Once you order the samples, you get a confirmation email, and in the bottom of the email it says:
   “ou have a full 30 days to try your RAWMinerals Discovery Kit. If you enjoy RAWMinerals, do nothing. You’ll be billed one low payment of $90.00 on 8/11/2008. That’s a 50% SAVINGS off the retail price.

   Plus, you’ll enjoy free enrollment in our SmartShip service. You’ll get a 2-month supply of RAWMinerals Foundations and Active Veil every 60 days and lock in the members-only price of just $59.50 per shipment billed to your credit card. You SAVE 30% on every shipment! No risk. No obligation. Cancel anytime!

   If for any reason during the 30-day trial period you are dissatisfied with your Discovery Kit, simply return the products (even if the jars are empty). You will NEVER be billed and you will receive NO future shipments. Your free brushes — a $70.00 value — are yours to keep even if you cancel.”

   Comment by Thais — July 13, 2008 @ 5:44 pm

6. This is bad as we need to pay even though they say it is for free. Well people who like it has a good advantage on the shipping, well thats all that the company offers.

   Comment by Julie — July 14, 2008 @ 12:12 pm

7. Purchase BareMinerals instead of a copycat product. You can now pick it up at Target and it is a superior product. A starter kit with all the brushes and DVD on how to use is about $50. I use mine everyday and it lasts for 6-8 months.

   I received my “Free” sample Saturday and after reading the letter it is going back today. I don’t even want the cheap brushes they sent as a gift.

   Thanks for hearing me out, Gloria

   Comment by Gloria Tayman — July 15, 2008 @ 8:17 am

8. have you been really busy lately? i know you have a life outside of blogging but i’m disappointed in how often you put up new posts….just fill us in if youre really busy

   Comment by Cinthia — July 15, 2008 @ 9:15 pm

9. Thanks Thais for clearing it up! It was this dodgy “free trial” offer that stopped me from blogging about Raw Minerals at all on my blog. I was rounding up free samples in a post, and thought theirs was fishy.

   Did you manage to cancel your order? Do keep us updated!

   Comment by kahani — July 16, 2008 @ 7:07 am

10. Kahani, I couldnt cancel the order. I ordered it on a saturday, called them on sunday and got an automated message. Then, on monday morning, I got to work and there was already an email in my mailbox telling me the order had been shipped!
    They were pretty quick at shipping it so I couldnt cancel it. Once it gets here, I will try it once then send everything back.

    Comment by Thais — July 17, 2008 @ 7:15 pm

11. I read your post on this a few days ago, I was intrigued. Never heard of them before so I did some online research on this company and was really shocked at how A LOT of people hate them. Go on MakeupAlley or just google “Raw Minerals” and you’ll see how much of a scam they really are. Just warning you guys.

    Comment by Hannie — July 18, 2008 @ 2:41 pm

12. Wow, I’m glad I checked back into this, too. I couldn’t believe they’ve charged my card for this stuff and then when you wind your way through their confusing website you find out they’re going to charge a lot of money for this “free trial.” What a crock & it should be reported somehow, somewhere. What a dishonest company.

    Comment by Jackie — July 19, 2008 @ 11:19 am

13. me again… there’s a lot of entries on ripoffreport.com about this company, so everyone needs to make sure we’re only out the $4.95 on this “free sample.” I’ve contacted Citibank to prevent their attempts to charge anything else, but other people haven’t been so lucky & haven’t been able to cancel what they signed up for by mistake. Had this been presented as a “$90 if you like it” type thing, which it is, I NEVER would have wanted to be involved.” Erika, I’m sure yours was free…but it needs to be posted with your picture of the offer and link to the website that it’s a potential $90 commitment. That or remove it from your front page of this website. I’m furious when a business does something like this, and I’m furious it’s going to cost me even the $4.95. I’m just glad I checked to see where the heck it is, because the 30 days is being eaten up by their lag in shipping that stupid stuff to me, which I plan to refuse the package when it arrives.

    Comment by Jackie — July 19, 2008 @ 11:48 am

14. Ouch. I got stunk by this one too. I tried to cancel it within 5 minutes of hitting the submit button. Couldn’t do it because they use some sort of shipping operation and between the two different companies they claim that they can’t cancel the order. Yeah, right.

    Who cares what the product is like? It’s going back today for the smallest shipping charge I can find that lets me prove I sent it back. Good idea about trying to prevent future charges on the charge card.

    That “free” offer is doubly offensive when you get the box and it’s filled with literature about what a great organic, tree hugging company they are.

    Comment by olfnut — July 21, 2008 @ 8:41 am

15. well, i am going to order the free kit but you can mail it back and keep the $70 brushes. shipping is only 4.95 so why not keep the brushes? that’s what i am wondering.

    Comment by Reina — August 3, 2008 @ 8:57 am

16. I can’t believe I fell for this scam. Something should be done.. isn’t this illegal? They say free, then charge you $97.00. I’m also asking my credit card company to not pay them one red cent. Thanks for the info everyone

    Comment by savanna — August 11, 2008 @ 12:46 pm

17. Well, I am yet another person scammed.
    Not much else to say that the rest of everyone didn’t - but I called after 20 days and they didn’t answer. I called on the 21st day - same deal. I called on the 22nd say - and it told me that the number has been disconnected. And now it is the 31st day, and I was charged the $98. There seems to be no way to get in contact with the company.
    I am not sure where to go; I guess I will dispute it with my bank and try to get a refund.
    I am extremely upset; something needs to be done about this site.

    Comment by Miranda Burnett — September 3, 2008 @ 5:58 pm

18. Add me to the list of “suckers”. The make up is not very good, the company is impossible to get a hold of and the brushes aren’t worth $.50! The bristles are synthetic and started falling out on the first use. There is also very little make up in the “free” ($90) sample and it doesn’t cover very well. Stick with Bare Minerals and stay away from RAW! I am contacting my bank today and the BBB right after…

    Comment by Stella — September 8, 2008 @ 2:17 am

19. Better still, if you want a mineral makeup without parabens or bismuth oxychloride (found in Bare Essentuals, but makes me itch and burn), try Lauress or Everyday Minerals. They both have websites and reasonable prices.

    Comment by Pat Johnson — September 8, 2008 @ 7:48 pm

20. I too fell for this scam–but there is nothing when you order about it not really being a free trial.
    In one place it tells you that you can keep the brushes as a free gift, but on the returns, it says you must return the full 7 piece set. 4 makeups plus 3 brushes = 7 pieces. The makeup is also terrible. Less than an hour after putting it on, it had all worn off.

    Comment by Claudia — September 29, 2008 @ 6:36 pm

21. I too fell for this scam. I intend to file a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office for consumer protection division, and the Better Business Bureau.

    Comment by Anita — October 10, 2008 @ 1:09 pm

22. I had seen the many advertisements on the internet for Raw Minerals and decided to check it out. I am usually skeptical when something is offered “free” so I decided to research on the internet for the real cost of the Raw Minerals product and found this site. Thanks to all for the info. In the past I used Bare Minerals with the commitment to receive product every 8 weeks or so through their “monthly club”. I found the portions to be smaller through the club than in retail stores. My biggest concern with the product was the setting powder which has talc, and the bismuth oxychloride (not so natural), I have read the bismuth can cause irritation and break outs in some people. Earlier this year found Signature Minerals online. It appears to be all natural and of a larger quanity for a cheaper price (10G of product for $14.99). I believe I was only getting 6 grams of product from Bare Minerals and of course it was more expensive. I like Signature Minerals free sample products, all you have to pay is the ship (5.95). It is REALLY free, you can get up tp 6 samples at a time of their foundations, blush, eye color, etc. any combination. No commitments, order what you want when you want. Hope this helps someone.

    Comment by Lynn — November 21, 2008 @ 10:48 am

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