Beauty chat - freebies/gifts with purchase/offers

[Giftwithpurchase]

I just wondered if anyone would be interested in discussing the beauty gifts with purchase/offers which come about on Cult Beauty, Space NK and the like every few months. I loved the advent calendar threads and thought this might be similar. If there's already a threat on this apologies & I'd appreciate the link! As you can tell I'm a little addicted and find them hard to resist and would love to compare with like minded pp. We could even do swaps if pp want.
I just cracked and bought the recent Cult Beauty 'Self Care' goodie bag - couldn't resist the name as I'm in desperate need of some self care after a rough few months (isn't everyone?!). I haven't opened it yet as haven't had the time with a 6 month old - but can't wait to have a peak. I also forgot what I bought for the £170 required purchase. But think I snuck in a few bit of makeup which isn't like me as I stick to my favourite makeup and usually just buy skincare and body stuff. Anyone else purchase it? What did you think? Be great to get notifications when other sites/retailers have good offers to!

@LordEmsworth thanks for the heads up! Sadly my coffee machine broke yesterday and my need for caffeine is (just) ahead of my need for more beauty bits - gutted as it looks awesome. Excited for those of you who ordered it - let us know what you think - best bits and worst bits

If anyone is interested, Skinstore (US based part of LookFantastic) have a GWP on at the moment. They also have a good sale on, and all items from the sale qualify for the GWP. Plus 24% off most other full price items. They don’t have much make-up, but are good for skincare and haircare products. No extra charges for shipping or customs to the U.K.

GWP is all small samples as far as I can tell, but at least it’s mostly different brands and products given the US bias.

@AprilLady oooh thank you I will check it out. I first heard of skin store on the advent calendar threads - the Christmas box/gift they did was lovely .. great to know about U.K. shipping too as I always worry about that

Delivered yesterday... definitely some very dinky items but I am really happy with the variety and there's a few good sizes as well, so I am v happy

Looks like a great haul @LordEmsworth 😊. Just seen that Cult Beauty are offering a free hair care GWP worth £75 with a £65 spend on hair products. Apologies- can’t seem to add a link.......

I always like them because I am not loyal to a particular brand and just use a serum for a few days and then go on to the next one and so on with skin products. I don't have sensitive skin.

But there are some expensive make up and hair items I like, so I just wait until a gwp and then buy. Usually buy Libertys because I like the perfume products but wasn't keen on the last one. And I think there was more of a spend needed.

Tickets for the John Lewis beauty weekend are now live and as before include a goody bag with the gold tickets. Last time the goody bag was good value so I'm hoping the same this time. The only thing I couldn't work out was if you could buy two gold tickets to different talks and still get two goody bags. So I got one gold for Bobbi Brown and a silver for the other one I wanted.

Ah thanks for the heads up @AllTalkNo! Yes the goody bag was really good last time. The Bobbi Brown & Murad/Sali Hughes events have sold out of gold tickets but got one for Dermalogica so happy...

@LordEmsworth

Delivered yesterday... definitely some very dinky items but I am really happy with the variety and there's a few good sizes as well, so I am v happy

Looks like lots of the same things as in the recent Space NK GWP. Very pleased with mine, big container of Sunday Riley Good Genes which I'm expecting to work miracles

Lol just seen that it was the Space NK one, so hardly surprising that they look the same!!!

Has anyone attended the John Lewis Beauty event that can comment on the goody bag worth £200?

I’ve received an invite to this virtual beauty event & am wondering if it’s worth buying the £35 ticket?

I think if you click through to the terms & conditions, you can see a list of what is in the goodie bag.

I was considering it, but the sessions I was most interested had sold out, so I didn't bother in the end.

All the gold tickets are gone now ☹️

Aw, I didn’t read the t&c’s but have just now & the goody bag looked well worth it. Oh well missed out, I’m not really interested in a silver ticket.

I've just spent a happy half hour categorising my GWP so I know what I've got and storing it in the bathroom so I can find the new stuff when I run out of current item.

I think I might have two or three years worth of cleansers! And I won't need to buy serum or day moisturiser any time soon either. Am surprisingly short on night cream though.

Anyway looking forward to using it all and wondering if I need to join the beauty hoarders thread!

Does anyone know if the bright yellow but see through make up bag can be used for carry on flights? Surely this is what it is designed for? Imagine being able to go on a flight again...

I completely missed out on the JL event, despite the fact I follow most of the speakers on social media I had no idea about it - I'm sensing a pattern this year with me being completely behind on everything haha .. hope those who scored tickets have great time and those with goodie bags - amazing!

@RazorstormUnicorn

I've just spent a happy half hour categorising my GWP so I know what I've got and storing it in the bathroom so I can find the new stuff when I run out of current item.

I think I might have two or three years worth of cleansers! And I won't need to buy serum or day moisturiser any time soon either. Am surprisingly short on night cream though.

Anyway looking forward to using it all and wondering if I need to join the beauty hoarders thread!

Does anyone know if the bright yellow but see through make up bag can be used for carry on flights? Surely this is what it is designed for? Imagine being able to go on a flight again...

Isn't this just the most fun bit! I love going through and organising into categories - I always find I have a tonne of cleansers and not enough moistures.

I'm on the beauty hoarders thread, it's so good - but use it more as inspiration of what to avoid and what to buy next

Not sure about the bag sorry - I always use my space nk clear makeup bags for travel and have never had an issue with them. Think airport security are much more used to different styles of the 'clear plastic bag' now and are generally quite relaxed about them (just in my experience)

I have just got the GWP SNK. I had forgotten how lovely they are. There is just so many nice products. I know they are small amounts but they are lovely. I have concentrated on Liberty because they give full size but these are just so nice. Very happy.

I'm jumping back on this thread because it disappeared from my TIO. March has lots of birthdays in our family so perhaps I should resist spending for a while.

@friendlyflicka they are such a boost aren't they?! Just so needed at the moment. If anyone shops at All Beauty - they are doing a selection of 5 minis with any over £25 spend. Makes a difference from the £150 plus spends we usually have to make! I'm not sure what they are but I always get my staple products from there anyway so should be a fun surprise.
I'm also still so tempted by the Skinstore 24 item freebie. I've worked out that it's about £10 more expensive to buy my Elemis cream and dermalogica mask from there vs All Beauty - but that £10 gets me the free gift and a free dermalogica gift .. just a bit worried about customs charges given it's coming from the US (although I know pp have noted they haven't been charged, I have bad luck when it comes to these things haha)

Plus 24 items is perfect to refill an advent calendar for my birthday month

@Giftwithpurchase, I did go for the Skinstore gift. The things I bought to qualify were cheaper than I could get them for here. Waiting for them to make it here from the US now.

This will probably be my fourth or fifth Skinstore purchase, and there have not been customs duties on any of them (I’m in England if that is relevant). I think it may be because they are actually purchased from The Hut Group (which is a U.K. company) and they appear to be treated no differently to a Look Fantastic purchase (also part of The Hut Group).

@AprilLady thanks that is very reassuring.. I think I might order it .. I like the look of the GWP as the brands are a bit different to the usual suspects in Cult Beauty, Space NK etc ... plus it has loads of eye creams and my eyes are my problem area at the moment!!! Let us know when it arrives and what you think

Well I caved and bought the Skinstore gift .. it just looked fun and a bit different to the other gwp I've seen recently. @AprilLady it offered next day or three day shipping, so the stock must be based in the U.K. or Europe - so thanks for the heads up! Looking forward to it now!!

Thought I’d post a link to this. Looks interesting and good value, so may well sell out fast.

Also, according to Really Ree, the Harvey Nichols Spring GWP is out on Tuesday.