Beauty chat - freebies/gifts with purchase/offers THREAD SEVEN

[OvaHere]

New thread for when the old one is finished. We rattled through the last thread being a chatty bunch.

Everyone welcome to chat about beauty and/or share bargain finds.

Morning all.

Confession time. 😂

I may have had a few drinks yesterday and impulsively purchased one of the Beautylish Lucky Bags. I've seen people unbox them in previous years but never partook.

For those unfamiliar there's a few different sorts - the XL, regular, Jeffree Star and Wayne Goss. In the UK we can only get the regular and the JS.

Every year they range from amazing to meh. You're guaranteed a certain value but some peoples far exceed it and others just about scrape the value. 😬

I know what you're thinking - Ova, you're on a low buy year. Yes but the clock has not chimed midnight on 1st Jan just yet so whilst it won't arrive until the new year it's still permissible and technically I make the rules, right? 😁

I got the regular fair/medium and they are still available as of right now. They used to sell out in seconds until last year, sign of the times I guess.

Link below but I am NOT encouraging anyone (who hasn't had a tipple) to get one. Shipping is high although taxes seem to be included and it could be an absolute crap shoot in terms of value and usable products. It's essentially gambling and based on previous years unboxings a good proportion of people would be better off just using the money to buy things they wanted. I'm an drunken idiot though. Thank goodness they don't allow anyone outside the US to buy the $150 XL one.

https://www.beautylish.com/shop/lucky-bag-2026

Place your bets now on how lucky or not I will be.

I'm hoping for some kind of Viseart palette as I've never tried one and a Sonia G brush. About 70% of bags year on year seem to have that combo as part of the bag which is what made me throw caution to the wind. I'd also be happy with a Natasha Denona palette, a small % of the regular bags have got a full size one in the past.

What I'll probably get is pimple patches or HA serum. Some make up in unflattering colours, a shampoo with no matching conditioner and a Wayne Goss brush - which are supposed to be nice but I really want a Sonia G one.

Gosh that’s a very detailed post @OvaHere for something you definitely don’t want us to copy doing 😆 Crossing all my fingers that you get a Sonia G brush. Is one of those brushes more than a bag then?

I think it's me justifying my (probable) bad decision. Honestly they do usually only end up being great for a small number of people. Hence I don't think most people should bother, especially not anyone on a budget or with good budgeting skills!

I'll probably want to share the joy or disappointment on here when it arrives so it would feel a bit amiss if I hadn't told you all about it in the first place.

Edit to add. Yes all the bags usually just get one bougie brush. The occasional v lucky ones will get a full set.

@OvaHereWe can compare boxes come January, this has been on my maybe list all year and I also ordered one last night.
I have been destashing and sold a few items so essentially those sales paid for my box.
I can’t even blame a few drinks 🫣🫣

I plan on buying some Tatcha bits depending on what is in the lucky bag and then will really be trying to shop my stash.

I may have also placed a CB order and Sephora yesterday as well.

And to add I have a Viseart palette ( Praline etundu) and it is my favourite although the VBB Cocoa is a close second.
I would be delighted with either Viseart or Natasha Denona in my box.

I kinda of knew you would get one. You're as bad as me. 😂At least it wasn't me being a bad influence.

The Tatcha lucky bag is the last one I'm thinking of getting. That will have crossed the line into January but I have been holding off Tatcha buying all year for that event.

I haven't done any more sales shopping since Xmas eve and have been restrained there for once.

Unless we get the same box we might have the opportunity swap stuff then.

Although I don't think there's as much variation in the international orders from what I've seen. We could easily end up with the same one.

In beauty-adjacent news I’m looking at spending on some storage for my stash! It’s going to be some kind of chest of drawers but I can’t decide between long and low or tall and thin!

I want to sort it all by type, but to a granular level. Separate out night serum and day serum, that kind of thing.

At the moment it is frying my brain and I need clarity!

I’ve never even heard of it or most of the brands mentioned where do you see this stuff @OvaHere @MrsBnow12

I have these in dark blue I bought it full price a few years ago and am very happy with it. They seem to release it in a new colour each year https://www.next.co.uk/style/su189121/q73755

I am so predictable 😂😂
I talked myself out of it last year so has been on my potential list all year and I do love a mystery box.

My sale purchases have been some Kayali sets from Sephora to get the gwp yesterday, will be returning my other order as reordered yesterday for the gwp.
I then wanted the Kayali Vacay discovery set so I can try them before using the 10ml ones from Sephora and the Cult Beauty edit with the medik8 toner in so with the £10 off was £50 for both.
A friend ordered the Victoria Beckham set from Brown Thomas for me and ordered the Hourglass Fox palette from John Lewis as think it will be great as eyeshadows.

Now I have listed out the items I bought more than I thought…oops!!

@MrsBnow12 I’ve been thinking about the fox palette - I’m not great with all the contour palaver but couid use as eyeshadows - good thought!

I enjoyed reading pepp op Les round ups and will get round to kind.

my disappointment was the Dior sequin lip gloss - not quite the right shade for me and no staying power.

I used to get US beauty boxes shipped over and follow a few US YouTubers and then Beauty-Detective is my other goto place and daily read.

For storage I have an Ikea Kallax unit and a single wardrobe and have each product sorted into its own box bag. I like the clear Space NK bags as I can easily see what is in each one.

I think I first heard of them either via a subreddit about beauty boxes (very US centric) or from seeing unboxings pop up on Youtube. Like @MrsBnow12 I talked myself out of it last year. If it's a bit crap I probably won't do it again.

@OvaHere i was looking at these too and was subscribed to the waiting list emails 😆🫣. Don’t feel bad at all for grabbing one - can’t wait to see what you both get!!

I so would have as well if I hadn’t got the Estée Lauder blockbuster as one of my Christmas presents. I’m over run with skincare after edits, sales and bac - so instead I’ve grabbed myself some of those clear storage boxes to try and organise my stock pile 😆

I’ve found tretinoin the real game changer for me. I’ve rosacea and had to ease my way into using it slowly, but it really has helped clear my skin and plump it out those fine lines - and it’s not expensive if you buy online and it lasts ages as you only use a tiny bit.

You can’t go wrong with a good quality serum and spf daily. Korean skin care has some fab bits and they are often very affordable. Boots and Look Fantastic have both done K beauty edits recently which is a good way to try out a few bits in one go. I really like the beauty of joseon spfs and the Skin1004 Centella Ampoule.

I did contemplate tbh and watched a few unboxings, but resisted. I dont use the palettes I have and i spent £100 last year on a set of speed beauty brushes collab with Otis Batterbee that i just cant bear to use as dont want to spoil them. 🤷🤪🤣
The New Year has definitely not started as im on a low buy next year but just had delivery from cult beauty with several bargain edits I didnt need. 🤣🥰
I cant blame the drink 🤣 It was to celebrate getting through Xmas and keeping my sanity. 🥰🥰
Good luck. I hope you get a good one. Id be interested to know what you do get. X

Ps. I did feel guilty this morning about buying more but told myself it was a bargain which it was 🥰

I got the Fox direct from Hourglass, mainly so I could have the Horse case. I dropped the picture of me wearing most of it. Swirled the brush around all 3 blushers. Bronzer to contour and the ambient powder all over. Also used the bronzer and highlighter as eyeshadow and the lips is the free one they gave me. I’ve been using it almost daily since I got in September and it still looks like new!

I'm an ongoing lurker on this thread.

I'd probably go to one of the larger Boots stores where they have skin scan device in No7 area - they do a proper scan of your skin and advise on full skincare routine, serums, day/night creams etc. You can return in a few weeks to check progress and see if it's working for you.

@LouScot You’ve had lots of good suggestions already - I’ll just add a silk pillowcase to the list as you mentioned your lines are worse on the side you sleep on. They honestly do help you not wake up with sleep creases (which take longer and longer into the day to disappear every year).

Thanks so much @AlPaccacino

The mystery beauty bags sound good, you're selling them to me @OvaHere and I'm very easily influenced 🤣

I managed to get the jacket from m&s @BakeOffRewatch 🎉 along with a load of other stuff 🙈

Some of my sale beauty orders arrived today and I'm even more overwhelmed as to where to put everything. I can't wait to load up my sorta outerrer, I might need to get a few more 😊

As penance for yesterday's crime against my wallet I've spent the entire day going through my stash ruthlessly and uploading to Vinted.

Cut my box of minis and samples by over half. Realised I don't enjoy teeny tiny sizes of things that much so as well as a low buy next year I'm going to try and swerve any GWP full of teenies.

Also went through my advent stash with a critical eye and listed on Vinted anything that comes close to being 'meh' or 'just alright' for me.

I still have way too much but I'm confident I can make a decent dent in the next 6 -12 months. In late 2026 I really need to choose just one fragrance advent and one beauty advent then stick to it! 😂

They've sold out now. So you can mark yourself safe from bad influence. 😂

@OvaHere , do you group a few minis together for sale on Vinted or sell individually? I have loads and have put a few together as little sets, but don't seem to be having much luck with them, so maybe selling individually for pennies may be better.