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

[OvaHere]

Time for a new thread, our first in a MN Community Group. We've chatted and purchased beauty bargains so much we've become a literal tribe! 😂

In other news PLouise was out of the gate with ridiculous speed announcing the first advent calendar waitlist in April.

In celebration I thought I'd try out a poll. It runs for 7 days, there was only 6 options so comment in the thread for those that come under 'Other'.

As always, welcome back long standing beauty bargain hunters and hi to anyone new who would like to join. Usual caveats about the threads being bad for you wallet still apply, but enjoy anyway. 🤗

Yeah, you have to tell it dates and times etc. I asked it (a while ago now) how many days until Easter and it told me it couldn't connect to dates and times. Now I know, I was able to tell it 'I'm arriving in London on Friday 1st May and leave on Monday 4th May, can you do me an itinerary?'. I used it all around Tallinn and Helsinki.

Yes ChatGPT can be rubbish. I showed it a photo of me and asked how old I looked. It said early-mid 40s. I showed it another one and it said 'ah well in this one you're smiling which of course makes you look younger. Now I'd say you're mid to late 40s. Would you now like me to explain all the reasons why you look younger in this photo?' 🙄

I quite like that HN edit but I wouldn't pay £200. One to watch for reductions I think.

I got my Jarrolds edit yesterday and still haven't looked at it properly. I feel like im letting the side down. From my very brief look, I love the bag and floral street scent. The bag looks well made and hard wearing. I think it may become part of my new travel kit. Im looking forward to trying the LM eyeshadow stick and Trinny lip 2 cheek. I never used a blusher before this year and now love them. Luckily I've got a few trips out at the end of the week so I'll be able to use them as normally I don't wear makeup.

Sephora gwp purchase with a £125 spend

Again I already own several of the products from other edits. I can't remember the last GWP/edit where I don't already own half of it! I guess this is the problem with a growing stash? I really do feel I've run out of things to buy now...

Thanks to all the people who posted about the CB perfume sample offer. Somehow I'd never tried Pomelo by Jo Loves but I really like it and I think that when I finish my current bottle of Eau Dynamisante it will replace it as my default spring/summer daytime scene (winter is Clinique's Aromatics Elixir or Diptyque's Volutes).

It did prompt to work through some more of the minis I have kicking around in my bedside drawer including the La Labo The Matcha 26 from a Liberty advent a couple of years ago. Very disappointed with that as it smells great to start with but fades within a couple of hours.

For someone who first bought 'proper' perfume in the late 80s (and still has a bottle of Obsession that I never dare wear), I do like a scent with staying power! Any recommendations for perfumes that you find fit that criteria? x

@BurningTheToast the Vilhelm perfumeries last very well. They are ££, I buy when a GWP offer on.

@namechange0998776554799000 yes I agree. I think some companies heavily promote their products and you find it everywhere. So much for the curated edit. However, there are a few things in this I haven’t tried. I’m currently in hospital with DD so it’s come at a great time for me to pass away hours browsing through things so I might go for it.

I've had two lots of perfume samples from CB and several from SNK and none of them have had the staying power of my Parfums De Marley perfumes. My favourite if those is Oriana and if I put it on in the morning I can still smell it at the end of the day

Hope your DD is ok @Beautyfox x

Hope your DD is ok @Beautyfox

If you want to try them out I bought this discovery set for £40 which comes with a £40 voucher to put against a full size. They are expensive though. They sell them in various places (John Lewis, Escentual etc) which occasionally have general offers on but I've rarely seen PDM much discounted (if anyone has please tell me!)
https://uk.parfums-de-marly.com/products/feminine-discovery-set

@namechange0998776554799000 ive never seen them reduced however Harrods stock PDM and its usually any moment now they release their big GWP. In previous years it’s been fab so may be worth holding so you can at least get a great gwp.

Anyone know of any codes for Victoria Beckham, there is a gwp of a keyring with a £50 spend that I like so trying to get the price as close as possible to the £50.

Sending love @Beautyfox 💐

@Beautyfoxsending wishes to you and DD

@BurningTheToast Amouage Guidance has the longest staying power from my collection, it is pricey but am
convinced my bottle will last a lifetime as you do t need much.

@namechange0998776554799000 Escentual is one place to keep an eye on for PDM, that has a great offer that many of us availed of on Black Friday when they had their travel sets half price

Wishing you and your DD all the best @Beautyfox

Hope your DD is okay @Beautyfox 💐

@namechange0998776554799000 Escentual currently have 25% off

A while back I asked MN for recommendations for fig / green fig type perfumes: two that came up were Le Labo The Matcha and Vilhelm purple fig. I love the Le Labo but agree it doesn’t last well. Although I’m always surprised when other people can smell it on me hours after I thought it had worn off. The Vilhelm is the opposite: a bit overwhelming to begin with but certainly has staying power!
My favourite perfumes have all been discontinued: acqua di palma iris nobile was my go-to for everything for years, Tom Ford Noir for Women was my date night / party fragrance, and before that, Sahara Noir, which was the first perfume I really fell in love with, and which I’ve still got a tiny bit left that I’m eking out.
{edited for typos}

Many thanks for all your best wishes. We are very much at the stage of trying to work out what is going on and hoping it turns out to be nothing. This thread is a brilliant distraction. I’m currently building my Harrods basket in readiness for the gwp launch. Has anyone tried the Prada beauty or Kama Ayurveda ? They both have a nice gift sets which I’m tempted by. But I’ve not tried either before.

More well wishes for you and your DD @Beautyfox happy we can be a distraction.
I have the Prada foundation, I think that's the only thing I've tried from them. It's nice - a very natural light to med coverage. It's not my very favourite light touch foundation, that's NARS light reflecting. They are actually quite similar but for me NARS has the edge on buildable coverage and shade match.

I have this one which I really like. It's not a beast mode scent but quite subtle and airy.

https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Chloe/Plage-du-Figuier-122845.html

The new Tom Ford Fig scent is also nice from memory when I tried it in Selfridges. Pricey though.