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

[OvaHere]

Time for another thread. Spring and Summer releases are trickling out to tempt us AND the advent calendar waitlists are appearing...hope you are all feeling suitably Christmassy. 😂

Thanks everyone who continues to contribute to the chatter and welcome to any newbies who want to join in.

As expected crap service from Cult Beauty, I returned something I'd part paid with 1000 points (so worth £10) and it's beyond them to just refund the points at the same time as the money, several messages to customer services and they are 'looking into it' for several days now but I will get my £10 back not giving up!

@IDontHateRainbows I’m still -126 points, and no idea why! I was going to contact them about it but I had boycotted them so given I don’t intend to buy anything (and hoping nothing lures me back in) I don’t think I can be bothered dealing with their terrible CS again

I return quite a bit to cult beauty, usually because I buy as soon as something is released and then a better discount code comes out, forcing me to rebuy 🙈 they always say they'll look into adding the credit back on and so far touch wood I've never had it where the credit doesn't go back on. Hopefully you'll get the same response 🙂

Yes, it's probably karma as this was the credit from the recent Cult Beauty debacle where we were all buying Centalla masks to get the points. I don't see why they don't just refund the points the same time as the actual refund.

Very tired this morning but happily working my way through my various birthday pressies.

The LV lipstick balm is a thing of beauty. I can't in good faith recommend anyone gets one really because it's a stupid price point (£120 😳). Unless like me you are marking a half century or something else of magnitude with a memento. I was toying with the idea of a ludicrously expensive handbag so if you think about it I showed restraint.

It's a lovely lipstick and wears well, very similar to the WA lipstick balms but unlike WA you'll never get one of these with a discount code. 😂It also has a little white suede pouch to keep it in. I daren't take that out of the packaging as it will be filthy in 5 seconds flat.

New CB edits are launching tomorrow.

https://beauty-detective.com/cult-beauty-sunny-bridal-edits-2026/

@OvaHere Ooh what a lovely treat! 😍 I didn’t even know that LV did make up.
I treated myself to a new Mulberry bag for my birthday earlier this year (though I was gifted some money towards it), so you did show more restraint than me.

I still haven’t tried the WA balms. I want to try the Dior lip glass (or whatever it’s called) and another YSL loveshine shade. I also have a Givenchy lip balm that I’ve not gotten around to using yet. There’s so much choice isn’t there

I ended up cracking for the Ilia deal. I got the eye tints in Aura, Dim and Fresco (40% off) and the Soft Focus Blush in Glimpse (25% off). I got a mini Limitless Lash Mascara and full size Sunshift Cream Bronzer in Eclipse for free. Did not need any of it but I have one of the eye tints in Cork which is probably my favourite/ most used eye shadow and I’ve been disappointed in the Gensee cream eye shadows I bought. I’d been considering trying a few Lisa Eldridge ones but this was too good a deal to pass up.

Mulberry have some lovely bags. I've looked at the Alexa many times.

I’ve been eyeing the Lily clutch. I love handbags, but they’re a bit harder to collect. I’ve already picked out a clutch for my birthday though which isn’t until December! 😑😅

I got a mini Alexa from eBay and just love it so very much! I was happy it was a bit worn in as it meant I didn’t have to be over-protective of it!

How lovely @OvaHere enjoy every moment and treat.

I might have been too understated for my 50th - might get some retrospective gifts to me from me.

Any current wish lists ?
I think I’d like more Victoria B eyeliners plus zoeva have some new eyeshadow sticks.

https://zoevacosmetics.co.uk/collections/new/products/eyeswipe-longw-cream-eyeshad-stick-smoky-khaki

Im safe yet again. 🤪🤣

Same - I’m actually wondering about not buying anything for a while 😮

Another skipping these, I plan on being more selective on what CB edits I buy as my account is still banned so any orders go to my neighbour.

The CB edits don’t rock my world. I ended up buying the Debenhams fragrance edit late last night - I was looking for prom dressss for dd and it slipped into my basket. Oops, esp on the back of LF, M&S and SK this week. I was going to claim none of them were particularly expensive until I remembered SK was about £150! I need to collect my M&S box when DH is out of the house tomorrow - he’s started to notice the significant increase in boxes around the place 😳

Initially I wasn’t too sure about the LF edit when I opened it this afternoon but then I had a play with the Rodial bronzing drops on bare skin (someone said they were greasy, so I was a bit unsure) and I really like the effect. I tend to wear tinted moisturiser every day if not foundation in the winter, but I can imagine using these with the Huda primer for quite a nice “bare skin” look in summer. I think they would have cost about the same as the box on their own, so then it feels like quite good value to get the rest. Curious to try the Virtue leave in conditioner, as I’ve heard good things.

Handbags - now you're talking my language!

Me too. I’ve gone quite overboard recently and I’m drowning in beauty stuff. I went for the Harrods gwp and HN gwp this weekend and I currently have a basket full with oh my cream so I’m def passing in the cb edits.

Anyone had issues with purchases tracking on the new M&S sparks rewards scheme?

I do like the look of the oh my cream buys. I haven’t purchased loads this year but I did have 4 advents, quite a few BF deals and the JL boxes.

I have a couple of mini Alexa’s (one of which was the one I bought for my birthday), and I have a regular Alexa. The minis get used a lot more as I prefer smaller bags. I have a few other Mulberry’s as well.
I have forced myself to calm down recently because, nice as they are, they are pricey. Having said that, if I’d bought just one BAC I could have easily had enough money for another bag!

That's actually a scary thought! 😳

I'm sort of tempted by the CB edit with the Saie blush, WA lip liner and CT spray but literally for those 3 items.

I have the £25 birthday voucher but I'd have to spend £100 to use that and even then it may not work on the edit.

I'm in the undecided camp.

I have so many setting sprays to work my way through. I’m currently using the CT one, which is nice enough but I can’t feel any real difference other than when I first apply my make up. That said, I feel this way about setting sprays in general, but I still use them