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.

I bought this and wore it the other day with SPF under with no issues. I'm pretty sure I used the medik8 SPF50. The foundation has such a lovely finish, I really like it. It's quite sheer coverage though and doesn't cover my melasma, so I prefer my Bobbi brown one when I want full on makeup. But for medium coverage glowy days I love it.

Im pretty sure the only skincare I used under was Elemis marine cream and the SPF, no primer or anything else.

I agree @user593 - really pretty! Which one did you get?

The Lisa Eldridge complete Marilyn Monroe set is sold out everywhere UK and USA. That was very quick! It was great value though.

It was if you like bright reds and pinks. 😄

I'm curious about the highlighter balm but it can't be that different from WA or Trinny can it? Both I'm not that keen on, preferring powders. Yet still I have one in the basket and keep going back to look at it. 🙄

@JoRaRaRa My Harrods order was:

Dior backstage glow quad - pearly peach
Dior lip addict - Callisto
Dior lip maximiser - limited edition pink (golden hour, I think)
YSL loveshine lipstick - nude lingerie
Westman Atelier beauty butter bronzer - coup de soleil
Charlotte Tilbury airbrush flawless finish powder

I did want the Dior lip glass but it went OOS on Harrods.

@Thelifeofawife I bought a Dior Lip Glass as part of my HN order (the 2nd online one with 15% off code). It's nice but imo they are really similar to Fenty Gloss Bomb stix - just in case you have a few of those already. The Dior formula is maybe a tad lighter and better in quality but not much in it.

@OvaHere Thanks for this! I actually watched a video by Hanbeauty and she said the same thing when she was trying the Dior - but she seemed very much a Fenty fan so I wasn’t too sure. I do have a Fenty gloss bomb knocking around somewhere from an edit so I’ll give it a try.
Thanks again as I know I’d have ended up making a big order to get another GWP at some point just for that one item 😃

@Thelifeofawife I only have one Fenty Gloss Bomb Stix. I bought it because I really liked the lip oil but I still prefer the lip oil. 😂 I would choose Dior out of the two if I was being picky but the effect is pretty much the same.

Getting a gwp is exactly how it ended up in my basket!

Well I was in London today and kinda hoped to make time to pop to Liberty today but the tube was entirely up shit creek so I didn’t make it - the circle line was awful and I had to ditch the idea. Just as well, in the end it took me over 90 minutes to get from Sloane Square to Liverpool St!

So my BD credit is safe for now!

@TragicMuse I'm clinging on to all my credit for dear life until the BAC reveal. Just in case this is the year Liberty fully caters to my preferences. 😂

As well as the LE highlighter I'm coveting the new Patrick Ta transition blushes. I don't even know why as the whole process looks faffy and has seemingly a billion steps to get it right.

Yet here I am with them sat in a CB basket. Luckily it will be a while before discounts work on them so I may come to my senses.

Also what happened to those Laura Mercier blushes? They still haven't launched here a couple of months later.

...and another random beauty thought. They are all spilling out now having been overly preoccupied with work recently.

I LOVE the Vintner's Daughter cleanser that is close to finished. I got it in the Beautylish (US) lucky bag.

You can buy it in a couple of places here (CB and HN) but it's always on the list of excluded brands from offers and discounts. It's £100 which is ridiculous for a smallish bottle of cleanser, even AB is under £60.

Did I mention I LOVE it though! I think my skin has looked really bright and calm since I started using it. I don't want a 100 quid tiny cleanser habit though. 😭

Just a heads up that Escentual are doing 25% off everything at the moment. Actually, having said that it might be “VIP access” only for a couple of days, but it should be open to everyone soon I think.

I’m steaming ahead with my Boots recycling now I have got the hang of it. However, it’s made me even more determined to stop buying so much. I had no idea how much plastic waste I was generating on a regular basis just from skincare products.

Tbf, it’s DS1 who is practically bathing in hand wash, as well as actual body wash, several times a day, but I have to put my hands up to the rest of it!

I just hope that Boots keeps up the recycling programme 🤞

@IlovePond It’s really easy once you get the rhythm isn’t it?

And you are right, it’s shocking how much plastic we have in beauty products! Bring back crystal jars with silver lids!

I’m close to my fourth deposit in a couple of weeks. But I have one still in nappies and every empty nappy packet and wet wipe packet counts 😅 It’s great though, I’m annoyed with myself for not doing it sooner!

Cypress & Grapevine ❤️ I wasn’t going to do it because the CB offer is cheaper per ml but I had to place a JL order anyway so got free shipping. It was too hard to resist at that point 😅

Actually I’m wrong, it will be my fifth deposit for May, and my last item just got approved so now I have to think of something to spend £10 on again 🤔

The new Marc Jacobs collection was released earlier today. I only wanted a few bits, but everything I wanted has sold out 😕

Ysl were meant to be releasing 2 new blush shades, I think they were called peppery pink and hot mauve. Hot mauve is showing at oos on the website, but I've never seen it go live or the peppery pink one. It's a bit annoying when they tease something and then go quiet 😭

I got C&G too @user593 I think it’s my new favourite perfume. I decided to get the 9ml because I wanted a proper bottle. Plus, I also have far too many little perfume sample sizes to use up, which equals more waste🙀

I am also really annoyed with myself for not using the recycling scheme earlier!

@Sminty2 - those glass bottles were lovely. My DGM’s lovely best friend had some beautiful bottles that I think had once contained ‘cold cream’!

@user593 - it’s true to say that since I discovered the delights of Boots recycling I have been spending more regularly in Boots.

However, I have been really good about only buying £10 worth of stuff that I would have got from there anyway- mostly industrial quantities of hand soap and the large Dove body wash bottles. I will probably buy some new razor blades next time just to mix things up a bit!

It’s quite satisfying to be able to see what I have been recycling. I have done four deposits in the last four weeks: 5 skincare and 15 toiletry items.

@JoRaRaRa my Harrods order was less glam than @Thelifeofawife and @MrsBnow12. Brilliantly everything was 20% off but qualified for the GWP as though it was at full price, so I only spent £206 in the end.

Clinique gift set for men (DH birthday next week, so justified the rest of the order by sticking this in!)

MAC strobe dewy tinted moisturiser

NARS light reflecting luminizing stick (just launched. Annoyingly they didn’t stock the shade I had in my JL basket, but this one was my second choice anyway)

Aqua di Gioia 100ml (was my summer perfume years ago, looking forward to spritzing it on hot days!)

Isle of Paradise tanning drops

3 Warriors self-tan applicator (so i can do my back properly)

Ive just realised that DH will think all the big parcels arriving are for him. Which would be ok but so far I don’t have anything for his birthday!

Edited for spelling

@Fillybuster That’s still a good haul. I love rediscovering my old perfume scents.
A colleague was wearing a perfume recently and I was so drawn to it, I knew it but couldn’t put my finger on it; turned out to be my signature fragrance from back in the day.

I’ll have to take a look at that tan applicator, it drives me crazy trying to do my back. I always have to rope DH or DS in to help (bless my DS, says that he can get practice in for if/when he has to help his future wife 🥰)

Ah, you did get your DH something, so at least when all your parcels arrive you can confidently say that it’s birthday related 😁

I've been waiting for this CB GWP to drop forever!

beauty-detective.com/cult-beauty-summer-salon-kit-2026/