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

[OvaHere]

New thread for everyone. Welcome back and hello to newbies and lurkers.

Advent season has now officially kicked off despite the heatwaves. There's a dedicated thread for advent calendar discussion with spoilers here
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5549187-beauty-fragrance-advent-calendars-infochat-2026-spoilers?page=1

Thank you @LightandBreezy @BakeOffRewatch no I haven't had enough sleep. Didn't get to bed until 4am but I can no longer sleep in for hours either, probably a meno thing. So was awake by 8.30am. Ugh.

The football didn’t do anything for my beauty regime, regardless of adrenaline last night….utterly wiped out today!! But poor @OvaHere : sounds like you got the worst of it 🤣 Agree, sympathy is for you not for your ds!

Not sure if this will work but in case of interest: the Times are offering 15% off a Merit set

Edited: Apologies for double post: I thought the link hadn’t worked but appears to have gone through.

@Fillybuster I have an unopened small Green Tea if you’re interested in a swap?

Thanks @Hicupping ive ordered a few sets of the briogeo. I have been really impressed with a few things from their scalp revival range so it will be good to try more products esp for that price.

I ordered the Harrods fragrance tote yesterday after re-reading @JoRaRaRa 's amazing review of the perfumes 🥰. My reasoning is that I probably won't have a cat in hells chance of being able to secure the Harrods FAC, so i best get the tote while i can.

As a bonus, I didn't even pay for next-day delivery and it's still arriving today! Now I just need to get off MN and get on with the tedious job of prepping the walls before repainting my hall, stairs and landing - but at least I'll smell amazing while I'm doing it 😁

We watched the game at the local pub, what an absolute nail biter!! After yesterday's trip to hbeauty, whilst being excited, I fell straight to sleep when I got home, after my skincare regime of course. Although, it must've been around 1:30 when I got into bed as I remember saying to my husband that the Argentina game was kicking off in half an hour.

Gosh, I hope that's not what Harrods are planning to do with the fragrance calendar. We'll have no chance of getting our well fragrances hands on them.

@LightandBreezy the kerastase shampoo and conditioner are teeny tiny and came as part of the samples bag, not extra samples. I would've preferred the 2 other perfumes, they would've lasted a lot longer. I ended up with 3 Delina exclusifs, I'm planning to sell 2 and pop the other into the bac I'm making up for my sister.

@JoRaRaRa ah yes, perfumes would definitely be preferable, so was it a memo one and Oud Maracuja you didn't get? I also ended up with 3 Delina Exclusifs and no Oud Maracuja, I think only @Ilovepond got both the Crivellis. I really like most Maison Crivelli perfumes, sadly Safran Secret is the exception for me and because of the scent tote I have 2 of them. The Delinas will sell though so hopefully you can pick up the ones you wanted via vinted and it not cost anything. The mystery bag thing is pretty poor so fingers crossed customer service do something to rectify it for you 💄😵

I'm another one who had a bad night's sleep last night. First the football which i watched from behind a cushion (although I was fully prepared to be team Norway going forward if we lost), then trying to stay awake for the Argentina match. I fell asleep just after Switzerland scored though so probably shouldn't have bothered. Then I was woken just after 5 by my DS phoning me from the bathroom. He suffers with CFS and had fainted on the toilet, couldn't get up and was locked in. He also seems to have inherited my ibs and was having an attack of that at the time. I sat talking through the door with him till he was able to unlock it and I could give him buscopan and get him back to bed.

On the plus side, my Harrods tote is arriving later so I shall use it like smelling salts to revive myself if I start to fade. Fingers crossed that everyone gets some sleep tonight!

I hope your DS feels better today @ClutteredPalace x

I watched the football too - so stressful! I found the post-match interviews - interesting!

I am still debating whether to buy the SK Lucky Box tomorrow or go mad and wait for the $45 Lemon box. I don’t NEED anything in either box, (or indeed, anything at all!) but that credit is burning a hole in my virtual pocket and needs using up by August!

I am a serial fake tanner, go through the process of scrubbing it off and fresh on each week etc and because of my adult acne on face I’ve been trying out different ones for face. In my last SNK order I chose a Sisley face tan sample and put it on this morning, not sure what the colour will be like when it develops but oh my the texture is beautiful. Kind of hoping it goes orange or something because of the price but it feels so nice on the skin xx

@Twinsandsome keep us posted! As a very infrequent fake tanner, can I ask why you scrub it off
every week instead of layering up?

Thank you to whoever put the home bargains offer on.
Im trying to be really good but go through a lot of hair stuff so win win. An expensive brand x

I'm back from the H beauty event at the Metro Centre.

It was very quiet (just on 11 o'clock() so I was straight in. The perfumes were all together and even though I'm not a perfume fan, I did spend some time with the lovely assistant. I really liked Goldfield and Banks Sunset Hour whic, of course, wasn't one of the samples.

Had an arm massage at elemis and was given a voucher for a mini facial.

Tried a pink SdJ but not overly inpressed.

I moved instore and bought CT poreless primer and a red lipstick. The lipstick was reduced so pleased with that.

Then I moved to Dior and bought the maximiser palette that I'd been lusting after. Last one!

I had to pay at Dior so was a bit concerned how I'd get all my goodies, but no worries, she took me to the main till and got my bag and my extra goodies. There were only 8 items so I got one of each which included 2 memo perfumes.

I had to ask about the bag charm as no-one really seemed to know what was going on, but it was set up in the middle of the store so I made one to match the bag.

Photo of my haul attached. I went back and asked for a CT carrier bag as I use them for my packed lunch. I also had the CT make up bag as I'd spent over £80 and Dior put in a cuople of samples.

Overall, really pleased and the perfumes will all be giong on Vinted.

My Harrods tote is here! I'm so excited to try everything. Just smelling the lids I like them all on first impressions but I need to try them on. That said, I do tend to like most scents, DS & Durga's IDKW being the notable exception. I'm not sure which ingredient it is but that one makes me feel sick.

Oooh, there's a discussion on another S&B thread about how much people spend on 'personal maintenance'. As well as the people being unapologetic there's a fair bit of competitive penny-pinching. We shouldn't go there as we'll be tarred and feathered!

Can you be our inside person and report back? Or is that frowned upon 😬?

I'm supposed to be working as I set myself a deadline of finishing this draft this weekend so I have 5 hours and 13 minutes to write about 5k words and I'm not sure where it's finishing up so I need to do Big Thinking. And I've been procrastinating too much today - I even ironed earlier!!!!

Essentially someone said what they spend, other people spend more, some less and then people came along and said they have enough self esteem not to need to and that Nivea is just the same as La Mer. Was tempted to reply with 'oh honey, it's so not the same' but didn't.... Feeling proud of my self-restraint!

But here you go:

I’ve just gone through my stash again and I need absolutely nothing. I also realise I’ve bought two of the same Merit lipstick. I put it away to save for winter and forgot and then bought it again at the Merit event. Doh! I’ve put a few more bits I don’t realistically think I’m going to use on Vinted and binned a few things I wasn’t loving (a Drunk Elephant moisturiser and Laura Mercier loose powder).

thank you @BurningTheToast! I actually experienced a slight dip in joy at the mention of Nivea. Nothing against Nivea, but I can’t justify all the stuff squirrelled away in my cupboards if that’s all I need. They sound like a right set of kill joys. P1$$ and chips springs to mind.

Wishing you massive thoughts and all the best with the drafting x

Thanks. I know what’s going to happen in the next bit. And I know the very end. But there’s a big action-y bit and it’s a lot of choreography that feels a bit beyond me. A cup of tea and the Antiques Roadshow followed by a lovely shower and another of my ridiculous stash of sheet masks is all I feel up to!

I’ll probably end up writing it at 2am…

I thought the OP was quite reasonable with her spends. Then it became a race to the bottom so I thought I'd best not comment.

You are in good company. I do that a lot. No nivea in sight. 🤣
Nothing against nivea but my meno skin needs more 😍♥️

@Cyclingmummy1 Me too. I switch off as soon as someone says expensive skincare is just nice scent and packaging. Well yes, that’s the point, it makes doing your skincare more pleasant. If I just had to use blue Nivea every day I would get bored and probably not bother at all.