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

[OvaHere]

New thread. Welcome oldies and newbies.

I'm expecting this thread to be busy as we head towards both advents and autumn releases.

There's a dedicated advent thread for advent calendars here to keep up to date with reveals, waitlists etc.
www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5549187-beauty-fragrance-advent-calendars-infochat-2026-spoilers?page=32&reply=153745800

Is anyone willing to start the next advent thread? It's about to end. I can do it if no takers but I'm trying hard not to take full ownership of the threads. 😂

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5560654-beauty-fragrance-advent-calendars-infochat-2026-spoilers-thread-2?reply=153850331

I just noticed eBay doesn’t allow the sale of partially used perfume anymore. I have a near new bottle of an expensive perfume I’d like to shift as it’s really not for me - is there anywhere left I can sell it?

If it's worth 129, I think Verden bath oil (£85), This works mini spray (£12) then something for £32 that might come in a box - looking at their website it says a viral collagen supplement, so it must be this - which was in one of their edits recently, so that makes sense 🙏 Buy Ancient + Brave True Collagen Supplements now.

I normally love their mystery boxes, but will probably pass on this.

Missed your earlier post sorry, but I promise to do the next one for you.

As somebody who bought the JL advent last year, I can safely say not a chance this year, it’s really poor and gone up in price too.

I don't think it's terrible. I'm trying to be objective about how someone not quite so obsessive about BACs might view it. It would be a good gift for anyone who isn't familiar with the word 'stash'. 😂

Odd that it didn't add it to mine. I had to choose an item that said 'offer'.

No one on this thread then 😂

Definitely not.

JL have done a full reveal of a fragrance advent. It will be £99 and it's decent. Anyone wanting it needs to be on top of it on release I reckon.

Does the Molton Brown handwash in the JL calendar look full size to you? (Top row, middle.) I think that's a 'deluxe'.

Looks like a 300ml one. It's not one of the minis as it has a pump.

Debenhams have a lot of cosmetic storage products in their sale. Lots of them better than half price.

Let’s not pretend we won’t fill them up 🤣

https://www.debenhams.com/search?text=cosmetic%20storage

I have a set of 3 little Molton Brown 100ml hand washes for my downstairs toilet and they have a pump. They are ideal as our downstairs toilet has a very small basin.

The pump looks oversized for the bottle. I think @pinkchampagne1 could be right.

Some sizes given on this link https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/christmasgifts/john-lewis-beauty-advent-calendar-2026-b3024560.html

It actually looks more appealing laid out in this order when compared to BD (IMO), perhaps I was a bit harsh earlier. Shows how the marketing can affect me though! It's still not for me, and I don't think the JL FAC is either, although I can definitely see the appeal of that one. I'm just trying to spend less.

I also don’t think it’s terrible, it’s just pitched in the wrong price bracket. It does not come close to either Harrods or Liberty imo but the price is similar.
For the contents, I think it should be a sub £200 calendar- about £175-£185. Which is probably what it will end up being reduced to.

@Addictedtobeauty Yeah, it makes you wonder if they've priced it high to offer a 20% 'reduction' from the off.

Yes, I thought the JL fragrance calendar looked quite good. I was surprised by just how many of the new “niche” brands they stock now - I walked through on my way to sniff perfumes in Liberty the other day, and then realised that I could try a lot of them in John Lewis as well!

@Thelifeofawife - I asked on here if anyone knew if perfumes/perfume edits could be returned to Liberty but didn’t get an answer, so I am guessing not. It would be different if the products were sealed, but I don’t think they all are.

The uncertainty about the contents certainly put me off!

Hope this is available online too as don’t fancy doing a cross London trip to Selfridges to try and get it - price dependant of course

That's going to be pricey I think. The similar Ex Nihilo set is about £300

@SheilaFentiman Thanks for the Prai arm cream info, bit of a shame if it is no better than normal moisturiser but it was either that or a mask so worth a try. Like you I’ll probably be more inclined to use it because it’s specific for my arms.

@IlovePond I see what you mean, it is a bit of a risk if you can’t return it, and a faff selling what you don’t want then trying to get the one you do want for a reasonable price

Especially considering my selling record @Thelifeofawife 😹

I have returned the woody scent box a while ago and they still let me keep GWP even though the return meant I was no longer meeting the spend threshold by £20 or so.