Barneys Love Yourself GWP: September 2018.

Oh my word! I am so far behind with C&C it's kind of scary! Already Christmas Advent Calenders are being revealed by beauty retailers and I still haven't written up my NYFW goody bags! I almost skipped these two posts but they are ones that I enjoy writing so, hey ho, better late than never! Maybe writing them will get me my blogging mojo back and there may even be an upside in that I have actually already used some of the products so can mini review them.

Every cloud etc etc...

First up, Barneys New York Love Yourself GWP.

Barneys run their Love Yourself promotion twice yearly, in March and September. Any online or instore beauty purchase of $200.00 or more (pre-tax) entitles you to a fantastic goody bag of samples, minis, and even full-sized items, during the time the promotion is running. In addition to the main gift, various brands offer stackable step-up gifts.

I always use this event to stock up on Kiehl's items for Mr C&C and Chantecaille make up for myself - each time I buy a tube of their Just Skin Tinted Moisturiser which I wear every day!

The gift always comes packaged in a stylish toiletries bag, this years was a large clear plastic one printed with the black Barneys NewYork logo, and there is a choice of gift bags for either men or women.

When I picked up my bag, the Madison Avenue branch was missing some samples but rather than omit them completely they subbed them with doubles of others. This didn't bother me in the least as I received double samples from Byredo, ByTerry, YSL, and Zelens. Even with the double substitutions the bag contained a great selection of products. This year the bag contained one bodycare item, five make up minis, four perfume samples, six haircare items and ten skincare items all from premium beauty brands.

Bodycare.

I have already used the mini shower gel from Molton Brown. These body washes have a great formula and the scent of this one, Rose Absolue, was divine, it was a deep warm sexy rose, not a sweet girly rose. I loved it.

Makeup.

The makeup minis are always the least favourite part of gift bags for me. However, this time around I'm excited to have the opportunity to try out the new Hourglass Caution Mascara and pleased to have not one, but two, mini ByTerry Hyaluronic Hydra Powders as they are something that I use regularly to set my make up and keep shine at bay. There is a blister strip of Gucci Westman Concealer which is disappointing as I dislike these blister packs of makeup but I will try it to see if I like the formula. I'm keeping the Givenchy Noir Revelateur Lip Gloss to play around with but the Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil has gone to my giveaway pile as the shade is far too red for me to carry off.

Perfume.

I always love the perfume samples that Barneys give away as they are from such niche brands and even if I don't like them they are quite educational!  This year I got two samples of Byredo Eleventh Hour, along with one from Tiziana Terenzi and a beautifully boxed sample of Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady which I have already worn and love.

Haircare.

I always happy the haircare samples from Barneys as they are always so generously sized!
 There's a good sized bottle of shampoo from Vitabird and conditioner from Sachajuan. I'm excited to try Davines Quick Fix Circle Hair Mask and I passed a big tube of David Mallett Moisturising Hair Mask along to Mr C&C as he needed some. I've already used the small tube of Rene Furterer Hydrating Shine Leave-In Conditioner and I did like it but not enough to repurchase it. I love OUAI products so I'm looking forward to trying out their Leave-In Conditioner next.

Skincare.

There's a good mix of skincare items in this bag.
I'm already halfway through the mini Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water (aka micellar water) and it's nice but not something that I would purchase for myself. I've previously used 3Lab M Cream, Chantecaille Rose de Mai Cream, La Mer Eye Concentrate, Malin+Goetze Brightening Enzyme Mask, Verso Day Cream, and Zelens Hydro Shiso Moisturiser. They are all fantastic products so I'm very happy with all of these!
The only skincare item that is new to me is YSL Forever Youth Liberator Concentrate, but I have two samples so I should be able to get a good idea if I like it or not!

Step Up Gifts.

Kiehl's didn't have a step up gift as such this time around but as you can see they gave me a generous and varied selection of samples, most of which I have passed onto Mr C&C as he loves a bit of Kiehl's!

Chantecaille always have great bags with their step up gifts and this framed purple Save the Elephants makeup bag is not only lovely to look at it is exceptionally well made. I love it! It came with samples of their Stress Relief Concentrate and Bio Lifting Cream and Mask. These tiny samples may not look like much but Chantaecaille skincare is extremely expensive and these three have a value of over $80.00 which isn't at all bad!

As ever I am thrilled with my Love Yourself gifts, and I will certainly be shopping at the next Barneys Love Yourself event in March, will you?