Porter Magazine GWP.

I do love a glossy mag! 

I know e-mags are convenient and environmentally friendly and all that but a real magazine feels like a proper indulgence and injects a relaxing dose of 'me time' into my day.

Porter magazine is produced by luxury shopping site Net-A-Porter and there are six issues a year. While I realize that a lot of it's content is produced to sell it's items, it really is a very nice magazine indeed.

Oversized with thick glossy pages and sumptuous fashion spreads it is one of the most luxe magazines out there. It has interesting articles about inspirational women, a lengthy beauty section and a travel section. One issue into my subscription and I'm impressed.

I'm also very impressed with the amazing GWP's that they offer to new subscribers. They tend to change seasonally and the price of the subscription seems to vary a little depending on the GWP being offered (I paid $18.00). When I signed up they were offering $86.00 worth of Phillip Kingsley hair care as the GWP made up of the following:

Elasticizer (75ml). A conditioning hair mask that you apply to wet hair before shampooing.

 Swim cap (75ml). A protective cream for use when sunbathing and swimming.

Daily Damage Defense (60ml). A leave in conditioning spray that protects and strengthens.

Maximizer (125ml).  A volumising spray that protects and adds shine.

Currently the Porter subscription is $25.00 and the GWP is a set of T3 SinglePass 2  Hair Straighteners (that normally retail for $180.00!) and once you are a Porter subscriber there are various free shipping deals on Net-A-Porter purchases offered to you.

Tempted?

 If you are and you are a US resident you can subscribe here portersubs.com/T3 

Magazine subscriptions always offer good value for money. Porter offers great value for money! 

Free Birthday Goodies 2015.

August is my birthday month and although there isn't anything that I desperately need I always like to treat myself to a few small things and fit in a spa day as a present to myself. 

Not only are the summer sales still on here in NYC it's nice that retailers give you a discount or a little something extra in your bag. 

As usual I take the time to visit Kiehl's, Sephora and SpaceNK to pick up my 'gifts' - gotta do it, right?

Kiehl's had their standard gift of a Lip Balm #1. Not the most exciting gift for sure but it's a practical unisex one. I have quite a few of these hanging around - it's a good basic balm that I really like - and I appreciate getting it as a gift as at $7.00 it's a little more than I would normally spend on a lip balm.

SpaceNK have a mini REN Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil as their treat this year.
I love Ren products  and this has a glorious rose scent that's warm and sensual and lingers on your skin. It's not a huge bottle but you only need to add a few drops of this to your bath -
this will last me for ages as I'm a 'shower person'. In fact it's a good gift for me as bath (as opposed to shower) products just aren't something that I buy for myself.

Sephora had the most exciting gift this year. A duo of NARS Lip Pencils.  There's a sheer, glossy, pinky nude Satin Lip Pencil in the shade 'Rikugien' and a Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in the cult classic  red shade, 'Cruella'.  These are both 'suit anyone' shades and comfortable to wear. I think that lip products are always a fun thing to get - it's great to be able to test them before investing in a full sized product.

I really like all my birthday freebies this year and its good to get a little top up of minis before the September GWP's kick off.

Happy Birthday to me!

Sephora $100 Gift Card.

I tend to pay for pretty much everything by credit card so as to take advantage of it's rewards system. (I should point out that I pay it off in full each month so that I don't incur any charges - my bank must hate me!).

I always opt for a gift card and until recently it's always been for either Amazon, CVS or Target. Imagine my delight when I cashed in my most recent points and saw that they had Sephora gift cards... Who knew?... Of course I had to have one!

I split my spending into two orders to maximize the samples available. 

Order #1 was a make up treat. 

I love the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder and had been eyeing up their Ambient Blush for a while. I like a powder blush in the summer as it lasts so much better. I wanted a summery shade and chose Dim Infusion, a peachy color, long lasting, easy to apply and blend and it looks very natural. I'm very pleased with this and can see my Ambient Blush collection expanding at some point!

I needed a brush to replace my Real Techniques Buffing Brush - I've used mine to death and can only find it as part of a set here - so I bought Sephora's Multitasker Complexion Brush #45. It's a nice soft brush and I use it all over my face to blend everything in when I've finished my make up. Whilst I don't love it quite as much as the RT Buffer it is a very good brush that I am pleased with.

Order #2 was more skincare orientated. As I'd used up my huge box of Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Pads I decided to give F.A.B. Facial Radiance Pads a whirl. I've only used them for a few days but I'm impressed so far! There's a bit of a tingle there but they are gentle enough for everyday use (I'm using them just at night). They are a no frills product that is very economical and live up to all the hype they have received. I've yet to try Nude Radiant Day Moisturiser which I grabbed as it was on sale. I'm always on the lookout for a simple, basic moisturizer that I can layer on top of serums and oils and this fitted the bill.

Deluxe weekly sample specials that I picked up were Sunday Riley Good Genes  (I can never have too much of this) it's my night serum of choice and as it's a pricey one I always choose samples of this whenever I see them - and another chemical exfoliator, Alenist Genius Bi Phase Peel, which will be good for travel. 

Smaller samples included two perfumes - Chloe and Replica Beach Walk, a sachet of Living Proof Style Extender hair treatment, and skincare sachets from Sephora, Dr Brant and Estee Lauder.

All in all I think that's a pretty good range of freebies and my bank account and manager are happy with my purchases!

A Caudalie Restock.

Recently Caudalie had a really good GWP online when you spent $75.00. I also had some points from the MyCaudalie Rewards Program to cash in.

It was time to put an order together!

There were three things that I wanted to re-purchase: Vinosource SOS Serum which works really well as a warm weather hydrating serum for me (it really does feel like a 'drink of water for your face'); Grape Water, a soothing facial hydrator in an aerosol that again is lovely in the heat and the classic Beauty Elixer, a multi tasking spray that I love to slip into my bag for travel.

Caudalie's value sets are often really worth getting. I picked up the Moisture Essentials Set ($49.00). It contains a full sized SOS Serum (that normally retails by itself for $49.00!), the Grape Water that I was after and also 10ml of their Moisturising Sorbet, which is a non greasy hydrating cream that I like to use in the summer. 

I also picked up one of their 'Favourites' sets. Great value at $32.00, this contains the travel sized Beauty Elixir I wanted plus another 10ml Moisturizing Sorbet, a 30ml Gentle Cleansing Milk, a Lip Balm and a handbag sized Hand Cream - all products that I like and will use. 

I used my MyCaudalie Rewards to get a full sized Gentle Cleansing Milk and the splendid GWP contained a full sized Shower Gel, 100ml of Micellaire Water, 50ml of a delightfully scented Body Lotion and 10ml of Polyphenol C15 Serum which is a treat to use.

Along with four samples this was really quite a haul...   

   

I paid $81.00 but received an amazing $206.00 worth of goodies (shipping was free). Proof that a little bit of luxury doesn't have to be too expensive!

Take a look at us.caudalie.com and don't forget to sign up for the rewards program - it's really worth it.

Barneys Love Yourself Spring 2015.

One of my favorite beauty events is the Barneys New York Love Yourself Bag Event. This year it's almost a month later than normal (previously it's been held the weekend prior to Valentine's Day - hence 'Love Yourself') and it's on until March 14th so there's still time to stock up on your beauty faves or try some new products and score yourself a fabulous goody bag. Certain brands also have step -up gifts available and even if you aren't near to a Barneys store you can also shop the event online at www.barneys.com to take advantage of great gifts.

I stopped by on Tuesday and restocked some tried and tested products for both myself and Mr C&C.

For myself Chantecaille Just Skin TM in the shade 'Nude' - slightly darker and warmer than 'Bliss' this is a great summer shade for me. I also picked up Kiehl's Supremely Gentle Eye Make Up Remover, which is not only gentle but  very effective and non drying. The 4.2oz bottle lasts for ages so not only is it one of my favorite eye make up removers it's a pretty economical one.

The rest of the Kiehl's haul was for Mr C&C, two tubes of Facial Fuel to see him through the summer, a large Creamy Avocado Eye Cream and a huge tub of their Panthenol Protein Moisturiser that he can  slather on generously! 

The step up gift from Kiehls was an Ultra Facial Wash and Ultra Facial Toner - both full sized - what a fabulous gift, right?

I also received the Chantecaille step up gift of a make up bag with samples - here are the the step up gifts...

And here are the contents of the Love Yourself gift bag...

There's a full sized Rituals Shower Gel, a full sized Tatcha Blotting Papers and a handbag sized hairspray from Valery Joseph.

I'm really enjoying the fact that recent gift bags have been so rich in skincare samples (this has twelve plus two in the step up gift). There are mini mascaras,  a primer, a nail polish, a lip pencil and gloss, a couple of hair treatments and three fragrances to try. I am really happy with this bag, just like the recent Space NK bag there's nothing here that I won't use, and everything is good quality top of the range brands.

Here's a pic of everything I brought home today...

The denim washbag is a fun one and as you can see and I don't need to do a beauty shop for quite a while...