Free Birthday Beauty Goodies 2018.

I have to admit to being rather negligent of C&C of late. I've been exceptionally busy and somewhat stressed due to aforementioned busyness which all added up to not having the time to blog. If I did have any free time I found that I wasn't in the mood to witter on about books and beauty things, either because I had pressing things that I should be doing (laundry, errands etc), or I needed to totally relax and simply sit and watch tv/play candycrush/flip through a magazine etc.

However, during my birthday month (August) I did manage to find a little time for myself and gather up a few beauty related freebies.

Ulta offer members of its Ultamate rewards program a different birthday gift each quarter. No purchase is needed to reclaim your birthday gift from Ulta but you do need to pick it up in a store as they won't add it to an online order. Summer's gift was a mini It Cosmetics Superhero Mascara. I must be one of the few people who hasn't tried the CC Cream from this brand, but I do have an eyeshadow palette from them that I love so I have high hopes for this mascara. I love mini mascaras! Not only are they a great way to try out new mascaras, they are such a handy size to pop in your bag or take on a trip. I'm always excited to get a mini such as this and get them from goody bags and GWP's so frequently that I rarely need to actually buy a full sized mascara!

Sephora offer members of it's Beauty Insider program a choice of birthday gifts. This year the choice was either Glamglow or Bite Beauty. There's something about Glamglow that I find off-putting for some reason - perhaps it's their glittery masks or their cartoon tie-ins? I don't really know - but it was easy for me to choose the gift from Bite which contained a sample of their amazing Agave Lip Balm along with a mini Amuse Bouche Lipstick and a mini Matte Cream Lip Crayon.

Space NK has upped their birthday gift game and now offer members of their NDulge program a little gift bag with three minis of their best selling products. You can add this birthday treat to an online order or collect it in store (I'm not sure if you need to make a purchase or not to reclaim in store, you do need to to do so online). I feel like I lucked out as my bag had a handbag sized Oribe Dry Texturising Spray which is always a great freebie to receive, a generous 10ml sample spray of Diptyque Philosykos EDP which is my favourite summertime scent, and a 15ml jar of Rodial Bee Venom Moisturizer which alone is worth a whopping $60.00!

Kiehl's offer their 'Kiehl's Family' members a #1 Lip Balm free with any purchase during your birthday month. I know that it's better than nothing but I do feel that this offering from Kiehl's, who were once known for their generous samples and promotions, is a little lame. Every year it is a #1 Lip Balm (which I don't even find to be all that great, its basically a petroleum jelly bal with a very small amount of sunscreen), you need to make a purchase to claim what is a low-value item, plus you can't combine it with any other offer. I actually didn't even claim mine this year as I didn't feel the need to buy something I didn't really need just in order to get a lip balm I don't even like all that much!

Anyhow enough of my complaining...

Diptyque is my favourite perfume house so I was thrilled when I found out that if you subscribe to their emails in the U.S. they will send you a birthday email that you can use in any of their standalone stores to claim either a mini candle or a 10ml EDP spray, no purchase necessary. I opted for the perfume spray and chose the fragrance Tempo which I believe is a Limited Edition of theirs. The Sales Assistants are always so nice at Diptyque and they also gave me a couple of their regular perfume samples which was a kind touch.

CVS recently overhauled their Beauty Rewards program and it now offers a free birthday gift to pick up instore, no purchase necessary. This year it was a Poparazzi Nail Polish and I picked out a wearable nude/greige.

In addition to my mini birthday haul pictured above, I also received a coupon code for 15% off orders during my birthday month from Cult Beauty and Caudalie added 30 points to my MyCaudalie Rewards account. 

I'm very happy with my birthday freebie this year, there are some nice treats here and the best thing is that they didn't cost me anything! Let me know if there are any birthday beauty treats I have missed out.

These offers are available in mainland USA. Other countries may have different gifts and conditions. Gifts and conditions may change and are subject to company policies and rules. 

Samples Galore and Why I'm Having a No-Buy-July

Here's something a little different from me - a two-part rambling beauty post!

Firstly, samples.

I haven't actively been seeking out samples but in the last couple of weeks, I amassed all the samples in the two photos with very minimal effort on my behalf!

CVS has upped their beauty game of late and in addition to the standard drugstore lines they already carry they have added a KBeauty section, got their act together with their French pharmacy offerings as well as stocking a few new decidedly upmarket ranges (Glamglow! Clarins! Dermalogica!). Visit on the right day and they have samples available, my local branch has a friendly lady advisor who thrust a whole load of Vichy samples at me (see all those serum sachets - enough for a week!) one day and on other days I picked up samples from La Roche Posay and Apothecare Essentials.

I've made a few beauty orders recently, only one of which was for myself I hasten to add...
Two orders from Space NK (sale items for myself and Windle and Moodie hair products for Mr C&C) netted me a handful of sample sachets and a mini Rahua Shampoo. I always love samples from Space NK and I'm particularly keen to finally try out some body care from Oribe. The sachets of Cote D'Azur Body Wash and Lotion are plump sachets stuffed with product and I can't wait to rip them open and fill my bathroom with the scent of Oribe!

I ordered Mr C&C some Bumble and Bumble from Sephora so I got my standard three samples - not the ones I picked however. Sephora rarely seems to send the samples you select and more often than not send those annoying blister packs of foundation/concealer/lipstick - which are the only samples I actually dislike and never use. However to soften the blow one of their weekly specials was a  'Beachy Waves' sample set with five sachets of shampoo and conditioner, and three styling products, one of which is my favourite Bumble and Bumble Don't Blow It Fine (H)air Styler.

MrC&C, aka The Kiehl's Addict, needed some of their facial products so I took advantage of a Father's Day promo they had offering deluxe samples and a dop kit. I kindly picked out manly samples which I gave to him but did pick up one of their Creme de Corps Soothing Oil to Foam Body Cleanser which I'm hanging on to as it sounds like something I will enjoy!

Part Two - No Buy July!

I've been fortunate to stumble upon so many irresistible beauty bargains lately that my stash of full-sized products is pretty impressive and that of samples even more so! One of the joys/perils of the beauty industry is that it is ever evolving and there's always something new to tempt us. Having said that after my skin had a bout of sensitivity I've been sticking to a fairly streamlined routine and for the moment I have been enjoying using a steady rotation of pretty basic products that I have in stock, and so has my skin!

 I'm doing a No-Buy-July as there is nothing that I actually need (things I want - that's another story) and I want to reduce my stash (so that in the future I can add to it again!)  I'm also a little gun shy of experimenting with new stuff until my skin has settled down again.  August is my Birthday month so I know I will be buying myself a few birthday treats. And, before we know it, it will (scarily) be September and the whole merry-go-round of GWP'S and launches will start again. I always, always, do the bulk of my beauty shopping in February/March and again in September to take advantage of gift bags from Space NK, Barneys New York and Cult Beauty. 

I love a challenge (as long as it's not too daunting a one) and I'm actually looking forward to this No-Buy month! I'm away on a short holiday at the beginning of the month so I will feel less guilty about eating every meal out and buying cocktails. I'm also planning on giving my wardrobe a bit of an update with the money I would usually allot to beauty products. 

It's an interesting project for me to tackle and while I know I'm not going to ever stop buying beauty products I'm considering doing a No- Buy a few times a year in the future. Let's see how I get on, wish me luck!

Empties: April 2018.

Once again (already?!?) it's time to have a look at my monthly pile of empties.

I'm still trying to reduce my stash somewhat as there are plenty of new products that I'm keen to try but I can't justify purchasing them when I have so much in stock already! I have been trying hard to concentrate on using almost empty products and resisting the urge to open up new items before I finish something up. Although this isn't the biggest pile of empties I did manage to use up some bumper sized products, along with a few items that I have been trying to empty for a while. Fifteen full sized products and twelve samples in all which isn't bad.

Skincare.

I was pleased that I managed to finish eight full sized skin care items.

Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel has been featured in many of my empties posts. I think that it is a great cleanser for the price. It cleans my skin well without stripping it and I like it as a morning cleanser. I do wish they would make this without the excessive fragrance and colouring but if you are okay with fragranced face products and haven't tried this you really should!

The Body Shop Camomile Gentle Eye Make Up Remover is something of a cult product and another pocket friendly item. The bottle was huge and it lasted me for such a long time. If you haven't tried this it is a clear water consistency liquid that smells lightly of Chamomile. It didn't sting my eyes at all but I did find that it didn't remove waterproof mascaras all that efficiently. This was okay but it didn't overly impress me and I prefer something that feels a little more nourishing. I wouldn't get this again even though I am happy to have tried it.

I used up another La Roche Posay Thermal Spring Water. I always have a tin of mineral water next to my sink. I love to layer it between products (especially Hyaluronic Acid ones) as well as use it for rinsing my face after cleansing/treatments. Nothing fancy about this but it is easily available and one I often have in stock.

The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2%+B5. Honestly I had a struggle to finish this, it is a very thick serum that I found didn't absorb all that well. I had the best results with this when I applied it to damp skin and sprayed mineral water on top but otherwise I felt that it sat on top of my skin rather than sinking in. I also had problems with this causing other products to pill and roll - no way could I use this layered with oils unfortunately. The Ordinary do have a newly reformulated HA which I have bought to try but this older formula even at it's incredibly low price was a big fail as far as I'm concerned.

I had a sample of Caudalie VineActive Eye Cream that I quite liked but when I consistently used this full sized tube it left me unimpressed. It is a light cream but oddly feels quite oily once on my lids. I didn't find that it did much at all to improve my eye area other than temporarily hydrating it. I'm kind of bummed that this didn't impress me as I usually like Caudalie products.

Lierac Hydra-Chrono Hydrating Balm was a cooling, soothing gel moisturiser. There is a little oil in the formula but it was very watery in feel. I liked this basic hydrator but as with all gel products I found I used it up very quickly.

I used up two full sized lip balms in April. Kiehl's #1 Lip Balm isn't one of my favourites, it's okay but I feel that it sits on top of my lips rather than sinking in, I never buy these but I have quite a few around that I got for free which I am trying to use up.
Like the Kiehl's balm Smith's Rosebud Salve is basically a petroleum gel but this is much lighter in formula and does appear to sink in. I like this pale pink rose scented balm and often have one in my bag for use on mostly lips but also my cuticles. I think that the tin this comes in is super adorable!

In addition I also used up seven skincare samples.

Cle de Peau Softening Cleansing Foam is a lovely rich cleanser. It produces more of a cream than a foam, a little of this goes a long, long way you really only need to use the tiniest amount and it leaves skin so so soft.

3Lab Super Eye Treatment and Natura Bisse Diamond Extreme Eye are both fantastic and both very expensive! The 3Lab is more serum like in consistency and was great for use during the day while the richer Diamond Extreme Eye was better for use at night. I loved using this duo and things did look smoother and brighter but they are way too pricey for my pocket! 

Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask is a classic product that is lovely to use and always leaves my skin softened, calmed and hydrated, as ever I enjoyed using this very much.

Finally Aveeno Ultra Calming Night Cream and La Mar Moisturising Cream were both basic moisturisers that I used at night. These were both fine but neither were anything special.

Haircare.

L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil Nourishing Conditioner is such a good drugstore product - I've found the whole of this range to be great in fact. This smells like Moroccan Oil and although it is quite thick and a little oily in feel, it rinsed out easily leaving my hair incredibly silky feeling without adding any weight or greasiness to it - I already have more of this in my stash.

Pantene Pro-V Hairspray #4 did a good job of holding hair in place but it did leave quite a lot of residue in my hair. It smelled quite fruity which was preferable to the usual chemical like smell of cheaper hair sprays but overall this was merely okay for me.

Ouai Finishing Cream was a leave in conditioner/finisher that I had high hopes for as I have liked most OUAI products, but it was too heavy for my hair and made it look stringy. I gave this to Mr C&C who finished it up but he wasn't keen enough on it to get it again.   

Body care.

I only finished three body care items but two of them are ginormous!

Soap & Glory Rich and Foamous Body Wash was creamy and lathered well. I liked it's sweet nutty brown sugar scent, it wasn't too sweet and it lingered in my bathroom making it smell lovely. Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Body Milk was another hit for me! Another sweet but not sickly fragranced nutty scent (which complemented the body wash perfectly) this was very thick and nourishing. It was ever so slightly tacky feeling but these two products left my skin noticeably softer when I used them together.

I'm very impressed with L'Occitane body products and their Ultra Rich Body Cream was lovely. This was a very thick cream but it melted into my skin beautifully. I didn't need to use much of this and it left my skin very soft and comfortable. It's baby powder like scent wasn't my favourite but it wasn't offensive at all and faded quickly. 

Make up and perfume.

Two mascaras are going in the bin this month. I rarely buy a mascara but I did succumb to the hype around L'Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise and purchase a tube. I wasn't sure about this at first but once it dried up a tad I liked it a lot. The brush was good and it added length and volume to my lashes in a way that was bold but not too overdone. It stayed in pace throughout the day, in fact the only negative thing I would say about this is that it was a little tough to remove  thoroughly. It's not my favorite mascara but it may well be my favourite drugstore mascara.
Mineral Fusion Volumizing Mascara was a fail for me I'm afraid. I was excited to try this 'natural' formula and I had high hopes for it. It had a lovely feeling creamy formula but it flaked off so badly during the course of the day that I abandoned using it long before it was empty.

Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer in the shade 'Light' was a great eye shadow primer. Easily applied with a doe foot this blended easily, evening out the colour of skin and filling small lines and my eye make up stayed in place much longer when I used it. I was impressed, I would get this again.

I used up three perfume samples. Atelier Cologne Sud Magnolia wasn't to my taste as I find that all of Atelier Cologne EDT's smell a bit sharp and chemical like on me. I did like Helmut Lang Cuiron, it's very masculine but it's woody musky tones added up to a soft leather scent - very 1970's! Byredo Gypsy Water is a soft green aquatic scent. I always find these type of fragrances a tad too fabric softener like on me and this didn't last long on me either - it's not bad, it's just not my type of thing.

Overall I'm pleased with April's empty pile, I'm slowly getting through older products and making room in my cupboards for some lovely new things.

Kiehl's Healthy Skin GWP.

Normally I restock Mr C&C's Kiehl's products whenever there is a Barney's Love Yourself event but this year he needed quite a major restock and I split my buys between Barneys and Kiehl's as they had a great GWP available with any $75.00 purchase. 

The Healthy Skin promotion had a choice of three makeup bags containing different selections of products and although my preferred choice was out of stock by the time I put my order together I am still pretty darn pleased with my second choice. 

I'm keeping the new Calendua and Aloe Soothing Hydrating Mask which I'm excited try after my next at home exfoliating facial along with the Calendua Herbal Extract Toner. I do remember purchasing this toner in the distant past so I'm curious to revisit it, it is alcohol free and looks super pretty as it contains actual flower petals.

I'm generously gifting Mr C&C the samples of Ultra Facial Cream, Midnight Recovery Concentrate and Daily Reviving Concentrate but I'm keeping a firm hold of the cosmetic bag that came with the gift, as for once the bag itself is the best part of the gift. Normally I'm all about the samples and I will gift or donate the bag that comes with GWP's (having said that I do have a fairly large drawer full of ones that I liked enough to keep!) but this one feels rather special.

It's the perfect size for a day to day make up bag and I like the design of it so much, I especially like the way the illustrations represent the heritage of Kiehl's. This bag is so well made. The fabric has a wipe clean coating on the outside, the zip is sturdy, and not only is it lined, it's padded so I won't end up smashing powders and compacts when I carry them around. 

Although this promotion is over if you love Kiehl's products it is worthwhile signing up for theirmailings as there are offers such as this frequently available.
There's also a members rewards program that offers a Lip Balm as a birthday treat, samples with every order and a yearly cash reward when you record your purchases. Kiehl's stores are a delight to visit but these days I tend to buy everything we need from them online as Ebates give a very generous cash back on Kiehl's purchases. You cam sign up for mailings at kiehls.com

And if you don't yet have an Ebates account why not open one at ebates.com? I will admit to having been pretty skeptical but it really does work. I pay my Ebates cashback into a Paypal account which I then use for Cult Beauty orders...Which makes my Cult Beauty purchases free! Brilliant!