ULTA GWP: Cyber Funday 2018.

I don't shop at Ulta all that much, even though I love the store and its easy to browse mix of high end and drugstore products, not to mention its excellent reward's program. However, I do place an online order from time to time as they stock the hair dye I use which none of my local shops sells (John Freida Precision Foam Color, in case you were wondering) and it is also a good way of buying bumper sized bags of Epsom Salts as it means I don't have to lug them home from the shops.

Whenever these items are running low I make sure to check the Ulta emails I receive and take advantage of their best online offers. Recently I managed to get all of the above goodies thrown in with my order (I think it was a $65.00 required spend to get this offer), as well as earning points towards future purchases, along with cashback from ebates. 

Here's a quick look at what I got.

Skincare.

Patchology Mood Mask Just Let It Glow. 

Although I'm not a sheet mask fan I'm looking forward to trying this one out as I have been impressed with the other Patchology products that I have tried. (Their Lip Service Gloss-to-Balm Treatment is currently my favourite lip product.) In addition to moisturising, this sheet mask contains antioxidents to protect and Niacinamide to brighten which sounds like the perfect post-party skin pick me up treatment.

Garnier Skinactive Micellar Water - 1oz. 

This generous sample is going straight into my travel bag! I love getting samples and minis of Micellar Water as they are so handy to take along on trips and use for removing eye makeup, or even a full face of makeup in a pinch if needed.

Mario Badescu Cucumber Cleansing Lotion - 1oz. 

This toner has Isopropyl Alcohol as it's the second ingredient and as this can be quite harsh and drying I don't think I will use it but will pass it along to someone who may. 

Boscia Detoxifying Black Cleanser. 

I already have a couple of sachets of this cleanser which warms on application. It sounds interesting and I'm curious to try it out sometime soon.

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Anti Wrinkle Moisturiser. 

I don't know too much about Juice Beauty, but you can't really go too wrong with a sachet of moisturiser. There are very few moisturising samples that I won't use as they can always be used as a top occlusive layer or even as a body lotion in a pinch!

L'Oreal Yuzu Lemon Pure Clay Mask. 

I used another of the L'Oreal Pure Clay Masks a while ago and found it to be a little drying but I'm intrigued by a brightening clay mask and love single-use mask sachets so will give this one a go. 

BlenderCleanser Liquid. 

These are always handy to receive as although they may not be the most exciting sample they do prompt me to clean my brushes.

Makeup.

Ulta Gel Eye Liner 'Mink' (full-sized).

 It's nice to get an eyeliner that isn't basic black for a change so I'm pleased to get this.

Maybelline Master Precision All Day Liner 'Black'. 

Maybelline is really pumping this product out in gift bags, I already have a couple of these, plus numerous other black liners so will pass it on.

MAC In Extreme Dimension Lash Mascara. 

This is the cutest mini mascara! I rarely use MAC products but I'm always happy to receive mini mascaras as it means I rarely have to buy a full sized one.

Too Faced Glitter Glue Shadow Primer. 

This is so not my type of product lol, I'll pass this one on to a teenager.

Ofra Single Eyeshadow in 'Bliss' 

This looks to be a nice easy to wear neutral shade but as I have a lot of neutral shadows I will put this into my donation/giveaway bag.

Julep Whipped Matte Lip Mousse in 'Bisou. 

This wine toned lip colour has a strong pigment but it's a great colour for this time of year so I will pop it in my bag.

Haircare.

Herbal Essence Argan Oil Conditioner - 100ml. 

Herbal Essence is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine and I love getting decent sized samples of hair conditioner as I always use up bottles of conditioners much more quickly than bottles of shampoo.

Living Proof TBD Multi Tasking Styler. 

I'm a real 'wash n go' type but I will try and use this as a leave in conditioner/detangler.

Sexy Hair Love Oil Moisturising Oil. 

The name of this makes me shudder, but I love a good hair oil so I will certainly try it out.

Perfume.

Narciso Rodriguez Fleur Musc. 

I already used this sample. It's easy to wear but a little sweet for my liking and it did fade away pretty quickly.

Juicy Couture Oui. 

I've yet to try this but I was pleasantly surprised by the last perfume I tried by Juicy Couture so I'm hoping I will like this one too.

If you're impressed by this GWP/sample haul why not sign up for emails at ulta.com They frequently have offers such as this and I'm sure that their post-Christmas sale will be excellent as well.

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. 

Why I'm fast becoming a dedicated Ulta shopper!

While Space NK is always going to be my first love when it comes to beauty shopping their products do tend to be at the luxury, and therefore pricier, end of the spectrum. I'd love to buy everything from them but there are those pesky little things called bills to pay... 

Which is why I'm enjoying a little bit of Ulta from time to time these days. Their products range from department store/Sephora brands to drugstore ones and they stock a variety of those brands that have some great value products in their line up such as The Body Shop, Boot's and Mario Badescu. Plus they sell all of those mundane beauty items that we all need from time to time such as hair dyes, depilatory creams and nail files. Product wise Ulta really do have you covered, although I've mostly been shopping there of late to buy haircare, body care and the 'boring bits'. 

If you join their Ultamate Rewards program (it's free) they offer you points on every purchase that convert into cash rewards that you can use towards future beauty splurges. Membership also allows you to take advantage of triple points days (or even x5 point days), money off coupons and numerous special offers (half priced featured products BOGO's and so on). These all add up and you can score some serious beauty bargains!
If you shop online shipping over $50.00 is free and you can score even more extra money back if you shop through a money back site such as EBates.

Ulta have frequent GWP's available, and you know how I love a good GWP!
Some of these are brand specific, some are bumper bags of samples and minis and some, like the one pictured above (yes, that's a GWP not a haul!!) are a mix of full sized products and samples.
Most of their GWP's are only available for a short time, some just a number of hours, so signing up for their emails is the best way to find out about them and snag one for yourself.

The pictured gift of bathroom treats was a recent GWP with purchases of $50.00 or more.
My actual haul was made up of Epsom salts, hair dyes and a couple of bath poufs, honestly not exciting enough to be pictured, unlike the rather generous and lovely gift.

This particular GWP contains full sizes of Rituals Ritual of Sakura Foaming Shower Gel (200ml), Zoella Beauty Soak Opera Bath and Shower Cream (250ml), and Thymes Kimono Rose Bath Salts (60g) and a generously sized sample of Frank Body Original Coffee Scrub (20g) along with a Daily Concepts Exfoliating Body Scrubber.
The value of this gift is a little over $30.00 which I think is great especially as we will use all it's products.

 It's always nice to get some pampering bathroom treats and even better when they are for free, don't you think? 

ulta.com

Ulta GWP: 'Spice' Giftbag.

I know, I know. It's not been long since I promised no more beauty buys but my epilator gave up the ghost and stopped working and on the same day a GWP offer from Ulta showed up in my inbox and I had Ulta rewards to redeem and cash back from Ebates could be applied so I had to take advantage of this gift bag. I mean turning down something for nothing makes no sense when it is something that is of use right?

Free with a $75.00 spend, there were a choice of two bags containing different products: 'sugar' or 'spice'. Ulta has the most amazing deals on almost of the time but they swap them out fast. When I checked on my shipping tracking I looked for this deal and they only had the 'sugar' bags remaining. By now Ulta are onto another promo - hair products when I last looked.
Moral: if you fancy a certain Ulta GWP then move fast!

The bag itself was a dark pink suede effect pochette but as ever it was the contents, a mix of samples and generously sized minis that I was more interested in!

Skincare.

Yay! There's a good selection of skincare samples included here and they are a varied bunch that will
(excepting cleansing products) cover your skincare needs for a few days.
To start a routine there is a mini spray of Tarte Get Set Radiant to tone and refresh skin with and a small tube of Dermalogica Stress Positive Eye Lift. There are samples of two serums, Perricone MD High Potency Face Firming Activator which would work as a daytime serum and the cutest mini bottle of Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, to use as a nighttime serum. To finish your routine there is a generous 15ml pot of Vichy V Liftactive Supreme Cream.

Make Up.

There is a sachet of Smashbox Photo Finish Primer - I always like getting samples of primers to try as they generally last a while, making them ideal to tuck in my make up bag when I'm off on a trip. 

There are two mascara samples: a mini Benefit They're Real and a mini, mini Urban Decay Troublemaker Mascara. I'm always happy to receive mini mascaras and I seem to get so many that it is rare that I ever have to buy mascara myself.

There are three lip colours included in the gift: a mini Smashbox Legendary Lipstick, a sample of Juice Beauty Liquid Lip and a full sized Ulta Matte Lip Crayon.  Fittingly for a spice themed bag they are all quite strong Autumnal colours. None of them are the kind of tones that I wear as they are quite bold so I'm going to be passing these three along to people who can wear them.

Haircare.

I won't use the Sexy Hair Not So Hard Up Holding Gel but I'm happy with the other three generously sized haircare samples I was sent. Hempz Daily Colour Preserving Shampoo containing grapefruit and raspberry smells fun, fresh and fruity. Matrix Biolage Cleansing Conditioner is a product I'm looking forward to using as I got on well with the last Co-Wash product I tried. (I feel like Co Wash products were everywhere a couple of years ago but they don't seem as common of late). There's also a mini bottle of It's a 10 leave in hair treatment which I will use and sachets of Klorane Strengthening and Revitalising Shampoo and Conditioner which I'm sure will be a treat for my hair.

Bodycare.
There was only one body care item in the bag but it was a good one - a travel sized Rituals Yogi Flow Foaming Shower Gel. This rose scented gel seems to be something of a staple in beauty boxes and gift bags but I'm always happy to receive this moisturising shower product that smells lovely and is kind of fun to use as well. 

Perfume.

Finally there are three perfume vials: Gucci Bloom, Michael Kors Sexy Amber and Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Glace.

I think that's a very decent selection of products for a not too expensive GWP and there was also a coupon included for $5.00 off $15.00 worth of Ulta own brand products.

Be sure to sign up at ulta.com to learn about other deals like this one!