Tag: Gift with Purchase
Ulta Cyber Monday Bag
Online shopping orders are coming in! There were some smoking beauty deals on Cyber Monday…Ulta offered the choice of 3 different beauty sample bags with a $60 purchase and since I needed some gifts for my bestie, why not order online and get a gift for me?
I chose the pink glitter bag, mostly because it came with a sample of Benefit The POREfessional. This bag is LOADED with goodies!
Makeup: Benefit The POREfessional (my biggest beauty concern right now is my giant crater like pores); Cargo Swimmables Water Resistant Bronzer (Uh…no.); Bare Minerals 5in1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow (I’ve gotten this before and never tried it); Too Faced Tinted Beauty Balm in “Nude Glow” (I’ve been wanting to try this!); Ulta Lip Gloss in “Charmed”; tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in “Fearless”
Face: Hada Labo Ultimate Anti-Aging Facial Mask (with a $3 off coupon); Rodial Stem Cell super-food facial oil; Exuviance Daily Antioxidant Peel CA; Philosophy Purity Made Simple 3-in-1 cleanser for face and eyes
Body: Vitabath Body Wash “In Bloom” (Asian Orchid & Coconut)
Hair: Rusk glue (Deluxe sample!); Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Shampoo and Conditioner (Anti-aging shampoo? Really?); Macadamia Beauty Deep Repair Mask
Fragrance: Dolce & Gabbana “light blue”; Dolce & Gabbana “light blue” Pour Homme; Marc Jacobs “Daisy”; Dolce & Gabbana “Dolce”
Other: Hollywood Fashion Secrets Fashion Tape (I actually need this – my boobs are always popping out)
Coupons: 20% off your next hair service at Ulta The Salon; $10 off Bare Minerals (online only); $15 off any online purchase of $75; $5 off any Ulta brand purchase of $10+
I chose the variety sampler and got Ouidad Moisture Lock (I don’t have curly hair) and a single use sample of Butter London Lippy Moisture Matte Lipstick in “Ruby Murray”. It was kind of a lame sample pack, but I don’t even care with all this other great stuff.
Teensy Ulta Haul
This is the time of year with deals too good to pass up. A few weeks ago, Ulta was running a special that made most of their cosmetics $5 each. If you got 3 of them, you also got a free Ulta makeup brush. I decided to try Ulta Minerals Finishing Powder, Ulta Gel Eye Liner in “Peacock” and Ulta Double Duty Lip Stain and Balm in “Fantasy”. (I think I have ALL of the Double Duties now!) The free brush I picked was the large eye shadow brush.
There was also a Christmas gift in the order…shhhhh…
There was also a special $5 off $10 purchase coupon. On top of that – free shipping on ALL orders!
Even though I just got that huge sample set, I picked the free fragrance samples. I got another vial of Juicy Couture “Viva La Juicy Noir”, Gucci “Made to Measure” Pour Homme and Oscar de la Renta “Oscar”. I’m afraid to crack them open after yesterday;s migraine…
I Swear…I Only Went in for a Haircut
Really! I hadn’t gotten my hair cut since February, so I figured it was time…OK, I kind of knew that I would probably buy some stuff if I actual went to the salon in Ulta to get my hair cut. Shhhh,,,
Ulta was running a special on Zoya polish – buy 2, get a free gift – “A Matte Story”, which came with Zoya Matte Velvet Top Coat (I’ve been needing one!) and Whore Red Matte Velvet Lipstick. the two polishes that I got were Zoya Matte Velvet “Harlow” and Zoya “Remy”.
I went to the fragrance section to sample “Stella” by Stella McCartney. There was a placard for it, but no bottles. A clerk offered to go check the back and came back with a single bottle – saying they had discontinued carrying it. I made a split second decision to go for it and buy it…not realizing that it was the $72 50 ML size. Uhhhhhh…I got it anyway and in my excitement, I totally forgot to use my $3.50 off coupon. The blow was softened, however, by a VISA gift card I had gotten as a “thank you” from my AVP last week.
I was so excited, that I opened “Stella” in my car and started spraying. I LOVE the way it smells on me, but I was a bit disappointed in the scent’s staying power. It’s just a few hours later and I can barely smell it on me. I had read online that the new 2014 version has less staying power, so I guess I need to be on the lookout for one of the old bottles. Trader’s Village, maybe – or one of those Indian perfume places?
Ulta Makes Me So Happy
I can’t pass up a gift with purchase…I’ll tell myself that it’s virtually the same as the last gift with purchase, but it does no good.
Ulta’s purchase requirements are go strange – $19.50 of Ulta products to get the gift. I got Ulta Oil-Free Makeup Remover, Ulta Precision Liquid Liner in “Plum” (I know, weird), and Ulta Double Duty Lipstain & Blam in “Romance”. The gift is a makeup bag filled with the usual stuff – but DIFFERENT usual stuff. I am most excited to try the Ulta Super Stretch Fiber Mascara and the eye shadow topper…which was unfortunately shattered during shipping…fuck.
I also got the two 97 cent polishes I saw on Nouveau Cheap – China Glaze Halloween 2013 Monsters Ball “Bat My Eyes” and “Boo-gie Down”.
Since I used my $3.50 off coupon, I had to find one more thing to qualify for $25 free shipping. I picked Pixel Lip Tint in “Addictive”, which also came with the choice of a free nail polish – I chose Pixel “The Midas Touch”.
Finally…my free samples. I picked the Variety Sampler again, because I am scared of the perfume samples. I got three little foil packets – Smashbox Photo Finish More Than Primer Blemish Control Salicyclic Acid Acne Treatment, The Body Shop Nutriganics “Drops of Youth” and Dermelect Cosmecuticals Timeless Anti-Aging Daily Hand Treatment. Meh.
The most exciting thing in the box was the new Ulta Catalog – for the 21 Days of Beauty that starts 9/7! So many good deals! Ulta makes me so happy…
True Red from True Blood
Nothing like coming from from a trip to a fun surprise in your mailbox!
Last Sunday was the final season premiere of True Blood. I wasn’t overly excited about it…until I saw the 3 hour special that Zoya posted as the premiere started – free bottle of “Sooki” – bright, clean, crisp cool cherry red cream with a subtle jelly finish – with any $10….AND free shipping.
I finally had a chance to try one of Zoya’s Pixie Dust polishes! I chose “Dahlia” – black beauty with a sugared sparkle. I’m guessing it might be somewhat similar to my tar ball nails?
There were also some other goodies in my envelope: a sample of Lemongrass Ginger Lotion, a Zoya Summer Color Chart and an acrylic sample tray of their summer collections – “Tickled” and “Bubbly”.
Easter Shopping
Remember when stores used to be closed on holidays? Easter is one of the few holidays that still closes some stores – HEB and Target are closed today, but Ulta was open. Do a lot of people go buy makeup after Easter Sunday service?
I got a ladyboner yesterday when I got an Ulta sale mag in the mail yesterday. Most of it was fragrances for Mother’s Day, but there was one special that caught my eye – Buy 2 Zoya polishes and get a free Zoya “Monet”, a multi-colored, cellophane holographic special effect topper. Plus, I still had a $5 off $15 coupon. I picked up “Cassedy” (full-coverage celestial pewter metallic from the Zenith Winter Collection) and “Dillon” (full-coverage green mint metallic with silver shimmer from the Awaken Spring 2014 collection). I also got a sample of it’s a 10 miracle leave in product – what does that even mean?
I couldn’t wait to try “Monet”, so I used it on my middle fingernails, over Julep “Tatum”. NOW, my Easter Grass nails are complete.
20% Off Ulta Haul
Send me a coupon…and I’m gonna use it.
Ulta has always been pretty free with their $3.50 off coupons, but they’re nothing special, since you can’t use them on “Prestige” brands. But the 20% off coupon they sent IS usable on “Prestige”. That’s kind of a big deal.
Since I had just ordered the Too Faced “Boudoir Eyes” Palette for my BFF, I decided I wanted it, too. (We don’t get all salty when we get the same products – we like buying the same makeup, carrying the same purses, wearing the same horsemask.) They were out of the free “Better Than Sex” mascara, but the clerk gave me a sample of Bare Minerals “Lash Domination”.
As I was testing Too Faced BB Cream, the stila makeup artist asked if I had any questions. I didn’t realize she was just stila, so she couldn’t answer any of my questions about the Too Faced stuff. For once, I didn’t have my kids with me, so I figured why not try the stila? (It’s funny how these makeup artists talk shit about other brands. I mentioned that I used to use Bare Minerals and she said it’s basically like rubbing dirt on my face.) I let her try out the stila Stay All Day Foundation on me. Honestly, it wasn’t bad, but too much work for me. I DID like the Set & Correct Baked Powder Trio and bought it. I also picked up 3 of the lip glazes from last month’s Birchbox – Red Velvet, Lychee and Banana Berry – they were 3 for $15!
Finally, I grabbed a Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz pencil in “Soft Brown”. I’ve heard good things about Anastasia Dip Brow, but again – too much work for me. I’ve already tried the pencil and I’m liking it so far…lighter than the normal cheapie pencils I use, but more natural.
My initial total was about $115, but with the 20% off coupon and $11 in Ulta Rewards, it was $79…this post should have been called “How to Make Your Husband Shit a Brick.”
I’m a Giver
It doesn’t matter that her birthday is still almost 3 weeks away…as soon as I got the last part of her gift in the mail, I had to give my BFF her birthday present. Mostly because I was afraid she might visit Ulta herself…
She wanted the Too Faced “Boudoir Eyes” Palette really bad…solely based on the fact that there is a color of eye shadow called “Sugar Walls”. I guess she wants to unleash her inner Sheena Easton. The palette came with a free “Better Than Sex” mascara and eye shadow primer.
She also wanted the Urban Decay Naked Palette. She already had Naked 3 and her daughter has Naked 2, so now her life is complete – she can die happy with fabulous eyes.
Ulta Mail
Sick of looking at my fingernails? Let me tell you about the Ulta mail that was in my mailbox today after I went shopping at Ulta…
I’m not sharing all of the items in my box yet – more gifts – but in addition to the gifts, I picked up my first essie polish – essie luxeffects “Set in Stones”. I also got Sparitual Luminary Top Effect “Opaline”. I saw it in the store over Spring Break and I’ve been thinking about it non-stop, so why not?
My gift with purchase was samples from it Cosmetics by Jamie Kern (never heard of them before) – Vitality Lip Blush Hydrating Lip Gloss Stain in “Naturally Flushed”, Bye Bye Under Eye Full Coverage Anti-Aging Waterproof Concealer and a tiny packet of Medium CC+ Cream – bummed that it will be WAY too dark for me.
My free samples were Biolage Exquisite Oil Shampoo and Conditioner, DevaCurl Ultra Defining Gel and Ouidad Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel. I need to stop getting hair shit samples…
Late Ulta Post
I was so caught up in my fingernails, I didn’t do my Ulta post last week. As you’re reading this…pretend it’s last Friday…
After visiting Bath & Body Works and Bed, Bath & Beyond, I slunk over to Ulta. I was ready to spend some money! The first thing I hit was the nail polish. I wanted to try Zoya Pixie Dust. No dice. This location didn’t have a Pixie Dust display.
My next stop was back to the front to test high end BB Creams. First I tried Benefit “Big Easy,” which claims to be “Better than BB” right on the tube. It was shit and settled into every pore and crack on my wrist. I moved on to Smashbox BB. It was even grosser. Why do all these high end cosmetics company call their products BB Cream, when they’re plain old foundation? I tried a few more brands, but it was too late – I was devastated…
Then I tried to buy a gift for someone and this location was out of stock of what I was looking for. Fuck.
After aimlessly wandering down every aisle, I finally realized that I couldn’t find a single thing to buy. I think I have a mental block and was unable to buy anything without my bestie there with me. (She had the same thing happen to her at Ulta earlier this week – I wasn’t there and she couldn’t find anything to buy either!) I was sad until I got home and checked the mail…and found my Lucky Mystery Box AND a box of stuff I ordered from Ulta.com last week!
I used a $3.50 off coupon to try Physician’s Formula BB Cream. I freaked out at first when I saw I received “Light/Medium,” until I realized that it’s the lightest color available. I tried it on my face and it is actually a good match, maybe one tick too dark for me. By summertime, it will be perfect. It’s a lighter texture than the L’Oreal and blends more smoothly. It’s not white out of the tube, but it feels more like a BB Cream than the other products I tried that day.
See that cute makeup bag? It was a gift with purchase from Laura Geller. It had Spackle Primer, lip pops Lush Waterproof Lip Gloss in “Sunrise Rose” and Eye Rimz Baked Wet/Dry Eye Accents in “Supernatural Smoke” with a matching brush. Obviously, I needed more primer!
Since I had such bad luck with fragrance sample, I chose mystery samples this time. I got Butter London Scrubbers, Hempz Body Wash and Biolage Shampoo and Conditioner. Interesting…but I probably won’t try them until I travel…