Freebies grabbed in the past week

Who doesn't love a cheeky free sample? I for one, like to try before i buy and so freebies are the things i look for on brand counters or online before i take the plunge and spend my hard earned money!

This week i have picked up;

Harvey Nichols
Valmont - skincare bag when i visited their counter

The counter guy assessed my skin, and gave my these samples to try. I also grabbed a bag for a friend while i was there!

Debenhams beauty club

This a free treat every month with showing your beauty club card at the fragrance counter. Last month was Urban Decay setting spray! Can't wait for the Augusut treat!

Benefit Cosmetics Hello Happy powder

I was colour matched on their counter, and asked for a sample to try out. No doubt i will be back to buy, as you know my addiction with Benefit!!

Nude By Nature - free event goody bag read here about it

It Cosmetics - skin cream

Picked up from their counter.

Chanel Le Volume Revolution

Got this with my Benefit order on Boots, which added to the basket. Happens quite often with Boots orders!

Too Faced Lip Injection

The counter gal asked if i wanted to dip in their lucky dip, so did and won this mini!

So there you go, plenty of samples at counters to pick up, so get going and save some money before buying!

Makeup mastercass ; Nude By Nature

So i wasn't planning on doing anything this weekend, then Lucy messaged to say Nude By Nature were asking for people to head to their masterclasses on Satuurday in Leeds Boots store, so thought why not!
She handed over my details, but in the meantime i saw the eventbrite link in their instagram bio and signed up for the 1pm class.

So i headed to Leeds on Saturday, taking the bus which i bloody hated, so i will force myself to driver and deal with the parking when i get there next time!! Went into Boots, and there were lots of hustle and bustle on the counters!

I browsed around all the lovely counters that have been refurbished and added, like Too Faced who offered me a lucky dip, of which i pulled out Lip Injection, a mini lip plumper. Which is fab as i don't think i've ever tried any Too Faced before!

Then i saw a group of people at the doors, near all the Nude By Nature signage and went and stood, ready for the masterclass to start.

It was hosted by their make up artist Clint Dowdell, who gave a makeover and talked through products.

Starting with the primer, which a dollop was handed out around, and is the thing i fell for instantly, with the smell, texture and coverage on shine it is perfect!

There were a whole face of products shown like the highlighter, brow gel and the loose powder, which is another item i really liked, and may head back for soon!

Then were chatted to Clint who said he would take us over to the stand, talk through some products and give us mini makeovers. We each picked some things, i was informed the Nude By Nature BB cream would be perfect on my skin, but in a darker shade to show a bronzed look, which is my thing right now. It went on really like but gave a great colour!

We messed around in the mirror, took some selfies to try and win for the compeition, then browse some more and grabbed the items we wanted!

For attending the free eventbrite event, we were give a little bag with a flyer in it, a mini highlighter in opal and a lip products in rose. Free event and a goody bag, amazing!

Seeing as though i never head anywhere on a Saturday, i really enjoyed being in Boots for the event and will be looking for more soon!

Harvey Nichols event - Beauty and the beach

For £10 I think it was well spent!

Photo credit: Emma at Catalyst PR - see www.instagram.com/catalystpr

I headed to Leeds to meet the lovely group of girls from our meet up last month, which you can read more about here.

Photo; ticket and event plan

We weren't really sure what to expect from the event as it didn't give out much on the site! However, once we showed our tickets, we were given a voucher to redeem against the £10 we had spent on our tickets, and told we could browse the bottom and 1st floors.

We headed up to the 1st floor, to where the drinks were, and grabbed ourselves a glass of fruity cocktail, which I went for pineapple and it was delicious!

There was a demo from Nars as well at £7.30 so we all sat down to watch that, and marvel at the new orgasm goodies, which I didn't think I would lust after but wow, I need them all!

There's a new pallet, huge size blush, a lip oil and a brick blush with 3 different shades! Ok so you probable already know my £10 is going towards those beauts! Yes!

There was then a Charlotte Tilbury demo, for all the body type products; Supermodel body, their Healthy Glow and the new hot lips collection. It was another lustworthy viewing, but I do like to save my spending sprees on CT for when I head to the boutique in London at Xmas time!

Then it was mega hot, so we headed back downstairs to browse all the counters.

Now, it was great being able to browse pretty freely and get on hand help right away, rather than the hustle and bustle of the weekends, however, the lack of samples on counters was a bit naff! I'd expect all the brands to be giving away their new mascara samples, or pots of lotions and potions, but alas not much there, apart from a great brand Valmont! the guy on their was a delight, and really helpful! so that is actually a counter I would head back to! The displays were cute though, like the beachy one above!

I of course though, headed to Nars to use my £10, set on the lip oil, but when I set my eyes on the huge orgasm blush, I HAD to have that too, plus the packaging is the match the shade, a dusty, sparkly pink. Yum!

I've used the blush the morning and still love it after all this time! The lip oil is so soothing also, and not sticky. I do love a lip oil or gloss compared to mega colour now  a days!

Then upon leaving, we were handed a goody bag, which was included in the ticket price! It was SUCH a treat, for only £10! Look at it!
Prosecco, samples of perfume, make up etc.
I would head there again, and take more money for a shopping trip next time! Hopefully there's a Christmas event too!

Fab night seeing all the girls again too! :)

I found the event on Event Brite, so definitely check out the things going on there! :)

I love products that I had gifted

I was recently gifted these I Love... items at the blog event I attended and I hae used them and found they are the perfect accompaniment to this summery weather right now!
With a lemon body scrub in the big ol' round tub, smelling great and working wonders on my tan, to ensure my bronzed skin is kept for a little longer.

To the delightlly fruity and floral scents of the shower gels!
The pink bottle is English Rose, so a gorgeous floral scent and the orange one is exotic fruits, which fruit scents always go down well in the July heat!

I am super duper impressed with the gifted products and will be seeking out these and other scents asap!

Thanks so much I Love.. ! :)

Marks & Spencer summer box

I mean look at all those special things in a cute bright coloured box for summer!

I grabbed a few things in the latest Marks& Spencer sale, and added the box to my bag for £15!

I've heard the dry shampoo is amazing by Living Proof, so i'm excited to try this! Funny as i was going to buy a bottle just before my hols, but forgot to head back in store!

Ultrasun is great sun cream, so i shall be rocking this immediately tomorrow!

The Rosie products are good, some hit and miss, but i do love a good highlighter, so i think this small tube will be gone in no time with my uses!

Shay& Blue fragrances always come in the M&S advent calendars, so i am looking forward to trying this cherry blossom one this week!

The Ren Showgel i have never heard of, but i live their serums so i can only imagine this is the perfect dose of sprucing i need!

There's a Rodial mask, of which i haven't used before, but with Rodial being a bang on source of my skincare faves then I will using this one tonight!

Skyn eye masks, which would go perfectly with the mask face i still have from my Easter beauty egg here for me to relax in one night.

And finally, but saving the best until last, a Emma Hardie rpoduct! Woohoo! A Vitamin C cream, whcih is just what my skin needs right now!

SO much to get stuck in and a great bargain price to add onto shopping over £40!

Still available here now!

Sanctuary Spa goodies gifted to me!

I was gifted these array of goodies from Sanctuary spa at the blog meet up last week, of which i wrote about here !

Sanctuary are one of the main brands that i head for when in Boots, or my go to for summer and Christmas. With their scents instantly reminding me of my exotic holiday adventures.

The brand always have something spot on for my needs, and these goodies include Body Wash which i adore, some face masks which have all variant on skin needs, depending on the concern of skin.

The face mask i got were Sleep and glow in a tube plus a bubble sheet mask which i nearly did a dance about when i saw! I have wanted to try it for SO long, as the idea is just super cool!

Also included in the orange gift bag was some eye masks, which i did not even know Sanctuary spa did, the delightfully amazing body moisture wash and a salt scrub, which will be perfect this next week, as my skin goes flaky when my tan fades!

I am SO thankful for these beautiful gifts, and will be uploading the progress of use on my instastories ; @samspeaks__ in the upcoming days!

What do you treature from Santuary spa?

I have my eye on the beach towel gift next! :)

I went to Miller & Carter for a blogger meet this week!

So i headed to a blog event on Sunday, which hasn't happened in forever, in face i scrolled and here is the last one i went to back in 2017! Mad!
It was actually a big topic of conversation at this meet, as to why people don't do the meets so much anymore, with opinions varying from the goody bags suffering no reviews, catty people or people not actually showing up when they've booked on.

Anyhow, this meet was just a cool get together of some familiar faces to me, and some cool new gals that i met too.

It was in Doncaster at a Miller& Carter just off the motorway, which travelling their in my car, alone was novel for me, as i rarely go anywhere, let alone go on the motorway!? Go me! Woo!

I hadn't been to Miller& Carter before, so the food to try was delicious! I had a main AND desert and it was mouth wateringly yummy!

We also had Emma joining us, and that amazing lady is from Catalyst PR and gift me a tube of Dr Paw Paw that i pretty certain i am addicted to, as its nearly gone!

I'm off to buy myself another one tomorrow to keep my lips supple. I usually stick with Blistex medicated, but this Dr Paw Paw is some seriously rad stuff! I would say get on the bandwagon for sure this summer, to get your smooches ready! Ha!
As for the two face masks, i'm waiting for a killer coldsore to clear up and then i am all over them both, as Skincare Sundays are the one for me!

It was so nice to have a lovely afternoon with everyone, and huge thanks to the brand who gave us a MASSIVE bag of goodies, with big thanks again to Kathryn for organising that and Lucy for booking the place!

I will be going through the bag in the coming week, and posting bits on my instagram; @samspeaks__ and on here in depth, as i am just so stoked to have a few bits to try out again and let you lovely lot know all about them!

So hello, enjoy it and I have another event booked in already with those gals next month! Woohoo!