Bath and Body Works were having a sale and not gonna lie, my previous haul (this) was kinda’ disappointing, so on July 8 2020 I placed another online order with them.
A lot of stuff was missing (out of stock, because of the sale) but they refunded me (my money was back in my account) in a little under two weeks.
Everything arrived individually wrapped in bubble wrap and there was no breakage nor leakage.
These Body Lotions were from my U.S. B&BW Spring Haul (here).
After purchasing x4 Body Lotions locally (here) and then another x6 Body Lotions from the U.S. B&BW Store (here) I was fully stocked up and definitely didn’t need more.
However, the deals and promos and prices up on the U.S. B&BW Online Store were just too good to pass up. So, I picked up these two. I could’ve gone for more, but I was pretty content with the ones I already had.
Aside from Iced Pear Margarita (here) which I’d given to my 10yo niece and Vanilla Bean Noel (2018 Version) which I’d given to a friend whom – you guessed it – had asked for it (after she’d sniffed it on me), I was very happy with the ones I had left!
Even Wild Strawberry (here) I’ve found a use for, by placing alongside the Champagne Toast Fragrance Mist (here) at the sink in my guest bathroom. All that peach hurt my nose, but my friends ooh and aah over the scents, whenever they come over and use them, which in turns makes me happy because I’d managed to find a use for them.
In fact, I’m so happy with the ones I have left, that I’ve already given Portofino Pink Prosecco to my 13yo niece and Whitewater Rush to my younger brother.
– Whitewater Rush (Men’s Collection) was reduced from $13.50 to $3.95
– Portofino Pink Prosecco (Mediterranean Market Collection) was reduced from $12.50 to $3.12
I’ve been dying to purchase from Demeter since forever!
I posted about Demeter in my previous post (dis). I couldn’t decide on what to get… so I went crazy… and purchased x35 different scents (at $3.40 each) making my order total $119. To be fair, I got them in the sampler size, thinking they’d be the size of actual samples that you typically get as a freebie. I didn’t know they’d be this big lol
Some of these scents had very, very long descriptions. Instead of copy-pasting the entire thing, I decided to just add a “short” description from the site and link each scent to the description page (just click on the title of any scent) and add my first impressions directly underneath.
I tried to group the scents into drink scents, food-y scents, herbal-y scents and abstract scents, but gave up towards the end lol Also, I found a ton of dupes!
– Siberian Pine Diffuser Oil (free gift with purchase)
– Pomander Roll On Perfume Oil (free gift with purchase)
– White Mint Latte (Cocoa Cafe – Holiday 2018 Collection)
– Orange Chocolate Truffle (Cocoa Cafe – Holiday 2018 Collection)
– Blueberry Sugar (Cocoa Cafe – Holiday 2018 Collection)
– Hot Cocoa & Cream (Hot Cocoa & Cream Collection – Holiday 2018)
– Fireside (White Barn Mosaic Label Collection – Holiday 2018)
– Blueberry Maple Pancakes (Crafted Pumpkin Collection – Fall 2019)
– Eucalyptus Rain (Wild Wonder Collection – Fall 2019)
These 3-wick Candles were purchased online during the Flash Sale at Bath & Body Works (haulage here)
The Autumn Perfumes Exhibition took place at Mishref Fair Grounds (Halls 5,6,7,8) during October 24 and was meant to end on November 6, but was extended to November 9 (because… weekend).
I managed to get a lot of gift shopping out of the way:
(Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit de L’Homme EDP for my cousin)
(Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium EDP for my cousin’s wife)
(Guerlain Mon Guerlain EDP for my uncle’s wife)
(Paco Rabanne Invictus Gift Set for my other cousin)
I also managed to snag several goodies for myself:
(Carolina Herrera Good Girl Gift Set)
(Marc Jacobs Decadence EDP)
(Hugo Boss Boss The Scent Private Accord – For Her EDP)
(Maison Lancome Les Parfums Grands Crus Travel Set x4 travel sprays)
Thankfully, there were a lot of good deals on some of this stuff (hefty discounts) and I even got some fragrance samples to boot! Unlike last year’s visit where I ended up with some duds (Perfume Fails), I was extremely happy with everything I purchased during this year’s Autumn Perfumes Exhibition! All the haulage took place in one hall (dis) because I rarely ventured out to the other halls.
Satisfied with the haulage, I leisurely surveyed the hall (the only one I ever visit) one last time before leaving the place and was delighted to find several niche brands including Amouage and Memo and Kilian and more, all offering substantially discounted fragrances! Naturally, I had to hit up the Kilian booth!
I sniffed several scents at the Kilian booth, but none of them really appealed to me… until I smelled Apple Brandy! I’d never even seen, let alone heard of Apple Brandy at our local Sephora before (pics here), because apparently Apple Brandy was exclusive to the brand’s boutique in New York City. It was love at first sniff!!!!
The final fragrance I purchased during this year’s Autumn Perfumes Exhibition was Apple Brandy by Kilian!
The Autumn Perfumes Exhibition took place at Mishref Fair Grounds (Halls 5,6,7,8) during October 24 and was meant to end on November 6, but was extended to November 9 (because… weekend).
At this point, it’s practically tradition for me to check out the Lancome booth (run by Beidoun) during every Perfumes Exhibition and in all honesty, other than that one time (here), my experience with them, for the past few decades, has been nothing short of excellent (here)!
I hit up the Lancome booth because I was flirting with the idea of getting either the original La Nuit Trésor Eau de Parfum (2015) or La Nuit Trésor À La Folie Eau de Parfum (2018), but ended up walking away with this gem, the Maison Lancome Les Parfums Grands Crus Travel Set (foncy, foncy)!
Each fragrance was a work of art, therefore my “reviews” or rather first impressions of each fragrance, is going to be a bit on the longer side, in my attempt to do them justice.
Lastly but certainly not least were the Candles and Wallflower Bulbs I picked up during The Big Sale. Some were purchased in-store and the ones I couldn’t find in-store were purchased online.
I picked up x14 large 3-wick Candles and x2 Jar Candles and x3 Wallflower Bulbs. I haven’t started burning any of them just yet because ironically, for the past two weeks I’ve been sick with the flu (hence lack of new posts lol)
3-Wick Candles were reduced from KD 8 each to KD 4 each
Single Wick Jar Candles were reduced from KD 6 – KD 5 each to KD 2/500 each
Wallflower Refill Bulbs were reduced from KD 2/250 each to KD 1 each
Even though I’d already ordered from Nordstrom at the start of June (dis), I placed another order at the end of June, mainly because I wanted a second Hair Care Sample Pack (dis) which happened to still be available (at the time). After this order though, I think I’m gonna’ cool it with Nordstrom (for a bit). It’s just too hot to be ordering stuff online.
Anyways, I got something from Alterna and two more somethings from Bumble and Bumble. Other than the Hair Care Sample Pack there was an Alterna Gift With Purchase and Bumble and Bumble Gift With Purchase which included deluxe samples from each brand! Yaaay!
I also got some more Bar Soaps and Candles to qualify for the Fragrance Sample Pack (dis). I was actually interested in purchasing Mojave Ghost from Byredo and Philosykos from Diptyque as Perfumes, but it was way too hot to risk (the heat might alter the contents and therefore the scent). So, I got them as Bar Soaps instead. Plus, this way, I could “test” the scents first, rather than buying them as Perfumes and possibly ending up hating them.
The Makeup stuff was from Benefit and I only got them because I really, really had my heart set on the Benefit Gift With Purchase that came with a very, very cute Benefit Clear Tote Bag and some samples. Also, it helped bump up the total of my order so I could qualify for the latest Sample Pack (dis).
Get a Free Gift when you spend $85 on Women’s Fragrance. Discover your next favorite scent with samples from Diptyque and Tom Ford and Yves Saint Laurent and more.
Towards the end of June, Nordstrom came out with x2 more Sample Packs. One, was a mix of Makeup and Skincare (dis), which wasn’t particularly exciting. The other, was this Fragrance Sample Pack, which was very enticing!
For starters, it came with a sample of Mugler Angel Eau Croisière which I was dying to sniff! The pack also included several flankers of well-loved gourmands, Prada Candy and CH Good Girl and V&R Flowerbomb and YSL Black Opium and YSL Mon Paris! I was pretty excited about the samples from Atelier Cologne and Diptyque and Replica and my beloved Kilian as well! Also, most of these were new-new!
In hindsight though, I totally should’ve skipped the Fragrance Sample Pack (June) because it was mostly either floral-y florals (yuck) or overly sharp and citrus-y scents (namely Peach, ugh).
TANTALIZING. DELICIOUS. SUPREMELY FEMININE.
A new revelation disrupts the Angel Galaxy!
Cosmic explosions collide with magnetic attraction, to create an irresistible Eau de Parfum never experienced before.
Surrender now to Angel Muse, the new addictive fragrance that you will #HateToLove…
What in the actual…
I don’t hate to love. I just hate the commercial for Angel Muse lol
Angel Muse is the first gourmand vetiver for women. A noble woody fragrance, an incisive and uniquely MUGLER gourmand.
I’ve actually been meaning to purchase this baby for a minute now. In fact, I stopped by Harvey Nichols where it was being sold for KD 40+ and was this close to buying it. However, when I asked the sales assistant if there was a Gift with Purchase he said no, and when I asked for Samples he said he didn’t have any (for that price, you better be giving me something), and yet somehow, he was still trying to get me to purchase even more things from the Mugler counter. So, I bounced.
Several months later, during the Perfume & Makeup Exhibition, I stopped by the Mugler booth to give Aura a sniff, when the sales assistant informed me that the 30mL of Angel Muse was now reduced to only KD 10! It was such a good deal, that I bought the last two! They didn’t have their own cash register (had to to go to a nearby counter) but the sales assistant was nice enough to stash several samples of Aura (which I’ve been meaning to try out) in my shopping bag and instructed the guy at the cash register to give me even more fragrance samples as well! Score!
LuLu ♥'s 