My "No Spend" Haul

Last Friday I celebrated my final return to London for the summer with a bit of shopping - only this time there was a twist, I wasn't allowed to spend a penny on the day. If you're as "into" make-up and beauty as I am then you'll probably already know ways to get your hands on goodies but you never know what you might be missing out on so, just for the record, here are the schemes that I took advantage of to get my hands on some new bits to try.

First up, the infamous 'Back to Mac' lipsticks- exchange six old pieces of Mac packaging (finished/unloved products) and receive a free lipstick. It is a scheme I never thought I'd get around to taking advantage of but with some very sneaky blog sale purchases I eventually found myself with enough empties to trade in for two new lipsticks. I bobbed along to the Mac counter in Selfridges on Oxford Street and chose the shades Lovelorn and Syrup, both lustre formulas which I've found are the easiest to wear and both of these are very 'everyday' shades. I've now accumulated a reasonable Mac lipstick collection so if you're keen to see photos, swatches and reviews do let me know!

The second stop on my list was Boots where I had just over £27 of points accumulated on my rewards card. After much deliberation between Stila and Benefit I finally decided to pick up Benefit's Dallas Blush. I initially wanted to pick up Hoola (their Bronzer) but I think Dallas will be a lot more flattering on pale skin and although it comes in at an expensive £22.50 I know it will be much loved. I've gotten through two of Benefit's boxed blushes before (two lots of their 10 boxed duo) and the quality is really worth it- plus they last a long, long time making them a great thing to invest in (especially for "free").

The next shop I hit up was Lush where I traded in five of their black pots (in my case they were all face mask pots but you can trade in any products that come in the black plastic packaging). What you get out of this trade-in is a choice of any of the face masks - I went for Brazened Honey, an exfoliating option that I haven't tried before. I've already slathered it on since I got it and my first impressions were pretty good! I'm yet to be disappointed by any Lush face masks.

Last up, and this was a product that made its way into my life purely by circumstance and good luck, is a Body Shop lip balm. By chance I happened to notice someone mention on twitter that you could get your hands on a voucher online (sadly it has now expired) which entitled you to a free lip balm in your choice of scent/shade. It really made me realise that I should sign up to more voucher websites because there is probably always a whole host of items that I could pick up for free if only I kept my eyes peeled!

Anyway, that concluded my "No Spend" haul. I know that in order to get these things for free that I had to spend money but it was nice to go out shopping and to come home with some really lovely products without spending a penny on the day. From now on I'm definitely going to try and take advantage of my rewards cards and voucher codes more often. 

Have you taken advantage of any good deals or reward/recycling schemes lately?



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