Cosmetic Confections: Disappointed Much? Barneys Love Yourself Bag

Now I must first and foremost start by saying that I realize that in no way, shape or form are businesses obligated to give me free stuff. And in such an economy sacrifices must be made to keep costs down and maintain a profitable business, but I am more than a little disappointed and even though my purchases are a drop in the bucket, I really don't think I will be shopping this event anymore.

Onto the rant.....

So as I said in a previous post, the gift bag was looking not so promising. Even my friend (who knows not how glorious it can be) wasn't impressed. There were some great level up gifts but I won't discuss that because there usually are.

This is my GWP minus the Cle de Peau eye cream and Deborah Lippmann mini polish.

So my first rant is that most of the products were sample-sized. There were a few deluxe samples but not many. I personally tend not to try too many regular samples because they are so tiny that I don't really see how I react to them.

Secondly, I did not get one single full sized product. I heard of people getting an eyeliner but I got nothing. In February there was a full sized lipstick, a full sized gloss and a full sized nail polish. Again, not that they are obligated to but given the previous track record I was hoping for at least one full sized product.

Thirdly, The bag wasn't filled to the brim with products like times past. I seriously could have gone around the cosmetics section and asked for more samples than what was put in there. There wasn't even a sample of the Fredric Malle OUTRAGEOUS! perfume that there usually is (not that I really like it but it's almost tradition). And of the fragrance samples, only one was a spray. That may seem petty but I find that capped samples are messy. Plus, when asking for a sample of Kai edt, my SA used a good-sized glass bottle with a spray top and cover. Very elegant actually, and easy to refill.

But with all of this, there are indeed some good things in the bag. Radical skincare exfoliating pads are really nice and I considered buying them. Revive has their Renewal Cream that is a great night time cream. And the sample of 3Lab M cream will last you 2 weeks if you don't use too much, you seriously only need a tiny amount (half a pea-size).

But overall I am not too satisfied. Nordstroms had a beauty event in June and not only did we get cupcakes and a show, we got a bunch of sample cards to redeem, Moroccan oil, bottled water, a large bag and great gift with purchases with participating brands. Plus what we paid for the ticket was used towards purchases. And I'm sure the bags they gave and all the freebies was probably cheaper than Barneys, but it was done right. And the real kicker is that it used to be even more awesome than that years ago.

Before we would get brunch items displayed out for us and got boxes filled with different goodies. Those were the days.

Thing is I realize that times have changed and budgets as well, but us consumers expect a little luxury if you intend to woo us out of at least $200. Truth be told, this gift bag seems a bit pointless. There has got to be a way to cut costs and still do right by the consumer.

Maybe offer a range of full-sized and deluxe-samples and have us pick a # of them. Maybe include a bigger bag that can be re-used as a shopping bag. Maybe give more deluxe samples of lower-tier brands. Perhaps lower the price back to $150 when I first started getting these giftbags and thought to myself "Crap! There must be $150 worth of stuff here." At least what I could tell from the full sized products and deluxe samples, I didn't count all of the regular samples stuffed in the bag.

Calculating the approximate worth of my beauty bag I came up to $158.30. This is seriously not bad at all but, the bag is indeed lackluster in comparison to past bags. A boo boo on Barneys' part that might cause people to be more cautious in the future with their beauty purchases since they created such a high standard for themselves to maintain. Especially when Sephora now carries Sunday Riley and Koh Gen Do.

On a happier gluttonous note, I have a cute hippo cookie to show you.

I got these at the Walgreens downtown and was so happy to find them. They are so cute and yummy. Plus one cookie totally satisfies my craving for creamy cocoa crispiness.