Let's review the June Semi Annual Sale. Now I'll admit it that I shop the SAS a lot. Most of the stuff I buy is NOT for myself though, unfortunately. We have about 10 BBW stores in my area and I went to them all. Most more than once. During the first day, my sister and I hit 6 BBWs!!!
Additional 10% off when purchasing 10 or more items:
For someone like me, this is gold. No longer do I need to cross my fingers when presenting my 15% off your entire purchase coupon (the coupon states in small print that it can't be used on sale items, but the SA's don't always read it. Heck, most of them have never even SEEN the coupon). Buying 10 or more items at a time is NOTHING to me, PLUS it allowed me to save my 15% off coupons for the next sale, should they not have this promotion going on again.
Henri Bendel Body Care items:
ACK! It's back! Like a giant cockroach, no matter how many times BBW insists this stuff is discontinued, it keeps popping up at every SAS. The black and white striped prison uniform boxes will not die! At a few of the stores around the cities, their 75% table is made up of solely HB items. These puppies are overpriced to begin with - and at 75% off, it's not much of a deal.
When the sale was nearing its end, all of the HB items were marked down to a flat rate of $3.
Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Oh and Orange Flower is about the nastiest smell known to the Holla Bath Girl. Smells great in the bottle, but like cigars on my skin.
The red buckets:
I hate digging through the buckets to find the goodies and then pulling my hand out, covered in mystery goop. But I suppose with the limited floor space that they have and the large amount of items they put out for the sale, they really can't do it any other way.
But back to the buckets. Really, those things are the flimsiest containers known to man. Take a closer look at these things and you'll discover they're just red sheets of plastic folded into a cylinder shape and held in place with a plastic tab. Hell, the local Dollar Tree has better shelving in their stores! Can't they arrange the stuff on a shelf or a table? Yes, it takes up more room, but they'd end up with a lot fewer damaged-out items at the end of the sale.
The 75% off table:
LOVE it & my main reason for going, but it's REALLY irritating when the ONLY thing on the 75% off table are a bunch of leaking Fresh Vanilla body splashes and Henri Bendel candle coasters. I've never seen anyone actually buy one of these coasters. I actually thought it was a drink coaster. I know I'm not the only one who was wondering what those things were because I've observed people pick it up, squint their eyes, examine it, and wonder, "What the hell is this...and why the hell is Bath & Body Works selling drink coasters?"
This is my #1 gripe about the sale. There are so many pricing
No Tutti Dolci:
I really shouldn't be complaining, as I am thoroughly stocked up on Tutti Dolci products for years to come. (Hell, I just wanted some to peddle on eBay). But it still was weird this time around without any Tutti Dolci stuff. I only found one Tutti Dolci item during the whole sale, and that was a Chocolate Fondue EDT for 75% off that I found at the bottom of a plastic bucket. Of course, being that I found it the dark trenches of a plastic bucket, it had the remains of what was once a Spiced Apple Rapture lotion spilled all over the box. At least the box was still covered in cellophane. So I bought it, cleaned it off, and sold it on eBay. Woot.
The return of Ylang Ylang Myrrh & Blue Lavender Palmarosa:
I never had a chance to smell either of these before they weres discontinued so I was thrilled when I saw them during the June sale! Granted, I didn't find the BLP in lotion form (only YYM), only shower gel, but I was happy to have the chance to sniff them.
Ile De Tahiti:
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that it went on sale. I'm just disappointed that the entire line is now discontinued. I really liked this stuff, especially Tiare Flower & Fei Banana. Coconut Vanille, not so much. One thing that bugged me, was that at most of the stores, they'd have a Ile De Tahiti 50% off display that only had the shower gels and those greasy, slippery Poe Shimmer sprays, yet they'd still leave the lotion testers out on the table, long after the lotions were all sold out. For crying out loud, if I can't buy the stuff, put away the tester! Quit teasing me!
Fuckers.
The lack of GOOD 90% off stuff:
Maybe I was just hitting the sale at the wrong time, but I only saw "good" stuff on the 90% off table once - Le Couvent Des Minimes Honey & Shea stuff and Pure
Simplicity Brazil Nut Body Butter. If a store had a 90% off table, it was stocked with the denim bags from last January’s sale, Aspen Winter quilted bags, some kind of goofy bear/dog/mountain lion stuffed animal with skis attached to its feet, and some weird plastic fruit decoration that looks like it's pulled off the pages of a 1992 Home Interiors catalog. Which brings me to...
Weird Stuff:
I'm amazed at the "weird stuff" that's pulled out during this sale. Like the fake fruit decoration I mentioned above, BBW can really throw you for a loop. I'd like to know when, exactly, this stuff is sold at full price in the stores, and better yet, who BUYS it? Stuff I saw at this sale:
Flower Pots: Great price, only $1, but since when did BBW get its lotion-moisturized hands into the landscaping business? Is BBW giving Home Depot a run for its money? Coming soon to your local BBW: Garden hoses, lawn gnomes, scented toilet seats (available in all your favorite signature scents!), and lumber.
A plastic ball with spikes on it: I seriously don't know what it is. It looks like a dog toy, without a squeaker. Priced at only $.10, I bought it. It was either let the dime rot in the trenches of my purse, or buy it and try to figure out what the heck to do with it. Always up for a challenge, I bought it.
Coffee Cups: Again, not sure why our favorite beauty store is selling dinnerware. It's akin to renting movies at a McDonalds...errr...never mind. But for only $1, I bought two.
The "Classics" Scents:
Not too happy with what they brought back this time. It's the same old, same old again. At least last January they brought back Water Blossom Ivy. Just more of the same, predictable stuff that's brought out ever year - Strawberry Lemonade, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, CocoCabana, Rice Flower & Shea...yawn. And why are some of these donned "Classics" - Rich Citrus Cream - a classic? REALLY? When I think of BBW Classics, I think Country Apple, Freesia, Juniper Breeze, Seaspray, you know, the scents BBW is "known" for. Not Rich Citrus Cream
Best finds at the June sale:
Green Clover & Aloe Purely Silk Lotion
All the Temptations kits for 75% off
Ginormous BIG Rubber Duckie - 75% off
Orange Blossom Anti-Bac Hand Lotion: A true rare find!
Le Couvent Des Minimes Night Cream - Reg. $32, rang up at $1.12 thoughout most of the sale...until BBW caught on. Grrr.
Original Honeysuckle lotion (bought a boatload of this to resell on eBay and made a killing on it!)
A blue BBW mesh shopping bag - Free: Yes, I actually have one of these at home. I was buying a truckload of heavy candles and the SA let me take it home with me! Straight in the laundry it went (like most BBW shopping bags, it had lotion residue on the bottom) and now I have a flashy blue bag with "
