I've fallen for La Mer. Any deals or extras to be had?
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free skin care · Mon Jan 02, 2012 9:41 am

I've discovered - much to the horror of my piggybank - that the combo of La Mer The Concentrate and Creme de La Mer seem to be the only things that turn my dry, chapped winter face into something *really* nice.

Last year I tried every drugstore product I could find, this year I was experimenting with DIY by adding sea kelp to various boutique and department store moisturizers but just had "eh" results. I also tried just the CDLM alone via a tiny sample jar and it was OK but so was the L'Occitane shea butter. No miracles for me, until...

I was buying holiday gifts, not thinking about getting skincare samples, when I was snagged by a cosmetics SA and asked if I would like to try some products. Well *sure*! She handed me off to a La Mer SA who gave me a mini makeover. I was thinking this would be fun, but I was totally unprepared to be gobsmacked by a product. As soon as she put some of The Concentrate on my face, it no longer felt like a tight mask... it felt like my skin in summer. She put the CDLM on me after that, to seal in the Concentrate. There was no "use this for 2 weeks to see results". It was instant. It was all I could do not to plunk down my credit card right then and there, but I've learned to wait. The results lasted all day, unlike most things I've tried that are gone in an hour or less. I have a tiny sample I'm hoarding and doling out to my cheeks on the worst days.

I've researched online, thought about trying a DIY version, and have craved that combo every day of the 2 weeks since I tried it. I'm confident that I no longer need to search - I've found my winter skin's Holy Grail cure. So now I need to find the best way to buy it. I need to pinch my pennies, so buy when I can get the most for my dollar (or hundreds of them in this case... egads.)

The LaMer online site offers samples with purchase, but they charge tax to my state - which is also the drawback of buying locally, unless there's a Friends and Family or some kind of Event sale to offset that. It seems most F&F sales don't include cosmetics though... anyone have other info? Am I wrong about that? We have both Saks and Nordstrom here. Or does La Mer have Beauty Events in stores like some other lines do?

I asked one SA if La Mer ever did a GWP offer and she said "no because they know people will buy it anyway".

If there never are any perks, then I guess buying online from Neiman-Marcus might be my best bet. I'm not interested in potentially shady options like eBay.

free skin care · Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:34 am

Have you signed up to their mailing list in-store? They contact you with offers and when they receive samples (they go really quickly).

The only other thing I can think of with La Mer is the January sales- in Harrods they sell a limited edition 100 ml pot for £200 pounds. Perhaps they do this with stores in the states too?

I understand why you love La Mer. It is the only thing that works to give my skin a glow. In fact, I usually put a light layer of the creme before an event/ night out because it plumps up my skin amazing well. The glow is second to none.

I don't think much of the Concentrate though :/

free skin care · Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:36 am

I love Creme de la Mer, too. (Although, not the other spin-off La Mer products, just the original cream.) And, imo, the regular seaweed add-ins some companies sell don't even compare...not even close. Le Mer doesn't have GWP or in-store bonus times, but Neimans and sometimes Nordies has Beauty Week, during which you can an extra La Mer goodie with a purchase (so it's akin to a GWP, really). To keep costs down, perhaps try using just the Creme, or just the Concentrate, to see if you can get the same effect with only one product instead of having to buy both. I do know La Mer counters give out small sample jars of the Creme de la Mer. You may be able to convince a sales assoc. to make you a sample of the Concentrate, too. Then you can experiment and see if you can save at least some money. Smile

free skin care · Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:21 pm

Thanks for the mailing list suggestion! I just signed on for that. Very Happy

I'll have to find out when Nordstrom's Beauty Week is. I did find out that Saks will be having a La Mer person in to do facials and got on their list, but there's no guarantee of being picked. That happens this month, so I guess I'll find out soon.

I did try each product alone, and while the Concentrate seems to provide most of the calming/healing, the Creme keeps it from disappearing too quickly - it seems to hold it in. It's funny how everyone differs. I had originally tried a sample of the Creme alone and while it was an OK product, it didn't give me the instant cure like the combination did.

I also think I only need this much intensive care during winter. In summer my skin is normal. In winter, it's dry as a bone despite my drinking tons of water, no caffeine other than tea in the morning, lots of fruits and veg, etc. We even have a humidifier on the furnace. Maybe Nature is telling me I'm a little tropical flower that needs to move to a better climate! Laughing

free skin care · Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:42 pm

Uh oh, pricey... Sad

I'd start whipping up DIY projects. La Mer has very few ingredients in it, I think its doable.

free skin care · Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:56 pm

Skinactives.com has DIY ingredients to duplicate La Mer.
My story is this: I used LaMer for a while (thought it had to be great, was great etc)... . I realized through research and trying other products what a tremendous rip off and then ventured on. I realized I had been spending for ingredients (nothing special at that) and a mystique and in the end was lining the pockets of CEO's. There is a whole world of great products out there that work better and don't break the bank.

free skin care · Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:40 pm

I gave serious thought into delving further into the DIY attempt, but as I already posted, I didn't get the same instant and just intensely obvious positive response. Believe me, even I was taken aback at going from red, dry and chapped to calm and nourished in just minutes. It was crazy.

After trying a few DIYs I just wasn't willing to keep throwing more money at some "maybe this'll work" homebrew. I don't doubt that many other options work beautifully for others. The frustrating thing about skin products is that YMMV is pretty much rule #1 for anything.

Their kind of snooty advertising ("miracle" and "those in the know") just make me roll my eyes. But I will cut them some slack for claiming that the way their "miracle broth" is produced is what makes is so special because in my firsthand experience, it *does* seem to be very different from the DIYs I've tried. I know that the way something is "cooked" can make a world of difference in the final product.

You can buy a can of tomato sauce for probably 50 cents on sale and make your own spaghetti sauce and it'll be OK. But once I had dinner at a tiny hole in the wall place where an Italian woman and her mother made the sauce. O.M.G. That raised the bar for sauce for me forever after. She told me some of what made her sauce so good, but it took me some more experimenting to nail it all down. It starts with the tomato itself (varieties have very different flavors), when the tomato is harvested (early season sauce is thinner, height of summer is the best, late summer lacks flavor), the type of vessel you cook it down in, how long you cook it, etc. I experimented a *lot* and it's fascinating how all these little variations make a difference, so yeah, I can see that the claim of the process being "all that" could be legit and not hype.

All I know for sure is that this combo is working for me this winter.

It seems Neiman-Marcus might be the best bet for me: no tax, free shipping, plus they do have a GWP right now. It's just a small vial of one of the serums but I'll take it. Very Happy

free skin care · Tue Jan 03, 2012 2:31 pm

Saks is also offering a free small size Concentrate with any purchase. Have you tried Amazon? You usually can get products at a really good price on that website.

free skin care · Tue Jan 03, 2012 2:36 pm

stardustgirl wrote:

I gave serious thought into delving further into the DIY attempt, but as I already posted, I didn't get the same instant and just intensely obvious positive response. Believe me, even I was taken aback at going from red, dry and chapped to calm and nourished in just minutes. It was crazy.

After trying a few DIYs I just wasn't willing to keep throwing more money at some "maybe this'll work" homebrew. I don't doubt that many other options work beautifully for others. The frustrating thing about skin products is that YMMV is pretty much rule #1 for anything.

Their kind of snooty advertising ("miracle" and "those in the know") just make me roll my eyes. But I will cut them some slack for claiming that the way their "miracle broth" is produced is what makes is so special because in my firsthand experience, it *does* seem to be very different from the DIYs I've tried. I know that the way something is "cooked" can make a world of difference in the final product.

You can buy a can of tomato sauce for probably 50 cents on sale and make your own spaghetti sauce and it'll be OK. But once I had dinner at a tiny hole in the wall place where an Italian woman and her mother made the sauce. O.M.G. That raised the bar for sauce for me forever after. She told me some of what made her sauce so good, but it took me some more experimenting to nail it all down. It starts with the tomato itself (varieties have very different flavors), when the tomato is harvested (early season sauce is thinner, height of summer is the best, late summer lacks flavor), the type of vessel you cook it down in, how long you cook it, etc. I experimented a *lot* and it's fascinating how all these little variations make a difference, so yeah, I can see that the claim of the process being "all that" could be legit and not hype.

All I know for sure is that this combo is working for me this winter.

It seems Neiman-Marcus might be the best bet for me: no tax, free shipping, plus they do have a GWP right now. It's just a small vial of one of the serums but I'll take it. Very Happy

I couldn't agree more. There is just something unique and special about CdlM...and those of us who love it no doubt wish there was not, given the price tag...but the fact is, CdlM can't be duplicated with DIY.

free skin care · Tue Jan 03, 2012 2:55 pm

Stardustgirl, another cream to try is Algenist Moisturizer and/or the Algenist Overnight cream. Of the gazillion high-end products I've tried, only two have ever given me significant results; Creme de la Mer and now Algenist. It's different than CdlM, for me...CdlM eradicates my ruddiness and facial redness, whereas the Algenist has made incredible (almost unbelievable) improvement in my crepey neck. You can get samples of Algenist free at Sephora. I just thought I'd mention this, since like me, you find that CdlM works well. You may also be pleasantly surprised by Algenist---although it's not a bit less expensive than CdlM and it has different effects altogether. Algenist is certainly worth sampling, though. Smile

(P.S. Will you please share your tomato sauce recipe???)

free skin care · Tue Jan 03, 2012 6:33 pm

EthelM wrote:

Algenist is certainly worth sampling, though. Smile

(P.S. Will you please share your tomato sauce recipe???)

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll ask for a sample next time I'm in Sephora.

The tomato sauce recipe is very simple, yet requires a lot of effort and patience. I had asked the woman if she'd share her recipe and she said she added no seasonings to her sauce - it was purely the tomato. I didn't think to ask *which* tomato, thinking that a paste tomato was a paste tomato was a paste tomato. I was wrong, lol!

I've found that using Mama Leone paste tomatoes (Baker Creek Heirloom seeds has them) gave me the right tomato flavor (Amish is more bitter, Roma is very sweet and not as tomato-y, and Gilbertie is a bold tomato but just a tad less sweet than Mama Leone).

There's a legend that they were smuggled into the US eons ago by an Italian immigrant because they were just that good. I don't know if that's true but when I did taste tests on tomatoes I grew, it blew me away. I tried it out on a few other people and got the same reaction. I never see them offered as plants so have to start them from seed (you can see where the patience fits in now).

I cook it down in an enameled cast iron pot, use wooden spoons and it's stored in glass jars since I noticed she sold hers in glass jars and I've found metal gives a subtle "twang" to the sauce which I dislike). Some restaurants have sauce at almost a paste consistency, but hers was definitely a smooth sauce. Not thin, but not thick.

Mid-July to mid-August tomatoes have the best flavor so I use those for the spaghetti sauce. The early and late ones also make sauce but I separate them and use them for soups or something where I'm adding seasonings.

If you have access to different paste tomatoes, try doing a taste-test. It's amazing how they differ.

free skin care · Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:47 am

EthelM wrote:

Stardustgirl, another cream to try is Algenist Moisturizer and/or the Algenist Overnight cream. Of the gazillion high-end products I've tried, only two have ever given me significant results; Creme de la Mer and now Algenist. It's different than CdlM, for me...CdlM eradicates my ruddiness and facial redness, whereas the Algenist has made incredible (almost unbelievable) improvement in my crepey neck. You can get samples of Algenist free at Sephora. I just thought I'd mention this, since like me, you find that CdlM works well. You may also be pleasantly surprised by Algenist---although it's not a bit less expensive than CdlM and it has different effects altogether. Algenist is certainly worth sampling, though. Smile

(P.S. Will you please share your tomato sauce recipe???)

Yes! I've read very good things about Algenist- its algae-based I believe. It's next on my list to try.

free skin care · Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:55 am

rileygirl wrote:

Saks is also offering a free small size Concentrate with any purchase. Have you tried Amazon? You usually can get products at a really good price on that website.

I saw that! I'm crazy about the Concentrate, but since they have to charge tax for my state it makes that a pretty expensive freebie, even using ebates. I'm hoping I get called for the event they're having at Saks this month. That would tip the scales in their favor. Very Happy

Are there any legit sellers of La Mer on Amazon? I've stayed away from buying anything high end there since I can't be sure it would be a genuine product. One seller is listing the Concentrate for almost $500 and claiming a list price of over $1000. That's BS. It's $375 in any department store.

free skin care · Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:57 am

I am another believer in CDLM. I have been using it for close to 10 years now and like other CDLM lovers I also believe that it cannot be duplicated. I have tried and tried to find a cheaper version of this cream but have failed. There is nothing that comes close to CDLM.

La Mer is not a favorite cream on this forum. I have been heavily criticized by other posters on this forum for being duped by Estee Lauder into spending much money on the cheap ingredients used in CDLM. One poster actually said that I was buying into the "luxury effect" of CDLM. You know, like I'm an idiot because I'm buying an overly hyped, high end product. I am not a stupid person. I would not spend my hard earned money on a product that did not do anything for me. I don't know why some posters feel that have to be so insulting. I feel there is something special in the synergistic effect of the ingredients in CDLM that just makes it unequaled and unique. So, Estee Lauder is making money. To me, this is a good product.

Stardustgirl, you may want to check out
http://www.beautyencounter.com because you can purchase many different samples of La Mer products. That's what I have done in order to supplement my other La Mer products.

Hope this helps you!!

free skin care · Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:14 pm

For those who are living the the States, consider yourselves lucky! It's around $50 dollars cheaper to buy CDLM in the States than in Canada! Plus you have more selections as well! I love CDLM and I strongly believe that this product truly works. I've tried other creams but so far I have yet to find one that is comparable to CDLM. Unfortunately for me, I am currently a student and between jobs, so I recently, once again, am trying another cream (ProDerm to be exact)....

free skin care · Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:22 pm

Oooh thanks for that link, Leelee!! And I found they offer ebates too... why haven't I found them before? Shock

They have a lot of nice things and I see a travel size of the Concentrate. Hmmmm.... maybe that could tide me through the winter. It doesn't take much to work.

I notice that a *lot* of controversy seems to surround La Mer. I'm one of the most skeptical people I know but I'm willing to give anything a try because I really do need to see how something works for me. If someone wants to think I'm delusional because a product that doesn't work for them IS working for me, that's fine.

I know plenty of people who refuse to buy a product or go to a place because it's "over hyped". To me, that's just as silly as buying into it because it IS hyped. My CdlM will be sitting next to my generic uncoated aspirin and bottles of lavender water and witch hazel. Laughing

free skin care · Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:22 pm

I agree with you 100% stardustgirl, and thank's for the laugh Laughing

I have bought many La Mer samples on beautyencounter, including the concentrate, and they are quite generous samples that last for quite a bit of time.

Happy shopping!!

free skin care · Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:47 pm

stardustgirl wrote:

Are there any legit sellers of La Mer on Amazon?

That I really don't know, but I have bought legit skin care on Amazon at great prices. Hope you can find a good deal!

free skin care · Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:04 am

I knew Ebay was in question about legit sellers, but not Amazon. Confused

Dang

free skin care · Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:23 am

stardustgirl wrote:

rileygirl wrote:

Saks is also offering a free small size Concentrate with any purchase. Have you tried Amazon? You usually can get products at a really good price on that website.

I saw that! I'm crazy about the Concentrate, but since they have to charge tax for my state it makes that a pretty expensive freebie, even using ebates. I'm hoping I get called for the event they're having at Saks this month. That would tip the scales in their favor. Very Happy

Are there any legit sellers of La Mer on Amazon? I've stayed away from buying anything high end there since I can't be sure it would be a genuine product. One seller is listing the Concentrate for almost $500 and claiming a list price of over $1000. That's BS. It's $375 in any department store.

No, La Mer has preset prices for their products, the prices should be the same at every retailer. If you are finding La Mer products priced lower, you should be suspicious that they are either stolen, old, or counterfeits.

free skin care · Sat Jan 14, 2012 5:43 am

I thought I'd pop back in to say I did get a call to come in for a complimentary La Mer facial. Cool

That's a fabulous perk. I've been to other in-store beauty events, and usually need to pay in advance (redeemable in product) but this one was totally gratis.

It was a great chance to ask an esthetician questions, and there was no pressure to buy. I did get The Concentrate though, since I already knew my skin was wanting that. And I got a ton of samples of things I may want later but need to try for a few days to see if my skin likes it or not (mostly cleansers and spf since I'm shopping around for my HG product still on those).

free skin care · Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:46 am

The La Mer UV Protecting fluid is one of my favorite sunscreens. Good protection and it gives the skin a beautiful glow. I've been using it for about a year. I hope you like it too.

free skin care · Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:56 am

Are you using the plain spf or the tinted one?

I'm testing the plain one vs the tinted one vs my regular spf (LaRoche Posay) today just to see how it feels throughout the day. The LaMer (both versions) initially felt greasier immediately after application, but after about 20 minutes has mellowed out so that the 2 sides of my face feel similar.

While I'm really liking the tinted version, even the light option is a bit dark on me. Sad

One product that I really fell in love with was the lip balm. I woke up this morning and did not need to reach for my usual lip protector right away like I usually do, plus it had a very pleasant flavor. The only downside is it seems to lack any spf, so I'd need to keep it as a nighttime product.

free skin care · Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:10 am

I'm using the plain one. I find I really don't need a tinted one because I get such a beautiful glow with the regular spf. Also, I have very fair skin and most tinted lotions and creams are too dark for me, even when I use the lightest one possible.

The lip balm is amazing. It's one of the best.

Keep us posted on your progress with the samples. Do you have any of the eye creams. I love the eye concentrate and the eye balm intense. Both are very moisturizing. I wear them on top of La Mer. They lighten the eye and also give a beautiful glow.

free skin care · Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:34 am

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who seems to be lighter-than-light for a number of tinted items. Smile

I do have samples of the eye products, and find I prefer the gel concentrate to the balm. I have serious doubts it will attack the dark circles (nothing has so far, and I've had these all my life) but I'm giving it a chance. For eyes, I usually just strive to keep the area hydrated since other than dark circles there's not much going on.

I'm really spoiled by how nice my lips felt yesterday morning. They were back to normal today. I think that lip balm needs to come live with me soon!

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