Three 'beauty' advent calendars for a grown woman?

[royco]

I've just seen someone posting that she's got three beauty advent calendars to open this year.

When did this become a thing? Surely it's wasteful, expensive and completely unnecessary?

Call me Scrooge

I love mine. It's a beauty brand I love. I will use all the (mainly!) full sized products. I will recycle the rubbish. Zero regrets. But remember, enjoying Christmas is a sin on mumsnet. And god forbid you put your tree up before Christmas eve or have anything Christmassy organised for you or your children, unless it's something wholesome such as carols on the village green or the annual trip to church for christingle

I give fancy beauty products and perfume I’m gifted but personally don’t like to Women’s Aid. So, no waste. 😃

I have more than 3 [swoon] for lots of reasons, none of which are any of your fucking business.

@Popcornriver

I mean I see your point about the environmental impact. Especially considering most are made up of both cardboard and plastic. Saying that though, how much difference is it going to make when year round we're buying so much one use plastic in the supermarkets? We should start there if we're serious about waste.

But you're welcome to judge my house OP because I've even bought the dog her own advent calendar

Surely the best thing to do is to try to cut out all unnecessary waste wherever we can?

I try not to (but I’m really not perfect) buy things with too much packaging during my weekly shop. The Advent calendars are particularly bad as they tend to have substantially more waste than just buying the product without the extra boxes/plastic trays/wrap etc. Same with a selection box.

I don’t have my own children, but I have a wooden, reusable calendar in my classroom. I put different treats in each year depending on the class, but I try and make sure it’s sustainable. This year, they have little paper envelopes with different bird seed/squirrel food and bulbs because we are looking after our wildlife garden. The kids seem to like it - they get to go out at break and feed the wildlife or plant a bulb.

I don’t really want to piss on peoples fun, but you can still consume/buy nice things in a more mindful and sustainable way.

Completely agree that they are all wasteful from a packaging perspective however I couldn't care less how people choose to spend their money.

IMO 99% of the 'premium' beauty brands are a total rip off and do not represent value for money but each to their own

It's consumerism influenced by social media. And it's hugely wasteful, as is a lot of things people do. People think because they will use, reuse or recycle its OK, but we need to reduce. Christmas is so focused on stuff. I use to love it so much but I have fallen out of love with it and much prefer Yule. I do think people, including myself here, need to rethink how we can make these celebrations wonderful and meaningful without piles of stuff. I'm guilty too but it no longer sits well with me. People just need to acknowledge it for what it is.

And anything I don’t want or use is put into a charity auction, plus a lot of the boxes are reusable, and those I give away for someone to refill the following year, or also auction for charity.

I haven't seen any Christmas Eve box threads yet, maybe this is the new outlet.

I do remember last year some woman who got so outraged at the idea of people doing anything unnecessary at Christmas (!) that she ended up claiming that she didn't own a single item that she didn't absolutely NEED. That'll be a fun Christmas dinner.

It's not that there's nothing to be said about waste etc, but it's interesting how everyone thinks their own level of festivity is the exact right one and anyone who lands elsewhere is a lesser being, just a pawn of rampant excess.

I'm pretty sure that if I went through anyone's Christmas shopping, I could find a few things they didn't NEED.

"A grown woman"?! Misogyny is alive and kicking in your neck of the woods isn't it...

Oh and one other thing, op, who should have a beauty advent calendar if not a ‘grown woman’? A baby? A six year old boy?
Jeez

I have one. I used every product in mine last year and that is why I spend a while researching which one to use. I re use the packaging by filling it with small items and gifting them to friends, who enjoy them as well.

My mum also gets one and we call each day to char about what we had that day and will swap if there ever is anything one of us doesn't like.

Christmas is a time of indulgence for me after growing up in an abusive home where we waited each year for my dad to flip out. I see no need to apologise for that.

I was just googling these, had never heard of them until today. They look amazing! But wow at spending so much on an advent calendar, we used to have to take turns to get a piece of chocolate lol

What a weird thing to be bothered about.

People think because they will use, reuse or recycle its OK, but we need to reduce.

Absolutely.

I do think people, including myself here, need to rethink how we can make these celebrations wonderful and meaningful without piles of stuff. I'm guilty too but it no longer sits well with me. People just need to acknowledge it for what it is.

I agree with this too. One thing that should help is that the modern approach to Christmas is a comparatively recent thing. I'm 40, and I remember a time when a lot of this stuff wasn't part of Xmas at all. We still had fun, still enjoyed the season.

Calling people who criticise the consumerist approach 'jealous' and 'Scrooge' is just childish and avoids discussion of the issue. The fact is that, as a society, we cannot keep consuming at the rate we do.

People also say, "Who cares if they can afford it?" - would they say that about the use of private jets? The scale is very different, but the principle isn't. With the exception of those in the poorest countries, we all need to look at all aspects of our consumption habits with very critical eyes.

‘Never mind that in my case all those products would bring me out in a rash that would take weeks to clear.’

Okay? Who asked? You don’t have to buy one if you don’t like or want it, like I wouldn’t buy a chocolate calendar because I can’t have dairy. It doesn’t make your criticism of other people valid. That’s your problem.

This is a very ‘man yells at cloud’ thread.

I do think adults getting advent calendars is a bit odd and childish but each to their own…

Goatinthegarden I see what you're saying but disagree. I'm mindful shopping too (also not perfect!) but if we really want to be less wasteful as a society we should focus on the biggest issues if we're already in such a crisis. The plastic mould in a calendar is nothing compared to say the multipacks of yogurts in plastic pots every single week. It's the same with the Christmas jumper threads. One extra child sized jumper a year is nothing compared to the shoppers who buy bags of new clothing every week.

Obviously advent calendars aren't necessary but neither is fruit, meat and vegetables that come in plastic containers. Focusing on a once a year treat (or 3) is a waste of time.

I have one. Because one of the products in it is more expensive than the price of the calendar throughout the rest of the year, so I've saved already. I'm looking forward to trying new products. I don't see it as waste at all.

I'd never have picked the shade of one of the things I've got but it's actually lovely, and the gift today, I'd never heard of, but I've just used and it's really nice too.

I wouldn't buy three, but that's more my preference, it would make the one I have less special. I suppose it makes sense to buy three if each independently contained an item I'd usually buy anyway for eg £100, and the whole calendar was £75.

I have boots no 7 and opi calendars. I use both of these brands so it's not a waste.

My little boy has Lego city and playmobil ones. He really enjoys getting up and opening them all. It was my favourite part of Christmas last year so it's worth every penny.

People also say, "Who cares if they can afford it?" - would they say that about the use of private jets? The scale is very different, but the principle isn't.

The scale is pretty much the entire point of why they're not comparable. I'm sure you buy a few things you don't NEED at Christmas but you justify it to yourself because, to you, it's not excessive. Indeed, poorer people are the ones buying the cheaper pleasures so it's somewhat churlish to make such a disproportionate comparison.

The plastic mould in a calendar is nothing compared to say the multipacks of yogurts in plastic pots every single week.

Don't you think they're both symptoms of the same issue? The root cause of both is our society's attitude towards consumption/waste.

For me, these advent calendars are a symbol of endless consumerism and so although I don't begrudge or judge people having a little treat each day at all, it makes me incredibly sad that we all just keep buying more and more stuff and none of us seem to be able to stop. I'm including myself in this.

I think I hate these adult advent calendars in particular as they weren't something that even existed a few years ago until companies twigged it was a method to sell us even more stuff.

Obviously advent calendars aren't necessary but neither is fruit, meat and vegetables that come in plastic containers. Focusing on a once a year treat (or 3) grin is a waste of time

Agree advent calenders are small compared to the things you mention but it's more about changing behaviours. And things never change if people believe something isn't worth focusing on because there are worse things, because they'll always be an excuse. Each small step leads to something bigger.

I always wait until the last days of November/ early December to buy beauty calendars when they are usually heavily discounted, I got mine at 50% off this year. I love the fact that I get to try products that I would normally not buy and the miniature size means that they fit in my travel bag.