Christmas bargain thread one - the one where it officially starts!

[Reastie]

Thanks so much to @Sideorderofchips for keeping things going. I can barely believe it's September and (for me at least!) that only means one thing - Christmas can start!!!!

Hope you've all had a great year and have missed you all. Last couple of years I've had various health things going on so have been a bit distant from the threads. Not quite there yet but feeling stronger than this time last year and I can't wait until I see more festive items in the shops! I've already bought my advent calendar - I've got the taskmaster one (which I'm quite excited about!).

I'll post various links etc in the next thread first post but essentailly you guys know the drill - share and be nice or leave.

<waves to everyone>

Thank you for this, have just ordered for my DS (13) as I wanted to get him some aftershave

FYI there’s such a thing as a Pokémon advent calendar with figurines in, MIL bought DS one a couple of years ago and it was a huge hit! Not sure where from but might be worth trying Amazon / Argos as I know she’s bought various advent calendars there!

I got 2 of these last year for my older kids at different Unis and they loved them! All their mates did it with them.

Also, I got 3 x 100ml fragrances for £30 from The Essence Vault when they had a deal on. DS absolutely loves the Bacarrat Rouge dupe and to be fair it smells gorgeous. He also likes BAD Boy I think it is? I got a few testers and he picked the ones he likes and I got myself a La Vie Est Belle one - smells gorgeous and lasts ages!

Well worth hanging on for their payday deal to come back around.

For a 14 year old I’d go for brand over quantity and so would get Benefit over Boots but the brands teens are into can be quite specific in different regions I think from my thread reading over the past few years. I love Benefit as a brand and used it a lot in my 20s many moons ago. It’s not a brand I’ve heard my nearly 14 year old mention yet but I think she would like it.

We are in London and she likes Elf (which is a good budget brand!), Laneige for lip balms (which is more expensive than I think teens should have but buy minis at Xmas), Bubble and Byoma for skincare. PLouise comes up on these threads each year with bargains but some of the branding makes me think this is for older teens. Others may know more!

From all the marketing deals i'm seeing from PLouise it looks like it's on its way out. My 10 year old niece was really excited about it last year but I know she's not interested this year.

Benefit has gone downhill in recent years, I feel. They’ve redone a lot of their old formulas and the quality isn’t as good, while prices have stayed high! I’ve also seen others commenting on this but not sure how widespread it is! Just a word of caution.

I keep wondering this about benefit too. Absolutely loved it in my 20s (couldn’t afford it in my teens!) but is it now an old person brand? (Old compared to the youngsters, like me in my 40s, no ageism intended!)

@UsernameShmusername2024 I would look for sol de janiero, my dd is 14 and she (and all her friends) love it. Or something from Sephora’s own brand label.

Not PLouise, that’s on it’s way out. Elf, Laniege, Byoma, Bubble all still very popular and can be found in Boots. Superdrug also stocks Elf.

the Oliver Bonas sale section on their website is worth keeping an eye on. They are always adding bits to it. Some lovely homeware & jewellery on there. I got some gorgeous tinker dishes, wash bags & travel jewellery boxes for my girls

I am looking for:

really nice quality fabric map of the world for my 11 year old's wall. He's super into geography.

any good deals on anything army or tanks related for an 8 year old.

high quality slippers. Good ugg deals or ugg slipper equivalents.

Something tasty for a choco-holic friend

There are slippers further up the thread.

Thanks so much for the thread @Reastie. Got so many bargains last year from here. This year the labubu has departed but I am now looking for Needohs (have to be genuine). If anyone please spots any in stock. Already anticipating the panic when they are on Santa’s list and impossible to source.

In one of the pre-Christmas threads - thanks @Sideorderofchips someone mentioned Tony’s chocolate bars to make sleighs and parcels as presents.

just seen an advert to say the 90g bars are £1.50 at Waitrose if you are near one.

I was wondering this . I used to love benefit mascara and concealer

I went to buy that mascara as the deal is fantastic but all the reviews say it's not very good

I got needohs in the summer from BigJig toys, who I’m pretty sure are legit. They had them when they were sold out elsewhere. I don’t know if they’ve got any now but worth keeping an eye. (I will be!)

@GrateWay the tank museum does all sorts of tank themed gifts including books, toys, onesies. Always good prices too.

Jaques have 20% off and free gifts with spends from £35 so spending £100 should get you £91 of stuff free (and it's stuff you might actually want). I'm not sure it's the best deal they've ever done but the place is great for toddlers or croquet nuts.

@CoraApple Waterstones have a mini version if that’s any good https://www.waterstones.com/product/needoh-nice-ice-baby-cube/0019649508785

Thank you for whoever posted the Goodwin smith slippers. They came today and they are lovely. DM will love them x

@GrateWay "any good deals on anything army or tanks related for an 8 year old"

The Imperial War museum?

CHAMPAGNE anyone? Amazon have about 20% off their bottles of Mumm, Moet and Tattinger and one called Mumm Marlborough which is about £18.

Unfortunately only size 3 left now, but they would have been an amazing bargain!

For those with kids who like WWE. The WWE Superstar Ring Action Set is down by about £4. It’s the one with a spring loaded board.

https://amzn.eu/d/0h7mXrum

@CoraApple Waterstones seem to have these in stock but limited to one per customer.

End of summer sale at Lisa Angel now on.

https://www.lisaangel.co.uk/the-sale/final-summer