General beauty advent calendar discussion and swap thread

[AprilLady]

Like many others, I’m looking forward to starting my Beauty Advent Calendars on Tuesday. With no M&S calendar or thread this year, I thought it might be fun to have a general beauty advent calendar discussion and swap thread. I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts about the calendar they are opening, whatever it is.

I suggest though we comment only on content from current or previous days, so as not to spoil the surprise for those opening one day at a time.

Oh the almond stuff is lovely @Talisin

(Very sorry for derailing thread with homemade AC excitement, I am awful for that!)

A Nip&Fab vitamin C Tonic today for ASOS! Looks great. About to try it now

I've also just seen a Boots advert for the No7 Star of the Show set for £39 instead of £80... it looks very good, says it has a value of over £150 too

Yes so today it's Bobbi Brown mascara from John Lewis AC which I'm interested in seeing if it's better than any other mascara.
In my Boots no 7 AC I got a lip care in tube.
I don't think any lip balm is ever going to compare to the glorious By Terry lip care balm. Why oh why is it so ridiculously £££.

@Bumbl yes I saw that Boots bundle and based on my positive experience with the No 7 items so far I'd recommend it. I was tempted then had to have a word with myself as I'm getting most of those items in smaller sizes in the AC already.

I didn't use the No 7 serum last night or the hydration mask and my skin isn't as fresh and plump as it has been after using them

This is the Boots bundle I was referring too. @Bumbl

Apologies for the derail

Nespresso was fortado. Nice size coffee but too tired to appreciate it as just finished my nights.

Rituals was Elixir hair treatment. Put in at night and wash out the next day. Using it tonight.

@2LittleSpeckledFrogs Amazon must just be putting a random selection of leftover eyeshadow stock in and it's luck of the draw what you get...I got a metallic navy, khaki and electric blue with no mirrors in 🤷‍♀️

Interesting. I wonder what @GaryTheDemon got?

DD(12) got a brown eyeliner in her Technics AC this morning after a mascara and another eyeshadow quad this week. She's loving it so far.

Hello! I got cream, pink and purple with little mirrors. Nice!

And, I did get compliments in my zoom meeting! Get me!

Someone asked what the illuminator is upthread, tis neither power nor cream but jelly!

The bodyshop was a banana shampoo. The things I like most in H&B and bodyshop are shower gels/shampoos/conditioners/masks. I think next year I need a calendar filled with these.

Very excited with today’s F&M face cream. I had the eye cream from the same brand in last year’s calendar and loved it. Also love the packaging (which I expect is one reason it is £££).

N-a-P is a Philip Kingsley elasticizer. I’ve used it before, and it works for me, so happy enough with it.

Enjoying still hearing about everyone else’s calendars. Interesting discussion elsewhere about what age range the calendars are aimed at. I think one of the reasons I like F&M so much is that I am exactly their target market - 50ish and looking for mostly skincare, plus a bit of lux hair, bath and body products.

Lancer Nourish Rehydration Mask in Fenwicks today. Not a brand I’ve heard of but Feel Unique are selling a 50ml jar of it for £91 Looking forward to using it tonight!

@AprilLady I too love hearing about all the other calendars and what's in them. It's a great way of deciding which to get next year. At the moment, top of my list for next year is the F&M one, as it seems to have had the most products that I would have enjoyed. I am 52 and more interested in skincare than make-up, so you may be right about the demographic they're targeting.

John Lewis today is a silk scrunchie. Something I will use but not desperately exciting.

L'Occitane is a foot cream. Not terribly exciting but I'll use it.

A body cream from CEW. I'm not too sure of this as the scent is a bit strong but I'll give it a go. Lumene is a moisturiser in a tube, rather than a little pot. Tea is darjeeling, which I'm happy with.

I got Black Soap in the Rituals calendar and a Lip Crayon in the No7 one.

@OchonAgusOchonO That's my scent! I love the Floral Street perfumes but Iris Goddess is far and away my favourite. I appreciate it might not be to everyone's taste though

Eyeshadow brush in the H&B calendar today and from Degustabox, a packet of fennel seed savoury snacks. I always do a Friday night G&T with my mum, and appreciate how Degustabox seem to know this and have been supplying a savoury snack each week. Last week's cashews were divine.

@IToldYouIWasFreaky - I put some on my hand earlier and it smells lovely now. I think it just needed a little time to settle. The more subtle elements of the scent obviously needed some time to make their presence felt and the stronger ones needed to settle down.

I've never come across this brand before and if I had sniffed it on a tester in a shop, I'd have rejected it out of hand. Just shows the benefit of the advent calendars, doesn't it?

@IToldYouIWasFreaky - from Degustabox, a packet of fennel seed savoury snacks. I always do a Friday night G&T with my mum, and appreciate how Degustabox seem to know this and have been supplying a savoury snack each week. Last week's cashews were divine.

I love fennel. Definitely timed well

The degustabox really seems to be a winner. I'll keep an eye out for it next year. I think of all the things listed so far, the caramel sauce was the only one I wouldn't have been too keen on and that's just because I'm assuming a brand like carnation would be a bit sickly sweet. Ds would love it though.

I've never come across this brand before and if I had sniffed it on a tester in a shop, I'd have rejected it out of hand. Just shows the benefit of the advent calendars, doesn't it?

Absolutely - you need a bit of time, and a few applications, to properly try things out I think, whether that's a face cream or a perfume.

I think I saw an advert for Floral Street in a magazine and was attracted by the (very reasonably!) priced sample sets that they do. Perfect when you're trying to find a new scent!

F&M advent sounds fantastic!

Oooh @bigdecisiontomake I'd love a silk scrunchie (I have to sleep in them for curly girl method). Amazon today was a Max Factor lip scrub stick. I tried it and it was quite nice, I think I will use it.

I've used today's lip scrub from Amazon. It gets a thumbs up from me.

HB had a lovely eye shadow brush.

I'm finding the thought of two doors to open every morning is really helping me get out of bed on these cold dark mornings. I wish I'd bought another one for Jadvent!

@BuffaloMozzerella I opened window 17 insted of 11 this morning of the Boots AC and was a bit at first re our different items.

I remember you opened 7 instead of 1 the other day (obvs on Dec 1st

Red lipstick doesn't suit me at all and I also got a Nars one in my Winter glow box but my friend really suits and loves bright red lippy so I'll be giving them to her.

@bigdecisionstomake I'll be interested to see how different the skinny silk hair scrunchie is compared to the normal sized satin scrunchie I nicked off DD which she bought in Primark.

@AprilLady the Lucia item you have is very expensive I remember seeing her line in the Beauty section online in Harvey Nicks when I was having a gander one time out of interest. Be interesting to read what you think.

We are all so getting the degustabox next year @IToldYouIWasFreaky

ASOS was a fancy toothpaste. Just a bit meh...

I honestly though I'd hate the caramel sauce @OchonAgusOchonO it's something I'd never buy. The ingredients are condensed milk and sugar which I was pleased about as I avoid artificial sweeteners , it has been used in porridge, with caramelised banana, apple and orange and in chocolate cake. I wouldn't buy it but glad it wasn't a waste.