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Original poster

General beauty advent calendar discussion and swap thread

991 replies

AprilLady · 29/11/2020 15:10

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
163
Bumbl · 01/12/2020 12:50

I actually like having the vouchers because it means you can go and pick the right shade for your skin tone. I had a No7 one a couple of years ago with a voucher for a bronzer I think. I agree it's annoying during present circumstances though.

OchonAgusOchonO · 01/12/2020 12:54

@Bumbl

I actually like having the vouchers because it means you can go and pick the right shade for your skin tone. I had a No7 one a couple of years ago with a voucher for a bronzer I think. I agree it's annoying during present circumstances though.
That makes sense. I assumed it was a voucher for a specific blusher in a specific shade.

Wonder will they do a voucher for an eyeliner so you don't have to get another black one?

Dailyhandtowelwash · 01/12/2020 14:01

I am perhaps unusual as I don't live within easy reach of most shops, so having to trek into a physical shop would be a major endeavour for a minimal return! It's also unhelpful at a time when many people are actively avoiding visiting shops even when we're not locked down - is the voucher redeemable online?

happytobemrsg · 01/12/2020 14:05

It’s a Joe & Seph popcorn advent calendar OchonAgusOchonO. Today’s offering was delicious

LarsErickssong · 01/12/2020 14:06

@happytobemrsg

It’s a Joe & Seph popcorn advent calendar OchonAgusOchonO. Today’s offering was delicious
I had the Joe and Seph's calendar last year and throughly enjoyed it Smile
XmasLockdown · 01/12/2020 14:08

I got mango hand cream from bodyshop calendar. It smells lovely. I am not so sure about H&B one.

Dailyhandtowelwash · 01/12/2020 14:08

I have a spare Joe and Seph's calendar as they sent me two by mistake and told me to keep the extra. I haven't decided yet who to give it to.

Babysharkdoodoodood · 01/12/2020 14:17

Nespresso -Melozio. Meh

Rituals mini candle from their Savage Garden range. Light smell of vetiver. Nice. (Trying to finish a Malin & Goetz rum. It won't die!)

General beauty advent calendar discussion and swap thread
OchonAgusOchonO · 01/12/2020 14:25

@Dailyhandtowelwash

I have a spare Joe and Seph's calendar as they sent me two by mistake and told me to keep the extra. I haven't decided yet who to give it to.
You'd want to hurry up and decide, what with today being the 1st Grin

Of course the advantage of delaying is you can do it all again yourself in january and blame it on procrastination.

beautyboxaddict · 01/12/2020 15:11

Babyshark I’m glad I wasn’t the only one disappointed by Nespresso’s offering today!

chocolatesaltyballs22 · 01/12/2020 15:12

Have started a separate thread but anyone have a Jo Malone calendar this year? Nice candle today which smells of Christmas!

Anjelika · 01/12/2020 15:22

I've got the Boots No 7 one and now know what to expect on the 7thWink. Boots is open at the moment and selling make-up so you should be able to redeem your voucher. I wish they'd do this for all the make-up items really as it's rare to ever get the right colour lipstick or nail varnish in an advent calendar. Not every day though!

OchonAgusOchonO · 01/12/2020 15:33

@Anjelika

I've got the Boots No 7 one and now know what to expect on the 7thWink. Boots is open at the moment and selling make-up so you should be able to redeem your voucher. I wish they'd do this for all the make-up items really as it's rare to ever get the right colour lipstick or nail varnish in an advent calendar. Not every day though!
I've been very lucky with lipsticks. I got a Mac one last year in either Debenhams which I didn't expect to suit me but it did. I got a fabulous one the previous year too in (spit) LF. Both colours I would not normally have gone for.

It's the palettes with pretty much the same set of neutral colours that I find a bit repetitive. And the bloody black eyeliners. I'd love to be able to choose colours for them.

Anjelika · 01/12/2020 16:52

Oh yes the black eyeliners. I have a makeup bag full of the things!!! They all look awful on me. Had a lovely brown eyeliner in the Soap and Glory advent calendar a few years back. I bought a few of them on eBay afterwards and they come up every year in that calendar so although I don't get the calendar any more I stock up on the eyeliners via eBay. They don't do the actual eyeliner other than in the calendar for some reason.

Original poster
AprilLady · 01/12/2020 17:13

Good to hear about all the different calendars, including the non-beauty ones. Despite having a serious Nespresso habit, I decided against the calendar so very interesting to find out what it’s like. On the beauty side, sounds like a fair number of hits but also some misses.

Agree re black eyeliners. I give them all to DD. I also have enough mini-mascaras that I could open a new one every month for the next two years at least Smile

OP posts:
foilflower · 01/12/2020 19:05

@Dailyhandtowelwash

A voucher would really annoy me. I wouldn’t be able to redeem it easily at the best of times.
Same, I wouldn’t be able to redeem it. I’d rather they did a couple of versions of the calendar and you could select your skin tone or the type of colours you prefer when buying.
OchonAgusOchonO · 01/12/2020 19:09

@foilflower - I’d rather they did a couple of versions of the calendar and you could select your skin tone or the type of colours you prefer when buying.

That would be a brilliant option.

Annebronte · 01/12/2020 19:09

I have Elemis and got a lovely tube of body cream in a decent size.

diamondsandrose · 01/12/2020 20:20

Have decided my memory is sufficiently bad that I'll instantly forget any Lumene discussions so my Jadvent will be unsullied Grin

Rituals mini candle here.. chuffed with it !

Loving seeing all your goodies especially the photos.

Most jealous of the Jo Malone Christmas candle , mmm

foilflower · 01/12/2020 20:21

Ochon, maybe next year!

Annebronte, I opened the Elemis calendar when I received it Shock but I still haven’t tried the body cream! I’m terrible at remembering to use it.

Snowplop · 01/12/2020 20:37

Has anyone else got the Amazon calendar? A good start today I thought, a 50ml Elemis apricot toner.

chloechloe · 01/12/2020 20:42

I’d be super annoyed with a voucher too, but hopefully it can be used online to save you going to the shops? I guess there is the advantage that you can choose your shade, but most calendars seem to market the fact that they’ve chosen “suit all” shades.

I’m a bit underwhelmed with today’s Liberty offering. But there was a lovely blusher in LF which I was keen to try and which I saw is also included in one of the more expensive calendars.

westr · 01/12/2020 20:48

I wish I had an advent calendar but they all sold out before I got round to it.

Original poster
AprilLady · 01/12/2020 21:04

@westr, sorry you missed out. Things did sell out stupidly quickly this year. I don’t know what your budget is, but if you can stretch to it, a couple of the 2019 Space NK advent calendars are on EBay, priced at no more than they originally cost from Space NK. It was a really good calendar, so would be a good option if the price isn’t too high for you.

OP posts:
OchonAgusOchonO · 01/12/2020 21:34

@westr

I wish I had an advent calendar but they all sold out before I got round to it.
That's a shame.

I, and a lot of others, were let down by Lookfantastic, despite pre-ordering in early september. I ended up ordering the CEW UK beauty edit cewuk.co.uk/product/cew-female-founders-beauty-edit/ which cost £168. They do next day delivery if you order before 3pm. Some of the items are quite big so I'm just doing a lucky dip into a christmas sack for those and have put the smaller items into an old calendar. There are 20 items in it so if you ordered this evening, you'd only need one extra item to make it through the rest of advent.

Alternatively, the Hearsh Red Box has 17 items cewuk.co.uk/product/cew-female-founders-beauty-edit/ and is £60, although it looks like the shipping is slower.

If none of that works, come on here and feel free to comment on what we got. Everyone is lovely here.