M&S beauty advent calendar

[Keepthechangefilthyanimal]

Is available on Thursday in store and online apparently.

This is a really good product so I’m happy. Shame it isn’t a full size, we’ve had full size ones in the past.

Still bitter about yesterdays hand cream. It’s almost gone in 24 hrs.

Super excited about today's offering. Heard of the brand but never tried it before. How do you use it? Any tips?

I’ve never used acid toner before, feel nervous and keeping thinking of that scene in SATC when Samantha has a facial peel and looks like beef carpaccio

Sounds interesting. Is it a serum or a toner?

Cotton wool pad, add toner, wipe it all over face.

I've just put the nail varnish on- love the colour!

Ooh I’ve heard good things about this stuff so looking forward to trying it.

I may be the only person on this thread who was happy with the size of the handcream I rarely use it I thought the scent was really nice.

I’m looking forward to trying today’s!

(Clicks heels together) I will be beautiful, I will be beautiful, I will be beautiful!

Pleased with this. It's not my absolute favourite brand of this type of product - which is Paula's Choice - but I'll happily use it.

For people new to using this sort of thing, advice is that it can make your skin more sensitive to the sun so you should either make sure you have good SPF on afterwards, and/or just use at night rather than mornings too. I only use it at night, and once or twice weekly rather than every night. Wipe a decent amount over your face. You can moisturise afterwards or skip that for a more intense effect - I skip it as have oilier skin anyway. In the morning you should look just more refreshed and brighter faced somehow - my preferred brand really does this well, the Alpha does it but in a more muted way. I haven't ever found these irritate my skin.

I don’t apply it in the same way since imo it wastes too much. I squeeze a couple of drops into my hands directly and then splash it on

Good tip @cloudtree. I've been doing that with toners unless I'm using it to remove last traces of make-up. It's amazing how much longer it lasts.

This is the first real disappointment of the calendar for me. I've had this previously in an AC and it did nothing for me. I absolutely cannot stomach anything rose scented either. It's a shame because people rave about this product and I'd give it another go if it wasn't for the fact that the scent would make me nauseous
Are we doing a swaps thread when the calendar is finished this year? I've enjoyed them in the past.

I have just opened a new bottle of Ren ‘Ready Steady Glow’ AHA Toner (which is excellent). So I’ll use that up before starting this one. I might find I love it!

A slight detail…has anyone here bought more than one M&S beauty calendar for their own use? I’m one of those people without any impulse control so I opened the entire thing in one sitting! There is a fabulous (for me) full-size skincare product (no spoilers! which may just become my new holy grail - I looked up the price and it’s nearly as much as the £40 cost of the tin! Apologies if I’m not supposed to post like this here; I’m still getting to grips with the etiquette on the calendar threads.

…should say derail…

Surely it can’t be full size? 🤷‍♀️

@AnnieSnap

Surely it can’t be full size? 🤷‍♀️

It's not! I thought it was a serum on first opening and got overexcited 🙈

No full size is bigger 100 ml maybe?

@AnnieSnap

Surely it can’t be full size? 🤷‍♀️

@SmaugMum is saying there is a full size product coming up…

Does anyone know how today's offering would work if you use tretinoin?

Following

I'm really pleased with today's offering, I regularly use an acid toner, but I've never used Alpha- H, before, and really liked it

I had lost my sense of smell for a week there ( thanks Covid! ) so I've caught up on some other things today. I've realised how much my enjoyment of some products is based on scent

I prefer the REN shower gel to the Apothecary one, solely because of my liking for its smell. I like the Percy & Reid Wonder Balm, I think it's a better product for my thick hair than the No Oil Oil that I've used before.

The Prai hand cream is lovely. I like the light texture and it smells good. A must for me for a hand cream is that it doesn't leave my hands feeling greasy, and this one doesn't, so tick from me for this. The Ultrasun lip balm is an inoffensive but uninspiring product for me, but I think my preferences for lip balm were locked in as a teenager - memories of Body Shop fruit flavours

Looking forward to opening tomorrow's treat.

Hmm, my bottle leaks once the seal is taken off so I’d recommend keeping it upright.

So this week I have used the nail varnish, the Pure Cream, the Ren Bodywash, the Emma Hardie cleansing balm and today’s Alpha H. The last two I’m familiar with and love both. The cream I tried today and it pills a little with my Vit C serum so no good for wearing under foundation but on make-up free days it’s good, my skin feels very soft and hydrated. The bodywash I used in place of soap on a body scrub brush and it smelled really nice. The nail varnish I wore all week and it kept chipping so although I like the colour I will not be wearing again. I have several Nails Inc polishes and they don’t do this so it’s this specific one which is annoying.

@cloudtree

Hmm, my bottle leaks once the seal is taken off so I’d recommend keeping it upright.

Fab advice! I’m away and was going to try it tonight. I’ll wait!

I tried the wonder balm earlier but possibly used too much and had to dash out so shoved a hat on. I’ve just spent ages unknotting my hair!