Beauty Advent Calendars *spoiler alert - contents discussed within thread*

[ithoughtisawapuddycat]

Is it too soon for a thread on these? I remember last year they were all coming out or going on sale in September so not too far off.

I got the spacenk one last year and it was first ever beauty advent calendar and I loved it. Still using some of the products and have gone to purchase at least five items in full size, two of them multiple times.

This year I'll get the spacenk one again but might also go for the cult beauty as well.

Title amended by MNHQ to alert folk to the presence of spoilers within the thread.

I've ordered the H&B one as I like the look of the products. I didn't know about the Russian links so am feeling foolish now.

@Arnaquer its very difficult to know/boycott everything, don’t feel foolish.

@Arnaquer don’t feel foolish. These things are far from black and white in any event. A bit of Googling suggests that the company which owns H&B is indeed a private equity firm, itself c50% owned by sanctioned Russian individuals. But they are currently not involved and derive no financial benefit from it. There is also a lot of uncertainty over what will happen when/if sanctions are ever lifted.

To further complicate matters, while H&B itself is profitable, the company which owns it is financed by massive bank loans. As far as I can tell, all the profits are currently used to pay off the bank loans. So right now, it would appear it’s the (U.K.) banks, not the Russion oligarchs, who get any profits made by H&B.

That's the point of private equity. You get to make a gamble with other peoples money and the company you buy with that money pays the loan costs so you get to gamble for free.

@Zeeza it’s rather more complex than that (in this case, Google suggests they paid 1.8bn, of which 800m was bank financed) but I don’t think a BAC thread is the place to debate the merits or otherwise of private equity.

My post was simply aimed at reassuring those considering the H&B calendar that their money was probably not going to end up in the hands of a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

How were you able to order it? I've been checking online and it's still not available or am I maybe looking in the wrong place?

Ignore me. Just checked my emails and saw one from them saying it's available.

Another one drumming her fingers waiting for John Lewis to announce their advent calendar contents before making a decision. JL obviously are not aware of the work involved in making a decision , the spreadsheets, vlogs , internet searches , cost analysis which have to be made. I am guessing it will be a big disappointment after all this. I am busy working out my back up probably Cult Beauty or Latest in Beauty or possibly even Liberty although I can’t get past the Tomato candle at the moment and not convinced on sizes (might watch another unboxing).
Meanwhile I have succumbed to the Cohorted 12 day calendar which in my mind I am not counting as I think with 12 doors and at £50 is really just a very large beauty box (and I may use some of the contents for teenagers stockings)

Yes, of course it is more complicated than that. But it is nonsense to say that the Russians derive no benefit from sales, or that any owners of any company with debts do not. If you do not wish to derail the thread, don't. But bad information is worse than no information.

I think @PomRuns might be right and JL will wait till after the funeral to announce. AFAIK they were one of the first stores to announce they'd be closing on Monday, and they have the links to Duchy through Waitrose etc.

Do we thinks fewer calendars are going to sell out immediately this year? I see fortnums is still for sale. Yet liberty are bullish and have said they have made up an extra 30,000.

I have far less spare money this year than in the last 2/3 years. 2020/21 I was saving money from lockdown, like a lot of people, and calendars were a real treat. This year I'm far less flush!

Also a lot of the posts on this thread reflect that the people who've been buying every year are getting quite bored with a lot of repeated content, and more demanding about sizes/varieties than before. Not to mention potentially sitting on products still from previous years. The market risks getting saturated here.

@Zeeza Who knows, but I think they might be less popular this year. A combination of high demand over the last couple of years (for little treats during lockdowns, when lots of people had additional disposable income as we weren't socialising or traveling as much), the cost of living crisis, and advent calendar fatigue. They've been out for a few years now so the novelty has worn off a bit, most people who like the idea will have had at least one already.

Saying that, lots of people on this thread are still buying at least one, so I think they'll still sell. I wonder if we'll see some discounted this year, although I seem to remember some retailers kept them full price even into December last year.

Yes, I think there is a real reluctance for shops to reduce the ACs. Maybe partly because the profit on them is so very small?

Body shop must have had loads left but they flogged them through brand alley rather than reduce them themselves.

@zeeza, I fully agree that bad information is worse than no information. And I did not make a generalised statement that the owners of any company derive no financial benefit from that company if it has debts, as that is obviously nonsense. However, if the cost of servicing those debts is greater than the profit being made/cash being generated by that business before interest (and before other disbursements to shareholders), then the owners may well be losing money. It’s why some companies go bankrupt. From what I can tell H&B’s credit rating is Caa1 - suggesting a real risk of such an outcome.

Yeah I personally have definitely got a certain amount of advent fatigue as have tried most of the products appearing in them. Normally I have at least 2 I would love but this year I am struggling to find one I love and am excited about.
Although I know I will end up buying at least one as I think ultimately they can offer good value if you use the products anyway I am missing the excitement/treat value of this year so far

I also think the announcement of contents for the remaining calendars - JL and Harrods in particular- may well be delayed until after the 19th.

And that demand for calendars is likely to be lower this year, although there seem to be more calendars than ever, at higher prices than ever. It’s interesting that a number of 2021 calendars (including Harrods, Liberty, CB and even JL) are still, and have been for most of the year, selling at less than RRP on ebay.

Also, some retailers (like NAP and Feelunique) did eventually reduce the price of their calendars substantially last year, so we could see it happen again.

Keep derailing then.

If people buy more things from h&b is it less likely to go under? Is it more likely to make profits?

Will the owners financially benefit from the company not collapsing?

I just signed up for the Liberty Beauty drop, I am sure will spend £240 in one year plus gives early access to the calendar and £10 off. If JL is fab - I will buy both. Decision made :)

@Zeeza there is a lot more I could say, but I won’t as it not fair on everyone else on the thread. Let’s agree to disagree.

Thank heavens for small mercies

I am disappointed that when I signed up for beauty drop I did so in the hope that I would like the AC and that if I didn't there were two beauty brands I liked that liberty stocked. Unfortunately I don't like the calendar and liberty has dropped the brands I was going to buy 😂

I suppose I can always buy clothes.

I like the Dear Polly perfume, so I can easily spend the subscription. Plus I like some of the beauty bags, especially the Christmas ones.

Do we know when M & S will be available?