General beauty advent calendar opening thread - all welcome

[AprilLady]

As in previous years, this is a thread for all those opening beauty advent calendars not covered by specific threads, though happy for any to be posted here too. We’d also love to hear about other non-beauty calendars.

Only one ask please, do not disclose contents of calendars before 7am on the relevant day.

I’ll be opening the Liberty and Fortnum and Mason calendars. Possibly also Latest in Beauty, assuming it arrives on time.

Only two sleeps to go - looking forward to it!

@Peridot1 That's brilliant! I wasn't expecting anything until January but I have my fingers crossed now.

HN has a Barbara Sturm moisturiser and a Fenty fat water serum today, pretty good! Neither are brands I've tried before.

Degusta - a vegan chocolate bar (happy to have chocolate back though disappointed it’s not in a ball shape)
body shop - a bar of soap
H&B - urban veda night cream
Selfridges - face halo

Tried yesterday's glycolic sleep cream from LiB last night. Not sure if it was meant to make my face peel!
Will give today's blow dry spray a go but I'm currently enjoying Color Wow spray.
Vegan bar of chocolate in Degusta today, will try it later.

My hairdresser used Color Wow Dream Coat on my hair last week after my colour and cut. It made my hair feel really silky.

I had my Fenty beauty makeup masterclass today, the first of my vouchers from the calendar. I really enjoyed the experience and got lots of useful tips, not sure I'm keen on the actual products though, they're really heavy.

I have not updated as I have tonsillitis but starting to feel human again so in Sephora since Sat I have had:
pai light fantastic oil - which is great really absorbs well
Huda life liner
Sam McKnight Happy endings hair balm
Esho Drench lip serum - I have had really dry lips and this has made a big difference
filorga lift designer serum 7ml and time filler night 15ml both small sizes but al least there were 2 in one drawer and almost everything else has been full size.

Sorry to hear you haven’t been well @loz12345 . That looks like a nice collection of stuff though; good mix of products and brands.

Today's No7 is a (very) mini tube of No7 line correcting serum. I like this so glad to have it, but it's very small.

Day 15: I opened the Liberty drawer 15 and it was empty. Just as I started getting worked up about it, I remembered I’d messed up on Day 5 and opened the wrong day. So the Liberty product below is actually day 5 not day 15:

F&M: Hand sanitizer. Unfortunately a DoD today. Do they still have left over stock from 2020?

Liberty: A small tube of the Aveda leave in treatment. The size is disappointing, and I find the product okay rather than great. I prefer the “Damage Repair” treatment that I first got (full size) in an M&S calendar a few years ago.

LiB: Lixir Vit C paste. I’ve used this before and it’s a nice product. Not unhappy with this.

Overall not a great day, but the last few have been good, and I know there are good things to come.

Augustine Bader The Rich Cream in JL today. A calendar staple. Good size for travelling with.

That Aveda treatment is in lots of calendars @AprilLady. I got a full size of it in the M&S summer beauty box and have a couple,of small ones from other things. I agree it’s not great.

hope you fell better soon @loz12345. I like the sound of that lip serum - will bear it in mind for the future.

@AprilLady @Peridot1 I am much better today - thank you. It seems like everyone I know is unwell at the moment. Today is Sephora a full size Rodial soft glow drops primer - this looks and feels lovely - I had a spare 5 mins and worked out the value and so far it is £375.30, so not that far off the running totals of some of the higher cost calendars and it was only £125.00.

An MZ skin eye mask and vitamin C mask today, not too shabby.

Degusta - a cucumber margarita mix minus the tequila
H&B - vegan unscented deodorant
Body shop - aloe face mask
Selfridges - Maison Crivelli perfume 5ml

@loz12345 I’m on Sephora too and I’m loving it at least as much as the Liberty (and it was less than half the price!).

I hope there is no flashback from the tosiap drops. I find there is with most illuminating primers and I mostly discover it to my horror on a zoom call.

Not mad about today's. AB rich cream in JL and a gold Mac eyeshadow in Fenwick's.

Fenwick's yesterday was a Polar Night Destressing Mask. Again I haven't heard of the brand before, but used it last night and my skin feels pretty soft this morning.

I'm running out of room in my storage box for extra products now!

Day 16: Much, much better day today which makes up somewhat for yesterday.

F&M: One of the big ticket items. A full size 50ml of the Cult 51 Night Cream, which retails for £130 😮Have only ever had this brand in F&M calendars, and really liked it.

Liberty: Two items today - an MZ skin face mask and a Suratt lipstick in a pinky brown shade that will work well for me. Well done Liberty for not making this a DoD by including only a single face mask.

LiB: Another new product for me, a full size Susanne Kaufmann eye serum, with an RRP of £85 - not bad considering I got the whole calendar at the Tik Tok price of £99.50.

Overall RRP for today’s products is an amazing £266!

@Pinenu a cucumber margarita mix? hmm

@Stokey Fenwick’s does continue to deliver things which are a bit different.

I think if the AB cream was less ubiquitous in calendars we’d rate it rather higher, even if it is overpriced and stupidly packaged.

Oo @AprilLady I've tried a sample of the Cult51 cream and it was lovely .
Today the No7 calendar has a Protect and Perfect lip balm. Had this before and it's not my favourite but another lip balm is always handy.

That’s a nice group of items @AprilLady!

JL was an eye cream today. OTO rejuvenating CBD eye night eye treatment. Have never heard of the brand but it retails at £49.

Wowsers @AprilLady, what a day!!

HN has a La Perla perfume in it today. Not especially exciting but I'm always on the hunt for the perfect fragrance.

Degusta - an almond nut bar (sad to not get a shot of tequila to go with yesterday’s mixer)
H&B - shampoo & conditioner mini bars
Body shop - a head band thingy
Selfridges - Biossance algae eye cream

Clearly it’s eye cream day today 😁

Sephora had in it a 15ml Origins Ginzing moisturiser which I think might be something I buy as it it lovely on my dry skin and a 7ml Lancôme advance Génifique so small sizes but at least there were 2 - value of calendar is now £375.30

Day 18: No eye creams in sight

F&M: 75ml of Bum Bum Cream, luckily I like this as it’s the second pot this year.

Liberty: Full size Malin and Goetz resurfacing serum. This is an exfoliating serum and the reviews say it works well but stinks - I’m up for trying it.

LiB: Kalmar shower cream, also full size. New product from a brand I think I’ve only tried once before, so pretty happy with this.

It’s day 17 not day 18 🤦‍♀️I did open the correct drawers, fortunately. Also not sure why the picture duplicated.