Beauty Advent Calendars 2023 Part C - counting down to Christmas

[Stoic123]

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/4893988-beauty-advent-calendars-2023-part-b-have-we-chosenor-not?page=10&reply=129727755

Continuing the discussion ...will there be some good discounts?

That is a very grown up attitude..I shall try and follow your lead. I too love the BioEffect serum but have two already. I do quite fancy the Evidens though! There was me thinking this years choices would be easy 😁

You are both talking some sense into me! I can get easily tempted but like you, I have quite a stash of beauty products already. I must be strong as I don’t need a third calendar! 😆

Fortunately I'm not tempted by Fenwicks. The Bioeffect serum is great but there's one in the Harrods calendar.

Fenwicks, NAP, Liberty, John Lewis, CB, F&M, Harvey Nics and LF are all easy passes for me this year. Either because they're too samey, or because I'm not excited by the product selection.

Elle and OK are also an easy no for me this year

An update on the Clarins 24 day AC. I ordered it as it was a good deal and I will pass the things I won't use to my sisters. I didn't think the GWP and the other offer stacked as I got the gift for spending £90 (small day and night cream duo) and the 3 free samples, plus the 10% discount. Then the GWP set has turned up in a separate package today. Very happy!

I'm not sure I can be as strong as you are all being with Fenwicks. I've added it to basket 😬 must resist! Probably.

@MidnightMeltdown If there was a good GWP or discount on Harrods I'd definitely get that, mainly for the Bioeffect but the other contents are far better than Fenwicks IMO. Harrods was almost my first choice. It's so subjective though, I've generally agreed with you on the threads but then I've ended up choosing F&M and (probably) Elle in the end which you don't fancy.

I think the calendars/products you've already tried and own influences it a lot. The F&M brands (and sometimes even products) are generally repeats so it isn't one you'd really want to get a few years in a row. I had it in 2021 and have to admit I found it a little dull, but my life has changed quite a lot since then and I've learned I really appreciate the self-care items! Looking back at calendars I've had and what I've used up and enjoyed, F&M 2021 and LiB 2022 are easy winners. Space NK 2020 was great too, that was my gateway calendar to the higher-end ones. (To clarify, I've had about 3 calendars a year 😬)

The Fenwicks one is great with the extra bag! This is the first time I’ve looked at it. I’m still undecided and really want a bargain one if at all. Maybe that’s a bit mean of me…. I’ve realised I’m not going to get Harrods and am now waiting in the hope of a Space NK deal. I also love the look of Liberty this year but that didn’t get reduced at all last year. I got Liberty and Selfridges last year but this year I may end up with nothing.

Was Space NK reduced by a lot last year?
Much as I have told myself I must not get any more calendars, I do really like the look of the Space NK one.

I do think which ones get reduced and by how much varies from year to year. This year’s Space NK is signficantly better than last year, so may well not get reduced by as much.

I had a work meeting very close to Selfridges today, so indulged in a short wander round. Although the Selfridges calendar is out of stock on the website, they did actually have a few in store.

They also had a rather good display area with all the single brand calendars they are selling, including display cases showing all the contents. I’m no wiser as to why the Christian Louboutin is £500, but thought the Penhaligon’s and Lancôme ones looked nicer than expected from the descriptions.

I remember Selfridges being discontinued last year, I think by about 50% but I was too slow. It’s already sold out online so guessing that won’t happen this year 😏

I just looked at Fenwicks but there's quite a few DoDs for me - the ubiquitous Bader, Escential Molecules, Bobbi Brown mascara, scrunchie , hair mist, Benefit cleanser - so it's a no for me. I did like their calendar last year and do like the EGF serum but not enough.

@OchonAgusOchonOh We are very limited this year. All I can think of is boots, m&s, Look fantastic, Liberty, Cult, Space NK, Sephora from an EU site, glossybox, asos (although I always associate them with teens and 20s age group). Ok so that is not as limited as I thought when it’s written down
More coming to mind… L’occitane and Rituals, but I do prefer mixed brands

House of Fraser and flannels are doing Christmas crackers, I think.

Brown Thomas do one but not until November, and then it usually gets discounted in December.

I think you’ve already bought Boots? It’s all I’ve bought and I know I probably sound a bit spoilt, but I’m very underwhelmed by it.
Dd has already claimed the pink bum bum cream from it, which is fine by me.
I probably will buy a luxury one if they’re heavily discounted, at least less than €150 or so

I'm still undecided apart from I'll stick to £100 budget. Or maybe £100 per calendar.

Last year I made my purchases in November so I'm not that worried of missing out yet.

I realised French Pharmacy has tiny sample sizes so definitely not worth the money although it was my top favourite for selection of products.

I might get Nuxe as a small spend if it gets discounted more by mid November because I like and use the brand.
Clarins 24 days is a really nice calendar but as much as I like the look of it and good value with added freebies, I use their stuff all the time so it wouldn't be an experience of discovery. I would like it but don't want to spend my own money on it.

I've decided all the nice big ones the £200 odd plus are not for me this year. And I can't follow prices to ever find out if they reduce to the £100 mark, therefore I won't even think about them.

Guerlain remains my dream and top choice for decadence and quality but wouldn't spend that much ever.

Styvetlana would be really exciting and seems a good price (same with Yes Style). I don't know much about Korean or Japanese skincare and it would be lovely to dip my toes in. But would I ever have time to learn about this stuff to actually use it properly in the future? Probably not. In practice, I'll stick to the more French side of things as main skincare and dip in and out of other more accessible brands.

Which leaves: LiB if it goes down again to £100ish mark, Glossybox, OK. Keeping an eye on Naturismo as I quite like it. Sephora if it gets reduced. Elle if it gets reduced and I can make sense of their subscription.
But really none of these make me really excited about the entire content.

I keep checking LiB on tiktok and get bombarded with AC reveals by various women. Horrible nails absolutely everywhere, is this some awful trend going on? I can't stand the look and tapping noises. Makes me shudder. Otherwise I'm sure the videos would be useful to watch.

Blissim beauty box is, apparently, coming to the UK!!!! I hope it's true and I would definitely subscribe. Cute very affordable AC with useful little products blissim.fr/marques/blissim/calendrier-2023

For the Fenwick GWP, you can also buy from other brands they stock. E.g they had the Charlotte Tilbury advent.

Haha, you’d think I was on commission but there isn’t yet a calendar that I’m persuaded to buy!

I can't get on board with the tic tok random discounts etc the whole platform seems so jolty to me, I am probably too old for it. Still deciding here...

I’ve cracked and finally ordered space nk! I decided I’d be more disappointed if it sold out and I missed it than I would (will?!) be if
it gets discounted later and I’ve paid full price!
Glad to have finally made a decision and now I know I have something lovely to look forward to in December! 😊

I've cracked and ordered the Fenwick's needed to get some beauty stuff anyway so did through them for the calendar

@TheDuchessOfMN it does look a bit better when you list them off but none of them are yelling at me.

I have the boots premium too but would like another. I'm not a fan of single brand either but I'm half thinking of one of the No 7 ones. They're not exciting but they are functional and will be used up.

@QueefofSheena were you able to add the Clarins code for the handbag set in addition to the ‘spend £90, get the two little tubes’ deal?

I was able to add the 10% discount and the SUPERGIFT code but not the handbag essentials.

Thanks

@Possimpible oh it's not that I don't like F&M. I saw an unboxing and thought that it looked gorgeous. It's just that it's too samey for me. I've bought F&M every year since it was released. In fact I think it was the first high end calendar I ever bought and it's usually my favourite. If it didn't have two AA oils and two mini candles (again, they did this last year), then I would have been more tempted. I also didn't want the eye mask and makeup bag as I already have others.

3 calendars a year is perfectly acceptable. I had more than that last year and this year. Advent is a time for greed.

I got Space NK for around £154 last year. It was reduced to £172 and then there was an extra 10% on Black Friday which pushed me over the edge and forced me to buy it.

However, it was nowhere near as good as this years Calendar.

Yes I bought that at 50% off last year. It's was great at that price, but I would never have paid the full price for it. Again, it was nowhere near as good as this year.

It seems that Selfridges and Space NK have really upped their game after having to discount heavily last year.

I bought the Space NK yesterday as I was concerned it might sell out. Wonder if they’ll take the full price one as a return if I do snag a reduced one 🤣🤣