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Original poster

Beauty Advent Calendars 2023 Part E - Last Buying Thread Till Doors Open

694 replies

Stoic123 · 22/11/2023 20:57

Roll up, roll up for bargain spotting and anticipation.

This is a thread to discuss the buying of beauty calendars and not the opening of them. There may be general discussion about contents of a calendar but please do not share information about what is behind a specific door you've opened. Thank you

OP posts:
Thread gallery
29
Puravida23 · 16/12/2023 22:14

I have OK advent . The advent itself is ruining the experience for me. It’s one of the old style perforated ones and is now totally collapsing . Whilst fighting to extract day 16 today I managed to also dislodge two extra doors which also fell out so am now debating whether I should just cut my losses and open the whole thing now. I was also thrown by getting what I regard as the best day on day 8 (KS peptide cream) so not as excited about it now
Next year will definitely be an individual drawer advent and I am hoping to cut down / not buy beauty boxes throughout the year so I really need and look forward to the beauty products come advent season which is not the case this year

Helluvawomen · 16/12/2023 22:21

I have look fantastic and blown away with it

weyaye · 16/12/2023 22:38

I have M&S and very happy with it ☺️

HollyGolightly4 · 16/12/2023 23:25

I am absolutely enamoured with vogue!

AprilLady · 16/12/2023 23:29

Have to say I’m thoroughly enjoying both Vogue and Selfridges.

TheOnlyMrsW · 17/12/2023 08:07

I have LF and Next, really impressed with them both!!!

Original poster
Stoic123 · 17/12/2023 08:56

@Puravida23 - yes, wrestling with perforated doors is not as nice an experience.

Glad the rest of you are pleased!

OP posts:
Original poster
Stoic123 · 17/12/2023 09:07

As part of my stash clear down by using or giving away, I have been putting some stuff aside for the hygiene bank. Someone is going to be getting Ren, Neom, Elemis and Molton Brown stuff.

There was going to be some Votary serums and oils in there too but I baulked and fished out at the last minute. I will start using them now. I'm hoping I will value products more when I have less of them.

OP posts:
itsalongwaybackfromsorry · 17/12/2023 09:37

Quite enjoying my John Lewis calendar.
My daughter is loving her Glossybox, perfect for a teen.

SwordBilledHummingbird · 17/12/2023 10:19

I'm really enjoying my Diptyque calendar. Lovely things to try (I adore perfume and scented candles) without massively adding to the stash. Next year I'll get Jo Malone or Jo Loves.

BadgerFace · 17/12/2023 11:39

I am loving my Molton Brown AC! I’m so pleased I caved and bought it when it was discounted. Although a glitch meant that they charged me twice which took them three weeks to refund… ASA result of which they sent me two massive bottles of shower gel worth about £40 so it was a great bargain overall!

I’m not as excited by my Holland & Barrett. It’s had a good few things but nothing wow. But I guess that’s probably to be expected!

QueefofSheena · 17/12/2023 12:18

I'm really happy with Liberty and would have one again. I know that some people didn't rate it but it's my first Liberty AC. I really wish I'd got the Harrods fragrance too, maybe next year

Strawberryfield12 · 17/12/2023 12:58

I am really enjoying Liberty calendar, not my first from them, and other years have had F&M and similar.
Liberty didn’t get much love on this thread, I decided on it because of beauty drop credit. But it has been great, today was the hair clips day (DoD for many). However, there’s nice hair oil in the drawer as well, so actually it’s really lush instead of the doom… 😊

MidnightMeltdown · 17/12/2023 13:01

Space NK is my best one this year, followed by Selfridges. Both are great calendars.

I'm on a 6 month beauty buying ban which I started on 1st December. I was tempted by the CB gwp but managed to stay strong 💪. I totally didn't need it as I already have a couple of EGF serums.

Pinenu · 17/12/2023 13:58

The opening threads seem very quiet this year.

I’m still wondering what CB have done with all those calendars.

pinkchampagne1 · 17/12/2023 14:57

I am enjoying my John Lewis calendar. Opened OK last month and agree that the design of the box wasn’t great. I did think it was good value for the contents though.
The opening threads do seem much quieter this year.

WeAreBorg · 17/12/2023 15:01

I absolutely love the Vogue calendar, have been using nearly everything. I will be utterly bereft on the 26th when I don’t have anything to open!

MidnightMeltdown · 17/12/2023 15:06

I sometimes have a little peek at the opening threads, but December is always a v. busy month for me.

Also, after months of studying the advent calendar contents and watching unboxings, I already know what's in them all!

Babysharkdoodoodood · 17/12/2023 16:54

I actually forgot that I have the Harrods fragrance one to open after Xmas D'oh
Boots Premium has been pretty good for the price point of £99. A few DoD but I'll regift them.

I may try Next, next year.

Original poster
Stoic123 · 17/12/2023 17:03

Yes - after the activity on these buying threads, I expected more opening chatter.

Maybe some of us peaked too soon 😀

OP posts:
narniabusiness · 17/12/2023 18:14

Yes stoic. It’s very quiet and even the ones that are a little busier are hard to follow unless you have that calendar because no one says what product they actually got. Its a shame because it was the chat that was a lot of the fun last year I now realise.

Growlybear83 · 17/12/2023 18:21

I've been really pleased overall with Liberty so far. Jo Malone has been just as good as in previous years, and I've been SO pleased with the Lumene calendar - I bought it when it was really reduced and it's so much better than I expected. I've been really disappointed with M&S and there have only been three things so far that I will use; I definitely won't buy it again next year. I've got my Harrods fragrance calendar to start on Xmas day and a Ghost calendar that I bought for a tenner on Vinted. And my Flannels fragrance cracker.

TheOnlyMrsW · 17/12/2023 19:59

I ordered DH the cake one based on a recommendation from these threads ( sorry forgotten who it was that suggested it) and it's the best one ever apparently! Better than beer, pork scratchings, various chocolate ones so must be good. If the poster who mentioned it is still around thank you!!! it's definitely a hit and would never have known about it but for MN

Possimpible · 17/12/2023 20:01

I've been pleased with F&M, I haven't started using the stuff yet (except a face mask and bath oil) but plan to get started over New Year as I have some time off and it'll be a nice time for some self-care. I agree about the opening threads unfortunately, in previous years I've really enjoyed being on here in December and the threads are (more than) half the fun of having the calendar, but it's been hard to follow some - especially LF and Next, it's like people don't want to name the product!

Based on the opening threads, Liberty has looked better than I expected from the contents list, and Harrods hasn't been as good as I expected. It's interesting how the list of contents doesn't necessarily reflect how much fun they'll be to open and use - I think the long lists can be overwhelming, especially those with 35+ products, and I don't have the patience to actually look through everything with as much detail as when you're only paying attention to one daily.