Beauty advent calendars 2024 #6

[virgocatlover]

We still have a few weeks to go but we are up to thread 6.

Will we get any good Black Friday discounts?

The space nk lip cracker is brilliant well worth £30 and the CT lipstick is full sized. The only one slightly smaller is the nars but even it is big enough and all boxed etc I’m very very pleased with it xx

Maybe that's why I liked it, I'm a 1990s girl. I'm sure they had elves then too!

Just bought the John Lewis beauty crackers. I am so weak!

Got my shipping notification for bb box!

Honestly, I'm so glad for this thread, it feels like a refuge from the world rn.

Had notification from Sephora that my advent cal will be delivered by 15th - which is next Friday.

That will be it for advent calendars for me

I'm sure there'll be more beauty box/star gift type deals on the way for black friday

What's your best discovery from an advent calendar?

Ooh good question!

Not sure about best but some things I have loved:

• Aurelia cell repair night oil (in Grazia calendar some years ago)
• 3Lab WW Cream in F&M a few years ago – so gorgeous tho I have never RP as £££
• VB lippy in Pout in CB a couple of years ago (sadly just finished)
• F&M EdP Lilas in the same F&M calendar – love this and have RP a lot
• Vilhelm Parfumerie Peony Couture – in Liberty 2 years ago – love this too and have also RP, it lasts really well
• Venn cream in the same Liberty

@HollyGolightly4 - in no particular order:

Floral Street Arizona Bloom perfume
Bum Bum cream - took me a while to get past the name and I actually gave away a huge tub before it occurred to me to actually smell the stuff - I love it now!
Wet brush - from H&B
Filorga anti-wrinkle serum
My Gua Sha and jade roller from H&B (I now have loads more I don’t need, but I use these originals every day!)
Christophe Robin salt scalp scrub
Bobbi Brown mascara
Eyeko brown mascara
Luvia eyeshadow duo palette
Clarins Flash Balm

Alpha H liquid gold rose - love it

Ooh, no particular order...

Dr Sebaugh retinol serum
Venn all in one concentrate
Filorga Meso Mask (M&S calendar years ago)
Olverum bath oil

I had M&S for years then in April 2022 I bought Mintd (2021). Then Harvey Nichols and Liberty for actual December 2022 advent. In mid-2023 I bought Net-a-Porter (2021).

This year I have SpaceNk, Cult Beauty and Harrods fragrance - lots of favourites plus new products to try!

I have a feeling I'll think of more products to add later. Also, special mention to Paula's Choice toner that I discovered elsewhere but has been in advents. Flagging in case it sways someone to try it - holy grail product!

Love this question...

Sunday Riley Autocorrect eye serum - have repurchased this a couple of times.

Lumene Nordic-C Valo Glow Boost Essence - basically a Vit C Serum. This came from my first ever beauty advent which was John Lewis 3 or 4 years ago. I've bought the Lumene advent calendar this year because this is in Day 25 and alone it covers 2/3 of the cost of the calendar - I managed to bag a discount.

Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream - love this so much!

Biossance Squalane and Vitamin C Oil - my skin loves this and it isn't too oily.

Like a PP I also found Alpha H liquid gold in an advent calendar and always go back to this for exfoliation.

Controversial but I actually like the Augustinus Bader rich cream too...although wouldn't repurchase because it's too expensive.

To be fair I rarely re-purchase items because I have several calendars each year (have Space NK, HNs, Lumene and Sephora this year plus the Space NK fragrance) and I buy beauty boxes when I know the value of the products I will use or would like to try outweigh the cost so I rarely need to re-purchase specific items as I have quite a large stash fairly constantly. I recoup some of the cost of items I won't use on Vinted too or use them for gifting.

Interestingly I find I do 80% of my beauty purchasing at this time of year as this seems to be when the best offers come out and obviously the advents which are insane value for money if you will use enough of the products and can sell the remainder. Threads like this are invaluable 🙂

In this vein... can anyone recommend a night cream they've loved? My Elemis is about to finish and I'm not sure about repurchasing. I feel like I've had loads of night creams in advent calendars over the years but I've never wanted to repurchase any! They've all been too rich, too expensive, I haven't liked the smell or they've made me break out or irritated my skin. I do love Elemis for how gentle it is, I love the smell and it's very hydrating, but it's expensive considering I'm not sure it does much more than a high street brand.

I do have serums/oils/actives that I'm happy with (most from advents...) so what I need is just a general moisturiser to use at night afterwards

Oh and to address the obvious, I did not like AB rich cream...

In case anyone waiting for the m&s apothecary set, it’s live here https://www.marksandspencer.com/apothecary-wellness-bag/p/hbp60683159#intid=pid_pg1pip48g2r1c1, not sure it would work for advent calendars but wanted to let you know in case of use to anyone!

I see Boots has just launched a new beauty box. I must be strong and not order anymore!

Moral dilemma for you all. At the weekend I ordered a primer from one of the beauty sites. It arrived on Tuesday. Yesterday I had two emails from them saying firstly 'sorry your item has been delayed' then a second with a dispatch notification saying it's arriving in the next few days.

I didn't get any notification emails for the first one - it just showed up on Tuesday. I checked the orders in my account and it only shows the one item due to arrive in the next couple of days.

So if a duplicate turns up do I contact them and say you sent me two or just say nothing and keep both?

@OvaHere Morally you let them know. I would think unless it’s a particularly expensive brand, they may be inclined to say keep it rather than arrange a return.
On the flip side, if you purchase a lot from them anyway they’ve probably already had their monies worth from you 😉

@OvaHere I suspect they got their email notifications muddled up and they only dispatched 1 item matching your 1 order. But they sent the emails after they dispatched the item and after it was delivered.
If you get a second one, I'd say just tell them, especially if you intend to use them again in the future. They might let you keep it or ask for it to be returned at their expense.

Oh they've definitely had their monies worth from me!

Morally I am inclined to let them know however if they were to expect me to return it at my own expense and hassle I'd be slightly annoyed.

It is expensive although was on offer at £28.

Ah that's a possibility I hadn't thought of. So maybe a dupe won't show up at all then? That would be the best situation all round.

Two of my favourites were the Emma Hardie moringa cleansing balm and the Prai ageless throat and decolletage creme.
Looking forward to finding some new favourites , hopefully affordable too!

Boots limited edition advent calendar available with 20% off making it £79

https://www.boots.com/boots-limited-edition-24-days-of-beauty-christmas-advent-calendar-exclusive-10351673

Quite a lot in here, and some decent full sizes

@Elodie9 Just shows how we are all different, I wasn’t a fan of the Prai, bought off a recommendation and off a suggestion earlier in the thread am now using it as a body cream instead of it just sitting in the cupboard and then getting thrown when goes out of date.

This happened to me with a cashmere jumper once from M&S. I told customer services over the phone and they told me to just keep it, so I ended up with two! Gave one away.

Also had duplicate orders from LK Bennett once. Emailed customer services and never heard back from them! At least if you tell them you've covered yourself.

I'm like @bigdecisionstomake in that I tend to buy most of my beauty stuff this time of year via boxes/calendars

I've discovered whole brands that I love and never would have tried/heard of otherwise. For example, By Terry is a brand that I discovered via advent calendars, and I now love their makeup.