Holland & Barrett advent calendar opening thread

[OchonAgusOchonOh]

This is the thread for daily opening of the H&B advent calendar. As with all the threads, the only firm rule is not discussing a drawer's contents before the day. The usual timeline is no spoilers before 7am but we can agree a different time if people want to.

Let the games begin!!!!

Oooo when I opened the box this morning I thought it was a wild refill and I was so happy but realised why would they give just a refill haha but love the smell too!

I thought the same, as I’m finding it difficult to get hold of Wild refills here. But I’m happy with the soap too.

As well as being very happy with the contents this year, I think this is H&B's nicest packaging for an advent calendar, and more versatile to reuse. Those who got the calendar last year, what if anything have you reused the drawers for?

@moretea I was thinking the same thing! I'm going to keep the boxes for my son for next year as he wanted a sweets one but we couldn't find one so we bought a big tub of sweets and I attempted to make an advent out of shoebox and cardboard and things(failed miserably!) so I'll keep them for a sweet one for him next year! Lol (if he has any teeth left)

Good idea @Roxie99 , it'll be perfect to refill with treats of your choosing for him

Yes, very good idea- DD normally has a Haribo calendar (doesn’t like chocolate) but one I could design for what she really likes would be great. I will preserve the box!

Ok it's 7.01 haha
Today's delight..I think I've used the shampoo before smells lovely (even though I have a blocked nose!)

I am super fussy about hair products as I follow the Curly Girl method so normally hair care products in calendars are DoDs for me but I the conditioner is actually CG friendly and I really like it as a leave in as it smells beautiful!
I won't use the shampoo on my hair but might keep it for washing makeup brushes or pass on to DP.
Another good day from H&B! At this price point they could have got away with having these in separate drawers too so it's good to get them together

@Roundaboot oh brilliant thanks for the tip as I have curly hair but not done the method yet! I used to have really nice thick curls ringlets and the past two years (I'm mid 40s) it's gone so thin and dry and I've lost my volume I'm so upset! A friend suggested I start taking collagen which I have been for about 2 weeks now....

I like Faith in Nature but never use conditioner (short, straight, oily hair) so will pass that on - the shampoo will definitely get used.

I was expecting these to be in separate drawers too (they are one of the few things I did remember were in the calendar) So that’s great. Although I have a favourite shampoo and conditioner my hair seems to respond well to something else being used once in a while.

Really impressed that they are both in one drawer. Lots of much more expensive calendars would have them in separate drawers.

I love this brand so am very happy with this.

love these!! Putting them away for holiday!

I am very happy with these and will put them away for travel! I have thick long dry curly hair which is ringletty on good days and frizzy on bad days! I tried CG years ago but it didn’t work for me then, I might try it again though as my hair is not looking as good as it did. I’m also mid 40s and my hair has always been dry but it’s much drier now which doesn’t help. Mine started to go thinner earlier this year when I started losing even more hair than usual and it turned out that my ferritin levels were very low (I had other symptoms too). I was put on supplements twice a day and it stopped.

I am very impressed these have been put together in one day. This calendar has been fantastic so far.

There's a lot of trial and error involved with CG and I think you need to find your own way of doing things. I've been doing it for about 10 years now and what it means for me is co-washing with conditioner and not using products with SLS or silicones. I've found a set of products and a way to style that works for me - the only trouble is when I find a product that I like and it gets discontinued, which puts me back into a loop of trying a million different products to find the right one! There are Facebook groups etc dedicated to CG but IMHO, people tend to like to make things more complicated (and expensive!) than they need to be.

you could always use the shampoo as a shower gel, I do that when I don't want to use something on my hair (or face)

Yes I joined all the CG groups back then but found it all a bit overwhelming!

My favourite ever curl cream was discontinued when I was in my 20s and I’ve never found anything as good since (it was Trevor Sorbie curl cream, but a pink one and not the white one that they replaced it with)!

Dr Paw Paw balm today. Drawer of disappointment for me as the only thing that works on my lips is Blistex (currently out of stock everywhere!).

I’m happy with today’s!

I’m not sure about this brand but the Lucas pawpaw stuff worked wonders on my DS when he was a toddler, curing a skin condition around his lips that even the GPs (and all the steroids) and the paediatric dept couldn’t help!

I don’t really use lip balm myself - I used to use it all the time in my 20s, but found my lips are better in the long term without it.

Happy with today's too! I use a lot of lip balm and have used and liked this brand before. I suspect I may use this one more as an eye balm to keep my eyelid eczema under control, as long as it doesn't sting!

I've never purchased one of these except a random one I saw in Poundland (where nothing is a pound anymore) which I thought was odd as I thought is it a fake? Had one in an M&S calendar years back but the colour didn't suit so happy to give this one a go or pass on the my niece!

Also paw paw reminds me of airports and planes because they always have it in the flight magazines! Random I know

Happy to try this - a decent lip balm is always useful!
And I agree, made me think of plane duty-free shopping!

I'm a bit meh on this one. I do use lip balm but tend to go for ones based on beeswax or shea butter. I'll give it a go though.

I have got another too and leave it in the front of the car for a last minute boost, rather than having it at home. Its a bit glossy I find and if popping out to the shops when its cold a bit of protection. Not something that lasts long on the lips and not sure about eye application myself but could work for other skin types.