General “Waifs and Strays” Beauty Advent Calendar opening thread.

[AprilLady]

As in previous years, this a thread for those opening Beauty Advent Calendars not covered by specific calendar opening threads - though happy for those to be shared here too. Also looking forward to hearing about the “Frankenstein” curations.

Carrying on the tradition from previous years, it will also be fun to hear about other calendar openings - Degusta, jam, cheese anyone?

I know there are mixed feelings on this, but many of us would really appreciate it if spoilers are not posted before 7am on the relevant day, though if the consensus is this is too late we could
make it from midnight on the day? Please also avoid dropping hints or spoilers about future contents if you have opened the calendar in advance.

Posting pictures of contents is also always much appreciated.

I’ll be opening the Selfrdiges and Jo Loves calendars this year. Really looking forward to tomorrow.

It's my daughter's favourite ASOS day 😀 she LOVES Laniege

I tried the Rituals of Jing cream from yesterday and thankfullt it isn't lavender like the spray mist was,
Micellar water today , nice for travel bag

I finally opened my Harrods chocolate advent calendar today 💚🐻 the artwork is so beautiful, it felt a shame to ruin it 🙈🤣

BT today
Pestle and Mortar
Pure Hyaluronic serum
30 ml

Oh that Harrods choc calendar is beautiful @JoRaRaRa!

@JoRaRaRa - that choc calendar is so lovely!

@70isaLimitNotaTarget - that’s weird - my Rituals spray was Jing. I was thrilled as it’s my favourite and thought when I got the cream yesterday how sensible it was for Rituals to have given us two things with a matching fragrance!

I wonder if other people got different sprays or if it was a glitch for one of us

@IlovePond for some reason the Jing range has two completely different scents. One is lavender and sandalwood and is in pale green (I really don't like it!) the other is in dark green and is lotus and jujube (which I love). Irritatingly they don't do all the products in both scents, it's one or the other. Very annoying when you don't like one of them / want things to match!

I bought this for my cousin as I thought the artwork on the box was enchanting. She loves it and I’m glad to see the contents are similarly lovely.

JL today was this perfume - sprayed it on liberally and i i hate it!! 🤢😂

@JoRaRaRaI love your Harrods calendar. It’s beautiful 🤩

Look Fantastic Fragrance Advent Calendar

Day 17 - Bronze Goddess by Estee Lauder

I wore this perfume 2 summers ago & I was very happy to open the drawer this morning & find this

It's quite potent isn't it? I've just put a little bit on my wrists to decide if I like it. It's quite masculine so DS can have it if I don't

I didn’t buy the JL advent in the end but this was one of the products I really wanted and bought off Vinted. Initially I was on the fence but I wore it the other day and it dried down really nicely I love it! Hope it grows on you.

Omg how are we on 17 already?! Gave me a little Christmas panic this morning that I’ve still so much to sort 🫣

Same The Noir perfume (gave it a sniff and I don’t hate it) and a Sarah Chapman overnight facial. Dont think I’ve tried this brand before so interested to see what this is like 👍

Aaargh @GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut - that makes sense - I just saw Jing on the bottle - I too have the pale one!

Thanks for clearing that up and @70isaLimitNotaTarget it looks like we have the same one after all 🙈

I am so jealous of those of you who have the LF fragrance a/c. That was definitely the one that ‘got away’ from me for this year!

Thanks to everyone who is posting in this. I am really enjoying seeing what people have got!

@Hoolahoopsscotch fragrance is so personal. The Noir is easily one of my favourite and most used perfumes, but it is definitely unisex and I can see why some people may not enjoy it.

Day 17:

Selfridges is an Ordinary Niacinamide serum. Functional today rather than exciting.

Jo Loves is candle four - Black Cashmeran and tonka. It’s a very strong smell, and not sure it is for me. I’ve already used the layered votive, and I think it’ll be the Christmas Trees one next.

A good day for me - full size AA bath oil in OK, and a bracelet from Grace and Kin in Glamour.

@Hoolahoopsscotch this perfume was the reason I didn't get JL in the end. I tried Thé Noir and I got a really strong smell of urine from it. I googled it and think it could be the citral ingredient, possibly combined with my personal skin chemistry.

My Frankenstein 🧌 calendar is the Philip Kingsley Overnight serum from the Cult Beauty ac 😍 I think that's already been revealed, so isn't a spoiler (sorry if it hasn't been 🙊). I'm really looking forward to trying this. My hair has really suffered and struggled since trying Olaplex a few years ago and then again this year when I went onto mounjaro (seem to have lost more hair then weight 😳). I've mentioned this before, but Philip kingsley invited me for a 1-2-1 consultation at their head office in London a few years ago, but they only gave me a few days notice and I couldn't afford the train fare there. Shame that they didn't change the date for me, but oh well. Since then, I've had a huge fondness for them 🥰 and hopefully one day, I'll get my consultation.

My Frankenstein fragrance is a double Frederic Malle. POAL is definitely my favourite out of the 2, I have to wait 10mins until i like Carnal flower. I've forgotten to keep notes of the fragrances and where I bought them from, but they're from a calendar somewhere 🧐

Day 17 of StyleKorean is a double door - Dr Althea 147 Barrier Cream 50ml and VT Garlic Reedle Shot Spot Cream, which I'll give to DD.

Sorry, missed a couple of days:
Lumene Day 15 was a toner, Day 16 a moisturiser and Day 17 is a brown eyeliner (which I’ve always preferred to black). The blues go beautifully together:

L'Occitane was their Immortelle eye cream - in 4 ml! So I'm not sure I'll get enough of an idea of how well it works to want to purchase it after but we'll see.

@PeachbubbleI love the dr Althea, great for dry and sensitive skin

LIB Stylist
Day 16 - Essie nail polish in Birdeaux & Essie roll-on nail oil
Day 17 - Tresemme Lamellar ultra gloss spray. Was waiting for 1st haircare product which I am normally not excited about as have my usual products that I don't deviate from, but will give this a go as good reviews (seems to be half price at £5 in Boots at moment.

Day 17 Jo Loves is a Black Cashmeran & Tonka votive. I like this scent and love scented candles so I'm very happy with this. I think I do slightly prefer Jo Malone's Myrrh & Tonka overall though, it's very similar but a bit softer.