Beauty Advent Calendars Thread 13 - lucky for us, unlucky for Ryan the Bot

[SheilaFentiman]

Welcome to Thread 13 and happy unboxing to all who sail (sale??) in her as we swap tips, tricks, frustrations and joys of the BAC/FAC journey.

Not too long until Black Friday discounts so keep your fingers crossed and some room on your credit card

Key link for all the calendars via the very lovely MaryBD of the calendars https://beauty-detective.com/category/beauty-advent-calendars/

Though lots of ACs are out of stock already, so beware (and extra double beware of anything Selfridges Fragrance related!!)

I think the Harrods one was very feminine this year. I thought it was great overall although a few roo many of a sinilar style. Sort of Delina-esque if that makes sense? I would have loved to have got the Selfridges one but I loved the Harrods and was happy with that one. Couldn't be bothered with the stress of selfridges after the first drop

To get 20% off ASOS you need to download the app and opt into their emails etc and use the code "HEYAPP". Sometimes they exclude the BAC from any discount codes, but the code was working yesterday.

It was the first time Selfridges have done a fragrance calendar and it was full of popular scents like Lust in Paradise. The value was also higher than the Harrods one.
The fact it was almost impossible to get hold off made it a greater challenge for people and in my case, it made me want it more. 😖
Harrods sells out fast but so long as you are quick and order when it gets released, it is a pretty painless process compared to Selfridges. There is no queuing system.

Honestly I wanted the Bromptons from HFand Initio and Ex Nihlio the most and the retail price new is a lot !! By the time I’ve thought about buying separately the difference was so small it made sense to get whole calendar. I’ve not had much luck buying individual perfumes so I don’t do that anymore unless it was someone in this group.

I am thrilled with my Harrods one as well . Also it really helped that that was in August , my Elle one was in September and this is October so I was able to spread the cost . If I had fallen in love with the Liberty this year I’m not sure I would have been so driven to get Selfridges . But I feel done now 😂 .

I think as mentioned before I too have swapped my love of cooking for perfumes and lotions and getting a beauty bargain .

HeyApp didn't work for me but it's my birthday month and I got a code for my birthday which worked on it.

Speaking of CS, I'm currently annoying the hell out of Siobhán in BT customer service,

While I love the calendar and think it's great value, they are claiming it has 23 full size products and, realistically, it doesn't. With the help of GenAI, I identified 6 items that are described as travel size by BT themselves or, in the case of 1 item, the manufacturer. I emailed and asked given those, how did they come to the number of 23 full size. She came back with a full list of items and the price of each to tell me how they arrived at the €1800 value...

So now I'm digging my heels in. Next reply was full size is a vague concept that varies throughout the beauty industry. Heels dug further in. Most recent reply was they are classifying full size as any product you can buy on their website and she specifically mentioned La Prairie and Fragrance du Bois (which I had categorised as full size as it's 30ml) as not being within their range. I have pointed out that the Oribe Gold Lust Nourishing Hair Oil in 50ml or the Sisley Botanical Floral Toning Lotion in 100ml are not available for individual purchase in those sizes so by her definition, there are 4 products that are not full size.

She's not answering me without prodding anymore so I've asked that my query be passed on to a CS mamager.

To be honest, I'd have been perfectly happy if they just said oops and corrected the website like they did for the Fragrance du Bois which was originally showing as full size on the reveal card. Now I'm determined to get an explanation that makes sense. When I bought it, I didn't check the actual sizes as I assumed that their advertising would be accurate in terms of sizes and that there would be 23 of the 26 products full size. Travel is not full size by any stretch of the imagination.

I honestly think that no one should use descriptions like full size, deluxe size etc. Just list the ml or grams. Or maybe say 'retail size' if you mean a product that is on retail shelf and 'sample size' if you mean smaller than the smallest retail size.

I can buy an Estee Lauder perfume in 10ml, 30ml, 50ml and 100ml in Boots or JL. All of those are full size so it's meaningless to say so!!

Yes, I agree. It irritates me when they use the term to pretend they are something they're not. I was counting as full size anything that could be purchased unless it was specifically described as travel size. I assumed that was the distinction as they descried 2 items as travel and nothing for any of the other products.

My F&M calendar just arrived and it's a thing of beauty 😍 I've checked the drawers and it's all present and correct with nothing leaking. I can't wait for December now, I completely understand why people have been stroking it 😂

They all do that. It's really annoying. 15ml of perfume or serum is not full size. Honestly what are you expecting her to say? I think its important to review the actual sizes before buying but BT are not the only one.

Siobhan's probably handed in her notice... Have you ever worked retail or customer service @BeanNaGealai ? It's really not that important.

"Kim, there's people that are dying"...

Yes I have. And I'm being very polite. Lots of things we do aren't important...

I just want to know the logic they were applying to their advertising claims. Loads of companies do it and it irritates me. I figure if people call them out on it they may stop.

Isn’t it interesting how things look so much different better in person . I’ve just been into our shopping hub and the rituals calander is in the window . I love the old fashioned calendar vibe it reminds of when I was happy to open a date and get a Angel not a bell 😂

It really is very lovable and strokable, isn’t it 😆

Ha, same!

One day a retailer will make an advent with 24 boxes and each box will contain a mini-advent

I agree with you. They shouldn't say that products are full size when they are not. Its misleading. If CS receive complaints about it, thats on them for misleading their customers. So long as you are keeping it polite, you have every right to question them about it.

I have polls turned off but we should have a BAC thread poll about whether ACs should be 24 or 25 doors/drawers/boxes!

I have just read Shiseido’s TP reviews - the bad ones, (buried amidst lots of good ones about the products), are all about poor CS and lack of refunds.

I don’t think I will dare to return the beeping thing - it’s too expensive to give back to Shiseido for free.

Maybe I should stick it in a cupboard until next year. I might be less angry by then, (unlikely, tbf - I do have a tendency to brood 😹)

DD and I are on holiday on Gran Canaria, and we were surprised to find a clothes shop called ‘Scalpers’ with a skull and crossbones logo 😼

You and me both 😂

The worst thing about this whole fiasco, is that you will just feel resentful and annoyed opening the calendar. It is such a short sighted CS response, as you wont be buying anything else from them -and all they had to do was send out the GWP that you qualified for OR refund your order.

Skins released a new fragrance box so I bought it. It contains a 25 euro voucher as well as a discount on one of their own creations. Quite interested in the Salle Privee or the JHAG exclusive.

www.skins.nl/skins/the-fragrance-essentials/157986/

I hate dippers and received a few dippers in advents, trades and boxes. They also released a 5ml travel spray that you can just pour the liquid into and they sell extra refill sprays that you can put into it so you dont need a gazillion travel sprays. You can just fill the refills up, store them and interchange them when you want. They have samples from 20 eur orders so chose the Oribe shampoo and conditioner for my weekend away next week. It also had the new purple JHAG sample of 2ml. A collegue of mine had it so she sprayed it on my hand. I like it. Reminds me of something from the past but already know I wouldnt want a full bottle.

Anyways, i saw I was 30 Eur away from a gift so naturally ordered 2 scented tablets from Santa Maria Novella called Melograno. I LOVE that smell. I have a small candle and just the dry scent is lovely and strong. Dont want to burn it away.

Could choose a plethora of things but I chose the Diptique Sapin scentled candle of 35 gr. I still feel cheated out of decent xmass candles by the Advent Calenders this year.

I know @SucksToBeYou - I genuinely wouldn’t have minded if they had just refunded me!

Glad it’s not just me @SunnyPinkMoose - I do try to rise above these things but it’s hard 😹

They seem to be ignoring my most recent email, btw 😡