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!!)

Has anyone who ordered Vogue BAC received it yet? My order says delivery between 12-23rd October but I’ve heard nothing from them.

Ah you guys are making me feel so much better, thank you! ☺️

Mine is the same and also heard nothing so far

I was wondering about Vogue the other day when I realised nobody had posted about receiving it. That's a bit poor.

My Shiseido arrives tomorrow I think, so interested to read that first review. I'm new to Shiseido, and was really excited to try out a new regimen, but I must admit that the negative CS rubbish has really taken the shine off it. I'm more excited for my Dr Hauschka, (which I've used for decades, but still adore) which is also arriving tomorrow, I think.

I'm hoping for one of those jolly, look-at-all-my-beauty-packages-arriving days

thats just stunning ! serious envy !

Could someone please remind me the Facebook swap group name?

The HHF calendars look stunning. ♥️

If anyone is after the Jo Malone and is going near a Duty Free soon, the calendar is available on the World Duty Free site for £312 with an extra 10% off when you reserve online.

I’ve just returned from a few days in London with DS. I went to Harrods for the first time but zipped around as DS was losing the will to live 🙃
I managed to get a Dior foundation which I’ve been meaning to try for a while, they recommended the liquid rather than cushion foundation (which is about right, given I hastily already bought a fancy case for the cushion one 😅). I haven’t had chance to try it yet and I’m really hoping I’ve not dropped £54 on the wrong shade like I did with NARS 😬
I didn’t get any other beauty stuff, just a few bits for Christmas presents. That said, I’d got a Dior & YSL haul prior to going to London.
We did have a wander around the fragrances but I feel like I’ve already got so many that I’ve still not tried that I felt overwhelmed. I was kicking myself last night when I realised I’d forgotten to try the Floraiku gong which I’ve got from the FAC.
DS was going to get a new fragrance but was undecided between PDM Layton and Althair. Speaking of which, can anyone recommend somewhere we may be able to get some samples from?
Interestingly, when he sprayed them both on his wrists, the Althair turned his wrist lightly orange!!

We went in Liberty but again I mostly got Christmas gifts. I did try on a couple of the Adidas x Liberty trainers, they are really nice.

I feel like we spent a long time shopping whilst we were there but I needed more time to properly wander around. I think if I go with DS next time we need a tactical approach, I think the sheer volume of floor space in the stores was all too much 😅

We had a good time though, and the concert was great (thanks to all for the reassurance about Islington, we had no issues at all).

I received my HHFC yesterday, it’s so heavy! Absolutely beautiful packaging, so much thought has gone into the design. Super happy I purchased although I did have a quiver after I ordered and contemplated cancelling at one point. So glad I didn’t 😍

@DidILeaveTheGasOn - I am so glad your a/c and the GWP turned up ok.

Btw: I’m sorry I was so grumpy about my poor CS experiences. I was annoyed by their responses more than by the issue itself, but didn’t mean to bring the thread down 😿

On another note: The HHAC looks wonderful!

@annxie Re: HFAC in store - wow!

I wonder if some have been returned by those scalpers who bought multiples, only to realise they weren’t going to get a huge return/a quick sale due to competition from the upcoming SFAC.

I suppose some may also have been returned by people who realised they just didn’t like enough of the perfumes to justify keeping the calendar.

Either that, or Harrods have found a few knocking around in a stock cupboard somewhere.

BTW: Was the info I was given the other day about the lack of the HBAC in store correct? (I always wonder how accurate the stock info is on the central systems.)

Oh I'm sorry, Pond: I didn't mean that you'd taken the shine off the Shiseido!! I purely meant their CS rubbishness, that we definitely need to know about and be alert to.

You had every good reason to be sore over it. This is the safe place among kindred spirits who understand the disappointment!

These threads can't always be the sunny uplands!

Hi @Botanique - thanks so much - I didn’t think you meant that. I just felt a bit bad that I had been so grumpy in my posts earlier in the week.

My parcel is arriving tomorrow. I think I will have to open it anyway just to check it’s ok, and then decide what to do with it.

It’s such a pain when you don’t have the option to return a store but it’s a pretty good a/c, tbf. I might just save it for next year, (after checking a couple of the expiry dates to make sure that’s a good idea).

@IlovePond I had a very similar experience to you a couple of years ago. I ordered two calendars (forgetting to add the GWP code the first time) and tried unsuccessfully to cancel one. Shiseido CS were so unhelpful. I did actually return the first calendar and had no problems with the refund, it went through very quickly. I also loved the calendar and GWP but have never bought from them again!!

Who did you ask and where? Because when I was there 2 weeks ago they said they were all out.

The return policy is only 14 days so thats not it. Im actually pissed off about it. Wandered around that godforsaken store for an hour trying to find advent calenders. Nobody knowing anything to finally find an information desk and being told everything was sold out when it clearly was not. The only thing they said was that there were Home Fragrance ones incoming. Which would have been last week by now.

And they had plenty of the hair and body left

I wonder if they decided to consolidate all the returned AC across the country by gathering and sending to the London store?

Well, I’ve just purchase The White Company advent. My work rewards program offers 12% discount on The White Company. With the 20% discount it made the calendar £137.

Now I have 3. At some point I’m going to buy the SFAC from a scalper.
I’m also still eyeing up JL and glossybox.
I didn’t know this thread existed a few months ago, perhaps that was for the best 🤭😆

That actually makes sense @SheilaFentiman

@CocoMascara - Shiseido certainly have an interesting approach to attracting new customers 🙀 I am glad you got it sorted in the end.

Ooh I don’t want an advent but I might go shop their Noir stuff with a discount!

I’ve gone for space NK while it’s on double points. Plus 15% Quidco cashback

White Company 20% off is live today, for anyone interested. Brings the advent down to 156.

The HHFC is a beauty! I’m definitely saving up for that one next year. 🙌 to those that went for it. Enjoy!

I notice LiB are offering another gift with advent, if it’s not already been mentioned. I think for me their advent was just missing a decent sized (7.5ml - 10ml) fragrance, or one more high end skincare product. I would have paid a bit more for the calendar if one / both were in there. I do love their edits. Off to look at the meno one now….

ETA: I really like the meno box. I would use or try everything in there. I think it’s really well curated and thoughtful. I just wish they’d brought it out in Jan or Feb, I’m skint (all self inflicted)

is that liberty? I cannot see any GWP when i add to card. Am I missing something?