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!!)

After 2-3 days now SFAC on Ebay is down by 25-30£. Used to be over 300£, now most SFAC is around 300 or even below this. Probably struggling to sell!

Can I pivot back to the Shiseido BAC and GWP? Thank you @DidILeaveTheGasOn the code seems to work for me at £136. I've never used Shiseido before - is this a good intro? It's a bargain, but I'm fairly clueless about the products.

I'm early 50's, dryish but trouble-free skin. Thanks for any advice!

Edited to add: I think it's this one or the Fenwick's bargain GWP BAC. I need to buy some hefty business supplies and I just cannot justify more than one more BAC 😬

...p.s. the box is gorgeous...love the styling of it 😍

Do use the skincare up as soon as you can.

@bakeoffrewatch just told me the Skincycles mask has a short expiry date and I remember other posters talking about the Votary serum.

Hmm I can only see new priced at 280£ but would be quite interested in Lib 2025

I was considering the Fenwick GWP but I thought the Shiseido, GWP and samples was better for me. I think the Fenwick GWP is more of a fun purchase. @Botanique Do you want fun or really nice skincare?

Helpfully, both but I'm leaning harder into 'nice and nourishing' now I'm in the meno years.

I'm also ordering Liberty BAC, so I'm thinking that might plug my mixed luxury/fun items needs. Liberty and Fenwick are different products but occupy the same 'space' for me. I'm really tempted by the GWP though!

@Botanique I’m similar age and skin. i bought the liberty BAC (my first ever BAC!) this year and thought it was full of fun, interesting brands and products that I wouldn’t otherwise have tried. I’m considering the Shiseido with @DidILeaveTheGasOn’s amazing discount code, but not sure I need that much more skincare as I have subsequently also purchased the BT BAC and several CB edits. That said, I generally really like Shiseido products: I’ve just finished 15ml face cream and enjoyed the spf50 which was included in the Boots sun box this summer. (Annoyingly, it’s still 75% full, so I can’t use that as an excuse to buy the advent!). Its worth bearing in mind that some of their products are quite highly perfumed, if that’s something you don’t like - I don’t mind it at all, but I know it bothers some people.

thanks for the new thread @SheilaFentiman…ive not been on the thread since thursday (work was insane) so have missed loads …I said i wasn’t buying any more BACS but am now tempted by fortnums and fenwicks and dare i say it HHFAC (but i think that’s sold out) need to stay off the thread for my bank balances sake 😱

Thank you, you've helped me sort my thoughts. I had more or less decided to not buy another BAC, but there we are. I probably need to hide this thread, but it's a happy place on MN

I actually like perfumed products tbh, and I'm all about skincare and fragrances - I couldn't less about haircare as a rule, for example. I've jumped and ordered the Shiseido, thanks so much for that brilliant code @DidILeaveTheGasOn

I really want the HHFC, given the chance, but that's a battle for another day. Otherwise, with the Liberty BAC, I think I'm done. I need to be done

Edit: I'm slightly envious that you got the BT and those edits - I missed out on both, they really were some of the stars of this years offerings, I think! I hope you enjoy them!

I went into Fenwick today and saw the beauty calendar and its contents displayed in a glass case. They also had the gwp displayed and both looked very tempting. It says you need 2 beauty purchases to qualify for the gift but online it definitely works with just the calendar. It is still sitting in my basket tempting me. 😳

I REALLY need to hide this thread now 😁🙈

😂 It is bad for your bank balance, isn’t it?!

It really, really is

As the Shiseido BAC just neatly demonstrated, I'm/we're all only one good stacking GWP and discount code away from 'just another one...'

i got the gwp with the fenwick advent calendar. I didnt need two purchases. Its definitely worth it and a couple of samples with it as well.

I would recommend the Elle AC. I was so impressed with the one I brought, I ordered a second one.

My samples weren't included and I bought the cheapest thing to have 2 items in addition to the AC. Must contact CS to get thd samples although in the era of bots it's sometimes not worth the ordeal.

I took a chance and ordered the Shiseido with the code - thanks for that @DidILeaveTheGasOn - there was another similar code on a voucher site that seemed to have been used a lot, so I figured it was ok.

However, although the GWP was in my basket, I had umpteen attempts to pay as PP/my cc/Shiseido 🤷‍♀️ between them were playing up and not allowing me to pay. I finally gave up on PP and just used my cc.

Unfortunately, I then saw that the order only referred to the samples and the a/c not the GWP.

I contacted them via Chat to ask what had happened to the GWP but haven’t received a response.

If you ordered the Shiseido a/c today, is the GWP showing on your order?

Thanks

I’ve decided against the Fenwicks BAC, as there’s not enough in it to get my heart racing, even with the GWP and £50 cash back offer. The Shiseido, on the other hand, continues to call loudly. I may not be able to resist its siren song much longer!

I’m going to have a bit of a sort through my stash to remember why it is that I really don’t need to buy any more advents or edits this week. I’ve run out of space as it is, and haven’t had time to list the stuff I don’t want on Vinted (plus, what’s on there isn’t selling too fast), so I really need a break.

Anyway, BF is coming up soon enough, plus sales….

Ive also been reporting a lot of people on Vinted so they are struggeling to sell. There are so many on Ebay now.

Suck it scalpers

Well, having just said that I don’t need any more products in my stash, I’m now eyeing up the Boots Luxe calendar, admittedly to use my points (was promoted by a comment on another thread to check, and I have nearly £300!!!! ), but it’s actually much more useful for me, in a nice but practical way, than I had originally thought. As much as I’ve loved getting super shiny high end brands from Liberty and BT, they aren’t all products I’ll easily use up in my daily routine, where the Boots ones mostly fit me quite well.

So there’s that. And Shiseido still giving me the side eye.

Yes, I was a bit concerned about that. When I paid, I saw that the order only referred to the BAC and samples. The order hasn't been clocked on my newly-created account at all yet.

However, the email confirmation of the order definitely has the Essential Energy Replica Kit and cotton bag listed in the purchase details. The subtotal is £160.65, but the final total is £136.55.

Sheseido is also giving me the side eye. I started using the eye cream recently which is very nice so far (not sure if it’s doing much anti wrinkle wise yet but it’s very hydrating). I’m weighing up whether all the other bits justify it. I’ve splurged far too much lately (credit card looks terrible tbh, Amazon prime day, a booking for a break and Mounjaro bundle have snowballed into eek) so I must try to resist.

Thanks for your reply @Botanique - unfortunately the GWP isn’t showing on my email confirmation either so I think it must have ‘fallen off’ my order after all the faffing about I had to do whilst trying to pay.

Oh that's annoying. This is my first Shiseido order - I've got no idea how good their CS are at resolving things like this. Is cancelling then reordering an option?