Blogmas – Day 16 – Advent calendars!

Ideally, this would have been a blog post better suited for the start of Blogmas, but alas, the plans I had went awry!

I haven’t done an advent calendar since I was a wee little kidlet. And even then, I don’t recall it being a fun one. I think it was an old Coca-Cola one, where you literally just peeled back the day, and it showed a Christmas-y image; no chocolate, and definitely no beauty items, just the countdown to Christmas. So boring for a five-year old kid…

Now that I’m older, and falling back into the worlds of beauty and make-up, imagine my surprise at discovering beauty advent calendars!

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I’ve read many beauty advent calendar blog posts and articles (ex: Zoë, Carly’s Beauty Blog, & Cosmo UK), and thought to myself, “Self, you want to get some of these!” and so I went looking, and of course, the majority were all. sold. out!!!

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I managed to buy two; Benefit’s Party Poppers and feelunique’s Beauty Calendar. I currently have Benefit’s in my possession, but still waiting on feelunique’s to arrive. T.T

Both are 12 day calendars, which I had perfectly scheduled to start on Sunday, December 13th, but best laid plans and all. *facedesks* I will go ahead and start sharing what is in each day for the Benefit calendar, and hopefully be able to try the items out, to give a decent review at the end of each remaining Blogmas posts. At the very least, you’ll get some snazzy pics! XD

I like the availabilty of beauty advent calendars because it can basically be a gateway into learning about various product brands. Most offer sample sized products (though some do offer full sized), and you can test out many items before deciding if you’d like to commit and buy more from that brand. The only downside to beauty advent calendars can be the price. So with that, I want to talk about the calendars I wanted to get, but couldn’t, either because they were sold out or were just too expensive. Because I’m masochistic like that.

The one I wanted most and was in absolute love with was The Book of Makeup Magic by Charlotte Tilbury.

Just look at how GORGEOUS it is! It is a 12 day calendar with both mini and full sized products, and covers a wide range of skin care, lipstick, and eye makeup. Of course, it is available, but for a price of $200.00, I couldn’t justify purchasing this, even though it equals out to about $16.66 per item.

Next up was the 24 Happy Days Premium Advent Calendar by The Body Shop.

As the name implies, this a 24 day calendar, and includes a variety of body and hand creams, scrubs, and butters, nail colors, lip butters and balms, shower gels, and so on. This one came in at a hefty $137.00, but as it was sold out during my browsing phase earlier in the month, I didn’t have the monetary want vs. practical not-need struggle as I did with the CT book.

Another one I thought was beautiful, but was also sold out was the Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar, totaling £149.00. The other saving grace is that they don’t ship internationally, so even if I wanted it and it wasn’t sold out, I wouldn’t have been able to get it! XD

(photo credit: shemazing.net)
The Liberty calendar is a 24 day with 24 different brands, including NARS, Kiehl’s, and Diptyque, to name a few.

Finally, the last one was the L’Occitane Holiday 2015 Advent Calendar, which contains a mixture of bath, body, and hand products. This would have been ideal for me, as winter is really harsh on my skin, so I can use all the help I need, and it only cost $49.00 for 24 products, roughly $2.05 per product. Alas, sold out. 😦

Some honorable mentions include The Beauty Secret from lookfantastic, and No7 25 Days of Beauty Wonders.

Having searched for beauty advent calendars and failing this year, I’ve learned my lesson; pre-order for next Christmas! LOL

Here’s the Benefit calendar I have, along with the first 4 days. Enjoy!

From left to right, days 1 through 4:
– Day 1: Ooh La Lift Under Eye Brightening Boost
– Day 2: Total Moisture Facial Cream
– Day 3: Highbeam Face Highlighter
– Day 4: Ultra Plush Gloss in Sugarbomb

Anyone else doing a beauty advent calendar this year? If so, which one(s), and what’s your favorite product so far?