Blogmas Days 8-11: Catching Up & Beauty Advent Calendar Goodies Round Up – Part 2

Well, it’s happened. I missed a few days in Blogmas, AGAIN!! *facedesks* To be honest, I’m a bit pants at planning ahead, unless it’s for trips or something like that. XD (I really need to take organizational lessons from Zoë, cause I have NO IDEA how she’s able to do 24 Days of Zoella AND Vlogmas at the same time, without some major planning way in advance! Plz to be teaching me your ways, senpai! lolz) I have ideas of what I want to do and write about, and have the basic info typed out, but I tend to edit everything in the blog the day of posting, so I rarely have posts scheduled ahead of time.

Honestly, after the Migraine of Doom, I just rested a lot this weekend. The work week takes a lot out of me, so more often than not, my weekends are my stay at home and chill days, unless I do have an errand or two to run, that I couldn’t do during the week. We did go out on Saturday, so I could get my Secret Santa gifts, since we’ll be exchanging those this coming week. Even though I was shopping for others, I couldn’t help myself; I also got myself a few cheeky gifts!

We also finally got our Christmas tree put up; we kept it really simple with just some baubles, beaded garland, white lights, and our traditional angel. More details coming soon to a blog post near you!

While I’m getting back into the swing of daily blogging, and prepping posts, I just realized we have SEVEN days worth of beauty advent calendar goodies to get caught up on; let’s crack on with those, shall we? \:D/

Days 5 & 6:

– Tanya Burr Cosmetics: A Mini Button Mirror.
– Ulta Beauty: Bouncy Blush in Flower Power.
– Nyx Cosmetics: Eye Shadows in Corset and Embellishment.
– BareMinerals: Mini Lash Domination Volumizing Mascara & Eye Color in Allspice.
– L’Occitane: Aromachologie Relaxing Bath & Shower Gel & Pivoine Flora Hand Cream.
– The Body Shop: Lip Definer in Pink Clover & Vanilla Chai Body Butter.
– Lookfantastic – Monu: Illuminating Primer SPF 15 & Moroccanoil: Moroccanoil Treatment.

Days 7 through 10:

Since this was FOUR days worth, let’s take a closer look!

– Tanya Burr Cosmetics: Eye Shimmer Pot in Champagne Sparkle & Lip Gloss in Berry Pavlova.

– Ulta Beauty: Gel Bounce Eye Shadow in Glam & Foil Rock Eye Shadow in Glitz

– Nyx Cosmetics: Eyeshadows in Baby Doll, Push-Up, and Ruffle Trim & Lip Lingerie in Exotic.

– BareMinerals: Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Crowd Pleaser, Pop of Passion in Pink Passion, All-Over Face Color in Glee Radiance, & Skinlongevity Vital Power Infusion.

– L’Occitane: Verbena Leaves Soap, Thé Vert & Bigarade Shower Gel, Shea Butter Ultra Rich Shower Cream, & Shea Butter Ultra Rich Face Cream.

– The Body Shop: Soft Facial Cleansing Sponge, Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream, Polynesian Island Tiaré Shower Gel, & Brow and Lash Comb.

– Lookfantastic – Nudestix: Lip & Cheek Pencil in Mystic, Ojon: Damage Reverse Instant Restorative Hair Serum, REN: V-Cense Revitalising Night Cream, & Ardell: Wispies Lashes in Demi Wispies Black.

Day 11:

Today is a skip day for the 12-day calendars, so here’s everything from the 24-25 day ones!
– Nyx Cosmetics: Lip Lingerie in Push-Up.
– BareMinerals: Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Risk Taker.
– L’Occitane: Cherry Blossom Bath & Shower Gel.
– The Body Shop: British Rose Shower Gel.
– Lookfantastic – Christophe Robin: Regenerating Mask with Rare Prickly Pear Seed Oil.

So that’s it for today; going to get back to planning more blog posts for the coming week. (Maybe even get them completely done, and scheduled to post automatically?! :O It’s possible; the Christmas season is the time for miracles after all! XD)

Blogmas Day 3: Beauty Advent Calendar Goodies Round Up – Part 1

Yes, that says part 1, and no I don’t know how many parts there will end up being though I’d guesstimate four at the most! XD I had intended to put each day’s advent calendar openings at the end of each blog post, but that just felt a bit monotonous for some reason, so I just though to do a couple of posts throughout Blogmas, devoted specifically to the advent calendar items.

This year I was lucky enough to get SEVEN beauty advent calendars, although some you could be giving me the side eye and judging me silently right now…and that’s ok. I get it; this isn’t everyone’s cup of cocoa. However, if you’re like me, and get googly-eyed over beauty products, then keep on reading!

Out of the seven calendars, two of them are 12-days, and the rest are 24-25 days. With the 12 day calendars, I have decided to open them every other day, to span the whole month, so don’t let my counting system later in the post confuse you too much. ;p

I will directly link products below when possible, but some of them are limited to the calendar release only, and are not available for individual sale.

Day 1:

– Tanya Burr Cosmetics: Lip Gloss in Candy Cane.
– Ulta Beauty: Liquid Highlighter.
– Nyx Cosmetics: Lip Lingerie in Ruffle Trim.
– BareMinerals: Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Trail Blazer.
– L’Occitane: Verveine (Verbena) Cooling Hand Cream Gel.
– The Body Shop: Spiced Apple Shower Gel.
– Lookfantastic – Pixi: Glow Tonic.

Day 2:

– Nyx Cosmetics: Lip Lingerie in Baby Doll.
– BareMinerals: Blush in Tropical Sunset.
– L’Occitane: Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Lotion.
– The Body Shop: Exfoliating Bath Gloves.
– Lookfantastic – Rituals: The Ritual of Sakura Magic Touch Body Cream. ***OMG, this stuff is SO AMAZING! I’ve actually been using since opening, and I would 10/10 recommend!***

Days 3 & 4:

– Tanya Burr Cosmetics: Emory Board.
– Ulta Beauty: Lip Gloss in Dazzling.
– Nyx Cosmetics: Lip Lingerie in Corset & Eye Shadow in Exotic.
– BareMinerals: Mineral Veil in Tinted & Pop of Passion Lip Balm in Nude Passion.
– L’Occitane: Verveine (Verbena) Refreshing Towelettes & Amande (Almond) Milk Concentrate.
– The Body Shop: Vitamin E Moisture Cream & Almond Hand & Nail Manicure Cream
– Lookfantastic – INIKA Loose Mineral Blush in Blooming Nude & this works Sleep Plus + Pillow Spray.

So, that’s it for the first four days of my beauty advent calendar openings! Do you have any advent calendars this year? If so, what is your favorite product so far? Please share in the comments!

Also, just a friendly reminder that I am doing a GIVEAWAY! Just some beauty & pamper items from Zoella Beauty, EOS, Tony Moly, and Pacifica. CLICK HERE to be taken to the Rafflecopter form, where you can enter if you’d like. It’s totally free; I’m taking care of the shipping. Only open to US residents to ensure arrival before Christmas, and the giveaway will end on Friday, December 9^th at 12:00 am! Good luck! xx

My 2016 Beauty Advent Calendar Selection

Last year, I did a blog post about beauty advent calendars, as I had just discovered them, and was too late to purchase a majority for the Christmas season. Needless to say, I learned my lesson, did a little research, saved some extra money, and this year, I started to pre-order and purchase some calendars starting in October. Now, all my calendars are here, and ready to be opened starting on the 1^st of December. *\:D/*

The calendars I bought are just a few out of a great selection that are available; some are 12 day calendars, while the others are 24 days, and some can be considered luxury, while others are more budget friendly. As I’ve mentioned before in last year’s blog post, I think beauty calendars are just a good way to experience a brand’s product, before committing to more expensive, full size products.

Of the calendars I bought, I’m just going to be sharing the pictures of the calendars, and not really going too far into depth on the details with them, because I want it to be a surprise when I open each day. Every day in December is going to be like Christmas for me! XD

Lookfantastic’s “The Beauty Secret – Vol. 2”:

The Body Shop “Deluxe Cheeky Surprises Advent Calendar”:

L’Occitane Holiday 2016 Advent Calendar:

BareMinerals “Countdown to Gorgeous”:

Nyx “Box of Goodies” Advent Calendar:

Ulta 12 Days of Beauty:

Tanya Burr’s 12 Days of Christmas Beauty Calendar:

If you are wanting to know what’s inside each calendar, you should be able to click on the links above for more details (if the calendars are still available for sale, that is!), or specifically for The Body Shop, BareMinerals, L’Occitane, & Tanya Burr calendars, I’d recommend Fleur De Force’s blog post, The Best Beauty Advent Calendars 2016, as she has opened all the calendars and laid out all the items that are inside. I skimmed those REAL quick, so I wouldn’t be too spoiled! ;p

I’m very happy with the calendars I’ve purchased for this year, and am very excited to try out some new items; my only slight disappointment? That I still didn’t get the Tilbs’ calendar this year; maybe next year, Precioussss, maybe…

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!

(credit: artsciencenursing.tumblr.com)

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!!!

(credit: reactiongifs.us)

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?