I guess in a way this sums up how we have become as a society; we are no longer happy with the simple pleasures, instead we expect something spectacular and my god are some Advent Calendars incredible. For many years the Advent Calendar market within Beauty has grown astronomically and this year seems to be the biggest yet with some truly remarkable calendars being created.
I've never written about multiple advent calendars in one post before as typically they sell out ridiculously quickly and I don't want to talk about something you can no longer buy but it seems that there are so many on the market that they don't sell out as rapidly, purely because the choice has become so vast.
In recent years the expansion of Advent Calendars has been incredible; seeing everything from Gin, socks and perfume becoming part of an Advent Calendar. Of course the ones that interest me the most are the beauty Advent Calendars (and the Caramel one from Hotel Chocolat.) In previous years I've always seen one and known that is the one I want but this year I was really struggling to pick one. I refuse to spend over £100 on an advent calendar, that seems bloody ridiculous, especially as they are only used to count down and a lot of them are sample sizes. Ideally I want the price to be as close to the £50 mark as possible but this year there really doesn't seem to be that many for this price that truly interest me. In order to aid my decision, I thought I would share some of my favourites so you can tell me which your favourite is. I also thought I would throw in a couple that I couldn't afford in my wildest dreams but think they are incredible anyway.
Next Beauty
I'm going to start with the cheapest one that has caught my eye, the Next Beauty Calendar. This is the first year Next have created a beauty advent and you know what, they have done a spectacular job of it; so much so that I am considering this as one to buy.
I must admit, I've never really looked at the beauty brands that Next stock as I simply never shop there. However, seeing some of the brands, I was actually quite shocked to see brands like By Terry, Rituals and Illamasqua which are all slightly more difficult to find. This Advent Calendar is a 25 day calendar, in fact I think all the ones I am going to talk about are as I do not believe in 12 day calendars, what a waste. I don't want to go into the products too much as I don't want to give too much away so I will just pick the 5 I would be the most excited to use.
- By Terry - Balme de Rose (mini)
- Rituals - Cherry Shower Foam
- Dermalogica - Cleansing Gel
- Oh K! - Bubble Sheet Mask
- L'Occitane - Cherry Blossom Shower Gel
To be honest I feel like this calendar has a decent mix of high end and lower end products. Of course you would be more excited about the high end but I think Next have done a good job of picking more reasonable products too. Next are also doing a male version as well which I think is such a good idea because beauty is not just for women.
M&S Beauty
The M&S Beauty Calendar is popular every year just because it contains some incredible products and it is relatively easy to buy if you shop in M&S. I've priced the M&S calendar at £65 because you have to spend £25 in store on clothes, beauty or home in order to be able to buy the calendar for £40. This is great if you shop in M&S normally but I only buy food from there so I would have to buy something especially to be able to buy the calendar which makes it a minimum of £65, and it could end up being more if the item you are buying is more than £25.
The M&S calendar was the first one I ever purchased a couple of years ago and I loved it but my one criticism is that it barely changes. All of the brands featured this year were basically the same as the first year. There were products from: Emma Hardie, Percy & Reed, Stila, Eyeko and once again a lot of M&S products. I just want to see a bit more variety between the calendars each year. It is one of the most talked about but at the moment, I don't think it is one of the best.
- Percy & Reed - Wonder Balm
- Emma Hardie - Pink Clay Detox Mask
- This Works - Sleep Spray
- Skyn Iceland - Minty Lip Fix
- Alpha-H - Balancing Cleanser & Damask Rose
ASOS
From the M&S Calendar which was my first beauty advent calendar purchase to the ASOS Calendar which was the one I treated myself to last year. Last year the ASOS calendar was £55 and with the brands included, I thought it was a complete steal. It contained so many brands and products I wanted to try and this years calendar looks no different but it is more expensive. This year they have upped the price to £70 and I'm not sure if the changes to the contents justifies this price increase.
There are still a couple of products that featured last year such as the Coco & Eve Hair Mask and the Sand & Sky Pink Clay Mask; two products I would love to have in my collection again. Having said that the majority of the products have changed purely because ASOS have acquired so many good brands this year.
- Laura Mercier - Translucent Powder
- Oskia - Renaissance Cleansing Gel
- The Ordinary - Hyaluronic Acid
- Becca - First Light Priming Filter
- Elemis - Pro Collagen Marine Cream
Last year the duds in the ASOS calendar mostly came in the form of beauty tools but this year the beauty tool is a Spectrum Brush and I love Spectrum Brushes. No, instead this year, the duds are a Crayola product and the Yes To Face Wipes. I have seen plenty of reviews which have said the Crayola products are crap and who likes or uses face wipes anymore? I have to say looking at it, this looks like a good calendar but I'm not sure how they can justify a £15 increase, I don't think the products are good enough to justify this increase.
In addition, ASOS are doing a man's version but it only covers 12 days.
Look Fantastic
I've never shopped on Look Fantastic before but I think this Advent Calendar looks incredible! I think the range and type of products justifies the £79 price tag.
I've never even looked on Look Fantastic before but I know they have recently scored Jo Malone London and they slowly seem to be acquiring more and more Estee Lauder Companies brands. However, when I was scrolling through Really Ree's advent calendar rundown, this one stood out to me. There are so many products I want to try and they certainly outweigh the amount of duffs. In fact, I struggled to narrow it down to just 5 products I have an interest in.
- Omorovicza - Queen of Hungary Mist
- Living Proof - Styling Treatment
- Molton Brown - Shower Gel
- Luxie - 121 & 141 Brushes
- Emma Hardie - Vit C Cream
These are just a few but there is also a Morphe 9-Pan Palette in this calendar, a Philip Kingsley Elasticizer, an Elemis Marine Cream and the Oskia Cleansing Gel I wanted to try from the ASOS Calendar. See I managed to find a way of talking about more than 5 products. Not only does the contents look amazing but this is by far the best looking calendar out of the ones I've spoken about so far! I haven't really spoken about the look of the calendars as I don't think that really matters or should be a factor in why you buy one but truly this one is gorgeous.
John Lewis
We have gone from the more reasonable, below £100 options, straight up to £150 and it is of course the John Lewis calendar. Though last years calendar had a lot of promise, and truly I would have loved to have had one, anything over £100 is too much for me but if you are looking to treat yourself this is a good one and it is sort of mid-range in the beauty calendar market.
The look of this years calendar is better than the geometric packaging of last year with all of the gorgeous stars but as I say, it is an advent calendar, don't let the look of the calendar affect your decision making. This contains some truly beautiful products and you really do not get many duffs in this calendar. There are only two products I wouldn't personally be fussed on which are the soaps but it is because I am picky with soaps. Everything else looks incredible.
- Neom - Tranquility Candle
- Givenchy - L'Interdit Fragrance
- Becca - Highlight in Champagne Pop (mini)
- Charlotte Tilbury - Magic Cream
- Sarah Chapman - 3D Moisture Mask
That is just to name 5 but you can already tell that with the increased price you do get a larger variety of products. There weren't any candles in any of the previous calendars and there were limited perfumes, although there are some products which are the same. This calendar has a version of the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer in it and some Dermalogica. This calendar is a great way of trying so many iconic products of the beauty industry, if you have £150 to spare.
Space NK
The next two advent calendars are the same price and both of them have a wow factor with the products included. When I saw both of these I was blown away by the products but that is what I would expect if I am spending £195. These calendars have the best return with the contents vs. cost but you have to be willing to spend that much in the first place.
The Space NK calendar has a really odd layout and comes looking like a collection of books which as an English graduate I find very visually appealing. It is laid out like an anthology so it takes you on a journey towards Christmas and you encounter some gorgeous product on the way.
- Kevyn Aucoin - Contour Palette
- Sol De Janerio - Bum Bum Cream
- Slip - Scrunchies
- Laura Mercier - Loose Powder
- Drunk Elephant - A-Passoni and the B Hydra Serum
This really is just to name a few products because all of them are products I want to try or ones I would be happy to have in my collection. You definitely pay to have less duffs in your Advent Calendar but even so I don't know who is justifying £195 just before Christmas. However, if you can justify it, the Space NK calendar is a good option.
Cult Beauty
For exactly the same price as the Space NK calendar you could have picked up the Cult Beauty advent calendar. However, you did have to pick it up within two hours of it launching to get one as it sold out super quickly, and with good reason. There were some incredible products within this calendar. Some of which I am desperate to try.
- Glow Recipe - Pink Juice Moisturiser
- Huda Beauty - Power Bullet Lipstick
- Jo Loves - White Rose & Lemon Votive
- Drunk Elephant - Framboos Glycolic Serum
- Ouai - Leave in Conditioner
I feel like you would be incredibly excited to open this calendar which is exactly what you want when you spend £195 on a calendar. This is the first ever Cult Beauty advent calendar and I think it is a fair comment to say that they smashed it or it would not have sold out that quickly. In fairness they probably want to test demand in their first go and if Cult Beauty keep killing it with the products they are putting in the calendar, this is going to be one to look out for next year.
What Are You Looking For Within an Advent Calendar?
I sat down to work on this post so many times as the details of more calendars have come out and they continue to intrigue me. However, I had to call it a day somewhere or I would never finish this post. There are a few things I look for when it comes to Advent Calendars which could help you if you are stuck with which one to get.
1. Ignore the RRP - Most calendars are made up of sample sizes which sometimes you can find free anyway. For the most part you can't buy the sizes you get in Advent Calendars which makes the RRP irrelevant.
2. Consider Your Budget and What you are Willing to Spend - Even though I love the idea of the Space NK or Cult Beauty calendars, the price is way more than I could allow myself to spend on me. I simply do not have that sort of money at this time of year.
3. How Many Duffs Are There? - The cheaper the calendar, the more filler days. I consider the amount of items I think I won't use or won't like and use that as a main point of comparison
4. Will You Use The Products? - Sometimes I feel like it is very easy to be drawn in by beautiful packaging and the idea of trying products but will you genuinely use them? Over Blogmas 2018 I looked back at the M&S Calendar I purchased the year before. I wanted to see if I used that many products over the year and realistically I had not. Before you spend all of that money, think about how much you will use and I mean really use.
Beauty Advent Calendars have become a huge part of every brands Winter collection and to be honest, I feel like they have had their day now but people must still be buying them so who am I to judge. I still love looking at them and if one truly wowed me, I wouldn't rule out buying it but this year I think I am personally going to give it a miss, on the grounds that I want to put more money towards gifts. If you are looking for one, there are some great calendars out there that cater to everyone's needs and budgets.
0 Yorumlar