If you are a beauty fanatic like me, then you are probably already very aware of the beauty advent calendar craze that is rapidly growing bigger and bigger every year!
Long gone are the days when you would be lucky enough to get a chocolate advent calendar to open in the run up to Christmas. These days it’s all about the beauty advent calendars that the cosmetic industry are churning out, and they are becoming more and more competitive (and extravagant) every year! Beauty junkies are going crazy for them (myself included) but they sell out FAST!! Not wanting to talk about Christmas too early, but also not wanting to miss the boat on these bad boys, I thought it was about time I give my two cents on the hundreds of advent calendars available this year!
Like I said, the advent calendars appear to become more and more extravagant every year, and the majority of them now come with a hefty price tag! However, despite initially appearing to be an expensive indulgent, beauty advent calendars are definitely a very clever marketing strategy! Often the contents of the calendars will be at least double the value of what you have paid for it and in some cases up to three and four times the value. With that in mind, I am convinced that companies don’t make any money on the actual calendars but this is a marketing strategy that will pay off for them in the long run – how often have you tried a sample of something and it has encouraged you to go and buy a full size of the product…? Well that’s exactly how these advent calendars work.
A beauty advent calendar is also a great way to try out lots of different products at a cheaper price before deciding if you want to invest in a full size of something. I am also very aware that you won’t ALWAYS like everything that you get, and sometimes you will get things that you wouldn’t necessarily go out to purchase yourself, so that is the risk with any advent calendar. You do however get the joy of opening up a little present every single day in the month of December which is a very nice treat :).
Given that there are now quite literally dozens of advent calendars on the market to choose from, all at very different price points, I thought it might be helpful if I listed the ones that I think are the best options and cater to a number of different budgets……. :).
This blog post is definitely a spoiler alert as I really wanted to know the contents of all of the calendars before deciding which ones to recommend (you are welcome!). To avoid giving absolutely everything away, but still trying to make this post as informative and helpful as possible, I have selected what I believe to be 5 highlights from each calendar. Even though it ruins the surprise a little bit, I still like to know that I am getting good value for money so I like to have an idea of what’s inside the calendar. The order in which they will be opened will be a surprise at least! If you don’t want it to be a major spoiler for you then you had better scroll past the pictures!
M&S – The Book of Beauty – £35 when you spend £35 (value of £280)
I have gotten the M&S beauty advent calendar for the last two years and I think it’s an absolutely amazing calendar for the price. There is a bit of a catch with it though – you can only get the advent calendar for £35 when you spend £35 on something else in store. I think this excludes food, but to be honest, there are lots of other ways to spend £35 in M&S around Christmas time.
The M&S beauty section is absolutely amazing and they have so, so many great brands in store which means that their advent calendars are packed to the brim with high quality products. My top 5 picks from this year’s are:
- L’occitane immortelle divine cream advanced anti-aging skincare – 8ml
- This Works deep sleep pillow spray – 10ml
- PIXI rose tonic rose & elderflower nourishing toner – 100ml
- REN v-cense revitalising night cream – 15ml
- Nuxe luxurious body cream – 30ml
The value of the calendar is an astonishing £280 so for £35 I think this is such good value for money! Even if you include the other £35 which you have to spend this calendar is still good value for money and at least you get something else with the other £35.
This calendar does appear to be sold out online but there are lots of them left in store!! You can go on the M&S website, type in your postcode and it will show the availability in your closest store!
Asos Face & Body Beauty Advent Calendar – £55
Asos is another website which has really stepped up their game in terms of the beauty products that they stock. I often buy products from Asos as the selection is so varied now. They stock hundreds of great brands and they offer free worldwide delivery which is so handy!
Their beauty advent calendar costs £55. Unfortunately the actual value of the contents is unknown but considering the products that you get in this calendar, I think it looks like it is worth this money.
If anything, I think this one might lose marks for the packaging as it looks quite cheap and boring compared to most other calendars out there. You get what you pay for though and the most important thing is what’s inside.
My top 5 picks from the Asos calendar are:
- 111SKIN Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask – 30ml
- Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion – 50ml
- Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara – 3ml
- Caudalie Micellar Cleansing water – 50ml
- GLAMGLOW Glowstarter Mega illuminating Moisturiser – 7ml
Look Fantastic Advent Calendar – £79 (value of over £300)
- ESPA Overnight Hydration Therapy – 15g
- Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oil – 9ml
- Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum – 10ml
- Rituals The Ritual of Sakura Body Cream – 70ml
- Emma Hardie Brilliance Facial Oil – 5ml
Glossybox All I Want Advent Calendar – £99 (value of over £300)
Next up is the Glossybox ‘All I want’ advent calendar. To be completely honest, the first thing that attracted me to this advent calendar was the packaging!! It looks absolutely beautiful with its pink and rose gold tones, and it’s all very festive and sparkly! This is exactly the kind of packaging I want on an advent calendar. I’m not a massive fan of of the colour red, which is obviously very much associated with Christmas, so for me this Glossybox design is PERFECT!!! 🙂 It’s just so pretty!
Of course the packaging is not enough on its own to justify a £99 price tag. When I checked the contents of the calendar I was also very impressed. The value of the contents is over £300 which is so, so amazing given that it costs £99 to purchase. If you are already a Glossybox subscriber you can actually purchase the calendar for £75 which is even better!
My top five picks from the Glossybox calendar are:
- Huda Beauty – Winter Solstice Palette
- NARS – Velvet Lip Glide
- Real Techniques – Expert Face Brush
- Zelens – Transformer Instant Renewal Mask
- Pixi by Petra – Fresh Face Blush
Estee Lauder Companies – The Beauty Countdown Advent Calendar – £150 (value of £283)
As most of you will probably know, Estee Lauder Companies Inc. own lot of other cosmetic companies such as Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Mac, Aveda…. the list goes on and on. This makes them the perfect company to develop an advent calendar as you know you are guaranteed to get a great selection of products. The products in this one come inside a big silver star and which is a very cute festive idea.
In terms of content value versus price, this is probably the least value for money, but that is just by comparison to the other calendars I have mentioned in this post. It still has almost double the value of the cost and it has some really amazing products inside.
My top 5 picks for this Estee Lauder Companies calendar are:
- Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II – 7ml
- Clinique Take The Day Of Cleansing Balm – 15ml
- FULL SIZE! MAC Liptensity Lipstick, Fire Roasted – 3.6g
- Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base – 7ml
- Smashbox Photo Finish Primerizer – 15ml
Liberty London Beauty Advent Calendar – £195 (value of over £600)
Last, but by no means least, is the absolutely stunning Liberty London beauty advent calendar. The Liberty advent calendars are the most highly anticipated calendar every single year as the design of it is quite simply stunning and the contents are even better! The Liberty advent calendar is considered the ultimate countdown to christmas and it has become the most successful and fastest selling product in the history of the company (147 years!).
Every year the calendar features a seasonal illustration of the iconic facade of the beautiful Liberty department store and the design is a work of art. This year is no exception. The front of the calendar has the most beautiful blue and white starry, christmas scene and the inside is decorated in the Juno Feather print which is the new autumn/winter 2018 Liberty print.
There is a product inside for the 25 days of December and each one is housed in its own little drawer.
The Calendar costs £195, which is an extortionate amount but the contents are worth over a whopping £600!!!!!!!!!!! This is double the quantity of last years offering!
This advent calendar is every beauty addicts dream and I have swooned over this calendar for years! This year my dreams came true and Dan surprised (and absolutely spoiled) me with this year’s Liberty calendar! I have always been happy with my M&S calendar so you can just imagine my reaction when this arrived!! He has heard me talk about this calendar for years so maybe the penny finally dropped lol. Seriously though, this is not the kind of advent calendar you would buy every year (I’m very jealous if you do) but it’s definitely one that is a major treat and I am beyond excited to have it! The design of the calendar with its little individual drawers lend itself to being reused year after year. You could keep the shell and just refill the contents. Come to think of it, Dan will never have to buy another advent calendar again! Maybe this was his idea of value for money in the long run! I have been fooled into thinking he treated me when really he was treating himself! Lol (just kidding Dan – wink!)
So given that this is the advent calendar that I have to open this year, I really didn’t want to find out about EVERYTHING that’s inside to try and save some of the surprise in opening this very luxurious calendar. However, I do know that the calendar contains the following brands and this is a good enough indication to me that this calendar will be AMAZING!!:
- Diptyque
- Hourglass
- Byredo
I have inserted the below picture with one eye closed to try and see as little as possible! lol
The Liberty store is one of my absolute favourite places to visit in London when Dan and I go back every year, so it feels very fitting to finally have one of their advent calendars that features a curated collection of products from the Liberty beauty hall. Needless to say I am really looking forward to the 1st December when I can crack this beauty open!
That’s it for my round up of this year’s beauty advent calendars. I really do hope this was helpful to any of you that are considering getting one as I know the choice can be very overwhelming! I don’t think that you would be disappointed with any of the above calendars and in my opinion there is a good one here for every budget.
These beauty calendars are not cheap but people are willing to pay for them, so if you want one, move FAST!!!
Let me know if you have managed to get your hands on an advent calendar this year (even if it is a good ol’ classic chocolate advent calendar – you really can’t beat those! :))
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