Hey guys! This is officially my first Christmas post of the season and I thought that it would be quite fun to start off with one about the beauty advent calendars of 2014. This year there are quite a lot, eleven that I know of, so I thought that I would do a little rundown of them all! Sadly I won't be buying a one of these lovely calendars this year, however if you are planning on buying one you may find this post useful.
Also a little note, obviously I will be discussing some of the products that you will find within the advent calendars, meaning if you'd like no spoilers at all then I'd be a little careful! This is quite a lengthy post too, so be very prepared!
First up is L'Occitane! I haven't actually ever tried anything from L'Occitane before as they aren't really a brand that I have been really drawn to, but I hear that their hand creams are really nice.
Rather than being the traditional 24 or 25 doored advent calendar this actually only has 13, containing some of their most popular products in mini forms! They include an 8ml Divine Cream, 10ml Shea Butter Hand Cream and a few more (the full list is on their website).
For £45, and considering that there are only 13 doors, I personally wouldn't pick this one if I were to buy a beauty advent calendar! If you'd like to test out some L'Occitane products though, for less money than buying them individually, I'd definitely recommend getting this.
Jo Malone is one of those brands that I automatically associate with luxury, whether it is their candles or fragrances, the design of everything is just so beautiful! When I spotted that they were releasing their own advent calendar this year I was fairly excited, that was until I saw the price of £250 (yes, you read that right, £250). If only I could afford that!
If you are one of the lucky people that could buy this piece of luxury then you will find 24 special doors, or drawers in this particular case! Within there are 23 minis, that include a 9ml Lime, Basil & Mandarin Cologne and 15ml Grapefruit Body Creme, however on the 24th day you get a deluxe 50ml sized Pomegranate Noir Body Creme.
I think that it would have been a nice idea to possibly have a mini candle or two, but alas Jo Malone haven't done that - hopefully they do next year!
For £59.50 you can get the lovely Elemis advent calendar, which contains 12 products! The thing that I love about this calendar is that you get a whole new skincare regime at the end of it, so it would be absolutely perfect for somebody looking to change their skincare routine about.
The 12 products in the advent calendar include a 50ml Skin Nourishing Shower Cream (one of my favourite shower creams, especially in winter, as it is really moisturising), 20ml Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm and 14 Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsules! You can see the whole list of products online, but as you can see you do get quite a lot in this one.
Liberty is probably the first shop that I think of when it comes to old luxurious shops, so I hoped that their advent calendar would be no different - the luxurious part that is! I love the design of this calendar, as it's got a hand drawn image of the Liberty store covered in snow, then the inside has a pretty blue and green peacock feather design. Contained within the Liberty calendar is 25 cute little drawers that hold some products like a mini Diptyque Baies Candle, Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick and 50ml Decleor Aroma Confort Body Milk - so there are some lovely products!
This calendar does come at a cost of £149 though, meaning it is definitely on the pricey side! If you'd like to really treat yourself, or somebody else, with some gorgeous high-end products then this is definitely for you.
Ciate have released an advent calendar for the past couple of years now, and they always seem to be quite popular (especially when people get them very cheap on the final day of Clothes Show Live), so I guess that Ciate must be doing something right! The design of this is actually fairly similar to Liberty's, with the snow covered building front, so I'm not sure if some copying has gone on here. This calendar contains 24 products, which are 15 mini paint pots, 1 full sized paint pot and 8 effects - I'd say that's a pretty fair amount for £49!
I've actually considered buying one of these calendars for myself, as I love the thought of having a new polish to use everyday, even if the logistics of that could end up in fairly ruined nails! I think that the only thing stopping me has been the fact that I own far, far too many polishes myself, so I'd avoid this one if you have the same problem.
Again, YOU are one of the companies that have released an advent calendar each year for a while now (since 2012 I believe), and they seem to have got the hang of it! This has 24 products within it, which are apparently worth over £240, so if that's correct there's definitely a huge saving to be made for its £49.95 pricetag. Some of the 24 products include a 7.5ml Benefit Porefessional, 15g GLAMGLOW Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment and 30ml Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser set, meaning that there are some great products that you'd be able to test out!
When I heard that Lush were releasing their own advent calendar I think that I may have squealed with excitement a bit! I am probably one of the biggest Lush fans, especially when it comes to their Christmas range, to the point where I honestly think that I could name most of their products and describe the scent to you. This meant that this was probably the advent calendar that I considered buying most, but this sadly only has 12 products in it for £49.95, so I just couldn't really spent that!
Some of the 12 products include a Golden Wonder bath ballistic (one of my favourites), Snow Angel bath melt and Holly Golightly bubble bar. Purely out of interest too I worked out that the 12 products, when bought individually, would be worth roughly £45.19 altogether, so I guess that you are paying a few pound for the fact that they are in an advent calendar!
Personally I wouldn't buy this for myself, as I've tried a lot of the 12 products already, however if you would like to try a selection of some great Lush products then I'd definitely suggest getting this one!
Even though the Boots No7 calendar is the cheapest out of them all, it does look really good, and people must agree as it has now sold out! In this you will find 25 products, altogether worth a huge £135, meaning the price of £35 is definitely very good. Some of the products include a mini No7 Lash Impact Mascara, 40ml No7 Blissful Bodywash, No7 Eye Colour Brush and lots more!
Even though this isn't available online, I'd definitely have a look instore if you'd like to buy it, as Boots seems to be that store that has plenty of stock in the stores when it's sold out online!
9. The Body Shop 24 Days Of Christmas - £50 - No longer available online
The Body Shop advent calendar holds 24 doors, with £83 worth of lovely products contained within them! Some of the products include the new Glazed Apple Shower Gel, Shea Body Butter and Vitamin E Moisture Cream (I'm sadly not sure on the size of everything though).
The other good thing about this one is the fact that for every calendar you purchase, The Body Shop will make a donation to War Child, which help children in war-torn areas go to school!
I think that the Benefit advent calendar is probably the one that people get the most excited over! Since they started making it last year, the two times that it has been released it has sold out extremely quickly as they only have a small stock.
For £60 you get a calendar full of 18 of Benefit's most popular products and 6 extras, which include a mini They're Real Mascara, mini Watt's Up and heart shaped paper clips! I personally think that the 6 extra products don't sound that great, and sound quite cheap, however I guess most people buy it for the 18 Benefit products.
If you managed to get your hands on one of these then I'd love to know if you were able to get one very easily, and what you think of it once we get into December!
11. Selfridges Enchanted Spells - £85 - No longer available online
Another luxury advent calendar this year is from Selfridges! I can definitely understand why this sold out fairly quickly, as it is jam-packed with high-end products from brands like YSL, Lancome and Kiehl's. This does seem to largely be made up of Lancome products, so I would say that it's worth quite a bit more than the price of £85! Some of the 24 products include a mini YSL Opium Eau De Parfum, Urban Decay Potion Primer and Lancome Bi-Facil (I'm unsure of the size of those last two).
I hope that you all liked this post, as it definitely took me a while to plan and write! There are some amazing looking beauty advent calendars this year, so I really can't wait to see next year's. Let me know if you are planning on buying a beauty advent calendar, or if you've got one already, and which one you bought!
Which company do you think should make a beauty advent calendar next?
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