[unpaid/sample/affiliate/ad] I’m more and more in favour of the 12 day approach to advent calendars – they’re for the time between Christmas and New Year so make perfect Christmas gifts. I’m wondering if advent calendars have reached the ‘unnecessary’ list bearing in mind that most of us will be paring back one way or another because some of the easy and lightening fast sell outs basically just haven’t. Actually, I’d be interested to know if and how you plan to cut back on beauty and beauty gifting this year – it would be really helpful guidance for me.
The Cloud 10 12 Days Beauty Box has a value of £400 and it’s £74.96 which seems like a very good deal to me. I like Cloud 10 – it’s a site where you can often find offers and extra value – there’s a Bumble & Bumble hair hydration set (for example) HERE for £23.97 with a value of £61. Other offers that I think are exceptional (and won’t be beaten by the beast that is Black Friday) are a Benefit Set with a value of EU46 for £14.33 HERE and a Sculpted By Aimee set that was £41.62 and is now £35.38 HERE (and highly recommended – I love Aimee’s products for all ages). They switch about on the site from EU and £ hence the oddities in the copy but also I have never found the euro key on my keyboard.
I’m tempted by Tan Luxe which I love – it’s a full size bottle, the Aveda Hair Mask (full size) and Nuxe Oil (50ml) but there are no obvious bloopers here, except maybe the tooth whitening strips which will be an experience (I laughed so much they slipped out).
All in all, a good buy I think if you have beauty fans to shop for – it’s not overload, there aren’t any ‘fillers’ and it is square – a wrapping dream! You can find it HERE.
non affiliate link HERE.
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8 comments
Well, i certainly had good intentions to cut back on beauty spending…and then Lisa Eldridge announced her new eyeshadow palettes and Velvet lipstick shades!
I was reading somewhere about the idea of “doldrums calendars,” which are (often DIY) series calendars like Advents ones, where each day you open a new little gift. They are intended for deep winter, when many of us are feeling S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) and could use a wee daily treat. The 12 day calendars that you describe could fit that bill, especially if you open them later in the winter season.
You’re quite right – that’s a very nice idea. Or even birthday calendars which could be a selection of treats for your birthday month. I’d love to put together something like that. There’s a machine in Canary Wharf that gives a free printed poem… oh I have loads of ideas now! Yes, I have a palette or two on the way and can’t wait to get swatching x
I love your idea of a birthday calendar! I am firmly of the opinion that you can celebrate your birthday all month long.
I look forward to reading your review of LE’s new palettes.
Yes to long birthdays!
One way to cut back is to look at the impact. I was reading recently that personal care is about a third of our land fill. I was reading (I think on Disney Roller Girl, not sure) about scaling, how companies come up with the cost to us. I realised I wasn’t buying something of such great value, or personal when I see what turnover is.
While I have always considered the waste and impact, the above mentioned two points really took the fun out of it.
We are definitely over-consumers, that’s for sure. Years ago I asked a formulator friend to do a cost break down of a medium quality lipstick (barring packaging) and he sent me a number that was so tiny I didn’t understand it – fractions of a penny. And yet – £15-20 to buy. So, there is a lot of slack in the profit margin – it’s standard for e-commerce sites to buy brand products for half the price (or less, depending on bulk) consumers see, so if you then build in profit for the brand, commercial costs, shipping, labour and you end up drilling down to such a small amount. However, build back into that the salaries and wages across that board which will include factory workers, pickers and packers, maintenance, cleaners, formulators, sales teams, distribution workers, drivers – the bits we don’t see on Instagram or TikTok – and it’s a huge employment industry. So, it’s all checks and balances.
To get the Euro symbol on a keyboard press alt and while it’s pressed 0128 (easier to do than describe).
oh thank you! I’ll give that a go 🙂