Beauty Advent Calendars

10 Saturdays until Christmas. Gulp. That means, for any beauty obsessed girl - it's time to start thinking about your advent calendars. And no, I'm not talking about a chocolate filled calendar, from the local supermarket - I'm talking calendars filled with beauty goodness. It may only be October, but these things fly off the shelves fast. Preparation is key.

First up is the Selfridges advent calendar - offering a variety of L'Oreal brands and products spanning skincare, makeup and nails.

The calendar costs £84 available from Selfridges and includes

Lancôme Hypnose Classic mascara 2ml

Armani Code Femme eau de parfum 3ml

Lancôme Hypnose Star mascara 2ml

Flowerbomb miniature 7ml

Maison Martin Margiela Untitled 7ml

Lancôme Tresor Mini 7.5ml

Lancôme La Vie Est Belle 4ml

Lancôme Bi-facil 30ml

Yves Saint Laurent Opium 7.5ml

Lancôme Galatéis Doucheur cleansing fluid 50ml

Lancôme Absolu Nu lipstick in 302

Kiehl's Creme de Corps deluxe sample 30ml

Kiehl's Ultimate Strength hand salve deluxe sample

Yves Saint Laurent Khol eye pencil  

Lancôme Renergie day cream 15ml

Lancôme Hydrazen Neurocalm moisturising cream 15ml

Lancôme Advanced Genefique 7ml

Lancôme mini Juicy Tube in 17

Yves Saint Laurent Forever Youth Liberator Serum 7ml

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate deluxe sample

Lancôme Visionnaire serum 7ml

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream 7ml in 385

Absolue Precious Cells Yeux deluxe sample

Next up is the Ciate Mini Mani Calendar - with mini Ciate polishes for every day of the month.

This one's also sold at Selfridges and costs £42 and includes

• Seventeen of Ciaté's bestselling mini Paint Pots
• Four mini Caviar blends
• Three extremely special exclusive Paint Pot glitter shades you'll not find anywhere else, ever. 

The Benefit Countdown to Love advent calendar is one filled with miniature Benefit products.

This will be extremely limited, with Benefit counters getting only a handful each - so if you have your eye on this, get down to a counter early on 2nd November. It's going to be £50, and can also be ordered online at the Benefit website, and includes

• That Gal Brightening Face Primer 7.5ml
• The POREfessional Pro Balm 7.5ml
• High Beam Luminescent Complexion Enhancer 2.5ml
• Sun Beam Golden Bronze Complexion Enhancer 2.5ml
• Benefit Rose Tinted Lip & Cheek Stain 2.5ml
• Posietint Poppy Pink Tinted Lip & Cheek Stain 2.5ml
• Ultra Plush in Coralista Lip Gloss 6.5ml
• 2 x Ultra Plush in Sugarbomb, Dandelion Lip Gloss 6.5ml
• Hoola Bronzer 3g
• Dandelion Brightening Face Powder 3g
• Coralista A Rio Pleasure Face Powder 3g
• Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in A-Lister 6.5ml
• BADgal Lash Mascara 4g
• Stay Don't Stray in Light/Medium Primer for Concealers & Eyeshadows 2.5ml
• BADgal Liner in Black Waterproof Eye Pencil 0.5g
• It's Potent Eye Cream Brightening to fade dark circles 3g
• Total Moisture Facial Cream 8.9g
• Ooh La Life instant under eye brightening boost 2.5ml
• Girl Meets Pearl Liquid Pearl for face 7.5ml
• Horseshoe Charm Bracelet
• Star Charm Necklace
• Ribbon Bow Barrette

Boots have launched an advent calendar this year, that looks like this

It is available from the Boots website for £30, and if you buy any of the full sized versions of these products, Boots will give you triple Advantage Card Points! It includes full and travel sized versions of...

• Soap & Glory Clean Girls Body Wash 75ml
• Balmi Lip Balm
• Mavala London Nail Polish
• Nina Fragrance
• Rimmel Stay Matt Foundation 
• Vichy Idealia Life Serum
• Paco Robanne Black XS Fragrance
• Umberto Giannini Hair Tie
• Seventeen Supreme Shine Nail Polish
• Orly Bonder Base Coat
• Ghost Fragrance
• Boots Salon Nail Shine Solution
• Vichy LifeActiv Serum 10
• Juicy Couture Fragrance
• Seventeen Tattoo Me Liquid Eyeliner
• Nail File
• Soap & Glory Scrub
• Ghost Fragrance
• Carmex Lip Balm Pot
• Mavala Pure Diamon Nail Polish
• Botanics Heat Protection Shine Serum
• Nails Inc Porchester Square Nail Polish
• Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Backcomb in a Bottle
• Seventeen Blow Out Mascara

I have also heard rumours that YOU Beauty will be releasing another calendar this year, but as yet I have found no further info. Here is a photo of the calendar they produced last year with Latest In Beauty which cost £59.95... so keep an ear out for that one too!

Benefit Wrapped Up In Love

On Friday I went along to the new Benefit Boutique in Carnaby Street to have a nosey round - it is great! Not only can you purchase all the Benefit goodies you'd like, they also have a Shellac nail bar, Vita Liberata tanning room, and a little hair styling salon where you can choose from a list of hair styles to have done. To celebrate their opening they are offering a free hair styling sesh every time you purchase a product (for a limited time only so if you have anything you want to buy and you're in the area, get there quick to take advantage!)

While we were there we got to have a look at the new Christmas collections coming out. This year the sets come in tins, which I love! They all feature a graphic print on them and stack on top of each other if you were to get more than one. They are perfect for re-using on your dressing table.

I took home the 'It's a love fest' tin which contains a full sized The Porefessional Primer and They're Real Mascara, and mini Sun Beam highlighter, and Coralista lipgloss. It retails at £39.50 and would make a fab gift for a makeup lover.

The other set I really loved the look of at the event was the Little Love Potions - a great way to try out lots of Benefit products and super sizes for if you travel a lot. This set is £29.50 and will definitely be going on my Christmas list!

Other new products joining the Benefit shelves is under my spell Noelle perfume, and Bathina body oil.

The perfume comes in the Benefit perfume trademark cute cocktail shaker style bottle. It's a sweet but grown-up smell, with top notes of cardamom, black pepper and lingonberry. Middle notes of wild orchid, jasmine petals, vanilla flower, fresh rose and soft violet. Bottom notes of patchouli, accord oud, black amber, vanilla beans, benzoin resin and raspberry. They make a gorgeous wintery woody fragrance. Noelle is on sale now and retails at £29.50 for 30ml.

Bathina takes it back to the old-school with the original Benefit scent. If you remember Benefit from long ago, you will remember this smell - and it still smells gorgeous. Lightly floral and clean smelling, this body oil is great - the spray mists it on to your skin, and it dries as soon as you rub it in - so no feeling like a grease-bomb. It's lightweight and hydrating and leaves the skin lovely and soft with a delicate smell left behind. It goes on sale on 26th October priced at £26.50 for 75ml.

Crescent Row is the new limited edition perfume set - with miniature 10ml bottles of Benefit favourite perfumes - the new under my spell Noelle, laugh with me LeeLee, ring my Bella and my place or yours Gina and is priced at £29.50

All of the Christmas sets launched on Friday, so if you're near a Benefit counter, be sure to pop in and check them out, or you can have a look on the Benefit website.

The other thing to set a reminder for in your diary is the launch of the advent calendar, 'Countdown to Love' - it's priced at £50 and filled with mini Benefit products. It goes on sale on 2nd November but each store will only be getting around 15 calendars each, so if you want one you need to be quick!

Men - Take Note!

It's that time of year when the super cool advent calendars come out - yes, it may seem a little early to be thinking about it, but if you want one you need to be quick! These things are exclusive, limited edition, and sell out like hot cakes! Men, if you want to be in the good books, I suggest one of these may go down a treat!

The Selfridges Beauty Advent Calendar - £82

This is the one that opened my eyes to the fact luxury calendars existed! I had it 2 Christmasses ago, and the one before that (although I'm pretty sure it was £70 then). I think I'll skip this one this year, only because I found a lot of the things tend to be repeated, but if you've yet to try it - it is amazing, and such a treat! The official blurb says Containing a selection of luxury skincare, make-up and fragrance from brands including Lancôme, Kiehls, Viktor & Rolf, Shu Uemura and more - if you get your magnifying glasses out you may be able to see from the photo what kind of surprises are in store behind those doors. Get yours from Selfridges QUICKLY if you want one, these sell out fast!

The Lancome "All I Want for Christmas" Advent Calendar

This contains 24 mini sized Lancome treats including their new fragrance La Vie Est Belle, and new mascara Hypnose Star. Everything I can find about it varies - so I'll tell you what I know. It either costs £70 or £82 - and was supposedly getting released on 1st October on the Lancome website - however it's now the 16th and I can still see no sign of it! It's also available at flagship counters, so keep your eyes peeled if this one tickles your fancy. 

Although, I did find the Lancome Beauty Crackers - £50 in Selfridges, which sound as though they have the same thing inside so perhaps they changed their mind about the calendar?

And last, but not least - the one I hope someone that loves me buys me this year *cough cough* (not that he'll even be reading this, but one can dream!) is...

The Ciate Mini Mani Month Advent Calendar - £38

Which has 17 mini bottles of Ciate Paint Pot nail polish, 4 mini caviar blends, and 3 exclusive glitter Paint Pots that will never be available again - arghh, I want it!!!!!! This one is also available at Selfridges, exclusively.

It is so lovely to open a beauty treat up every day in an otherwise cold and miserable month of the year - and far kinder to the waistline too. Ladies - you might want to leave this page carefully open on your other halves computers - good luck!

If anyone knows the official scoop with the Lancome calendar, or has seen it anywhere - please let me know! 

The Only Advent Calendar I Require

Finally! An advent calendar marketed at people watching their waistlines (well, any excuse really!) Selfridges have launched an advent calendar full of beauty items. It does cost £60, but they haven't scrimped on products - YSL, Lancome, Giorgio Armani, Kiehl's, Shu Uemura, Viktor and Rolf and Stella McCartney items make up this luxurious calendar. Think of the pleasure of opening up each window every morning. The only issue would be what gift you could get on Christmas day which would top that?!

The advent calendar is available exclusively at Selfridges.