Beauty Advent Calendars - For the Win, Part I
Photos: Sophie Lindh
Here is the thing about shopping for holiday gifts: what we want deeply is to make the gift receiver feel happy, and to be thanked without reservation (“it’s too much” or “you didn’t have to” are the most disappointing responses), however, our own wants and desires make selecting the right presents challenging.
I find this happens in 2 ways.
First, it is human nature to think other people also like the things that we ourselves like. (Guilty as charged: if you’ve ever been the recipient of one of my pouches full of beauty samples, it’s because these are my treasures - so my one-track little brain assumes you’ll also treasure them).
It’s my best Christmas win-win of the season.
And second, because we sometimes buy things for others that we personally love intensely, when we are about to wrap them, we sometimes realize we want to keep these amazing trinkets for ourselves, gosh darn it.
Back to the beauty samples.
For me, there is nothing more exciting than trying something new. So, after I bought 4 beauty advent calendars to give as gifts (chock-full of sample sized makeup and skincare), I did a 180.
I decided to rip those babies apart, keep most the spoils, and of course, parse out the rare duplicates or pieces I can’t use.
Don’t worry about the receivers on my gift list - I love to be generous and they ended up receiving items that are more suited to them (and less to me). This will of course amplify the desired result of my receivers experiencing happy feelings upon opening.
It’s my best Christmas win-win of the season.
Although I mostly hoarded the loot, alas, I can share my bounty with the below pictures.
The advent calendars I purchased (in left-to-right order) are: Bare Minerals Countdown to Gorgeous, the NYX Box of Goodies Advent Calendar (no longer available), and the Benefit Girl O'Clock Rock set, and the Ulta Advent Calendar 2016 (no longer available).
Below is the first half of the bounty.
Only the NYX and Bare Minerals sets had 24 days of treats, as traditional advent calendars do. The other two focused on a 12-days of Christmas theme, which means the countdown starts 12 days before Christmas. So, the magic happens on Day 13 (when each day reveals fabulous treats fourfold).
Until then, I'll be #winning...
Xx, Mom in Mascara
