Best Beauty Advent Calendars 2015

First of all I must apologise for talking about Christmas when we are only three days into November. Yes, we all know people who have finished their Christmas shopping already, however (if you are anything like me and want to keep Christmas in December where it belongs) please bear with me...

Beauty advent calendars have been getting bigger and better over the last few years. They are now available to suit every budget and the high street is getting involved in what was once a solely high-end domain. Most are either 12 or 24 days and (as much as I love chocolate) what could be better than getting a beauty-related present each morning in the run up to Christmas?! There's only one problem – many of the most popular brands sell out quickly. So if you fancy treating yourself, or someone else, you will need to get in quick. Hence the unnaturally early festive post from me.

So without further ado, here are 8 of the best beauty advent calendars:

CHARLOTTE TILBURY
The Book of Makeup Magic is a fabulous calendar by the one and only Charlotte Tilbury. It contains 12 of her most popular products: Magic Cream 15ml, Take It All Off 15ml, Wonderglow 15ml, Multi Miracle Glow 15ml, Supermodel Body 15ml, Goddess Skin Clay Mask 15ml, Mini K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick, Matte Revolution lipstick, Lip Magic, Mini Rock n Kohl liner, Nocturnal Cat eyes Eyeshadow, Magic Night cream.
£150, www.charlottetilbury.com

SELFRIDGES
The Selfridges Beauty Workshop Advent Calendar is a lot like their seasonal beauty boxes – exceptional value for money. The 24 little beauty treats are worth £226 in total and include Tweezerman tweezers, Eyeko skinny liquid liner, Ole Henriksen Truth Serum, Caudalie Divine Oil and lots more.
£60 www.selfridges.com

KERASTASE
This limited edition calendar contains 24 iconic Kérastase deluxe travel size products and one full size Elixir product worth £28.50 alone. If you are a Kérastase fan you won't want to miss this one. Visit the link below for details of all the products included.
£79.99 www.kerastase.co.uk

LUSH
Fans of Lush can enjoy 12 days of bath bombs, bubble bars, bath melts and body lotions! All products are vegan making it an ideal gift for anyone who likes to buy cruelty-free brands.
£49.95 www.lush.co.uk

CIATÉ
Fellow nail-polish addicts will love this Mini Mani Month advent calendar by Ciaté. This is another one that is excellent value for money as it contains 23 nail polishes and a nail file worth £124 in total.
£49 www.selfridges.com

THE BODY SHOP
The Body Shop's 24 Happy Days calendar has a really wide variety of treats, from cult classics to new products, including bath and bodycare, skincare, fragrance and more. Check out the full list at the link below
£60 www.thebodyshop.co.uk

LIBERTY LONDON
This calendar is a real luxury treat.. possibly the one I want to get my paws on the most! Who could resist that beautiful packaging with the iconic Liberty building illustration? Yes it is a little pricey at £149, but with over £400 worth of products inside, my beauty maths tells me it is actually a real bargain! It even contains 11 full-sized products alongside the deluxe sample sizes. Gifts include skin care from Eve Lom and Dr Sebagh, candles by Diptyque, cosmetics by Surratt and haircare from Davines.
£149 www.liberty.co.uk

JO MALONE
Jo Malone's advent calendar is always a hot favourite and rightly so. However, as a result it sells out very quickly. It is currently unavailable on their website but it might be worth checking your nearest store. If you can get hold of you one you will have 24 days of beautiful treats to look forward to! This is another one that scores highly on the packaging front too, with the brand's Georgian townhouse illustrated on the front.
£260, www.jomalone.co.uk


Other brands worth checking out include L'Occitane, Benefit (although I believe this has sold out online!), No7 and M&S Beauty. If you know of any others we would love to hear from you!

A YBBF catch up and some of my spring favourites....

Never too early for a cocktail....

Last week Kay and I got together for a catch up/blog meeting, but most importantly some food and a bit of shopping. We started out with lunch at The Big Easy, a BBQ place in Covent Garden that I knew Kay would love as it has a distinctly American vibe. Personally, I love anywhere that I can get a veggie burger, fries, cupcake and a margarita for £10....

The Big Easy, Covent Garden

We then moved on to a bit of shopping and a discussion about how much we love spring, warmer weather and the generally cheerier colours that start emerging in fashion and beauty this time of year. (Kay was on the hunt for a very specific pair of hot pink heels to wear for her birthday, which sadly we couldn't find… she assures me that she has since found a beautiful alternative!) So as spring has officially arrived in London, I thought I’d share a couple of things that I have been loving this month… 

Orange nails

I don’t wear a lot of orange clothing but I do love an orange accessory; a bright handbag, coral lipstick, and in this case…. tangerine orange nails! Oh yeah. As we have been focussing on healthier choices this year, here are a few of my favourites by OPI, a brand on the 'less-chemically' end of the nail polish spectrum. You might just be able to make out my orange nails in the picture at the top although it is slightly fuzzy! We'll blame that on the dim lighting and not Kay's photography skills.....

From left to right: Juice Bar Hopping, Toucan Do It If You Try, Where Did Suzi's Man-go?

Makeup collaborations

I do love a good makeup collaboration and this spring there are several exciting ones emerging. Charlotte Tilbury’s Norman Parkinson packaging is fantastic! I am a tad bias as he is one of my favourite fashion photographers, but if you are a sucker for great packaging then you might want to check this one out. Charlotte’s eponymous collection has received glowing reviews across the board so it is most definitely not a case of style over substance. The only downside,we’ll have to wait until July for this one. Below is the best selling Filmstar Bronze & Glow Palette featuring Parkinson's iconic shot of Jerry Hall.

Yesterday saw the release of the latest in a long line of exciting MAC collaborations, this time with none other than milliner-extraordinaire Philip Treacy. He has drawn inspiration from his own work to create a collection that ‘enhance the face’s most evocative features’ – sounds good to me!

Booja Booja ice cream

Last but not least I had to include my latest food discovery. I’ve been meaning to try Booja Booja ice cream for a while and it just sort of ended up in my basket on a recent trip to Holland & Barrett. My review? Amazing! I got the Hunky Punky Chocolate flavour and it is really rich and so delicious. Best of all it only contains four ingredients; water, agave syrup, cashew nuts and cocoa powder. It might be a little on the pricey side but it is so worth it for a product that tastes better than most dairy ice creams I’ve had in the past but that is infinitely better for your health.

I think that’s all for now. Hope you are having a wonderful month so far and the sun is shining where you are!