Hey all x I hope that you've all had a good long weekend, and a fabulous Christmas if you were celebrating. It was a really weird one this year, with just me and Mummy Lou. She still wasn't feeling too great so I cooked and cleaned, and we spent the day in each others company watching films and opening pressies. It actually went better than I thought it would and I guess this year really made it obvious to me what Christmas is really all about.
Thankfully, fingers crossed, my mam seems to be feeling a lot better now, so we've just had a lazy few days, losing track of time, and date, and enjoying each others company.Today though I thought I'd give her a little bit of space and I thought I'd try and stick a blog post up for you guys.
In the past I've done a variety of different types of advent calendar posts for you, ranging from full products reviews, to just sharing the contents of whatever calendar that I was lucky enough to receive that year. This year I guess it's going to be quite similar to that, I haven't a chance to try anything in this years calendar yet, so this year I'm just going to share two basic unboxing posts with you - showing you what I got, and giving you some sort of idea of the value of the items in the calendar, and then later on whether in stand alone posts, or in empties posts I can share my thoughts and reviews with you x
First up the calendar itself, and I have to say I really wasn't sure whether or not I was going to get one this year, but after seeing a few sneak peaks from some of this years offerings for the fourth year in a row, Mummy Lou treat me to the
Glossybox calendar.
With a subscriber price of £85 and a regular retail price of £105, this was their most expensive calendar to date, but with an apparent value of over £465 it still seemed like decent value for money.
Like 2020's calendar, I was pleased to see that the 2021 calendar took the same reusable format. In a gorgeous marble like print, in shades of white, pink, grey and gold, this calendar comprised of a sturdy cardboard outer box, with magnetic fastening doors, that opened to reveal four deep, strong cardboard drawers with pink ribbon handles.
Each drawer contained several numbered boxes, again in the pink, white, gold, grey, and a taupe like colour way.
Every numbered box contained a small amount of black paper shred and a lovely beauty product,
Day 1 - Elemis Pro-Collagen Energising Marine Cleanser - 30ml - Deluxe Mini - RRP £9.70
First up a deluxe mini size product from one of my favourite skincare brands, Elemis. For their famous Pro Collagen Marine range, this is one of their newest products, the Pro Collagen Energising Marine Cleanser, and it's something that I've been wanting to try for sometime.
Glossybox placed a price of £16 on this 30ml size but the only place that I can find this particular size is direct from
Elemis where it retails at £9.70.
Day 2 - Wander Beauty - Trip For Two Blush And Bronzer Duo - Bellini And Costa Rei - 8g - Full Size - Est. RRP £25.50
In box number 2, there was the first of several make up items in this years calendar, and it was a blush and bronzer duo from 'clean' beauty brand Wander Beauty. Now I've only tried an eye mask from the brand before (
read my post here) so it's nice to get the opportunity to try something else. The sturdy cardboard palette contains a pale peach matte blusher, and a light toned matter bronzer.
Glossybox placed a value of around £25.50 on this palette but I could only find this particular shade paring at the slightly higher price of £35 from Net-A-Porter, and for $36 direct from
Wander Beauty.
Day 3 - GLOV Satin Sleeping Mask - Full Size - Est. RRP £6.90
Now as you know I do love my sleep, and if you aren't getting the quality of sleep that you need there are a few different things that you can try, I've got a post coming up the in the new year that might help you, but in the meantime have you ever tried a sleeping masks? I know they do give you some classic movie glamour, Breakfast At Tiffany's vibes, but they really can help especially if you are disturbed by bright lights, or if for whatever reason you need to sleep during the day.
Box number 3 contained a super soft satin sleeping mask from Polish brand GLOV. With a comfortable elastic band, and a padded, silky smooth finish, this mask is so light you barely feel like you're wearing anything at all. I personally have a love hate relationship with sleep masks, but this one is dream to wear, it isn't tight or uncomfortable and it's isn't scratchy or uncomfortable.
Although I have found a couple of retailers of GLOV's beauty tools in the UK, none of them seem to stock this specific item, so the only place where you might find it is on the secondary market.
Day 4 - Sarah Chapman The Facialift Sculpting Facial Massager - Full Size - Est. RRP £30
Next up is something that I actually already owned after receiving it in a NEXT beauty box, so this particular one was passed on to a friend. Basically what this is, is a sculpting facial massager from top facialist Sarah Chapman. With 8 rubberised head, this roller designed to brighten, lift, drain toxins, and get rid of puffiness on the face and neck. Bar a basic roller, I tend to find a lot of facial massage tools a little bit uncomfortable but I've read a lot of good things about it so i'm going to try and keep using it
Glossybox place a value of £30 on this particular tool and it's available at that price from Space NK,
Feel Unique,
Look Fantastic, NEXT Beauty and Beauty Expert, and for around £32 direct from
Sarah Chapman and from John Lewis,
Day 5 - Avant Skincare Eight-Hour Retexturing & Anti-Oxidising Hyaluronic Facial Serum - 30ml - Full Size - RRP £89
Something that I'm eternally grateful to
Glossybox for is for introducing me to Avant Skincare - the range is just so expensive that I would never have tried it otherwise and I was super excited to get a chance to try another product from the range on day 5. Something that I've discovered and loved over the last year and a half or so, is the miracle of hyaluronic acid! I used it as least once a day under my moisturiser, and I've really noticed a difference in the feel and texture of my skin. I've been using and loving one from The Ordinary but it's going to be nice to try a higher priced product to compare.
Glossybox placed a price of £89 on this full, 30ml size. It's available at that price in the same packaging direct from Avant Skincare, as well as in the same size, but in slightly different packaging direct from Avant Skincare as well as from Look Fantastic, and Beauty Expert.
Day 6 - Molton Brown Heavenly Gingerlily Bath & Shower Gel - 100ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £10
In box number 6, I received a 100ml, deluxe mini size shower gel from one of my favourite shower brands, Molton Brown, and it was actually one of the first shower gels I ever used from them, Heavenly Gingerlily! Despite the name I think that this is definitely a unisex product, it warm and spicy and just a little bit floral. Molton Brown make great shower gels and I'm definitely going to enjoy using this one.
I can only find this particular size in gifts and sets but the full 300ml size retails at around £22 direct from
Molton Brown, and from various other retailers including
Feel Unique, and
Look Fantastic.
Day 7 - Grow Gorgeous Intense Thickening And Scalp Mask - 30ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £9
From the body to the hair, and on day 7 I received a 30ml tube of the Grow Gorgeous Intense Thickening Hair and Scalp Mask. I don't know whether it's down to stress or the weather, or diet, but my hair is going though one of it's regular falling out phases, and believe me I'll try anything to hang on to it - so this mask which claims to increase hair thickness, and nourish the scalp is going straight into my shower!
I can't find this particular size on its own online but the full 200ml size has an RRP of £25 and its available direct from
Grow Gorgeous, as well as from
Look Fantastic, and Boots.
Day 8 - W7 Cosmetics Super Brows Super Definition Eyebrow Pencil - Brown - 1.5g - Full Size - RRP £2.95
Next up more make up and this time it's eyebrows. Although I didn't manage to get my hair done before Christmas I did manage to get my brows waxed and dyed, and instead of going to a Benefit counter - I decided to try someone local and I have to say I was pretty pleased with the results, so I'll be saving my cash and keeping it local!
To be honest my own brows have been so good since I got them done that I haven't reached for anything rather than a bit of clear gel but a good brow pencil never comes in one, and this is a nice dark brown which I think should look pretty natural on me.
This is definitely one of the more budget friendly products in this years calendar with a retail price of £2.95, look hard enough though and you might be able to find it for even less than that.
You can buy
W7 direct from their own website, as well as from various other discount cosmetic retailers including some B&M Stores, and you can even now find W7 stands in some larger Tesco stores.
Day 9 - Eyeko Black Magic Liquid Eyeliner - 0.4ml - Full Size - Est. RRP £16
From eyebrows to eyeliner, and it wouldn't be an advent calendar without an eyeliner, and this one is a full size felt tip style liner from Eyeko. I've got a few liners from Eyeko in my collection but as you can probably guess I don't really get one with them. I don't think it's particularly the fault of the liners, more my shaky hands, and lack of talent. I think my relationship with eyeliner will go one of two ways in 2022, I'll either master it, or I'll give up on it completely - what will it be?
This pink packaging appears to be exclusive to Glossybox or this calendar but this eyeliner is available in the normal black packing for £16 from Marks and Spencers, Look Fantastic and direct from Eyeko.
Day 10 - James Read Gradual Tan Sleep Mask Face Retinol - 25ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £15
Now I don't know about you but thanks to the season and life in general, and I look as pale and peaky as they come. I guess this was product was included to help you get ready for the party season, but even if the furthest you going is from the sofa to the fridge, I'm sure this product will make you look a little bit healthier. From celebrity tan specialist James Read, this is an overnight facial gradual tan with anti-aging and skincare benefits.
I can't find this particular retinol sleep mask tanner formulation anywhere but this size of the original sleep mask retails at £15 directly from
James Read.
Day 11 - Pixi Glow Tonic - 100ml - Full Size - RRP £10
On day number 11, I received a product that I love, the Pixi Glow Tonic, I love acid toners like this for clearing up blemishes and for improving the texture of my skin. You can read a full review of it
here x
This particular size retails at £10, and is available from a variety of retailers including
Look Fantastic, Marks and Spencers, Boots, Cult Beauty and direct from
Pixi Beauty.Day 12 - Vitamasques Lip Mask Plump And Repair - 1 Mask - Full Size - RRP £4.99
The final item I'm going to share with you in this post was in box number 12 and it was another skincare item, this time from Vitamasques, and it was a lip plumping and moisture mask. My lips are as dry as sticks at the moment, so I will be using this one sooner rather than later.
The Vitamasques Lip Mask - Plump and Repair has a retail price of around £4.99 and it available direct from
Vitamasques.
So that was days 1 - 12 of the 2021
Glossybox advent calendar and so far so good, a few bargain buys and a few really good, high end products, and a lot of things that I'm eager to try. As I say I will feature as many items as I can in future posts, and I will see you soon with either another general unboxing or days 13 - 25, so in the meantime if you have questions on any of the products so far then please leave me a comment and I'll try and get back to you xx
*This Post Contains Added Automatic Affiliate, Added Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
