Chantal Elizabeth: advent

Sunday, 1 January 2023

John Lewis Beauty Advent Calendar 2022 Review

I think like most people this time of year, I just can't believe how fast the year has gone by! It's probably because we were actually allowed out of the house properly for the first time in two years, so everyone made the most of it and it feels like this year has gone by in a flash.

Since last year my sister and I have shared a beauty advent calendar and this year we chose the John Lewis Beauty Advent Calendar. The reason we chose this one is because you got to try loads of brands for only £170, when the value of all the products in the calendar added up was around £700, so we thought that was incredible value for money! The brands included were a mixture of makeup, skincare, body care, fragrance and hair care products including gifts from Charlotte Tilbury, Laura Mercier, MAC, NEOM, Murad, Olaplex, Augustinus Bader and many more! (you can still see the full list here). Last night my sister and I split the products between us, so in today's post I want to show you the products I chose from the calendar and in the future I may write reviews of some of my favourite products I've tried.

1. Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream 15ml

One of the most impressive products in the calendar is the 15ml version of the Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream moisturiser. The 30ml medium sized version sets you back £135, so to get a mini version of this is amazing as it means that you can try the moisturiser before you even think about buying either the medium or full sized version. Also I love that the Rich Cream is vegan as being vegan myself I've been trying to use only vegan ingredients as I know that it won't flare up my skin or give me spots.

2. Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge

I've never tried any Bobbi Brown makeup before, I don't know why but I guessed it never appealed to me. This product is a gorgeous mid toned, light pink shade that can be used on both cheeks and lips. I want to start wearing more cream products in 2023, so this product will be a good product to use to get me started!

3. Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub

I've used one of the Christophe Robin's coloured hair masks before and it was great at keeping your hair colour fresh and it made your hair feeling really soft, so I'm excited to try this scrub. The Cleansing Purifying Scrub is meant to be used on wet hair before you shampoo your hair to help clarify your scalp so it has a clean base to start from, if perhaps you want to change your cycle of your hair wash and style routine. This is a 40ml pot, so a little will go a long way.

4. Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment

My hands are dry all year round apart from summer, which is awful, so I was so happy to see this when I opened door 13. The Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream is meant to keep your hands feeling moisturised all year round and I'm guessing it has some ingredients that helps keep your nails looking strong too. My usual hand cream is a £2.50 one from Boots own brand, so it will be interesting to see how this one compares.

5. Charlotte Tilbury Bella Sofia Eyeshadow Palette

I have built up quite a collection of Charlotte Tilbury eyeshadow palettes because I love them, but I have never bought the Bella Sofia one (originally called Dolce Vita) so I'm excited to use this one. From looking at it in the Charlotte Tilbury store I remember it having a red/brown shade, a pearl inner corner shade, a smoky brown shade and the pop shade is a beautiful gold that makes the eyes really stand out!

6. Dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF50 Spf Moisturiser

I've been on the hunt for a moisturiser that contains spf as I haven't found a stand alone spf that I love just yet, although the La Roche- Posay one has been the best so far (I just don't like the bottle). This Dermalogica moisturiser is the 2 in 1 I will need going into 2023, especially in the spring and summer months even though I do know that you are meant to wear spf everyday.

7. Elemis Pro- Collagen Marine Moisture Essence

I've never tried anything from Elemis before as it's usually quite expensive to buy their products. This Pro- Collagen Marine Moisture Essence is meant to make your skin feel plump and hydrated so that your face is kept moisturised for 24 hours apparently. I'm sure you can probably use this in the evening too after your serum so your skin barrier can hydrate over night.

8. ESPA Sleeping Serum

The idea of a sleeping serum sounds lovely to me and this ESPA one tackles visible signs of skin ageing while you sleep, which even though I don't technically need right now, I can start using it in 2023 so I stop looking older sooner than I could do.

9. Evolve Miracle Mask

The Evolve Miracle Mask is a AHA fruit mask that contains glycolic acid and sugar cane to deliver smoother and plumper skin. It also helps to increase cellular renewal and skin radiance. I'm not usually keen on masks however this one promises fantastic results, so I'm willing to give this a go and I hope it's really good.

10. Floral Street Sunflower Pop eau de parfum

No need to search for your summer perfume when the John Lewis beauty advent calendar gives you one inside door 19! The Sunflower Pop shade is a fresh, citrus scent containing notes of mandarin and bergamot with a Van Gogh design inside the bottle which you'll especially appreciate if you are a fan of art like myself. I'm very excited to use this in the summer!

11. Laura Mercier Translucent Powder

One of the most exciting products from the calendar is definitely the Laura Mercier Translucent Powder. This iconic powder is a loose setting powder that keeps your makeup set in place all day, but even I myself can't believe that I've never tried this product before as it's so famous, I'm just not used to loose powders, but I'm thankful this one is included as I need to try it.

12. Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser

Cleansers usually remove your makeup and clean your skin however this Murad one is also an exfoliator as it contains both AHA and BHA acids to remove dead skin to reveal soft and smoother skin that's ready for skincare and makeup. As someone who's mainly oily but now with the odd dry patches around my chin area, this product will be perfect for when I need to remove the dry skin that's bothering me.

13. Olaplex N03

I do get my hair balayaged red every 2 or 3 months however I've never chosen to use Olaplex on my hair before it's coloured as it puts the cost of the colour up which I can never afford, so to get one included in the advent calendar is amazing! Olaplex is a weekly at home treatment that reduces breakage to improve the strength of your hair while it's being coloured. My sister and I are going to share this product as she gets her hair dyed too and hers is blonde, so she'll appreciate this even more than I do.

14. Votary Brightening Hyaluronic Serum

This Votary serum contains narcissus which is meant to unify skin tone and restore radiance to dull skin. Hyaluronic acid (which I'm assuming this contains) adds a huge dose of hydration to keep skin looking plump and youthful which I'm all for.

I hope you enjoyed my post and as promised I will review all the products that have impressed me the most this year, 2023!

Thanks for reading

Chantal x

advent

MAC 2021 Box of Tricks Advent Calendar Review

To quote everyone else, I can't believe that 2021 is almost over. Even though this year hasn't been the best for most people it has still somehow gone by very quickly compared to last year. Bring on 2022! For my last post of the year I wanted to write a review of the first and only beauty advent calendar that I bought which was the MAC 2021 Box of Tricks Advent Calendar which contains £340 worth of products however it only cost me £135 to buy, which I think was a pretty good deal if you ask me. I know the calendar has sold out now however I wanted to talk about some of my favourite products from the calendar that I want to recommend to you lovely lot.

What I love most about this calendar is the amount of makeup you got with it compared to other beauty advent calendars this year. There were 15 makeup products and 9 skincare products, so considering that MAC is obviously known as a makeup brand I think they made the right choice doing this.

Going from left to right we have the Brow Set in Clear, Strobe Cream in Pinklite, Powder Kiss Lipstick in Mull It Over, Extra Dimension 3D Black Lash Mascara, lipstick in Taupe, Lipglass in Spite, Eyeshadow in Brun, Prep + Prime Natural Radiance in Radient Yellow, Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul, Powder Kiss Soft Matte Eyeshadow in It's Vintage, Eyeshadow in Omega and the Cleanse off oil.

Out of this group of products my favourites are the Powder Kiss lipstick in Mull It Over which is a great everyday warm nude shade that'll suit lots of people, Taupe lipstick as it's a gorgeous reddish brown shade that really goes with the whole 90s beauty trends that are going on right now and the eyeshadow in Brun has that same feel to it. My last favourite out of these lot would be the eyeshadow in Omega as it's a beige colour that can both be a great base for eyeshadow however you can also use it all over as a simple one eyeshadow look which is something I do a lot of!

Now for the right hand side, going from left to right we have the mini lipstick in Velvet Teddy, Lipglass in Clear, Prep + Prime Essential Oils, Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Bougie, Prep+ Prime lip, Powder Kiss Soft Matte Eyeshadow in Devoted to Chili, mini lipstick in Ruby Woo, Pigment Colour in Tan, lipstick in Mehr, mini lipstick in Chili, Veluxe Pearl Eyeshadow in Expensive Pink and finally the mini Fix+.

My favourites from this side of the calendar are the mini lipstick in Velvet Teddy because it's so iconic, it suits everyone so therefore you can never have enough of it! The Lipglass in Clear is so simple yet so effective and one product I don't have is a clear lip gloss, so this is something I actually need in my life! The Devoted to Chili eyeshadow looks very exciting as it's a colour that sits right in the middle of red and orange, so I can't wait to create a look using this product next year and my last pick has to be the Pigment Colour Powder in Tan because I've never created a look with a pigment before (unless you count the Barry M Dazzle Dusts which we all tried when we were 12!). This pigment will look beautiful over a bronze smokey eye or maybe over a sunset eye look in the summer.

I hope you discovered some fun and interesting products that you may want to try next year.

Wishing you all the best for 2022

Chantal x

2021