John Lewis and M&S beauty advent calendars

It’s not Christmas without a beauty advent calendar now, is it? There are SO many of them, it’s impossible to keep track. But, I am lucky enough to have two of the best to open this year – roll on December.

First up is the John Lewis Beauty Advent Calendar. The retail giant hasn’t had a beauty advent calendar before, so they have gone to town on their first. It weights in at a hefty £149, but it is JAM-PACKED with beauty goodies – with some full sizes, and some sample, and lots of fabulous brands.

What I also like about it is the thought that has gone into what is behind each door.

“Each window has been carefully selected according to the day of the week, like the This Works pillow spray for the perfect Sunday night sleep, the Bobbi Brown mascara for that Thursday work night out and the Charlotte Tilbury magic cream for Christmas Eve so you wake up looking fabulous on Christmas day,” explains the John Lewis Beauty Buyer. “Our advent calendar is the ultimate gift for the beauty-obsessed! The beautifully decorated box houses full-sized products alongside deluxe samples hand-picked from some of our favourite brands. We love it because it includes products from skincare, make up and fragrance.”

The calendar highlights are:

• Fresh – the Fresh Soy cleanser is a delicately cucumber scented cleanser that melts away your make up and impurities leaving your skin feeling refreshed and radiant.
• Marc Jacobs – A highly pigmented long lasting eyeliner that works just as well as an eye shadow because it blends out beautifully, great for an intense look.
• MAC –  A beautiful satin lipstick that lasts all day on the lips. It melts on contact giving the best colour pay off resulting in a satin glossy finish.
• Sarah Chapman –  Morning facial delivers intense and long-lasting skin-plumping, hydration and radiance with its blend of wrinkle fighting technologies and vitamin rich conditioning oils, for a more youthful looking skin.
• Chloe Eau de Parfum –  Warm amber, honey and cedarwood notes are blended with the overpowering aroma of roses to created this luxurious and feminine scent.

And..there are 25 days in this one – so a special treat on Christmas Day too!

My other favourite calendar this year comes from Marks and Spencer. Once again their beauty advent calendar is like a beauty ‘Gift With Purchase’ – you spend £35 across clothing and home and you can buy it for £35.

It has a cute design  – 25 different sized boxes in a house shaped box – and it too, is jam-packed with products from all sorts of top beauty brands, including Filorga, Rodial, Diego Dalla Palma, Eyeko, Nuxe and more, as well as M&S own brands.

The beauty treats are worth £250 in total, so this is a fantastic buy if you are a beauty fan. It’s available in store from November 9.