Adventing with Marks & Spencer's Ultimate Beauty Advent Calendar

For the past few years I've been experimenting with alternative Advent Calendars. I've had Ciaté nail polish advents and challenged myself to use each one each day (that was tough!), I had the Yankee Candle house calendar last year and was left underwhelmed (it's definitely a case of the bigger the better quality where Yankee is concerned). And bar that one year where I was seduced by a Thorntons "The Snowman" calendar I've successfully managed to avoid chocolate! Well done me.

So why Marks & Spencer's?

Well at £25 it was one of the cheapest on the market and I am all about the bargains. Yes you had to spend £25 to get it down from the original £200 sticker price but I already had a payday date with some of the newly stocked Pixi products so it was a no brainer to stick this in my basket at the same time. My friend Katrina from Sugafix.com shared the deal and I was instantly sold. It's also one of the few affordable sets available where I would buy or have bought nearly all of the contents separately and am a fan of the brands. Deals like The Body Shop are great but do I really need 20 odd products I would never ever use? Not really, although I would turn it down as a gift! This one made sense.

What's in it?

I tried really hard to resist taking a peek at the products inside but it was an acne emergency that forced me to look at them just incase there was a miracle spot cream inside. There wasn't but there was pretty much every other type of beauty product in there. With multiple lipsticks and mascaras, various soaps, balms, masques, repair therapies, and nourishing creams it has everything to make you feel a wee bit special.

I shall leave you with a list of the products inside as there really isn't a definitive list available online and I know how fussy I am when choosing these things. I want to know that I'm going to enjoy at least 80% of what's inside.

Pur Minerals Volume Vixen Mascara Mini

Stila Lip Glaze

Autograph Ultra Shine Twist-up Lip Colour

Diego Della Palma The Lipstick n.46

Leighton Denny Renovate Nail Repair Therapy

Morgan Taylor Nail Varnish

Roger & Gallet Fleur De Figuier Hand & Nail Balm

Crabtree & Evelyn La Source Moisturising Soap

L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel

Cowshed Grumpy Cow Body Lotion

Mio Liquid Yoga Resorative Bath Soak

Rituals Zensation Organic Rice Milk & Cherry Blossom Foaming Shower Gel

Butt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

Rodial Dragon's Blood Sculpting Gel

Filorga Time-Filler (how mysterious does this sound?!?)

PIXI Glow Tonic

Neal's Yard Frankincense Nourishing Cream

Pure Super Grape Day Cream

REN Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial

Rosie For Autograph Nuit Parfum Eau De Parfum

Philip Kingsley Geranium and Neroli Elasticizer

Swell Ultimate Volume Masque

Josh Wood Full Bodied Shampoo

Percy & Reed Volumising No Oil Oil

This item is sold out online however there was tonnes in stock in stores so I'd get in there. You have only a few days we can open our first box!!

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This article has been going through my head quite a lot recently and I’m feeling a little self indulgent so bear with me. As a kid I was on the special needs list throughout school and given a classroom assistant to help with my tracheostomy care. I was considered disabled enough to warrant disability benefits right up until I turned 18 when they decided that I wasn’t mentally incapacitated enough and too independent. A panel of bureaucrats sat across the table and said “we can see you are but there’s nothing we can do.” I didn’t tick the right boxes. I’ve worked since I was old enough and supported myself as much as I could and excluding a few short absences from work I have been successful in that. Until now. Now I can’t support myself. I struggle with self care. I’ve had to give up my home and I’ve lost my independence. I’m back to getting surgery’s every 6-8 weeks. They were usually just day cases but the last few have been fairly severe with extended stays (I get to have ano

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