This year was my first year trying a beauty advent calendar. I chose the QVC Advent Beauty Calendar because of its affordability and accessibility in comparison to others. Why get an advent calendar? Traditionally, it is used to create the feeling of joyful anticipation for the birth of our Savior. The little trinkets (candy, toys, beauty products) add to that joyful waiting experience.
Affordability and Accessibility
If you are unfamiliar, QVC is an online and at home shopping network that offers flex-pay for many products. I purchased this calendar using their flex pay option and the $56 price was broken down over 6 payments. I received my calendar a week before December began.
Product specific Advent calendars are most popular in the UK, but they are growing in the US. The fact that this was sold by a US based company and offered quick shipping made it attractive to me. In the past when I have looked at some of the other brands such as Jo Malone or Clinique they were either out of my price range, sold out quickly or required international shipping. The fact that I ordered this calendar so close to the advent season and had it arrive early was plus.
Product Presentation and options
The design and presentation of the calendar is key to the experience. The openings for each day were easy to find and the magnetic “book-style” design made for a great presentation. The only issues I had were when some products needed to be wedged out of their slots.
The products for each varied from skincare, to hair care, to makeup. I liked the different beauty options. I was able to try out an array of products. The most popular category was body care (lotions, tanning products, etc) and makeup. There weren’t as many hair care options in comparison.
One major negative was that many products were not brown skin/kinky hair friendly. There were 3 products geared toward tanning. As a woman with a deep complexion, I found no need for gradual tanners. I ended up using Vita Liberata Beauty Blur as a highlighting base under my foundation.
Some of the shades of makeup were geared towards lighter skin tones and lighter haired individuals. The It Cosmetics Brow Power “universal” shade was a light brown. I was really excited to try their brow product but was disappointed that the option provided missed the mark.
TAKEAWAY
I think the calendar is a good value for the money I spent on it. I have tried and will try many new products. Out of the 24 days of products there were 8 days that I felt I didn’t want or could not use the products. I would recommend this calendar, but I have to say I was disappointed that they failed in making the products more inclusive to a wider audience.