Advent Beauty Calendars: 12 Days of Bath from Ulta and Sephoras’ Days 12-24

“I love presents, But since I’ve gotten older, I haven’t really wanted anything.” ~ Jacob Latimore

Last Hours of Christmas

This is a little late, but then again, there are 12 days of Christmas and for a lot of kiddos (not the ones in New Hampshire, unfortunately) they are only going back to school tomorrow! So Christmas/Holiday break is still on for a couple more hours at least! Heck, Hallmark only just switched to their winterfest series, last night. (rest in peace Christmas movies, until next year!) Hallmark Movies and Mysteries (yes there were two channels!) is the last hold out, but even they switche over at eight tonight. (I am officially in mourning.) All good things must come to an end and at least now we get to prepare and get excited all over again in a few months, so bright side!

Of course I still have a couple holiday-esque, end of 2019 posts I want to share (and hopefully I can write them in a timely fashion!) with y’all, including a recap of the Advent Beauty Calendars I got. I know I already said it, but I am so happy after years of reading other bloggers posts, that I finally joined the Advent Calendar game. I was so pleased with the two calendars I got and all the products that they offered. While there were a handful of hit and misses between the two, over all I was not disappointed. I felt like both calendars were great prices for what I got. Ulta’s calendar especially surprised me, and I just might have been converted. I know, shocker!

Sephora Days 12-24

As I said, I was really impressed with the Sephora calendar and felt like it was a great deal. Not only was it adorable, but it was easy to get the items out, without destroying the calendar. I loved that they offered multiple masks for different parts of the face, as I am huge fan of them, though they tend to be on the expensive side. Just finding those, the calendar paid for itself. I also got to try out two different body washes and two small bath fizzers, (a name I am finding a lot of stores are using instead of bath bombs) one of which smelled like the beach! I am obsessed with not just the scents, but also that it left my skin silky soft. Unfortunately, they are only sold online, and are currently out of stock. Hopefully they will restock soon.

As the days went on, I also found lipstick, lip balm, lip liner, lipgloss, (my lip will be set!) a nail file, eyeliner and a tiny mirror. There were also two invisible hair ties. I had heard of the brand, but never tried them and I was ecstatic that I now could. They are designed to keep your hair while not pulling any of it out. They also look like bracelets, so are fashionable to wear on your wrist, as I have the bad habit of doing. I love them and now want more!

The only product that was lackluster for me came down more to personal preference, then it being a bad product, because it was also a decent size and that was the nail polish and nail decals. I either get mails professionally done or go au naturale, so nail polish is something I don’t have any need for. The bright side was I could give it to my niece who has been wanting to paint her nails for months. She was super ecstatic about it. I am not sure if Sephora changes their products from year to year, I know some companies don’t, but I would definitely do this calendar again, especially if it comes with the shower gel and bath fizzers, which were my favorites.

Ulta 12 Day Bath Calendar

Confession: I do not shop at Ulta. I am a Sephora loyalist, BUT I just might have to start shopping after getting this calendar and using their products. First off, for what you get which is: body wash, bubbles, bath confetti, hand lotion, foot lotion, body lotion, a loofah, (which okay is kinda blah) bath salts, bath bomb, lip balm, spa headband (another just okay) and a candle, which smells divine, it is an amazing price. The lip balm is full sized and I got over a week with some of the lotions, bubble bath, and shower gel, which I was not expecting.

I was a bit nervous about the scents as I am super picky. I hate fruity scents and prefer more creamy vanilla smells, though I will never say no to a product that takes me right to the beach, especially during the winter. While the Frosted Berry which made up half the products did not do that, it did smell absolutely divine. It was subtle, yet lingered on my skin in a refreshing way for hours. I would use it before bed and wake up and the scent would still be there.

I loved this calendar, but there are a couple cons. Firstly, it was difficult to get the products out, and the box was completely mutilated by the last day. Also the bath bomb, was exactly that, a total bomb. I ended up using it as a scrub, because it didn’t disintegrate in the tub, like it was suppose too. I also didn’t really need a loofah, but that wasn’t a huge deal, all the other products made up for it.

Over all, my first, but definitely not my last venture into Beauty Advent Calendars was a major success. Not only are they fun, but it is also a smart marketing tool. I definitely am interested in Ulta’s products now, I even went online to buy the Frosted Berry shower gel (which is on major sale currently), and there were things from Sephora’s calendar, I now want to buy in larger sizes. It was a fun way to not only celebrate the season, but also spoil myself just a little bit each day.

Did you do an Advent Calendar this year? Have you done one before?