Boots 24 Days of Beauty Treats Advent Calender

I posted on December 1st that this year (well last year) I had managed to get my hands on the Boots 24 Days of Beauty treats calender and that I would be posting on Instagram a photograph of what I received each day.  As my Instagram threw a wobbly I wasn't able to post everyday as I had hoped so I thought I would share with you on here a complete look at what I received and whether I think beauty advent calendars are worth the hype and money.

(in no particular order)

Balmi Lip Balm in Coconut

Soap & Glory Clean Girls Body Wash 75ml

Soap & Glory Flake Away Travel Size

Seventeen Supreme Shine Nail Polish in Miami

Boots Salon Care Nail Shine Solution

Umberto Giannini Back Comb in a Bottle 30ml

Vichy Idealia Life Serum 3 ml

Botanics Heat Protection Shine Serum 30 ml

Carmex Pot Original

Seventeen Tattoo Me Eyeliner 

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation 8ml

Vichy Liftactiv Serum Eyes and Lashes 3ml

17 Blow Out Mascara

Umberto Giannini Pom Pom Band (Hair Tie)

Orly Bonder Basecoat

Nails Inc Porchester Square 4ml

Mavala Nail Polish  in Pure Diamonds 5ml

Mavala Nail Polish  in London 5ml

Boots Nail File

Paco Rabanne Black XS 

Ghost Moonlight

Juicy Couture Couture La La

Nina Ricci Nina

Ghost The Fragrence

I decided to wait until after the Christmas craze to pass before posting this as to be honest I did have mixed feelings.  I really love the idea, who doesn't want a new makeup product each day running up to Christmas? But more importantly I didn't know what to expect as I didn't want to know what was in the calender until I opened the door, all part of the Christmas spirit.  Being such the drugstore lover that I am I have actually used a lot of these products before so I was a little disappointed.  Also I found there there were a lot of nail products (7 in total), perfume samples and Seventeen products. So I think they could have chosen more of a mixed bag of products and brands. 

However, this has not deterred me from beauty advent calenders as there were a couple of things that I have enjoyed that I would not have picked up.  Next year I think I might go for a pricier calender with more of a chance of finding new things.

The Boots 24 Days of Beauty Treats retailed for £30 and I think is well worth it if you do not dive into the drugstore that often or if you just want the excitement of Christmas everyday leading up the big 25th but without spending a lot of money.

Let me know your thoughts on  this calender or any others that you tried this Christmas.

Empites

My first ever Empties post! Yay I am finally learning how to completely finish a product before moving on to another one.  I am doing project 10 pan so I hopefully should be finishing up some of those products throughout the coming months but surprising I have also finished off some other things. 

Empties posts are one of my favourite posts because you get to see what products people would actually repurchase and possibly the reasons why they wouldn't. 

Soap and Glory - Foam Call Body Wash

I love Soap & Glory bath and body products, not only for the cute packaging but the product inside is always good quality and smells amazing.  

500ml of product lasts so long especially when the bottle comes with a pump so you never squirt out too much.  It leaves my skin feeling moisturised which is an added bonus.  There are a few more scents that I want to try before saying I would repurchase this exact one again but I definitely want more of the Soap and Glory shower gels in my life.

Neutrogena - Visibly Clear 2 in 1 Wash and Mask

Firstly I just want to point out the packaging has been changed slightly from my one shown, but I believe the formula has been kept the same.  This actually took me a long time to use up because I didn't like it at all.  This was a cult product a few years back and I didn't try it out, but then one day I saw it on offer to decided to give it a try.  As I said I really did not get on with this product, it left my skin dry and very taut.  I really didn't think it did anything to combat spots either.  I do have dry skin so let me know you're thoughts if you also have dry skin.

The Body Shop - Gentle Eye Makeup Remover Gel

The product I have linked is not the exact same makeup remover that I am talking about, as this one was discontinued, but it is similar.

Me and my mum always used to use this and I have been holding on to the last of this bottle for too long.  This used to be the only thing that could remove my eye makeup without irritating my eyes. I now use Cetaphil and it does an amazing job.

L'Oreal - Extra Volume Collagene Mascara

I liked this mascara it really boosted my lashes with volume, though as it started drying it did become quite clumpy. I liked the big wand which was a bit of a funny shape (it was thinner in the middle than at the ends) and really liked how it applied. L'Oreal mascaras are getting to be pricey nowadays and though I did like it I think there may be something better for cheaper out there, somewhere.

Collection 2000 - Big Fake Mascara

This was another popular product a while ago and again I waited to try it out.  I really liked to use this mascara on top of a lengthening mascara.  It doesn't quite do enough on its own but for the price it did add a good enough amount of volume.  The let down for me was that it dried out very quickly, if you like to throw away your mascaras every few months then this wouldn't bother you but I'm naughty and throw mine away when they have run out.

Impulse - True Love Body Spray

Another product that has had a makeover so the new bottle doesn't have the same design as this one. Nevertheless, I used to love Impulse sprays, I actually used to collect them and think I have possibly owned every single one.  Hence why they are in my project pan, for some reason I am addicted to them.  They all smell quite sweet and girly, I have a few that came with limited edition Barry M glosses as well so yeah big fan over here.  I probably now wouldn't repurchase all of them but there are one or two scents that I could have in my handbag.  Yes I know I am 21 and not 12.

Boots - Nail Varnish Remover Pads

I always have a pot of these lying around, I think for £1.50 these are so good.  They are acetone free and leave the nails nourished.  They do a pretty good job of removing nail varnish too. What more would you want?

Boots - Double Faced Oval Pads

A really boring item to talk about, but I only realised how good these pads were after using the Superdrug version.  Superdrug doesn't have anything on these bad boys. The two sides each have a different surfaces so one side can be used to help remove makeup while the other side is nice to apply a toner with.  They don't full apart and cotton goes everywhere, these are also slightly bigger than the normal cotton pads so they get the job done quicker.  When I run out of the Superdrug ones I am definitely going back to using these ones.