Being Jewish I never got to take in the fun of having an advent calendar during the holiday season.

Truthfully, it would totally make sense to have a Jewish advent calendar with each of the eight days of Hanukkah being a little box I could open everyday.  Now that I’m a lot older I’ve totally bought into the whole hype of advent calendars and it seems like every brand out there has too.

Gone are the days of boring milk chocolate advent calendars, now you can get beauty products, perfumes, candy, you name it (heck, even Tiffany & Co. has one of the world’s most expensive advent calendars, clocking in at over $200,000 USD).

Since it’s almost December 1 and time to start opening those little boxes, if you’re still stumped on which advent calendar to pick up, don’t worry I got you.

L’Occitane Signature Advent Calendar

Open up L’Occitane’s Signature Advent Calendar (C$64) to reveal a mythical tale about almond trees in Province (where the brand is from) from 1956 to today. Best part is that under the story are 24 boxes with mini L’Occitane goodies.

Included in this set are the following items:

• Immortelle Precious Cream 5ml
• Shea Butter Ultra Rich Lip Balm 4ml
• Rose Hand Cream 10ml
• Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Cream 20ml
• Almond Delicious Hands 10ml
• Aromachologie Revitalizing Sugar Cube 33g
• Lavender Hand Cream 10ml
• Almond Shower Oil 35ml
• Shea Light Comforting Cream 5ml
• Almond Milk Concentrate 20ml
• Verbena Body Lotion 30ml
• Cherry Blossom Hand Cream 10ml
• 5 Essential Oils Shampoo 35ml
• Aqua Réotier Ultra Thirst-Quenching Gel 5ml
• Shea Butter Hand Cream 10ml
• Shea Butter Milk Extra-Gentle Soap 25g
• Shea Butter Intensive Hand Balm 10ml
• Soap with Verbena Leaves 25g
• 5 Essential Oils Conditioner 35ml
• Verbena Cooling Hand Cream Gel 10ml
• Verbena Shower Gel 30ml
• Cherry Blossom Bath & Shower Gel 35ml
• Shea Butter Foot Cream 10ml
• Aqua Réotier Water Gel Cleanser 40ml

As you can see, for only C$64 you get a good assortment of products and definitely items that would be used up (I mean, who doesn’t need bath and body items?).

L’Occitane also has a Luxury Advent Calendar (C$109) with drawers you can pull open. Comparing the two advent calendars, personally I don’t see a huge difference (the Signature one is valued at C$115, whereas the Luxury one is valued at C$218) aside from the Luxury one having more luxurious picks from the L’Occitane collection in general.  Truthfully though, for only C$64, I think the Signature one is a great value and would be a great pick for those who may not be familiar with the brand as much. If you have a L’Occitane lover, you may want to splurge for the Luxury one, but in general the Signature should do the trick.

I also want to add that for the holiday season, L’Occitane has partnered with PUR Projet to #UnwrapNature. Each purchase from their holiday collection (more items coming at you soon in a different post) equals to $1 towards their goal of planting 10,000 trees in North America. So total win-win, right?!

Mary Kay Cosmetics 12 Days of Glam

Something a little more pricier, the Mary Kay 12 Days of Glam advent calendar (C$124.99) is only 12 days long, but includes some fabulous products.

This set has a variety of makeup, skincare, and accessories behind the 12 windows and is guaranteed to be the highlight in anyone’s day who is opening it.

Included in the set are the following items:

• Gel Semi-Matte Lipstick – Midnight Red
• Cream Eye Colour – Beach Blonde or Pale Blush
• Satin Lip® Shea Sugar Scrub
• Mini TimeWise® Microdermabrasion Plus Set
• Mini Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover
• Translucent Loose Powder
• Gel Eyeliner with Expandable Brush Applicator – Jet Black
• NouriShine Plus® Lip Gloss – Golden
• Beauty Blotters® Oil-Absorbing Tissues
• Mini Satin Hands® Nourishing Shea Cream – White Tea & Citrus
• Lash Love Mascara – I ♥ Black
• Blending Sponge

This one would be a little better for the makeup lover or Mary Kay fanatic since you get such a great assortment of beauty items in general.  Most of them are travel-sized items, but there are some great essentials in here that will definitely get a lot of wear, so it’s a great set to gift or pick up for yourself.

Squish Candies Vegan 24 Days of Candy

I actually really wanted to gift the Squish Candies advent calendar (C$39) last year to my boyfriend, but it sold out so fast online that I ended up getting him a Lindt Chocolate one instead (which is also a good option). This year I made sure to grab one early in case they sold out before December 1.

The Squish Candies Vegan 24 Days of Candy (there’s also a non-vegan option as well) has 24 pockets, each one filled with a little packet of candy from their vegan range. If the word “vegan” scares you, don’t worry it just doesn’t contain gelatine or any other product that is derived by animals, they still taste like candy but are a little more chewy.

Included in this set is the following:

• Vegan Sour Wine O’Clock
• Vegan Avocado Dreaming
• Vegan Strawberry Apple Belts
• Vegan DinoSours
• Vegan Aloha
• Vegan Blue Raspberry Belts
• Vegan Sour Strawberry Belts
• Vegan Cola Belts
• Vegan Sour Rainbow Bears
• Vegan Kiss Kiss
• Vegan Flamingle
• Vegan Magic
• Vegan Frosted Rhu-berry
• Vegan Prosecco Bears
• Vegan Magic Dragons
• Vegan Pink Lemonade Fizz
• Vegan 24 Carrot Magic
• Vegan Ice Wine
• Vegan Grapefruit and Blood Orange
• Vegan Sunny Sangria
• Vegan Red Roses
• Vegan Sake Blossom
• Vegan Shark Attack
• Vegan Wicked Witches

Truthfully, comparing the vegan and non-vegan option I think I prefer this one more (the regular one has black liquorice in it which I find really gross). The best part about this calendar is that it’s all candy and who doesn’t like candy? It’ll truly be a crowd pleaser for anyone you gift it to (or even yourself, because why not?!).

There are so many other advent calendars available this season that truly there is an advent calendar for everyone (heck, even Ziggy has a dog treat one waiting for him in New York next week). It’s almost December 1, so get shopping!

Which advent calendar is on your list this year?

Please note, products provided by PR. All opinions are my own.

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About a month or so back, I chatted about Bodyography’s Epic Lash Mascara. As mentioned in that post, I actually received it from a coworker who loves that mascara and thought I should try it out. Shortly after posting about it, I was lucky receive a box of other Bodyography products from the brand to dive into and explore.

In case you aren’t familiar with Bodyography (I wasn’t until I got the mascara), the line is 100 per cent cruelty free with a variety of vegan beauty options. You can find their products both online and in a variety of salons (check their online supplier list to find one near you!).

Anyways, since I really like the mascara, I was very excited to receive some other items from the brand and see if they live up to the mascara in terms of wear and performance. Spoiler alert: the stuff is good and keep reading to get the 411 on my thoughts.

Crystal Glide Liquid Eyeshadow

Okay, so the first product was out excited to try out was their Crystal Glide Liquid Eyeshadow ($20), which is a weightless long-lasting liquid eye shadow that gives you liquid-chrome colour.  The formula is vegan and is infused with pure colour pigments and crystal chrome pearls to deliver intense, vibrant colour.

I received three of the six shades to play around with, Moonstone (nude mauve), Citrine (bright gold),and Garnet (burgundy). Generally I like using liquid eyeshadows as a base for the rest of my makeup look, however, these are really pretty by themselves as well.  You can also use them over top of your powder eye look to really make your eyes pop. Although there are only six shades, the colour range is very good and this is the kind of product where you will get a lot of wear out of it.  The product applies via the doefoot applicator and then you can either use your fingers or a blush to blend it out.

Glitter Pigments

Perfect for the holidays, the Bodyography Glitter Pigments ($23) are available in 16 different shades. These are a loose cushiony pigment that deliver a pearlescent, high-glitter finish. When you open up the packaging you’ll notice the stopper to press the pigment down and to keep everything nice and clean. Dip your brush or your fingers in the jar and apply the product on your lids (or wherever), where it will glide on nice and silky.

Bodyography sent me two shades, Supernova (blue/green) and Stellar (rose gold copper), and I find these to have more of a sheen to them as opposed to just pure glitter. I find the Marc Jacobs version to be a little more sparkly, but if you are afraid of glitter and just want something more shiny then these would be worthwhile to pick up.

For the lips, take a look at their lip liners ($12 each), which are available in nine different shades. The brand sent me the colour Pouty, which is right up my alley. This pinky peach nude colour matches a lot of lipsticks I already have and glides nicely on the lips, allowing it to perfectly outline your pout.

For a complete lip look, pair the liner with one of their Fabric Texture Lipsticks ($26), which come in six shades. I like matching Pouty with Sateen (mauve grey) for a really pretty pink lip. I also have the shade Velvet (oxblood burgundy) and both shades just glide on the lips and offer a comfortable wear.

These lipsticks offer a demi-matte finish and are lightweight on the lips. Colour goes on incredibly pigmented and moisturizes lips.

Finally, the last item they sent over was their Inner Glow Stick ($26), which is a double-ended highlighter.  This product features a highlighter and an essence, which is supposed to be used on the high points of the skin for a fresh, wet-looking luminance.  You can wear them alone or with each other for the ultimate glow.

The first time I used this I loved the highlight end and was very impressed with how shimmery it looked.  The other end though, although cool and definitely different, I didn’t care for as much. When I applied it over my foundation, as you typically would do with a highlighter, I found the product to be like a Vaseline texture and it wiped off some of my makeup. I would maybe reserve this for days where I wear just a BB cream or a really light foundation to give me that dewy look.

Bodyography has a ton more products to choose from and overall I was very impressed with the collection. It’s not the easiest brand to find if you want to take a look at these products in real life, but Bodyography also offers online shopping for their products as well.  If you’re making an order, I highly recommend tossing their Epic Lash into your cart as well.

Have you tried Bodyography products?

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I’ve always been a fan of Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel collection.

The line consists of two steps, a colour with built-in base coat, as well as a non-curing top coat that gives you mega shine and long wear, similar to what you would get if you’re getting a gel manicure at the salon. To celebrate all that is glitter and gold, this season the drugstore nail polish brand has released a three-shade collection, all of which are gold shades.

The Oh My Gold! collection has three different glittery gold polishes to choose from. Now, you wouldn’t think that there would be that many ways to wear gold sparkle polish, but Sally Hansen is proving us wrong with this one. Gold Ricks is a metallic gold shade with chunky of holographic glitter, Good as Gold is a flurry of gold glitter in a clear base that really coats the nails, and Five Golden Blings is a clear base with a little flecks of gold that is similar to Good as Gold but has less glitter.

All three of these polishes work perfectly as a topper for a more opaque colour, as well as on their own. For the sake of swatching, I did paint these on their own and found that they actually looked really pretty just by themselves. Don’t forget to use the Miracle Gel top coat to set the colour for up to 10 days.

I wish the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel holiday collection came in some other shades as well, but hey, three golds work as well (especially since they are all different). If I had to choose just one to go with, I would definitely pick Good as Gold since it’s really pretty either by itself or over another colour.

What’s your ideal holiday nail polish collection look like?

Please note, polishes provided by PR. All opinions are my own.

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