2013 Beauty Advent Calendars - which will you count down with?

UPDATED 16/11/2013

For the last few years I've absolutely coveted the Selfridges Beauty Advent Calendar but usually while I'm dithering about spending £84 on a load of random beauty products I'm not sure I want it sells out!  It's out again this year but there are also some cheaper alternatives so I thought I'd do a little round up of what's available.

Christmas Advent Calendar

This is the original beauty advent calendar which brings you minis from high end brands such as Viktor & Rolf, YSL, Kiehls, Giorgio Armani, Lancome and Maison Martin Margiela to name but a few.  It comes with a luxury price tag too - available from Selfridges* for £84.  I'd hurry if you're wanting it, usually this sells out pretty quickly!

Boots Beauty Advent Calendar

I've actually bought this one to try and end my cravings for these types of calendars!  It's the cheapest one available but still not bargain bucket at £30.  It contains £65 worth of product from brands such as Botanics, Carmex, Juicy, Ghost, Nails Inc, Mavala, Soap & Glory, Rimmel, Seventeen, Umberto Giannini, Paco Rabanne and Vichy.  Way more at my price point but still some fab stuff.  Available now from Boots.com* for £30 - apparently you get triple points on any full size purchases you make that you tried in the calendar, excellent!

Ciate Mini Mani Month

This is a Selfridges exclusive and contains 17 of Ciate's best selling mini paint pots, 4 mini Caviar blends and 3 exclusive Paint Pot glitter shades.  I think this looks fantastic but as I haven't tried Ciate polishes much before, this would feel like a bit of a baptism of fire I think!  This is available from Selfridges* £42.

Benefit Countdown to Love

This pop art inspired calendar comes filled with Benefit goodies so perfect if you're already a big fan of the brand.  There's a full contents list on the website, it'll be out in the next few weeks for £50.  I wanted a mix of brands rather than just one so didn't really fancy this.

You Beauty Advent Calendar

This one costs a relatively budget friendly £49.95 (plus postage for non members as it's only available online) and includes a mixture products worth £240 from Caudalie, ESPA, Dermalogica, Leighton Denny, Sisley and Stila.  I absolutely love Dermalogica and Leighton Denny so my ears pricked up a little bit with this one!  I think if I hadn't already bought the Boots one, I may well have got this even though it's slightly more expensive.  You can buy the You Beauty Advent Calendar here.

Freedom at Topshop

Now, I know that strictly speaking this isn't a beauty advent calendar but I think it's rather interesting!  It's by Freedom at Topshop and contains pieces of jewellery for each day - it contains 12 pairs of earrings, 4 bracelets and 8 necklaces.  I'm a bit picky with jewellery so chances are I wouldn't like about 75% of what's in it but if you're a bling fan I think this is great!  You can always share/give away anything you don't like.   This is available from Topshop for £28.

If you still want a chocolate advent calendar but something a bit fancier than Dairy Milk I'd recommend the Hotel Chocolat ones, so yummy!  In other news, there's apparently no Liz Earle calendar this year which I'm sure fans of the brand will be thoroughly disappointed by.