Forget windows stuffed with chocolates – skincare and make-up aficionados can make the countdown to Christmas even more exciting with a festive beauty advent calendar.
Packed with beauty, body and grooming goodies that you can reveal in the lead-up to December 25, these calendars are replacing the traditional variety for those seeking a different kind of treat.
Whether bought as an early gift for a loved one or a present for yourself, there are enough options on the market to suit everyone, whether offering up grooming essentials, scented candles, bath bombs or eye masks.
Here, we round up 12 of the best available in the UAE, whether you can buy in-store or ship online.
Clinique
Namshi is offering an advent calendar filled with goodies from the skincare giant for Dh399. Featuring mini and travel-sized products, the lucky recipient will find essentials such as the All About Clean face soap, Clarifying Lotion and Moisture Surge moisturiser hidden behind the doors. Also included are Smart-Custom Repair Serum and Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry to add a dash of colour to lips and cheeks, as well as Blushing Blush in Precious Posy. There is even a Lash Power Mascara and Quickliner eyeliner to ramp up the glamour, plus a handy-sized Aromatics in Black perfume.
Dh399 at namshi.com
Sephora
Sephora offers a 24-day advent calendar packed with key beauty items from its own-brand collection. The jungle-themed Wild Wishes Calendar has a treat behind each door, such as charcoal nose strips, a pineapple mask, an almond lip mask and cooling cucumber under-eye patches, as well as mini versions of Sephora’s three-step skincare routine: All Day Hydrator, Purifying Mud Mask and Clean Skin Gel.
Dh260, sephora.ae
Dr Barbara Sturm
A go-to brand for those serious about skincare, this calendar is filled with 24 full, deluxe and sachet sizes of some of its most popular items. Included is the Enzyme Cleanser, the Facial Scrub and the Anti-Ageing Body Scrub, as well as the Eye Cream, Clarifying Face Cream, Hyaluronic Ampoule, Glow Drops and Calming Serum. There is even a serving of Face Cream for men, to make sure the man of the house does not feel left out.
Dh1,976, net-a-porter.com
MAC
MAC Cosmetics' Boom Boom Wow advent calendar promises to deliver some serious treats. To create a perfect pout, you'll find a full-sized lipgloss, four lip glazes, six lipsticks and a lip scrub. For the eyes, there are six eyeshadows as well as a brow gel and mascara, and the set even includes products to take your make-up off afterwards.
Dh940, with next-day delivery in Dubai, maccosmetics.ae
Kiehl’s
This skincare brand's offering is filled with small versions of some of its best-loved products. The Midnight Recovery Concentrate is behind one door, while a Facial Fuel Energising Moisture Treatment is behind another. Also included are the Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution, Amino Acid Shampoo and Conditioner, and the Calendula Herbal Extract Toner. Skin devotees will love the Hydroplump Retexurising Serum, the Powerful Strength Line Reducing Concentrate and the Dark Circle Diminishing Vitamin C Eye Serum.
Dh1,559, with free shipping to the UAE, desertcart.ae
NPW
Perfect for budding beauty fans, this Carrefour-stocked Beauty Junky advent calendar is filled with tiny treats such as a mini nail file, a mini nail polish and mini nail glitter. There are also false eyelashes, 2D nail stickers, a pot of eyeshadow, a lipgloss and assorted hair ties, as well as a special window containing a ‘BFF Kit’ to share.
Dh46.55, free delivery in UAE, carrefouruae.com
OPI Nail Polish
Nothing beats a slick of nail colour to brighten even the gloomiest of days, and for the polish addict in your life, why not gift the OPI Shine Bright Collection Nail Polish Calendar? Containing 24 different shades of OPI nail polish, these come in travel-sized bottles and have festive names, such as Gingerbread Man Can, Snowfalling for You and Merry in Cranberry.
Dh247.13, lookfantastic.ae
Penhaligon’s
For those craving a whiff of the UK, the Brilliantly British Advent Calendar from Penhaligon’s, available from Selfridges, brings together the brand's signature scents. Packed in a perfume-bottle shaped box, you'll find Penhaligon's beautifully packaged miniature fragrances, as well as lip balms and scented candles. Unlike most advent calendars, this one has 25 windows, meaning there is even a gift to unveil on the big day itself.
Dh1,579, allow six working days for delivery, which costs Dh122., selfridges.com
NYX Professional Makeup
Twelve shades of NYX lipsticks are contained in this limited-edition festive calendar, called Diamonds & Ice Please!. Ranging from soft and subtle shades all the way to a statement lip, there is a a colour for everyone.
Dh121.60, mena.feelunique.com
Huda Beauty
Housed in a box shaped like a pair of bright red lips, the Huda Beauty advent calendar is a must for beauty fans. Packed with some of the brand's most famous products, there is a Thirst Trap face mask, a set of Hoodie #23 eyelashes, the Mercury Retrograde Eye Palette, the Wishful Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub and the Wishful Rose Oil. You'll also find a full-sized eyeshadow palette, a lip pencil, lipstick and two scents from the Kayali collection.
Dh1,425 (currently reduced to Dh755), hudabeauty.com
For the boys:
Technic Man'Stuff
This cube-shaped calendar will arm the man in your life with 12 grooming essentials. Packed with shower gel, hair and body wash, face wash and bath fizzer, this contains all the must-haves in one easy kit. In addition, there is a soap, bath salts, lip balm, comb, scissors, tweezers, nail clippers and a toothbrush.
Dh123, free delivery, allow five to eight days for order to arrive, desertcart.ae
Barber Pro
Barber Pro's 12 Days of Grooming Essentials advent calendar is stocked with skin-saving products, including under-eye patches, Face Putty packs for a really deep cleanse and Foaming Cleansing Masks to help lift dull skin.
Dh195, usually ships within 24 hours, lookfantastic.ae
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
The biog
Name: Shamsa Hassan Safar
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Degree in emergency medical services at Higher Colleges of Technology
Favourite book: Between two hearts- Arabic novels
Favourite music: Mohammed Abdu and modern Arabic songs
Favourite way to spend time off: Family visits and spending time with friends
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
More from Aya Iskandarani
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
Mobile phone packages comparison
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The National in Davos
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
