inside my beauty advent calendar (Q-KI 12 days of beauty)

One of my favourite things about December? Advent calendars! There is something so exciting about waking up each morning and knowing that there is a special surprise waiting. The last few years, beauty advent calendars have become something of a tradition. Last year, I had the Makeup Revolution Advent Calendar and a few years before, I had the w7 Advent Calendar. Some calendars are better than others. But the fun for me is the surprise element. It's knowing that there is something to look forward behind each little door. With everything happening this year...I didn't anticipate there would be an advent calendar in my December. Luckily, there were two! My mom gifted me a Frozen sock calendar (which was loaded with lots of Frozen-themed socks) and the Q-KI 12 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar. Ready to take a peek inside the Q-KI beauty advent? It was loaded with lots of makeup goodies. Here goes....

Though this is a 12 day beauty advent calendar...you might notice that there are only 11 items pictured. The reason for this? One day there was a sponge tip applicator. I am more of a makeup brush kind of person...and ended up  tossing the sponge tip applicator in the trash. I tried to use it but the applicator just wasn't for me. The other tools included in the advent? A sharpener and a sparkly pink nail file. While the tools weren't the most exciting, they certainly served a purpose and stuck with the pink and girly theme. Something far more exciting? The interchangeable compact. It was such a clever addition. The compact made it possible to hold some of the smaller advent items effortlessly and easily. 

As for the actual makeup items, they were fairly impressive. I've never tried anything from Q-KI before (or even heard of the brand) but there was a lot to like about the products. The advent calendar came with two lipsticks, a lip liner, a lip gloss, a highlight, bronzer, and two mini eyeshadow quads. The lip liner was slightly tough but the colour was a really pretty nude. The lipsticks were sheer but buildable and came with a bright red shade and a gorgeous berry shade. My favourite of the calendar was the lip gloss. It was highly pigmented, glossy but not sticky, and super glamorous. Then there was a super shimmery highlight and a shimmery bronzer. They have a lovely texture and a nice amount of pigmentation. When it comes to the eyeshadow quads...they are a little hit or miss. Some of the shimmer shades are really gorgeous and nicely pigmented. Some of the matte shades are less pigmented. It really is a mixture. 

Overall, this was a really nice beauty advent. Some of the products inside were really impressive. Especially that lip gloss! There was also a nice variety of products hidden behind each door. The Q-KI 12 Days of Beauty calendar was fun, exciting, and definitely helped make the month of December feel extra special.

Did you open any advent calendars in December? Have you heard of Q-KI?