Can we finish Summer before Christmas starts?

It starts in August.

You’re still wearing sandals, people are away on summer holidays and SPF is very much still part of the daily conversation and then, somewhere between the beach photos and Aperol Spritzes, the first beauty advent calendar sneak peeks appear.

Coming soon. Join the waitlist. Get early access.

Then September arrives and they’re actually on sale.

Christmas. In September?!?!

Can we PLEASE finish summer first?

Beauty advent calendars have lost the plot

I say this as someone who genuinely loves them.

I think beauty advent calendars are fun. I love the idea of opening something every morning in December, discovering products I might not normally buy and getting some genuinely great full size products. As long as we aren't talking about a beautiful giant box filled with tiny samples that could have been handed to you at a beauty counter, I am very much here for it.

And this year's Space NK calendar is unfortunately screaming my name. So this isn't me campaigning for the death of the beauty advent calendar. I just don't understand why I need to think about buying one while summer hasn't even properly finished.

Somewhere along the way, the beauty advent calendar became an entire season of its own. First come the August sneak peeks. Then the content reveals. Then the waitlists. Then early access. Then the September launches. And, naturally, the reminder that you need to act quickly because last year's sold out!!!!!!!

We've managed to make even waiting for Christmas something we need to hurry up and do.

Why are we rushing through everything?

And once you notice it, you see it everywhere. We don't seem to be allowed to simply exist in the season we're actually in anymore.

It's still summer and someone online is already announcing that they're so ready for autumn. The boots come out. The pumpkin recipes appear. The autumn shopping edits begin. Then autumn finally arrives and we're already being shown Christmas. Christmas comes and before we've finished the leftovers, it's suddenly new year, new me. Then spring, then summer, then autumn again. We are permanently being introduced to what's next. Social media makes this particularly funny because the message is so often completely contradictory.

Be present. Slow down. Romanticise your life. Enjoy the little things.

And then approximately three Instagram Stories later: AUTUMN MUST HAVES YOU NEED NOW. It's August.

Apparently we're supposed to enjoy the moment while simultaneously shopping for a moment that hasn't happened yet. There will always be someone showing us the next trend, the next product, the next aesthetic, the next season. And because everyone wants to be early, early keeps getting earlier. If one brand reveals its Christmas calendar in September, another can reveal theirs in August. If one creator starts autumn content in September, someone else starts in August. Eventually you find yourself looking at Christmas gift guides while there are still tomatoes growing in people's gardens.

Have we forgotten that anticipation is actually quite nice?

I don't think waiting is necessarily a bad thing. Actually, some of the best things are exciting precisely because they don't happen all year. I want summer to feel like summer. I want that first properly cold autumn morning to make me want to pull out a coat I haven't worn for months. And I want Christmas to start feeling like Christmas when Christmas is actually approaching.

Part of the magic is the change. If we're mentally living three months ahead all the time, we never really arrive anywhere. And that's what bothers me about seeing those beauty advent calendars appear in August.

Not the calendars themselves. I'll happily take one. It's what they represent.

Another reminder that before we've even finished enjoying what we have now, someone is already trying to get us excited about and spending money on whatever comes next.

Maybe we don't need to be first. Maybe we don't need to know every Christmas launch in August. Maybe we can let autumn arrive before we start counting down to December. And maybe all this talk about living in the moment would mean slightly more if we actually allowed ourselves to live in the one we're currently in?

And then, of course, Black Friday is around the corner, the time of year when suddenly absolutely everything seems to be a must have (crying emoji).

A small side note - whenever someone online tells you to “RUN, DON’T WALK” because a moisturiser, pair of leggings or coffee machine is on sale, please go outside and touch some grass. We’ll be fine. The moisturiser will be fine.

Anna x