Ah, advert calendars… probably the earliest messenger bearing the news that Christmas is just two months away – or less.
Every year I see people (girls mostly, to be honest) losing their mind over each new edition of an advert calendar launched by their favourite brands. So, I thought it would be cool to see if the 2018 advert calendars are the worth it: if their price is a good bargain or not.
The Evaluation
We’ll mostly be looking for the number of products offered, their weight, and price. We’ll compare the price of a full product to the weight the advert calendar will offer.
For example, let’s say a full-size hand cream is 20 euros, weighing 150 grams and the advent calendar offers a mini hand cream of 30 grams. According to the full-size price, 10 grams should cost about 13 euro-cents, meaning the mini hand cream it’s valued at 4 euros.
To wrap up, the main criteria will be:
- number of products offered (12 vs 24)
real value compared to a full-size product- weight (mini-products vs sample)
- products weighting 5 grams of less are usually samples, so we’ll put those as free since you usually get them for free when you go in a shop
L’Occitane Advent Calendar – retail price: 49€
I’m quite a big fan of the L’Occitane products, so I’m really excited to see how their advent calendar turned out.
This year, L’Occitane came up with two advent calendar: a classic and a luxury edition. Both offer 24 gifts, but the price is double for the luxury one. For the sake of our pockets, we’ll analyse the classic edition. Also, they market the classic edition being valued at 85 euros.
As I said, the classic advent calendar had 24 goodies in it, as follows:
- 35ml Shea Shower Oil – 3.5 euros
- 35ml Cherry Blossom Shower Gel – 3.5 euros
- 10ml Shea Butter Hand Cream – 3 euros
- 50g Almond Delicious Soap – 6 euros (full-size)
- 25g Shea Milk Extra-Gentle Soap – 2.5 euros
- 35ml Repairing Shampoo – 3.5 euros
- 30ml Ultra Rich Body Lotion – 5 euros
- 25g Verbena Leaf Soap – 2 euros
- 30ml Ultra Rich Shower Cream – 3.5 euros
- 10ml Almond Delicious Hands – 3 euros
- 20ml Almond Milk Concentrate – 5.5 euros
- 35ml Cherry Blossom Shimmering Lotion – 3 euros
- 10ml Verbena Cooling Hand Gel – 3 euros
- 35ml Almond Shower Oil – 3.5 euros
- 10ml Shea Butter Foot Cream – 3 euros
- 5ml Precious Cream – sample (free)
- 35ml Repairing Conditioner – 3.5 euros
- 30ml Verbena Body Lotion – 4.5 euros
- 33g Revitalising Sugar Bath Cube – couldn’t find this on their website, so let’s put it at the average price of 3 euros
- 30ml Verbena Shower Gel – 3 euros
- 4ml Shea Ultra Rich Lip Balm – sample (free)
- 10ml Verbena Eau de Toilette – 5 euros
- 5ml Shea Light Comforting Cream – sample (free)
- 10ml Cherry Blossom Hand Cream – 3.5 euros
All of these mini, mini products should cost around 76 euros – give or take a few more euros since I didn’t calculate every cent. Also, keep in mind I excluded 3 products since they looked more like samples, but probably, they would add other 4-5 euros to the final price.
In Conclusion
- the classic advert calendar is really close the real value it’s marketed of 85 euros
- a good bargain since the retail price is 49 euros, compared to 85 euros which
is the actual value - no men products included
Kiehl’s Advent Calendar – retail price: 70€
Another favourite of mine. I have a couple of Kiehl’s products I sweat by and I can’t wait to see what they pulled out for this year.
The 2018 Kiehl’s Advent Calendar has 24 presents and it’s only one version of it – compared to L’Occitane. At a first glance I noticed they included quite a lot of samples, so I have to admit, I’m a little sceptical about the overall value of the calendar.
I’m a regular client, so I know that you usually get up to five samples when you buy something or just go for a quick skin consultation. The samples usually have 2, 3 or 5 grams or ml. You get these free all the time, so they’ll be included as free in the list below as well.
Let’s get started!
- Midnight Recovery Concentrate 2ml – sample (free)
- Facial Fuel Moisture 15 ml – 4 euros (mini-product)
- Ultimate Strength Hand Salve 75ml – 16 euros (travel size)
- Midnight Recovery Eye 3ml – sample (free)
- Ultra Facial Cleanser 30ml – 4 euros (mini-product)
- Creme de Corps Cream 30ml – 4 euros (mini-product)
- Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution 4ml – sample (free)
- Ultimate Man Body Scrub Soap 90gr – 7 euros (mini-product)
- Avocado Eye 14ml – 28 euro (full-size)
- Amino Acid Conditioner 65ml – 7.5 euros (travel size)
- Amino Acid Shampoo 65ml – 7.5 euros (travel size)
- Ultra Facial Cream 7ml – 3 euros
- Lip Balm #1 15ml – 10 euros (full-size)
- Calendula Herbal extract Alcohol-Free Toner 40ml – 6.5 euros (mini-product)
- Super Multi-Corrective Cream 7ml – 10 euros (mini-product)
- Hydro-Plumping Re-Texturizing Serum Concentrate 5ml – sample (free)
- Daily Reviving Concentrate 2ml – sample (free)
- Turmeric & Cranberry Seed Energizing Radiance Mask 5ml – sample (free)
- Rare earth Deep Pore Cleansing Mask 14ml – 9 euros (mini-product)
- Age Defender Power Serum 3ml – sample (free)
- Midnight Recovery Botanical Cleansing Oil 3ml – sample (free)
- Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Mask 5ml – sample (free)
- Clearly Corrective Brightening & Smoothing Moisture Treatment 7ml – 10 euros (mini-product)
- Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Eye-Brightening Concentrate 5ml – sample (free)
I got to a total price of approximately 130 euros (126.5 euros). That’s still 50 euros less than the retail price of the calendar, and keep in mind I excluded the samples which you can get free. Also, the mini-products are offered for free to loyal customers or when you buy gifts, you can’t buy them in a store.
In Conslusion
- good bargain, the real value of the products is higher than the retail price of the calendar (save approximately 50 euros)
- from country to country prices vary a little (0.50 to 1.5 euros) so the overall value and price can be a little different
- extra points for including men products as well!
- even if you get lots of mini-products and samples, you get a very good selection of their products and from my own experience, the mini-products can last you a couple of weeks if not more
- kudos for the full-size/travel size products!
ASOS’s Advent Calendar – retail price: 77€
- 111SKIN Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask: 30ml – 19 euros
- Alpha-H Clear Skin Daily Face And Body Wash: 30ml – 3 euros
- Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion: 50ml – 12.5 euros (travel size)
- ASOS DESIGN Makeup Matte Lipstick – 10 euros (full-size)
- Benefit Hoola (shade may vary) – 30 euros (full-size)
- Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara: 3ml – 15 euros
- BOD Mermaid Shimmer Sorbet Petite: 50ml – 5.5 euros (full-size)
- Carmex Original Pot: 8.4ml – 2 euros (full-size)
- Caudalie Micellar Cleansing water: 50ml – 4 euros
- Clinique Moisture Surge 72-hour Auto Replenishing Hydrator: 7ml – 10 euros
- Coco & Eve Like A Virgin Super Nourishing Coconut & Fig Hair Masque: 15ml – 3 euros
- Dr Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment: 5ml – 4.5 euro
- First Aid Skin Rescue Deep Cleanser with Red Clay – 25 euros (full-size)
- GLAMGLOW Glowstarter Mega illuminating Moisturiser: 7ml – 7 euros
- Holika Holika Aloe 99% Soothing Gel: 55ml – 6 euros (full-size)
- Iconic London Illuminator: 5ml – 13 euros
- J.ONE Jelly Pack: 5ml – 3 euros
- Luxie Rose Gold Small Contouring Brush 512 – 14 euros
- MAC Strobe Cream Hydrant Lumineux: 6ml – 2.5 euros
- INC.redible You glow girl cosmic blur: 0.32oz – 14 euros (full-size)
- Rodial Dragon’s Blood Sculpting Gel: 15ml – 25 euros
- Sand & Sky Australian Pink Clay – Porefining Face Mask: 13ml – 2 euros
- Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels: 0.11oz – 4.5 euros
- Spectrum Wonder Sponge – 5.5 euros
I think I just found the most amazing beauty advent calendar ever! I did the maths 3 times just to make sure the numbers were right. Some items are quite pricey, even if they are just mini-product, but the overall value of the 24 gifts from the ASOS advent calendar is around 240 euros! Holy shit! From that to only 77 euros… ASOS won my hart – for real.
In Conclusion
- best advent calendar when it comes to retail price/value – from 240 euros to 77 euros
- quite lady exclusive – no men products, although some products can be shared
- a wide gamut of brands
- prices vary from retailer to retailer, but still it more than 30% cheaper than buying them individually
- kudos for the high quality products and full-sized one!
Other Few Memorable Mentions
The advent calendars are slowly starting to conquer the world, when it comes to pre-Christmas gifts. You buy them two months (or earlier) before Christmas, stare at them for those two months and after that you have to endure the torture of opening only one box each day. Or, you can open all of them at once. But where’s the fun in that?
As Bloomberg mentioned, the booming advent calendar industry has extended. They don’t target mostly women (for beauty products) anymore but other things like wine, whisky, tea, jam or even cheese make the main subject of and advent calendar nowadays.
Here are a few honourable mentions for everyone:
For foodies:
- Rare Tea Wooden Advent Calendar – 165 euros, shop here
- Bird & Blend Tea Advent Calendar – 40 euros, shop here
- Wine Advent Calendar – 80 GBP, 129 USD
- Jam Advent Calendar – available for pre-order
- Cheese Advent Calendar – shop here
For animal lovers:
- Advent Calendar for Pets (cats, dogs, rabbits) – 3 euros, shop here
- Tesco Advent Calendar for Dogs – 3.5 euros, shop here
For beauty lovers:
- OPI Advent Calendar – 43 euros, shop here
- Charlotte Tilbury Advent Calendar – 145 euros, shop here
- Jo Malone Advent Calendar – 285 euros, shop here
I can’t wait to see how this industry will develop. I’m quite over the beauty advent calendars – since they are everywhere nowadays – but I can’t wait to see home outside-the-box ideas such as: advent calendars for gamers, bloggers, crafties, music lovers, tech enthusiasts and book worms.
Really looking forward to see what brands will do for next year! Right now, my hear skipped a beat when I wrote about ASOS advent calendar, and I would absolutely loooove a (couple) tea advent calendar.
What about you? Which advent calendar would you like? Did you find this guide useful? Please let me know in the comments!
11 comments
I love the idea of a “product” advent calendar. Awesome! Kiehl’s offers amazing products.
Yes, they do. I love their products too.
Love these for my daughters! Thank you!
I love advent calendars! The ASOS one looks like something that I would love!
These are so cool! I’ve loved everything I’ve tried from Kiehl”s and I’m a frequent ASOS shopper. Love that there are advents for adults
I really want that Asos one! I’m buying the Aldi wine advent calendar tomorrow! haha I’m excited!
Think of me when you have a sip, please! We don’t have Aldi here yet.
I’ve always wanted to try a beauty advent calendar! I’m not sure which brand I’m going to go with yet, but the L’Occitane one looks right up my alley!
I love advent calendars and have always wanted to try a beauty calendar. I don’t know too much about beauty products, and advent calendars like these are a perfect way to sample lots of different products. On the flip side, I’ve started a tradition of making my boyfriend an advent calendar for Chrostmas every year, and this just reminded me that I need to get started!
That’s so nice! I thought of it too, but I think I would go for 12 days instead of 24 – not sure I can come up with 24 mini gift ideas, haha.
Oh my goodness, the ASOS one is amazing!