For beauty brands, Christmas start as soon summer is over and advent calendars start to be promoted from September. This year every beauty brand has adhered to advent calendars. They are amazing either to try new products or to give them as a gift. From so many advent calendars, I chose the one from Look Fantastic. Was my first ever advent calendar worth the money? Keep reading to find out the answer.
Christmas, isn’t Christmas in the beauty industry without the launch of an advent calendar. Advent calendars year after year are becoming more popular. This year I decided to try one and see if it’s worth it or not. The positive side of any advent calendar is that you are able to try different products for a special price. However, it’s always good to check if the size of the products compensates the end price.
I dwelled for two months, if I should take Look Fantastic or Space NK‘s advent calendar. I end up choosing the one from Look Fantastic, because it had products that I never tried before and the price was much better than Space NK‘s.
The 25 products included in Look Fantastic‘s calendar, are they worth the price? I paid, £95 due to a special promotion instead of the full price of £115 (back in October).
LOOK FANTASTIC’S ADVENT CALENDAR: REVIEW OF EACH PRODUCT
Starting the review from day 1…
DAY 1
The Rituals Ayurveda Mini Diffuser leaves such a beautiful fragrance at home. I really like the scent of almond oil and Indian rose. It’s a high quality diffuser for a really good price. The 70ml size which is the one included in the advent calendar, normally costs £16.50.
I will add up at the end of the article the cost of everything to see if the “worth” price of £500 of Look Fantastic‘s calendar matches my final calculations of all products together.
DAY 2
Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream, in a 5ml size, didn’t convince me at all. I gave it to a friend of mine and on the opposite, she loved it. I would say this moisturiser with amino acids and soybean folic acid is suitable for normal to dry skin. My oily skin didn’t like it. The price of the 5ml would be £5.70.
DAY 3
The Iconic Triple Threat Mascara is not my type of mascara. It made my lashes clumpy. At the end of the article, I uploaded a video where I used all the makeup products in this advent calendar. My lashes might look good in the video, but that’s because I had to remove the excess of Iconic mascara with a disposable spoolie. It costs £20, but I don’t think it’s worth the price.
DAY 4
The advent calendar includes a random Demi Candle, it can be the Femme mini or the Elle mini. I got the Elle mini candle. I love this candle! The cocoa scent is delicious! I wish it could have been a full size. The mini size is worth £8.
DAY 5
Beauty Pro Warming Eye Mask infused with chamomile reminds me the deep heat patches for backaches. The warming eye mask is a very easy-to-use mask: open the package, unfold the mask by open the ear loops, place the mask over the eyes hooking the ear loops and off you go for 20 minutes of relax. The eye mask can be used over any moisturisers, since it’s a dry eye mask, different from the soaked Garnier eye masks. The heat released by the Beauty Pro Mask relaxes tired eyes. I find this mask ideal for long haul flights. Instead of using a regular eye cover for sleep, it’s much better to take with you the Beauty Pro Warming Eye Mask. Unfortunately is meant to be used only once, but who cares when the price is only £2.95. On the instructions, it’s said not to use when wearing contact lenses. I wear contacts and I left them on whilst having the warming eye mask on. It didn’t bother me at all.
DAY 6
Paradoxx Repair 3 in 1 Conditioner is my favourite amongst the other two conditioners included in the advent calendar. The coconut oil and the matcha green tea leave hair smooth and silky. Would I buy it? I would 100%! The 50ml size costs £10.50, although in reality should cost much less, considering that the full size of 250ml costs £20, and calculating the equivalent of 50ml it’s £4. This shows that it’s better to buy the full size.
DAY 7
By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Pressed Powder comes in a mini size of 1.3g. By Terry has great makeup products and this powder is an example of that. I used under my eyes and all over my face and it performed beautifully. The price of this mini size, Look Fantastic says it’s £18, but from my calculations it should be £5.50, if the full size is £42 for 10g.
DAY 8
Revolution Satin Kiss Lipstick Ruby Red it’s a beautiful and long lasting red lipstick, but because I already have so many lipsticks like this, I don’t see the point of having another one. The Pout Bomb Gloss on the contrary, I find it essential. Transparent lip glosses are never too much for me and this lip gloss is very special, because it has a plumpy and minty effect to volumize the lips. The minty effect reminds me of Dior Addict Lip Maximizer. Pout Bomb Gloss is absolutely worth it! Both of them together are £10.
DAY 9
Aroma Active Soothing Universal Repair Cream Light is a calming moisturiser with lavender. I use it as night moisturiser and the lavender fragrance sends me to “heaven”. I sleep like an angel and my skin feels super soft in the morning. The price of this mini size, Look Fantastic says it’s £6, but from my calculations it should be £1.50, if the full size is £10 for 100ml.
DAY 10
Rodial Vit C Brightening Mask does a good job, it hydrates, energises and renews skin. I wouldn’t buy it though. It’s pricey and there are other masks like this for a much better price. The price for 20ml is £34.
DAY 11
I now understand why Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub is so popular. I never had tried a shampoo scrub that I liked. This is the first one that actually show results. My sensitive scalp feels refreshed and my hair feels smooth. I’m glad it’s a full size. The price is £42.
DAY 12
Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm is my type of cleansing balm. The special ingredients rose and mimosa waxes with elderberry and starflower oils remove all dirt, even waterproof makeup. I just wished it would be a full size, instead of only 20g. The price of 20g is £9.50.
DAY 13
I’m not into lip scrubs so Avant Velvet Perfecting Rose Sugar Scrub doesn’t grab my attention at all. I like the texture and the flavour, but I won’t use it, besides this time just to try it. For that reason I have given to my friend. I prefer face scrubs and I use them on my lips too, hence I don’t see the purpose of lip scrubs. Sorry if my honest opinion goes against someone’s opinion. This lip scrub is £58 (for a lip scrub!!!!).
DAY 14
Sachajuan Hair Repair Mask with Ocean Silk Technology it’s an “ok” hair mask. It nourishes the hair, but there’s others in the market like this, so I wouldn’t be tempted to buy it. It’s worth £6 according to Look Fantastic and according to my calculations it does match that price.
DAY 15
West Barn Co. Gel Brows with Spoolie is exactly like Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze, with the advantage that it brings a spoolie. The effect is the same: lifted and laminated eyebrows that last all day. After applying brow gel, always make sure to apply some trasparent loose powder to avoid the oils to come through . The price of £15 is very worth it, if you consider that the one from Anastasia Beverly Hills is £23.
DAY 16
Inika Black Eye Pencil is a good eye pencil. It can be used as an eyeliner or to smudge to create a smokey eye effect. However, I wouldn’t pay £19. There are many eye pencils in drugstores, much cheaper, that do the same.
DAY 17
I was expecting something better when I saw this face mist from Emma Hardie. Plump and Glow Hydrating Facial Mist is exactly like any other facial mist, nothing special. The spray unfortunately doesn’t work properly, it sprays more than it should, so on top of makeup, it has to be sprayed from far. My calculations match exactly what Look Fantastic says it’s worth it, £13.99.
DAY 18
Elasticizer Booster from Philip Kingsley is not my favourite conditioner, even though I know it’s a popular one. On my hair doesn’t do much. I don’t see any special difference. The size of 20ml is worth £4.60.
DAY 19
Luvia 2 Pan Eyeshadow is an “average” eyeshadow palette that isn’t worth £14.33. The colours are beautiful, but difficult to blend, unfortunately. I would pay only £5 or even less. The palette is so small, that I don’t understand how it’s possible to cost £14.33.
DAY 20
Zelens Tea Shot Urban Defence Serum infused with five types of tea, green, black, white, matcha and kombucha tea, is an amazing anti-oxidant serum to revitalise the skin. I like the light texture and how comfortable it feels. The size included in the advent calendar costs £41.
DAY 21
Disciple Gua Sua is a plant based face massage tool that if kept in the fridge, activates all the benefits in serum’s and stimulates blood circulation. I really like this type of tool and this one has a perfect size to travel. It’s worth £30.
DAY 22
First Aid Beauty Bump Eraser Body Scrub has glycolic and lactic acids to transform skin into a velvet soft skin. I absolutely love this body scrub. I wish it would come in a full size. My calculations for 28.3g it shows the price should be £3.38, but Look Fantastic shows £6. The difference isn’t much anyway.
DAY 23
Espa Optimal Skin Pro Moisturiser is one of my favourite products in this advent calendar. Infused with south african ressurrection plant and navarra asparagus plant, this moisturiser has the power to get rid off of tired face and uneven skin texture. The result is a fresh and luminous skin. I’m so glad it includes the full size. Absolutely worth it! It costs £50.
DAY 24
The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA is the night serum my skin needed to become less reactive and to refine my pores. I would recommend this serum to anyone. The gentle exfoliant formula improves skin instantly. Such a good serum for such a low price of £6.90!
DAY 25
PMD Clean Mini has SonicGlow technology to massage skin whilst removing dirt from skin. This smart facial cleansing device is amazing! I’m using it at least once a week and I do notice that my skin becomes softer afterwards. It costs £59.
VIDEO OF ME USING ALL THE MAKEUP INCLUDED LOOK FANTASTIC’S ADVENT CALENDAR
CONCLUSION
From my calculations, the total price of Look Fantastic‘s advent calendar is £480 instead of the “worth” price of £500. The difference is only £20, so at the end paying only £95, it’s worth it.
I just wished this advent calendar would have less hair masks and it would include an eye cream. Serum’s and eye creams are what I use the most in terms of skincare.
The makeup products could be better. The West Barn Co brow gel and the Pout Bomb Gloss from Revolution are the only good makeup items.
The Mandelic Acid Serum and the Espa Moisturiser are my favourites overall.
I wonder now if I should get the advent calendar from GlossyBox. It’s only £50 this Black Friday!
If you bought Look Fantastic‘s advent calendar, which item is your favourite?
Happy Black Friday shopping!
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