Just got the M&S advent calendar and …🙃

[Chloefairydust]

I’m not sure what to think. On one hand it was a good deal £40 when spending £30 in store. Otherwise would be £300. I just don’t believe it’s worth £300 in value though M&S have lied!!!… I was expecting more full size items. So I’m somewhat disappointed however I like the selection and brands of products. But felt I have paid for samples which is a bit shit tbh … Don’t think I will buy the M&S one again though! Anyone else bought the M&S one? If so what did you think?

Also on another note, has anyone tried the Clinique mascara? (It’s in the Calendar) I have to wear waterproof mascara otherwise get loads of smudging during the day and end up looking a hot mess lol. Is Clinique mascara waterproof/ smudge proof??? 🐼

If not I will give it away to a friend or my niece…

I still have unused stuff from last year’s. Gave some stuff away. I loved the Prai products but I don’t think they do them any more?

I’m not bothering this year.

How???😮 … I will be lucky if some of these sample sized products last a week, never mind a year 🫣

If its an advent calendar, how do you know what's in it already?

Because I couldn’t wait and opened it already 😂 … I do have an earring advent Calender tho that I’m saving as my official Christmas advent calender 😁

I was quite happy with mine, but I do like the sample size easier to pop in your bag .

We had an "open along" thread last December (which I loved, made it more fun) and someone kept a tally of the value of the items - it did add up to about the advertised value.

Clinique tubing mascara doesn’t smudge, it doesn’t have the high impact look if some others but it looks good and stays on and washes off with water.

I've bought the John Lewis one, looks good on the website so waiting to see 😁

www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-beauty-advent-calendar/p6336753

I got last years and was disappointed. So many hand creams ... I have t bothered this year.

The M&S one is a great price though and I guess that means it's not as high end. The JL one linked above looks great but it's £152 compared to £40 at M&S (appreciate the £30 spend but you get the items you've purchased).

I suppose if you are going to open it all in one go then it may seem like it’s all very small sizes and not much use, however if you had spent £40 on one of those brands like colour wow or Clinique you would only get 2 products for your money ?
it is an advent calendar though and so I get it to open a day at a time and use some new products that I wouldn’t have thought to choose, or wouldn’t have been able to afford full prices of.
if you like full sizes and bargains then maybe try a subscription box like glossy box ?

I've always like the M&S one - I've had it for about 4 years now (bar the covid year they did a goody bag instead) and always liked the range of products

Yeah I mean I suppose I can’t expect a lot for £40, but I do think M&S are lying saying it’s of value of £300… No way is an advent calendar full of samples worth £300🤨. So a tad disappointed.

I know you have to expect some sample sized products in a calendar but just wasn’t expecting that many … Never mind, lesson learned . I will probably buy the John Lewis one next year…

@Chloefairydust if it’s of interest, Martin Lewis’ website MoneySavingExpert has a breakdown of the cost of each product in the calendar. They do it by cheapest available but even so I think it came out well over £200. Just search for Marks and spencer beauty advent 2022 on the website.

Even sample sizes cost a fair amount these days. I did an ASOS one and it was lots of samples with a few full size things in. Very worth it for me as it meant I could try the things I liked and I have bought refills of some things. I don’t think you’re going to get full size items for £30. I mean that’s sort of obvious that it wouldn’t be £300 of product for £30 given that one tub of some things in the asos one were £50 alone.

I think the M and S one is good value, there are some normal size things in there and tons of brands I love! I didn’t get it last year but glad I did this year! Love the shay and blue perfume.

If you were going to open it straight away rather than as advent calender, wouldn't it have been a good idea to check the contents before you bought it? They were on display in my local Marks and listed online.

I ordered it online so didn’t see it on display, but yeah my mistake to not read the small print when I ordered it lol, I just saw the pics of the products and assumed when I read it was worth £300 that there would be some full sized products included. Never mind, I’m glad I haven’t spent £300 for samples though! 😂

Oh well, think I will get the John Lewis one next year🤔

I'm still using products from last year so I'm not bothering this year. I can't wear eye make up and have been giving all the mascaras away, and I haven't been that enamoured by the skincare products either. The worst one I tried was an Emma Hardie Moringa cleansing balm.

It was so thick and gloopy. I expeted it to melt on my skin like the Bodyshop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter, but it was like putting lard on my face.

Oh, and most of the products were not sample sizes either.

The JL one looks amazing and there are 3 full size products that I use regularly that cover the cost of £152.15 so all the other 24 products are a bonus. Just about to hint to my husband as to what I want for Christmas…….

I'm looking forward to trying the Olaplex.

I got one last year for DD, she was pleased with it. Haven’t bought this year though so I don’t know if as good or not.

I still have some items left from last Christmas one, I won't bother this year.

Did you try a new product every day? I didn't open anything until I was ready to use it.