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Halloween has passed which means it is now the time of year to start getting ready for Christmas. You may have to start thinking about buying gifts for your friends, or you may want to treat yourself. Â
What’s a better way than purchasing an advent calendar? They used to just be a tradition that you and your family would do during the month of December. When I was a kid, we had a magnet board on our fridge, and we would put a different Christmas magnet on it each day until Dec. 25. It was fun and I always looked forward to it then. But now, advent calendars have taken on a life of their own. With their rising popularity on TikTok and Instagram, most beauty brands create an advent calendar each holiday season. One example is this Kitsch 12-day advent calendar. This is a hair care brand that included items like heatless curlers and hair clips. This calendar retails for $75 with 12 full size products.
But with so many different options at an array of different price points, it can be hard to decide which would make the best gift for you or a friend. I recently saw a TikTok where a girl purchased the Benefit 2024 advent calendar and opened it. The packaging was adorable with different Christmas boxes for each day and the actual calendar was in a benefit shopping basket.
While the presentation was nice, the products inside didn’t seem like they were worth the price you paid. The calendar was $156 but the claimed value was over $295. There were 24 different products to open, but in the entire calendar there were only four full-size products; and instead of getting travel-size products, you get even smaller items. Like the four ultra mini lip stains which aren’t even the size of your finger. So even though the price value might match, I don’t personally think the products you get are worth it.Â
On the flip side, I found a beauty advent calendar that I think is well worth your money. The Sephora collection advent calendar is $89 but has a value of $170. This calendar doesn’t have as extravagant packaging as the benefit calendar, but you are not paying for the packaging, you are paying for the products. In this calendar, all 24 products you get are full-sized. Though the Sephora brand is not as high-end as brands like benefit, the quality of the products may surpass the perceived value of high-end advent calendars. Getting 24 full products for $89 from any brand is an amazing deal.
So, do I believe beauty advent calendars are worth it? I think it depends on if you are willing to pay for packaging and the experience of having the calendar. It is the surprise of not knowing what you will get that drives consumers to purchase them in the first place.
If there is a brand you love, then I would consider purchasing one from that brand because you will be getting plenty of products that seem worth it. Some products that are in the calendar, you could only get a couple of uses out of because of how small they are. But this could also serve as an opportunity to try different products before buying the full size. In conclusion, if you are interested in purchasing one, do your research, then decide if the opening experience is worth it for you.