The Body Shop Advent Calendar 2015 - Was it Worth €99?

Not Sponsored/No Samples/Competition Prize

Hi!

Back in November, I was lucky enough to win one of Alison's many fantastic giveaways. I won the Body Shop 24 Happy Days Advent Calendar, and I was delighted because The Body Shop are a brand that I don't get to try very often.

Apologies for the poor lighting.

Once again, we in Ireland get the short straw when it comes to pricing. The Body Shop aren't the only brand to do this, there are many others - but this was £60 in the UK so should have been around the €80 mark. It was €99.

So............was it worth €99?

The packaging was gorgeous, a really sturdy outer box that closed with ribbon. Inside were 24 different sized boxes, all containing a treat and a little inspirational quote with a hint to what was inside.

The contents blew me away some days. There was a fantastic variety - from little soaps, to perfume, body butter, eye cream, soap, lip balm, nail polish - if you saw me open this daily on Snapchat then you'll know that the sizes were decent, the products were decent (except the nail file) and every day was a real treat. Not pictured is the mini shower puff (one of the lads ran off with it).

Frosted Cranberry Shimmer Lotion, Frosted Plum Shimmer Lotion - these lotions smell delicious but have a little too much shimmer for my taste. I'd imagine they'd be gorgeous on legs though.
Vitamin E Hydrating Toner - I don't use toner apart from Serozinc so I was happy to get this.
Fuji Green Tea Body Lotion & Shower Gel - Love these, was delighted to get both so I could layer.
Wild Argan Oil Shower Gel - Really lovely, have used this several times.
Shea Shower Cream - one of The Body Shop's iconic scents, a gorgeous shower cream.

All of the above were 60ml samples, really generous and more than enough to get a feel for a product to know if I'd want the full size.

Almond Hand & Nail Cream - if you like the smell of marzipan, this is the hand cream for you. It was NOT the hand cream for me. Death to marzipan.
Strawberry Hand Cream - more like it - really fresh,  non-synthetic strawberry scent and a lovely hand cream.
Shea Body Butter - a lovely decent size and a gorgeous body butter.
Soaps - white, red and purple - I'm listing the colours because I couldn't tell what the scents are. The white one is creamy and comforting, the other two are fruity.

Vitamin E Moisture Cream - nice sample size, haven't used this yet but always happy with moisturiser.
Vitamin E Night Cream - ditto, I'm still trying to use up that Trilogy one.
Elderflower Unperfumed Eye Gel - was delighted to see this, my Green Angel one is on its last legs so I've popped this into the fridge.
Red Nail Polish - haven't used this but it looks like a pretty colour.
Italian Summer Fig Perfume - this is GORGEOUS. I assumed from reviews that it would be similar to Roger & Gallet's Fleur de Figuier but it's much more rounded and grown up. It's stunning and I would definitely buy a full size if I didn't have an embarrassing amount of perfumes to get through.

Mini Nail File - crap, compared to everything else. I mean they're handy & all... but no.
Honeymania Lip Balm - I love The Body Shop lip balms, so this was welcomed.
Strawberry Lip Balm - Gorgeous, really nostalgic and fruity.
Eyeshadow Brush - I never knew they did makeup brushes! I haven't used this yet but it looks great.
Eyelash Curler - I already own a great one from Kevyn Aucoin so I passed this on but the recipient was delighted.
Eye Definer in Black - Would you believe I actually didn't own a full size black eyeliner? Not that I wear it very often, but I was happy to see this.
Mini Shower Puff (not pictured) big enough to wash all the credentials, I was glad to see it in the box.

Overall, would I buy it? I'm loathe to say yes because that price increase is just unfair, but I would. I don't think I'd fork out €99 in one lump, I think this could be a lovely thing to start up a savings jar for. A tenner a month from now to October would be doable, and I might just do it for next year! It was lovely to have something to look forward to every day and the products will last me ages.

Worth it?

Definitely.

Thank you Alison xx