I just opened the last of the drawers in this year’s calendar. This was the first year I was able to have this treat, and it will be the last.
You may remember one of my earliest posts in which I complained of companies using fancy packaging. I’m sure part of the high cost of this advent calendar is due to the box. But you can’t really have an advent calendar without a fancy box, so I was prepared to accept it. Still, a less-fancy box would have been quite acceptable. They’re not really useful for anything I can think of, afterwards.
The cost of the gift box was $450. It contained 24 mini sizes of Jo Malone products. If these had been rarities, or more generous sizes, it might have been worth the cost. But many of the items in my box were the type and size offered free during checkout at Sephora, with VIP points or a code. Jo Malone also occasionally offers these sizes as freebies with a code, when ordering from their site. All the colognes, for example, were the 9ml size.
And very few of the fragrances in the box were unusual. I got multiples of several fragrances: English Pear & Freesia (cologne, a candle, a soap); Blackberry & Bay (body cream, cologne); Lime, Basil & Mandarin (hand cream, cologne); Red Roses (cologne; bath gel); Wild Bluebell (cologne, bath gel). Luckily all of those are scents I like (but: they are also scents I already owned). Note that these are all very standard JM items. There was also a Peony & Blush Suede candle and cologne; this scent is easily available, but I don’t like that one.
There were in total 4 candles, one body cream, one hand cream, one soap, two bath gels, and all the rest were colognes (five of those from the Cologne Intense collection). I was really hoping to try some of the interesting scents that I’ve not yet tried: Earl Grey & Cucumber, or Pomegranate Noir, or Vintage Gardenia, or even Black Vetyver Cafe. Nope. None of those were included.
For this complete set as is, including the box and taking into account the actual contents, I would be content to pay $200-250. Not $450. Next year I’ll look for someone else’s offering. But if you need a swish gift for a Jo Malone fan, this may suit your needs. They’re still in stock as of today.
The Diva Lair 