I wasn’t anticipating writing this blog, so soon after I wrote Which Beauty Advent Calendar: let’s do the maths
However, when I read a Harper Bazaar piece on how this £320 Advent Calendar was a must-have, this blog wrote itself.
P.S. Who am I?
I am an independent blogger and I am not paid or affiliated by anyone or anything. Remember a time when people wrote about skincare, shopping and social issues because they cared? They were brutally honest? That’s me in a nutshell. My altruism doesn’t extend to copyright. Happy Skin Days Copyright reserved 2020.
What is an Advent Calendar?
“Advent” means Coming in Latin and an advent calendar counts the days to Christmas. For example, this is the Jo Malone 2020 Advent Calendar.
It has 24 individually numbered drawer and in the countdown to Christmas, you open a drawer/day and it will reveal a present (e.g.) a candle, cologne, hand wash etc.
What is the unique selling point (USP) of the Jo Malone calendar?
My British-Indian brain that values money and a bargain over vanity cannot understand what is so special about this calendar.
The USP of most beauty Advent Calendars is to offer something exceptional (e.g.) Harrods ask you to pay £250 for products worth £900+
Jo Malone makes no such claim and in fact you spend £320, for products that are worth £215. I have done the maths:
All prices are from Jo Malone’s UK website (so VAT inclusive).“A” is the quantity of the full sized product. “B” is the price (£) for the full sized product. “C” is the quantity of the product in the Advent Calendar. “D” is calculated as (C/A)*B. “E” is calculated as D/F expressed as a percentage. Some of the candle fragrances are not currently available and I have assumed that it will match existing prices on Jo Malone’s website. P.S. As Alexander Pope wrote, “To err is human, to forgive divine” so my calculations may have errors. Don’t shoot me, tell me.
The actual Advent Calendar for £320 gives the following tiny sized products. Why give 9 colognes that are not even 20ml? Why not just give 3 colognes a sensible size?
- 1 soap (50g)
- 1 body cream (50ml)
- 1 hand cream (15ml)
- 2 body washes (30ml and 15ml)
- 4 travel candles (35g)
- 6 intense colognes (9ml)
- 9 colognes (9ml)
What can I buy for £320 on Jo Malone’s website?
Jo Malone is one of those brands that plays off pricing arbitrage. For example, this is the price of the same product: Peony & Blush Suede Cologne 30ml
The price ranges from £40 to £68.
I hate this pricing arbitrage that big brands engage in.
As if its something that you and I are oblivious to.
My solution…buy on the UK high street, UK duty free OR use Selfridges
One of my readers and I were discussing building our own advent calendar and this was what she said to me: she liked the fact that there were so many “presents” or products in the advent calendar. She was not too concerned about what these were.
Adopting this approach of MORE PRODUCTS IS GOOD, (but not everything can be a soap…)
Option One: what does £320 buy me at Jo Malone UK?
Option Two: what does £320 buy me at Heathrow Airport?
Notwithstanding the pandemic, many of us are still travelling back to and from the UK
Option Three: what does £320 buy me at Selfridges?
I live outside the UK and I have free delivery with Selfridges. (I pay US$ 55 for 12 months free delivery and 3 months in, I have already recouped this payment).
There are restrictions on some products I can buy. For example, candles are not permitted. However, I can buy fragrance (subject to 3 per shipment), but remember that I have already purchased unlimited shipments, so it doesn’t matter how many times I ship to my home country, I can still substitute Option One or Two for more cologne…
This is what I can buy for c£320 (amounts shown in dollars). Import duty is about 5% for me, so I will need t o adjust my checkout basket.
Closing
If you still think you need to spend £320 on this Advent Calendar, I am afraid you are on your own and I can’t help you.
If you are interested in home fragrance advent calendars, then please consider the following blogs, which review the named advent calendar.
#dontbeamuppet #stopdonationstojomalone
Other beauty advent calendars that offer better value for money (click link)
- cultbeauty advent calendar 2020
- Diptqyue advent calendar 2020
- Elemis advent calendar 2020
- feelunique advent calendar 2020
- Fortnum & Mason advent calendar 2020
- Glossybox advent calendar 2020
- Harrods advent calendar 2020
- Jo Loves advent calendar 2020
- John Lewis advent calendar 2020
- Liberty advent calendar 2020
- lookfantastic advent calendar 2020
- Molton Brown advent calendar 2020
- Net-a-porter advent calendar 2020
- Selfridges advent calendar 2020
- Space NK advent calendar 2020
- The White Company advent calendar 2020
- Harrods, cultbeauty, Libery and Fortnum & Mason beauty advent calendars – are they value for money
List of products in Jo Malone calendar
- Pine & Eucalyptus Mini Candle
- Honeysuckle & Davana Cologne 9ml
- Wild Bluebell Body & Hand Wash 30ml
- Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne 9ml
- Myrrh & Tonka Cologne Intense 9ml
- Peony & Blush Suede Mini Candle 35g
- Pomegranate Noir Cologne 9ml
- Dark Amber & Ginger Lily Cologne Intense 9ml
- Poppy & Barley Cologne 9ml
- Blackberry & Bay Body Crème 50ml
- Velvet Rose & Oud Cologne Intense 9ml
- Wild Bluebell Cologne 9ml
- Red Roses Body & Hand Wash 15ml
- Oud & Bergamot Cologne Intense 9ml
- Green Tomato Leaf Mini Candle 35g
- Lime Basil & Mandarin Cologne 9ml
- Tuberose Angelica Cologne Intense 9ml
- Lime Basil & Mandarin Hand Cream 15ml
- English Pear & Freesia Cologne 9ml
- Sweet Almond & Macaroon Mini Candle 35g
- Blackberry & Bay Cologne 9ml
- Vetiver & Golden Vanilla Cologne Intense 9ml
- Peony & Blush Suede Cologne 9ml
- English Pear & Freesia Mini Soap 50g