Worth The Hype? | M&S Advent Calendar 2017

Let's continue our foray into Beauty Advent Calendars. This post continues on from HERE.

Marks and Spencers (M&S) is a well known store in the UK (and possibly in Europe?) that sell all things Food, Home and Beauty. They are on the higher end of supermarket quality and budget. If it's your usual grocery shop haunt - you're doing well. Their sandwiches are divine and you can't beat a good ol' pack of 'Percy Pigs'. Their home and beauty departments focus on luxury brands so having a selection of these high-performance products is a great opportunity to treat and pamper yourself (and to put on your next birthday/christmas list). 

The Calendar

This year's design is a cute village scene in a house-shaped box. It wasn't the most sturdiest of constructions and many in the shop were a little battered. Each box has a cute christmassy design however it's not something I would want to keep; perhaps children would find the boxes fun to play with but for me it's not worth hoarding. Only two of the boxes (number 19 and 24) had a little phrase associated with what was inside. I liked this and think it would be better and more consistent for all the boxes to have some quote or tag on them. It's a bit fiddly to get the boxes in and out and there was slight Jenga collapse-age at times. The calendar is £35 when you spend £35 in store (not on food- boo!) The contents inside is worth £250 and my maths calculations confirms this! So it's a great saving.

The Products

Some products were wrapped in tissue paper but not all. One thing I find perplexing is that number 11 is a different product to the Ultrasun lip balm that is advertised in the press releases. The sculpting sponge is a great add-in and is worth more than the balm but I wonder why it was swapped? 

I liked that number 24 was a sleep-related product- however old I get sleeping on Christmas Eve is a no-go! The makeup/wash bag for the final day is great; it's good-quality and holds all the goodies. I wasn't too keen on the double mascaras in this calendar. Mascara especially is difficult to use up so 2 is a bit excessive especially as they are both black and increase volume. We also have 2 primers. There was a lot more skincare than makeup and only 1 hair-related product which was a shame. 

Worth the Hype? I felt the products were aimed more towards maturer skin as a lot aimed to bring back youthful glow, firm and brighten skin. The makeup is understated and the fragrance is pleasant but not a sweet youthful scent. The price-tags of the products are also for those with a healthy bank balance. So if your as I described above- this ones for you! Will I buy this calendar next year? Only if I get through the products in this calendar before the next one goes on sale!