It’s once again time to see what little surprises I had in my advent calendar so far and to do a comparison with what I got last year in the same one. I decided to cover 4 days of the advent calendar because two of them were really not that exciting.

Some far, we hit a value of 12,50 euros and I got two products that I liked, a full-size one and a sample size. Now, let’s see what I found for the last days.

Douglas Essential Cleansing Make-up Remover Wipes

I got a small pack of these, with 10 makeup removers, which I’m guessing it’s like their travel size. They’re for eyes and face and contain cornflower extract. The small pack is currently sold for 10 lei – 2 euros. I don’t know how they are but makeup wipes are essential all the same to me, so I’m saving these for when I’m travelling so I don’t have to pack a makeup remover with me.

What I got last year

For the 3rd of December, I also got another Douglas Essential product, mainly some hydrating gloves with Japanese cherry blossom. I did feel my hands very smooth an hydrated – I also have a problem with dry hands during winter – but the effect didn’t last for long, so I wasn’t impressed with these. They were basically like a hand mask and they were sold for 23 lei – 5,1 euros.

Douglas Aqua Focus ampoule

Well, I won’t lie, this was somewhat of a bummer because I got just this tiny ampoule that is a hydrating face serum. They usually come in a pack of 5, so the price for just one ampule is 9,8 lei – 2,17 euros. Quite pricey considering that you can use only one ampoule per day. I tried it the same day I got it and while it does feel nice on the skin, like a light oily serum, it certainly didn’t wow me. As for the effects, I didn’t see anything special after just one use so there’s that.

What I got last year

For the 4th of December, I received a skincare item as well last year, a 10 ml sample of a Hej Organic soft fluid, valued at 3,6 euros. I loved this fluid and I remember I told myself I was going to buy the full-size product but I never got around to do that. I must say, I liked the Hej fluid much more than this year’s Douglas ampoule because it made my skin so soft and smooth, like a baby’s butt.

Daytox Firming Day Cream

This was another 10 ml sample of a firming cream with triple hyaluronic complex and the BioDtox system. I quite like Daytox products, even though their ingredients are not all as natural as they market them to be. The cream feels very nice on the skin, without being too thick and it absorbs fasts. I couldn’t find the product on the Douglas Romania website, but in Germany, the full-size cream is sold for 24,99 euros, so this sample is worth 4,99 euros.

What I got last year

For the 5th of December, I got a Douglas 2 in 1 nail care, basically a clear nail polish that can be used as a base or as a top coat. I still have it because I rarely do my nails and it hasn’t gone bad yet. I usually apply it just to protect my nails from breaking and to make them a little shinier. It was a full-size product, with a retail value of 33 lei – 7,33 euros. If I were to choose between the Daytox cream sample or the Douglas nail polish, I like them equally. They’re not products that I fell in love with, but they’re ok.

Tomo For Her EDP by Annayake

In Romania, and in many other European countries, we celebrate on the 6th of December Saint Nicholas’ Day. This is a winter holiday in preparation for Christmas. Saint Nicholas brings gifts that he leaves in children’s shoes if they were good – traditionally fruits and nuts – or a wooden stick if they were bad. Nowadays, children usually receive sweets or socks or other small items like that, as well as adults. Basically, on Saint Nicholas, we receive gifts similar to the so-called stocking-stuffers in the US. Therefore, I was expecting to find a special treat in my calendar and I did.

Douglas Romania doesn’t sell Annayake products, but I did receive a 10 ml perfume sample from this brand, just like last year, because the calendars are made in Germany, where this brand is sold.

I can’t say that I’m crazy about Annayake perfumes, because they have a smell that I assimilate with old ladies, I don’t know why. It’s not that unpleasant, especially if you give it a couple minutes to settle on the skin. Tomo For Her has notes of bergamot, lychee, roses, jasmine, tonka beans, black tea, iris, vanilla, patchouli, and white musk. So it has a lot going on, but I would say it’s predominantly floral. I will be using this perfume because I like to take small bottles with me when I’m traveling, but I can’t say that I’m crazy about the scent.

The perfume is a roller ball and it retails in Germany for 59, 99 euros per 50 ml bottle and for 89, 99 euros per 100 ml bottle. So, if I would consider the big bottle, this sample is worth 8,99 euros.

What I got last year

Last year, I got a nice surprise for the 6th of December, a Santa Claus sheet mask from Face Love, which is not available for sale and you can only get it in the advent calendar. It hydrated the skin just like a regular mask, but it sure was fun to put it on. These masks usually retail for 5,55 euros.

So now, let’s do some comparisons. This year, I liked 2 of the 4 products I received in these days, the perfume and the face cream, while the makeup wipes and the face ampoule where kinda meh. Last year, it was the same, as I liked the sheet mask and the face fluid, but wasn’t too impressed with the hand mask and the clear nail polish.

Now, to add things, up, this year I got 4 products worth in total 18,15 euros. The products from last year’s calendar were worth 21,58 euros, so this year the value was almost 4 euros lower compared to last year.

By adding up, the days 1-6, we reached a value of 30,65 euros, which already covers what I paid for the calendar. I’m sorry if all the calculations may be boring, but I thought some of you would like to know if you get your money’s worth if you get the calendar, not just to know what products it contains.

I’ll do my next update o Sunday, so I hope there will be enough exciting things over the next three days.