I can’t believe 4 days are already gone and there are only 4 more left. Let’s see what I got so far this week in the advent calendar.

Douglas Hollywood Skin undereye patches with hyaluron

I must admit I haven’t tried the patches yet because I’m saving them for the weekend because I know I will be tired as hell after this last week at the office. They look like some gel patches with hyaluronic acid and pro vitamin B5. I love the fact they did a different packaging for the holiday season with the snowflakes and the Joyful Christmas cheer in the corner. One set of patches retails for 15 lei – 3,33 euros.

What I got last year

For the 17th of December, I got a rollerball perfume from Annayke, called Kimitsu. I still have it but I did use it a couple of time while I was on vacation. Honestly, I don’t see much difference between this one and the one I got this year, the Tomo Her perfume. It has notes of bergamot, pear, rose, orange flower, pink pepper, amber, musk, patchouli, and vanilla. At that time, this small perfume had a retail value of 8,9 euros.

Douglas Protein Repair hair mask

This was just a sachet of the mask but the amount of 20 ml was more than enough for my medium length hair. It contains almond and shea and it’s suitable for dry or damaged hair. I don’t have dry hair, but I do color it, so I figured it can’t hurt to try it out. I’m happy to report that the mask didn’t make my hair oily, but it left it smooth and silky. It has a very pleasant smell and a thick consistency. You apply it after you wash your hair, you leave it on for about 3 minutes and then you rinse it out. I don’t know if I would go out of my way to buy this mask, but if I had a Douglas store near me, I would pick it up. A sachet of the mask retails for 9 lei – 2 euros.

What I got last year

For the 18th of December, I got a mini size of the Artemis Skin Aquatics cleansing gel. The tube contained 20 ml and it was meant for sensitive skin, without fragrance or parabens. It felt nice o the skin, but it wasn’t something that blew me away. The sample size was worth 1,6 euros.

Annayake Radiance Exfoliator

This was another sample containing only 15 ml of this delicate exfoliating gel that is recommended to be used only 1-2 times a week. It feels very nice on the skin and it makes it look smooth without the redness that sometimes occurs after you exfoliate. I would say it has the feeling of a luxury product, which I would say it is, considering that the full-size has a retail value of 40 euros in Germany. I personally wouldn’t pay that much for an exfoliant, but I can’t knock the product because, at least after just one use, it does seem to do its job very good. The sample size is worth 6 euros.

What I got last year

For the 19th of December, I got an EOS Vanilla Bean lip balm. I honestly, don’t know why everyone was so crazy for EOS at some point because, for me, it’s just as good as my cheap lip balms that I buy from Balea or Nivea or other drugstore brands. The lip balm came in a tube, not in their usual egg-shaped packaging and it also had a smaller size, but the same as for regular lip balms – 4 grams. Therefore, it had a retail value of 3,6 euros.

Douglas Home Spa Beauty of Hawaii shower foam

This is a travel size product, that contains macadamia oil and Monoi oil, which I love because I love the scent of Monoi. It’s a little odd to receive something so summery in an advent calendar, but a shower foam is always useful. While I like the scent and it feels nice on the skin, I must say I don’t particularly like shower foams because I tend to go overboard and use a lot of product so I finish it very quickly. This mini shower foam retails for 19 lei – 4,22 euros.

What I got last year

For the 20th of December, I also got a bath product, a Douglas Home Spa Breath of Amazonia shower gel with acai berries, maracuja, almond oil, and sesame. It was a smaller sized product because it contained only 30 ml and I used it up on one go. It had a nice scent and it wasn’t too liquidy, but it wasn’t any better than my usual shower gels. The mini shower gel had a retail value of 1,33 euros.

Comparing the two sets of products, I can’t say I prefer one year or the other because they were all nice products, but nothing that I was overly excited about. I like the undereye patches – if they work, the hair mak, the exfoliant and the shower foam. On the other hand, I also liked the perfume, the cleansing gel, the lip balm, and the shower gel. They were all products that everyone or the majority of us would use.

The 4 products I got this year were worth 15,5 euros, while the 4 products I got last year were worth 15,4 euros, so basically, they had the same value.

With these, the 20 products I got so far in this year’s advent calendar were worth 92,4 euros. We’ll find out what the grand total is on Monday when I’ll do my last update.