Glossybox Advent Calendar | Part I

It is starting to feel like the holidays in Minnesota. It’s November and we’ve had snow off and on. We’re making plans for a socially distanced Thanksgiving dinner and we’re working on gifts for everyone. A holiday tradition? A small gift (or 25) for myself.

I love an advent calendar. A little gift every day is so wonderful through the dull days that separate Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, there was only one that I could possibly have my mind on.

Glossybox has a beautiful glossy packaging with a marble swirl in pink and rose gold foiling. It looks expensive. It feels expensive, with thick cardstock and a magnetic closure showing off four drawers of goodies. But while it looks expensive, it’s not a bank breaker. It retails for $99 ($89 for current subscribers), and has a total retail value of over $550. That’s insane. Hard to argue with that!

If you’re interested in picking one up, I know it can be nice to have a few spoilers. I’ll be breaking down the spoilers in four chunks, otherwise, it will be the world’s longest blog post! So today we’ll go for days 1-6. If you’re not here for those kinds of spoilers, the basics are that this box contains 25 separate beauty treats (14 full-size and 11 minis) from brands including Wander Beauty, Nails inc, Tarte, Rodial, and Iconic London.

So let’s review!

Days 1-6

The first item - Day 1 is the Revolution Beauty Face Quad in Incandescent (full size, $15). This is cute. I like it. The colors are really nice and the highlighter seems nicely blendable. I’m not wearing many highlights right now, because my house is the only place I go these days (still) but it might be nice over the holidays!

Day 2 is the Illamasqua Illustrator Pen (full size, $28). Hey hey! Something I can use! Since most face makeup is out right now (#maskup), I’ve been playing up the eyes a lot. I really like this eyeliner. It has a thin felt tip that’s very flexible. The color is also deeply black and dries matte. It lasts all day long, and I definitely can see myself getting some use out of it. Illamasqua is one of those brands that I love a lot of stuff from, but I have such a hard time with access. It’s hard to just buy something from them. This has inspired me to maybe give them a bigger chance.

Day 3 is the Banila Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm Purifying (mini, $3.50). I already use the normal version and love it, so I was excited to try the purifying kind. I didn’t love it as much as the plain and normal cleansing balm. The purifying balm seems to be really anti-oil which I do not need. My skin is dry, so this was just too much. It was fine once I followed up with my moisturizer, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick this one.

Day 4 is a set of All Eyes On Me Illuminating Eye Gels from Ona New York (one set, $7). These feel so good! Well, they feel as good as any eye gels. They’re all about the same for me, across multiple brands. I like the moisturizing of my (again, dry) under eyes and the cooling is a nice touch too.

On Day 5, the next item is the Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Nectar (mini, $23.96). This perfume is SO popular, and a lot of people love it. I won’t sit here and try to describe a scent to you. It’s floral, and a lot of people like it. I’m not a fan of florals, but if you are, this is a nice one!

Last one for this part…the Tarte Micellar Magic Makeup Remover & Cleanser (full size, $18). This bottle is huge and will take a lifetime to get through. I love to follow up on my cleansing balm with some micellar water, and this is amazing for that. Can you get micellar water for cheaper? Maybe, but this bottle is big and can take down waterproof eye makeup like a champ.

That’s it for now! The total value for these products is $95.46. You can shop these things below, and I’ll be back in a few days with part 2!

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