Packed with brand names this box of perfume perfect sold out online immediately but is back with limited additional stock today. We got our hands on one to try
Beauty advent calendar season is well under way and the Mirror Shopping team has spent weeks tracking down, testing and writing up their recommendations of some of the best – from the highest end to the more budget friendly. This year we’ve already seen several big name calendars sell out before pumpkin spice season is even finished with LookFantastic, Harrods, Beauty Bay and Cult Beauty already snapped up by fans and our experts tipping Liberty and Elemis to be next on the list to disappear from virtual shelves.
But fragrance fans who spotted The Perfume Shop advent calendar go live but then sell out virtually immediately have a last-chance to get their hands on one, with our contacts telling us limited additional stock went live this morning. Having nabbed one of the sought-after boxes just before the first run sell-out I am pretty sure these aren’t going to stick around – the calendar’s £85 price tag brings two dozen stunning perfumes with it and, as a perfume obsessive, this might be my top buy for this Christmas.
I am very much of the opinion there are two types of perfume wearers. Those who believe in a signature scent and who religiously wear their favourite or, at a push, a couple of perfumes depending on the time of year and then there are those, like me, who like to choose their perfume depending on their mood on any given day. Sometimes I’m thinking citrus, sometimes I’m thinking something more sultry with amber undertones, but either way I don’t want dozens of full-sized bottles of perfume which will be losing their potency sat on a dressing table or tucked away in a bathroom cabinet.
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If you are are someone who likes to wear perfume in the same way then The Perfume Shop calendar might be the best money you spend on treating yourself this winter and it really brings the ultimate wow factor. The calendar contains 24 different travel-sized and purse-friendly perfumes ranging in size from 5ml to 15ml. Totally more than 170ml overall, depending on how much of a spritz you like this could last well into 2025, even if you give away some of the scents you’re less keen on.
The first thing you’ll notice when you take the cardboard sleeve off the calendar is the impressive box it comes in. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with packaging generally, especially at this point in the year where my recycling box becomes increasingly full of cardboard from online parcels of Christmas shopping.
But while the packaging of the calendar is fully recyclable, for me there is absolutely no way I’m chucking the main calendar. It’s sturdy and looks like a pretty keepsake box from the outside and is now housing not just the stunning miniatures from the calendar but various others that are usually tucked in handbags, washbags and drawers around my house.
It is really robust and ensures everything arrives in great condition and, once you get inside all the individual boxes and see the treasures inside you’ll be more thrilled by that than ever. I was genuinely surprised by the quality of scents included in this curated collection – brand names including Paco Rabanne, Marc Jacobs, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Issy Miyake, Lancome and Versace were all represented while even the less premium options were clearly carefully chosen, with celeb scents from Christina Aguilera and Billy Eilish also included.
It was interesting to see a few sets of his and her style fragrances in the mix too. While this might not be for everyone, I liked being able to give my husband Rabanne 1 Million to try while I had Lady Million. Meanwhile, just in case this isn’t all fun enough, on day 22 you get an element of lucky dip with some shoppers getting a Juicy Couture option while others will snag a Gaultier Scandal miniature. I was chuffed to get the latter, which was one of several scents totally new to me that have become firm favourites alongside Versace’s Dylan Purple, a summery scent with a bergamot undertone that I really liked.
While beauty advent calendars seem to increase in price through the years, I genuinely think this £84.99 price tag is pretty impressive bearing in mind the quality and RRP of the fragrances you get within it. This is definitely top of my list to keep an eye out for next year and, just in case you need any more convincing, The Perfume Shop is also donating £5 from every advent calendar sold to cancer support charity, Look Good Feel Better which might help ease any shopping pangs.
If you’re happy for spoilers, the full list of contents in this year’s The Perfume Shop advent calendar are below the picture of some of my favourites. Just don’t wait around if you want to pick it up before the second and final batch sells out:
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Jean Paul Gaultier Divine EDP 6ml
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Versace Dylan Purple EDP 5ml
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Billie Eilish – Eilish original Mini Deluxe Bottle EDP 7.5ml
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Carolina Herrera Good Girl Blush Elixir EDP 7ml
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Michael Kors Pour Femme EDP 5ml
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Michael Kors Pour Homme EDP 5ml
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Rabanne, Lady Million EDP 5ml
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Marc Jacobs, PERFECT EDP Mini 5ml
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Christina Aquilera Signature EDP 15ml
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Lancôme La Vie Est Belle EDP 5ml
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Beautiful Magnolia 10ml
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Ghost Deep Night EDT 10ml
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Issey Miyake Le Sel EDT 10ml
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Boss Bottled Mini EDT 5ml
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Moschino Toy 2 Pearl EDP 5ml
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Zadig & Voltaire This is Really Her! EDP 10ml
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CK One Essence Deluxe Mini 10ml
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L’Interdit EDP mini 10ml
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Rabanne, 1 Million EDT 5ml
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Rabanne Invictus Parfum 5ml
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Carolina Herrera Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir 8ml
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Jean Paul Gaultier, Scandal 6ml OR Juicy Couture Viva La Luicy 5ml
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Narciso Rodriguez All of Me Intense 7.5ml
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Travalo – Red 5ml
Other fragrance themed advent calendars to have launched this year include Sentier, whose 12-day high-end haul offers both candles and perfumes. Their advent calendar delivers over £500 worth of products for £99. Alternatively, Jo Malone London has unveiled its highly anticipated 2024 advent calendar, which is £350.
If you’re looking for a similar experience of trying a few different scents but would like to end up with one large bottle at the end then Debenham’s perfume selection box might be a good alternative option. Priced at £50, the Fragrance for Her Edit contains five popular mini perfumes to try out, totalling around 23.7ml worth of scent. Shoppers also receive a £50 voucher to redeem against your favourite full-sized scent from the collection once you’ve sampled them all.
