[unpaid/sample/affiliate/ad] It’s an interesting shift away from all things whimsical for L’Occitane this year. Last year their advent depicted a French village which was very sweet but this is an absolute masterclass in box packing. I wondered who designs these? Is it graphic designers – who does the maths? Even Google can’t answer these questions, but it’s next level geometry (I think!). Each tier contains different sized boxes for different sized products, obviously, so neatly and snugly packed together it is seamless. I think efforts have been made to reduce packaging on this – the internal boxes don’t have tops and there is no nesting or tissue filling up space for no reason.
The actual box itself that contains four drawers could easily have a second-life because it’s nicely sturdy and the drawers open smoothly.
Inside, it’s a proper representation of the L’Occitane brand, from their iconic hand cream through to small sizes of Immortelle face care, fragrance, soap and shower products. It’s all the things they do well so it’s a sort of mini ‘best-of’ I think. The only exception is the Muesli Scrub which I just couldn’t get my head around… it was far too much like breakfast food for it to feel comfortable rubbing all over my body – and I haven’t really felt the same about Alpen since. I mean, that is just a personal preference.
There are three advent options from L’Occitane this year – this one is the Luxury option which is £99 HERE with a content value of £141.50 which is over half again and pretty good to my mind. The Classic option actually is a bit more whimsical and is £55 with a £99.50 value HERE.
There’s also a reusable advent calendar – it’s beautiful but the super-luxe option £160 (value £236). L’Occitane has worked with UK illustrator Kitty McCall who specialises in botanical designs. Each pouch is made from recycled cotton and while it comes filled the first time, it’s up to you to fill it thereafter. In theory I like this but in practice I am not sure I’d want the same thing year after year. I like reusable for children because it becomes part of the tradition but I think I want shiny new and different for myself.
The final thing to say about the L’Occitane Advent Calendar 2021 is that it’s not as big as you think it is – compared to other advents I have seen, it’s not as overblown as many are. It’s solid but not intrusive and I like that about it and I’m thinking perhaps it’s again a paper saving exercise which then explains the intricate box fandango going on inside. Never has anything been so precisely packed!
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