Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, you’ll be well aware of the massive controversy surrounding the Zoella Advent Calendar. Basically, mums and dads up and down the country have been buying it for their children, and once they’ve opened them they’ve been bitterly disappointed. As the calendar costs £50 for just 12 little gifts, you can understand why they’d be mad. I mean, it does seem a bit like the YouTube star and her team have been exploiting her young fan base to make a bit of extra money this Christmas.

But as a massive fan of beauty and beauty advent calendars myself, I actually think £50 is quite a reasonable amount of money to spend on something like this. Just as long as the products inside justify the price tag, of course, and it’s not just full of tat. So when my 14-year-old daughter Stacey asked if she could have the calendar when we were in Boots a couple of weeks ago I told her I’d have to look into it first. And let me tell you something, I’m really glad I did!

OK, so first of all, let me start by saying how pretty I think the Zoella Advent Calendar is. It has a lovely green background with rose gold lettering, which I think is super festive-looking. I also love the big bold lettering on the front, although the Zoella branding is quite difficult to read from a distance. The calendar looks quite big and bulky, as well, which led me to believe that there might be some really great products inside. But, sadly, that’s where my love of this calendar ends and my disappointment in it begins!

WHAT ITEMS ARE INSIDE THE ZOELLA ADVENT CALENDAR?

Inside the calendar are a few branded Zoella products, and then a load of things that I feel have no relevance to her whatsoever. In fact, I’d bet diamonds that you can pick most of what’s inside up from Poundland or Amazon for less than a quid and save yourself some serious money!

The contents include a Christmas bauble, a packet of confetti, a cosmetics bag, a votive, 2 cookie cutters, a keyring, a pen, a jotter, a room spray, 7 stickers, and a mini candle. And at just over £4.16 per window, that makes all of the items bar maybe 4 or 5 of them seem incredibly expensive! If you want to see the products in action, I highly recommend giving JaackMaate’s review video a watch on YouTube. I guarantee you won’t know whether to laugh or cry …

I also find it really hard to believe that Zoe picked these items out herself and was happy to stuff them into her calendar. I mean, if I was her I’d be wanting to fill it with lots of sample sizes of my beauty products so that people could try them out, and (hopefully), go on to buy the ones they love in full-size. I thought that was the whole point of these types of advent calendars. Have I been wrong in my thinking all these years?!

SO, WHAT ITEMS WOULD I HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN IN THE ADVENT CALENDAR INSTEAD?

Well, like I said before if I’m buying a ‘branded’ advent calendar, I kind of expect to see ‘branded’ stuff inside. I honestly expected the Zoella Advent Calendar to have lots of her lovely bath and body products behind each door. You know, the ones she sells all year round. And I thought it might have one or two items that were exclusive to the calendar in there too.

Today I thought I’d make a list of 12 Zoella Beauty/Lifestyle products that I think would have made her calendar truly amazing for her young fan base had they been included in it. So, make yourself comfortable and I’ll tell you a little bit about why I’ve chosen each one.01. Perfume Rollerball

If you’re a fan of Zoe’s, you’ll know that she has a number of different fragrances that she sells all year round. I think it would have been amazing if she’d included one of these fragrances in her advent calendar. She has a set of three perfume rollerball’s in her Christmas Gifting Collection this year, and one of these would have been the perfect size to have popped behind one of the doors.02. Snowflake Shaped Lip Balm

Every year Zoe releases a pack of two super cute lip balms as part of her Christmas Gifting Collection, and this year they come in dinky star-shaped tins made to look like snowflakes. I personally think that popping one of these behind one of the doors of Zoe’s advent calendar would have made a lot of young girls very happy. I mean, who doesn’t love a good lip balm? They’re practically a winter essential!03. Snowflake Shaped Bath Fizzers

Next up, I spotted this pack of two snowflake-shaped bath fizzers in this years Christmas Gifting Collection. They’re perfect for crumbling into hot, running water when it’s bath time, and as they’re enriched with Shea Butter, softening Peony, brightening Winter Cranberry and soothing Mint they’re bound to help you feel relaxed after a long day at work or school. Bliss! Just finding one of these behind one of the doors of Zoe’s calendar would have made a lovely treat.04. Hand Cream

I absolutely love the look of the Zoella Snowella Winter Wonder Hand Hand Cream, and this a miniature version of this hidden behind one of the doors of her advent calendar would be a welcome treat. The cream itself is said to be deeply nourishing, so it would help to keep hands happy all winter long.05. Pencils

My daughter Stacey has a pack of these pink pencils from Zoe’s lifestyle collection, and she absolutely loves them. Each of them has a different quote on, and they have dinky little erasers on the end as well. I think it would have been nice if a pack of 2 or 3 of these had been included behind one of the doors of the calendar. Or even a pack of 5 miniature ones! Just imagine how nice white pencils with Christmassy quotes on them would have been?!06. Notebook

I understand that there’s no way Zoe is going to be able to include a full-sized notebook in her calendar, but she did manage to squeeze a smaller one in there, didn’t she? I have to admit that I quite liked that idea, but I wasn’t overly keen on the design. I’d have preferred to have seen a mini version of this gorgeous notebook with the word ‘Wonderful’ on the front. I love the colour of it, and it would go nicely with all the other items I thought should have been included in there.07. Soak Opera Bath & Shower Cream

Ever since the release of Zoella Beauty, I’ve been a fan of the Soak Opera Bath & Shower Cream. It smells gorgeous, lathers up nicely, and leaves my skin feeling lovely and soft and smooth. I noticed that there is currently a ‘midi’ version of Soak Opera on sale at Superdrug, and I think it would have made a perfect addition to Zoe’s advent calendar. I just can’t understand why nothing like this was included in there!08. Shower Lily

I don’t know if you guys will remember, but when Zoella Beauty was first released, there was a super cute shower lily available that was exclusive to Feel Unique. It was a lovely cream colour with pink polka dots all over it. I absolutely loved that shower lily! Yes, it was pricey for what it was, but I didn’t care. Anyway, I would have loved to have seen a smaller version of this included in Zoe’s calendar. It would compliment lots of the other items I feel should have been included in there just perfectly.09. Gelato Shower Shake

Next, I’ve picked out another shower product I think should have been included in Zoe’s calendar in miniature – her super cool looking Gelato Shower Shake! I love the packaging of this, guys. It looks good enough to drink! According to the reviews I’ve read of this online, it’s the crème de la crème of body washes! Blended with extracts of Elderflower and Pomegranate to help brighten, smooth, tone, and moisturise. I think that makes it the perfect product to use in the shower during the winter months.10. Double Creme Body Lotion

Because I like to try out a wide range of different products when I buy an advent calendar, I decided to steer away from showery things for my next pick, and I went for a body lotion instead. It smells like macaron’s and is absolutely divine. I have to admit that I’m a bit rubbish at using up full-sized body lotions when I buy them (because let’s face it, applying them can be a bit of a faff), but I can usually finish off a sample size before I get bored of using it. This makes finding one in an advent calendar a nice little treat.11. Cosmetic Bag

I absolutely love the idea of including a mini makeup pouch in an advent calendar like this, and as nice as the one Zoe included in her actual calendar was, I would have preferred to have seen one of her current ones in a smaller size in there. I just love this polka dot print one with ‘Fairest of them All’ emblazoned across the front. It just screams ‘Christmas gift’, and I know my daughter would be over the moon to find something like this behind one of the doors of an advent calendar.12. Festive Cookie Reed Diffuser

And last but certainly not least, I’ve chosen the gorgeous festive cookie reed diffuser to include as one of the things I think Zoe should have included in her advent calendar. Now, I know what you’re going to say! You’re going to say that she included a couple of candles, so why am I not including candles? And I’m going to tell you honestly. Zoe’s calendar is aimed at the teenage market. And teenagers aren’t always the most careful of people. They could easily light a candle in their room and forget all about it. They only need to fall asleep, accidentally catch the flame with their duvet, and ‘poof’ it will go up in flames. I think reed diffusers are so much safer for them to have. Now, I know it would be impossible for Zoe to have included a full-sized reed diffuser in her calendar, but I think a miniature one would have been just fine.

And there you have it – my thought’s on Zoella’s Advent Calendar and what I thought should have been inside instead. What do you guys think? Do you like it how it is, or would you have preferred the products that I thought should have been included in there? Make sure you let me know in the comments below.

Stacey has told me she doesn’t want it now because she doesn’t think the items inside are very good. So we’re currently looking at getting her one that’s better value for money. As always, guys, thank you so much for reading and commenting. It honestly makes my day.

Zoella 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar – £50 £25 ||link||
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