Although best known for their makeup, beauty, and skincare, Sephora offers slightly different variations in products sold at their stores. Among the lesser-known are hair tools, sunscreen, and even candles. Voluspa, a high-end candle brand based in California, regularly offers their products for sale at Sephora year-round. For the holidays, they have “luxuriously crafted and presented set of 12 uniquely scented votive candles featuring favorites from the Japonica Collection.” The set of candles costs $75. Is this 12-day candle advent calendar worth it? Let’s take a look at the breakdown.

Part of what makes Voluspa candles so pricy is the fact that they are “ecologically sound” and do not contain pesticides. Further, they are all made with a coconut-wax blend. Although they do not particularly market their brand as luxury, the prices and quality of the products are definitely higher grade than other candle brands; so, that may be important to keep in mind.

The set contains:

• 12 Japonica votive candles (1 oz.) in 12 different scents:
  • Santal Vanille
  • Panjore Lychee
  • Japanese Plum Bloom
  • Santiago Huckleberry
  • Goji Tarocco Orange
  • Spiced Pumpkin Latte
  • Baltic Amber
  • Gilt Pomander Hinoki
  • Yashioka Gardenia
  • French Cade Lavender
  • White Cypress
  • Spiced Goji Tarocco Orange

To compare, the regular mason votive candles for sale are $9 and contain 3 oz. of product. So, the price per ounce is exactly $3. In contrast, the price per ounce of each votive candle — and also the price of each of votive candles in the advent calendar, themselves is $6.25. That is $3.25 more per ounce. The total value for the advent calendar, then — based off of regular pricing — works out to be about $36, $39 less than the sale price.

Final Verdict: Not worth it.

This advent calendar may seem like a great gift for the candle-lover in your life (maybe even you!), but it doesn’t make sense financially. While the ingredients that go into them are admirable and feel-good, it doesn’t excuse the fact that the prices seem significantly high for a minimal amount of product. Even if this were a way to get customers to try the brand out, it is outrageously expensive for what is actually in the set. Alternatively, buying a few of the regular mason votive candles from Voluspa, or even larger candles from other brands for a fraction of the cost will definitely make more sense in terms of putting your money to good use.

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