The Beauty Advent Calendar Causing Drama | Empty packages and bad reviews! 

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P Louise send out empty boxes so they can show their orders as fulfilled, since the tracking number will show that a package was delivered! To inflate their sales records, because they’ll refund you then ask you to purchase again but it shows as 2 successful purchases on their system!

I’d think that it’s safe to assume King Harry was definitely grateful to be on such pr lists, but was reviewing it with the expectation of quality from a 300£ product and not with the expectations of quality from a free one (In other words, he made an unbiased review); not everyone is going to get it for free, and he was simply giving his opinion on whether his viewers might be disappointed if they had spent 300 quid on it. An honest review with the price in mind is NOT ungratefulness. Asking an influencer to practically lie about products they receive is ridiculous.

I feel like beauty advent calendars are mostly an opportunity to get rid of a couple of worst sellers by putting in very few highlight products and putting on fancy packaging, so I‘ll probably never buy one of them

I will never understand people fighting over brand loyalty. The brand does not give a shit about you! On another note, that pink shadow looks incredible with your brown eyes 💜

If sending out PR was just a nice gift then they’d be sending it to their most loyal customers or ones who spend the most. It’s definitely a transaction, a barter of sorts.

The empty box one is insane 😂😂, and letme tell you the disappointment when you expect the product to see a sold out paper notice 😂😂

The “he should be grateful” thing was crazy. Like wouldn’t it be crazy if he told his audience, who is likely much less well off than him, to buy a £300 beauty advent calendar?? He got it for FREE and it’s not worth that, imagine how he’d feel if he paid £300 for it? And how his audience would feel if they got it thinking it would be amazing? Especially if thats the one thing they decided to indulge on for themself of as a gift to someone they love.

“I’m a Disney adult I can’t disrespect anyone” 😂 Oh Robert you are a joy to the world

harry didn’t say anything insanely rude. he said he wanted the same quality as singular products from the brand. he even said he liked some of the products!

IDC how good PLouise's products are alleged to be...the owner is so shady and unprofessional

The Disney and Swarovski calendar, costing $1500😮, is causing quite a stir as well. Broken ornaments and printing issues as well as over half of them not being Disney related items. The only characters they have are Mickey, Minny, Donald and Daisy. Major miss on Disney's part there!

Honestly, if I got one of those empty boxes I would immediately initiate a chargeback and ignore correspondence from the company. A sufficient amount of chargebacks will cause the company's payment processor to drop them and THEN maybe they'll understand what consequences are.

I loved king harry‘s review. He was honest in what he liked and didnt like. Its an expensive calender and he advised to his subjective opinion. I personally felt his review was genuine and thats all we should want as a consumer looking into a review. I also like that he explained why he liked/ didnt like so everyone can make up their mind if it would be a dealbreaker for them

There's something about the brand going out of their way to point out a product was gifted that doesn't sit right with me. There's no reason to point out the reviewer didn't pay for the product unless you're trying to paint them as ungrateful.

Recieving a gift and being thankful doesn't mean you have to love the gift. I love Grandma Gretchen, I am thankful she thinks of me, I don't have to love the itchy sweater with a pot leaf that she thinks is a flower she gifted me or the three year old candies that are all stuck together. 😂 Then again she wouldn't expect me to review them.

Honestly….he didn’t serve them as hard as he could have for how bad it was. He was pretty fair with his review. We’re struggling out here for honest reviews from tiktok so I love that he didn’t let his followers waste their money. I appreciate that creators like you bear in mind that their followers don’t have massive budgets to waste money on bad product. Also this eye makeup and your takes are immaculate as always ❤

I remember seeing people saying ‘it’s a gift not PR!’ Babes to a brand it’s the same thing

"Listen, Im a Disney adult, I cant disrespect anyone." made me laugh out loud 🤣🤣🤣

Brands take a risk when they send things to influencers. His reveiw was comepletly honest and that’s acrually refreshing because he’s not going say nice things just because it’s a gift

He actually liked and had high praise for the stuff he loved which had to have sold some of those individual items. He showed he held the brand to a higher standard. He showed off the products. It was great

Idk who P Louise is or King Harry but the feeling I got was that King Harry is just doing what the OG influencers used to do and that’s be honest with his audience who need his opinions to be honest. He has a brand too and everything he said was supported by visual evidence. I say credit to the young man for being honest which can also be scary. He’s helping his audience save their time and money from a product that clearly needs the company to pause and reflect on their business practices and their advent product formulas.

honestly harry’s review was absolutely valid. there’s comments on p louise’s page of people being devastated they couldn’t afford it so i feel like a reviewe like that might help people understand it may not have even been worth wasting half a months wage on it.

My thoughts on Advent Calendar’s is you are maybe gonna like 5O% or more of the items on the calendar. No matter what type of calendar it is. So I found his review fair tbh. You aren’t gonna like every single item in the calendar, that expectation is unrealistic to have. Especially if it’s a beauty calendar. Scents, textures, colors, all look and feel different on everyone and everyone has a preference as well.

I know it's not normal to get PR from a brand with them saying "these are for you 😘 ". Back in the day BECCA cosmetics sent me some products when I posted a video about my health/ surgeries (many yrs ago). That was the sweetest gesture, and I kept treasured the little card ❤️

I don't feel like it is overly brutal. you don't want someone to give a false good review just because it was gifted. I would rather someone be honest than pandering to a brand and always being nice.

Sending you a letter that your product is out of stock in a whole f-ing box???? That's so dumb. Couldn't that have been an email??

His review was one of the most honest ones I've seen in a while, and as with all makeup products, a personal opinion. People get so weird over makeup reviews.... I have a friend who's a beauty youtuber and the amount of PR she receives that she will never even be able to get to is honestly as embarrassing as it is overwhelming. She has a whole room of just boxes of products she doesn't want/need. She will often invite handfuls of people over to take things off her hands but no matter how much stuff we seem to take the piles never get smaller. I haven't purchased makeup in years because of her but I also cannot believe how wasteful it is to send one person so much product.

I’m so grateful my kids are happy with Lego or Polly Pocket advent calendars. I would die if they asked for freaking $300 makeup calendars 😂 (even my teen girl couldn’t care less about makeup, so I definitely dodged a bullet there - and here I am a loyal Robert fangirl ❤)

I just watched a video recently where the creator mentioned she’s been getting a lot of comments lately saying she’s “too negative” in her reviews. What?! All you hear online is people complaining about “fake” influencers & shady reviews, but when people actually get honesty, suddenly they’re like, “omg you’re so mean!”🙄 I personally like a brutally honest review…doesn’t mean I won’t occasionally disagree with it, if it’s a product I already own & love. And in that case, it’s still interesting to hear someone else’s experience with it. But I’ll always prefer brutal honesty over sticky sweet gushing. Gimmie the unvarnished truth, please.

I don't know how good plousie products are but apparently it was enough to make people forget she said the n word then made a palette about being "cancelled" for it.

In my opinion, King Harry did nothing wrong. He said he loved some products and said some products sucked. That is a review. As a consumer, who budgets for makeup, I want to purchase quality makeup. When you have dozens of influencers that don’t truly review a product and are bought… it skews the playing field. I would never waste my money on P Louise. The company does not align with my morals so I cannot support them. Plain and simple. Robert I so enjoy these videos of yours. Thank you for making these. Cheers to you. Happy Holidays 🖤

One of the things I like about Alexandria Ryan's advent calendar unboxings is that she spends her own money on them. Since they don't arrive in PR, they don't come with strings or the expectation of a quid pro quo rave review. The other thing I like is watching her unbox basically the same cheap Sephora Advent Calendar that they seem to sell year after year, sometimes not even bothering to change the packaging. I mean, it's not my fault that sometimes the internet is more entertaining when a company rips its pants in full view of everyone.

My mum made us advent calendars as kids- she used to put our favourite quality street (chocolates) in the pockets as well as a few random small gifts. These are still the best advent calendars I ever had. Well done Mum.

I do love a good advent calender, but for stuff like tea or coffee and chocolate. Skincare or makeup ones are huge misses for me usually because I'm either allergic to half the things, or the colours are boring/unflattering. Plus opening a £200+ box and getting a mini eyeliner and some sample products feels like a rip-off (hello Chanel). To PLouise's credit though, the products in their set do look full size

Honestly, I really appreciate the honesty. Because of this honesty, I’m able to rely on Robert’s reviews. For example, when he reviewed the Haus Labs concealer/Lady Gaga’s demo of it, I went right out to Sephora to get my shade - which was out of stock for the longest time, but when it finally came back, you better believe I bought it right away. And guess what? I LOVE IT! Thanks for all your hard work Robert!

I would love it if there was a customizable beauty Advent calendar based on your skin type, color, etc so that most, if not all, of the products would be useful for the one buying it. Make it happen!

My God, what a waste of resources to send out those empty boxes!!

I'm concerned when people see his review, see he GENUINELY liked a bunch of the products and/or had legitimate critiques, and give him backlash. Thats the sign of an audience who is used to being lied to and cant handle when a review isnt 100% positive

I bought hers last year, and it kind of contained a lot of stuff I already had from them. This year I didn’t get any makeup ones at all, I bought a “witchy” one from Etsy with crystals, jewellery , spell jars etc. in it. A lot of the pockets have a spell you can do and the ingredients for it. I’ve been really enjoying opening it 😂❤ ETA: I don’t mean things were in the PLouise one that I’d bought specifically, but almost everything in the calendar was just what was in her subscription boxes too. I did love the couple of exclusive items that were in it, like the little sparkly wintery quad eye pallettes - i just wish there’d have been more stuff like that, or that it had specifically warned me that if I got her subscription box, almost everything in the calendar would be duplicates from the boxes over the past year.

LOL PLouise sounds like my monster-in-law xD She always makes a point of telling us that we can exchange her gifts if they don't suit us. BUT the moment we do, she gets all pissy and offended, and will make snide comments about it at any opportunity. Moral of the story: Don't give unsolicited gifts with any expectations attached.

I appreciate the honesty. If I go out and spend my money on a product because an influencer recommended and its crap, I will not take that influencer seriously.

I don’t know why he got so much hate for that review.. I appreciate it when people are honest about what they like or don’t like about products. Great video Robert:)❤

King Harry’s review was actually really refreshing. I’m so sick of seeing “reviews” where the influencer provides the tiniest amount of constructive criticism if they don’t like it but still encourages their viewers to buy the product. Like the most mediocre pieces of overpriced garbage.

Since the Zoella Boots advent calendar there is always a brand each year that has an advent calendar "scandal" 🙈😂

If a brand made a more personalized make up or skincare advent calendar, I think it would be a huge hit. Like based on skin type or eye/hair colour & skin tone.

Im obsessed with Alexandria Ryan's advent calendar reviews on YT. She always gives a fair and balanced view and isn't afraid of calling out companies for their seasonal scams. Incidentally her P. Louise review went very well - perhaps because she unboxes so many shocking ones (Hi CHANEL(lol), Kylie, Sephora, Elf etc etc ). It made a change to see full size products and some thought and care put into the packaging. I guess negative Tiktok reviews can come across as rather rude as people are trying to keep everything so brief, there isn't the time to explain the reasoning behind their thoughts. Just can sound unnecessarily harsh.

“I’m a Disney adult, I can’t disrespect anyone.” I am crying right now. 😂😂

Well said 👏🏻 if someone says “this is just for views” it’s like saying to a shop “oh this is just to get customers”…. Like yes that’s why the content/products are there… well done? 😂

I’m just shocked that the advent calendar didn’t have an eyeshadow base considering it’s their hero product

When they sent that human sized palette full of paper to Mikayla i knew they had no problem sending huge empty boxes to ppl, but wtf😂😂 i cant imagine being so excited getting my order in and it being a piece of paper😂 id be so upset im laughing now but id really be so upset. Especially because i HATE waste

I want honesty and transparency. If someone overreacts to a product, I immediately think untruthful (like Mikayla). Products are expensive so before paying money, I want to be told the truth. Thank you for this video.

My day started off so bad I was in a horrible mood I’ve literally watched Robert’s videos all day Its just cheered me right up xxx

I found the review really respectable, he doesnt go out of his way to drag the brand even compliments them on alot of stuff and I find myself agreeing with everything he said

How do we get angry when someone is honest but at the same time if they lied we'd be even more pissed to go waste our money on something we trusted would be good off an influencers word...

Im happy he was so honest. People dont do that anymore. And he did say that half of those products he loved and would use. He was just giving his opinion on it. Thats how it works. I hate when people lie.

Let us all take a moment to appreciate Robert's eye makeup here. It's absolutely stunning

I give a lot of credit for him being honest! He was just showing why each thing wasn’t for him and what was. I appreciate that a lot. The empty boxes with papers almost reminds me of fashion nova instead of telling customers their product is out of stock putting certificates in there instead.

That's like if Nyx released an advent calendar and COMPLETELY gave customers limited color options and items with a wonky formula. I'm a NYX bitch. I LOVE NYX products, but if I paid 300$ on a massive advent calendar and they gave me chalky products without pigment and colors aimed more towards a certain shade range of people that weren't close to my own, then I probably wouldn't trust them to provide a quality product again.

I like the honesty in the reviews because I’m tired of being disappointed

I have been watching @alexandria Ryan channel who does a series of beauty advent calendars, and she was pleased with this. I think mainly because it was all full-sized products, many beauty calendars cost £100+ and have samples (generally 'not for sale' samples) and the value isn't technically there, but PLouise had the value if you are going to use them - which can be said about any calendar.

I've watched several people open this Advent calendar on YT, and they were all so happy with it. Everything was full sized and had a lot of each type of product. There were some small complaints about the colors being very similar, but overall everyone seemed really happy. Compared to some of the other calendars I've seen others open, it did live up to the price. However, I do agree that everyone who opens it should be honest about how they feel, regardless if it was gifted or not. If the person didn't like it, then I'm glad he was honest about it and explained why he was unhappy with the products he didn't like. On a side note, I purchased my first Advent calendar ever this year because of you! The SpaceNK one, which I've loved. So thanks!

I honestly don’t watch a lot of makeup reviews, because I find them fake, or they’re targeted for a specific audience that I don’t fit into. Harry’s review definitely seemed very cut and dry, like ‘oh I don’t like this item, yeah I like this’ without actually really reviewing the products properly. I really liked your take on it all - it was an intelligent response and well thought out, with plenty of knowledge and experience to back it up. It’s actually made me want to watch your review videos, so I’m off to go browse through them 😊👏🏼

PLouise Fans: "I would literally die to receive this!" Robert: "That's too much you need to calm down." That line delivery just killed me 😆

I think "special edition" holiday makeup of any brand is inferior quality when compared to other products in their line

I kinda wish brands would make 2 or three advent calendar boxes so there’s no need to throw light and dark shades into one, but then people can buy one where pretty much everything works for them

I’m addicted to watching advent calendar unboxing but living in the Caribbean I balk at the prices and I’m annoyed at the crap and/or samples companies tend to want offer in their calendars for said prices.

Your points about PR and gifts being transactions is so spot on. Businesses rarely if ever give anyone anything out of the goodness of their heart. It is always calculated with the expectation that you will fulfill social etiquette and return the favor in some way, whether it’s supporting them monetarily or with exposure. In this day and age, people are scarily so devoted to brands that they form parasocial relationships with them. They conflate the brand with that of a real person, so to them badmouthing a gift from a brand is the same as badmouthing a gift given by a person. The two scenarios are not the same at all, and I wish people would realize that their knee-jerk reaction to call someone ungrateful for not liking some PR is what the business counts on. They want you to treat them like people. They want you to humanize them as a person rather than a business so they can manipulate you further. Also, it does not matter to me how pricey a gift is from a business. If anything, the pricier it is, the more I expect the company to put that money to good use and give me something of value. If that influencer is dissatisfied by a PR box that he got for free, imagine how someone who had to shill out hundreds of dollars for it would feel. 🤨

Thought the review was fine, they were clear about what they did and didn’t like. TikTok is quite famously short form content, no time for nuanced, in depth reviews of each product. Still in shock over the empty boxes with a note, who does that!!!

I always appreciate honest reviews, regardless of how the reviewer obtained the product. I don't want anyone telling me it's a great product if it's not. I know I get that honesty from you. For advent calendars, it can be tricky because for those of us who buy them, it's a lot of money to spend on products you may not want or use. If I'm spending $300 and my focus is makeup, I want makeup that I can wear. In these big bundles, they need to put shades for everyone so yeah, if you got 16 contours but all but 3 of them are going to look like crap on you, you're just wasting money. That being said, I can't believe the main comment on this particular advent calendar isn't about the very limited color story. I watched Rose of Rose and Ben Brushes open hers last week and I kept waiting for something that wasn't orange. That large eyeshadow palette could have been a quad.

I love when influencers find products they like/have been using and then those companies send them more products because then we know the users truthful opinion moreso than when they are gifted items.

Funny enough, one of my favorite unboxing creators got this and it looked stunning. The items were massive and it seemed you got a great bang for your buck. I’m shocked to find out that there is drama behind the scenes like this. I shouldn’t be surprised because it’s the beauty industry, but still

It always kills me when they comment on a review that isn’t positive and say “ you are just being negative”! 🤣 WTF?!

I have to say, listening to your perspective and commentary is extremely valuable for a brand owner too! Thanks for always sharing the most awesome videos and insights!

Pink is one of your best colours. No, I don't think the review is by any means brutal. I respect when people decimate product reviews as long as it is the unbiased truth because it's something I would do. If a product is bad, tell people. If a company is bad, tell people. Everyone deserves to be informed.

Robert, whenever you give reviews about products no matter from what brand, i never have to doubt if you give your honest opinion. I appreciate that very very much. Thank you for always keeping it real 👑

Brand owners should expect honest reviews. Good or bad. I remember TheresaIsDead did a review of a gifted product -which wasn’t up to expectations for the brand-and the brand owner thanked her for her honesty in the comments! Then again indie brands are smaller and more focused on these things. Honest reviews whether good or bad on PR items should be what the brand expects. Now absolutely crapping on something is different but I don’t think that’s what happened here.

I was a giant nerd this year and brought myself a cross stitch advent calendar and a doggy advent calendar for my doggo 😂

I am LOVING Robert as a Pastel Goth bear. You are ADORABLE

"I'm a Disney adult, I can't disrespect anyone." Same, Robert, same. 💜

His review was honest and straightforward but I think people get accustomed to some influencers pretending that EVERY product is the greatest thing ever and reviews being a theatrical demonstration rather than an actual review of a product so when other influencers are honest it comes across as “mean”. Besides it wasn’t like he attacked the brand, it was more like this company has a standard and these products are not meeting that standard.

The makeup today is SUCH a slay, love the glowing purple 💜

I appreciated King Harry’s honest. We need more influencers like you and Harry❤

That really was a BRUTAL review. Wow. I loved it. 😂 i might start following Harry now. I love when people are bold and honest.

Give me Cadbury or Galaxy chocolate advent calendar any day ☺️, all they beauty advent calendar are usually really expensive and most of it I'd probably never need 😂 x

Content creators shouldn't be grateful for gifted products, companies should be grateful for the free PR

I appreciate an honest review and you as a consumer can take it or leave it. In the case of your channel is the fact that you are an experienced and talented make up artist and did not sell your soul to a brand for a free product, which so many of your colleagues have, what makes me comeback everytime.❤❤🎉 keep up your amazing work.

I really appreciate honesty. Many of us turn to influencers to watch reviews before we buy something because money is tight. That's why I watch you and James since everything you say has been spot on when I have the product in my own hand. I'm also very much into K beauty and your reviews help me alot when buying stuff

The curse of TikTok. When that’s your main fan base/the reason you’re viral and you mess up they will not let it slide. They love the drama over there.

Tbh I don’t buy Advent Calendars because I know most of the products are redundant or not something I actually want. I think people obsess over the value and aesthetic design and “giftability” of items but people don’t want items from these calendars. Gift an entire Advent Calendar, not parts of it that you don’t want. Also, I have no idea who that influencer that complained is but I appreciated that they spoke up. PLouise really has not been dealing with social media and PR well over the past few years and the brand owner seems to have very little self control over responses to critique.

I completely agree with what King Harry said. I'd be so disappointed if I paid that much and got that hot mess. Good on him for being honest. And I've never bought from them, and never will. PR is a business transaction at the end of the day.

I don’t wear much makeup. Glitter and lipstick and done. I have no idea why it was recommended to me… Did I still subscribe? Hell yes! 😂 Stunning make up, honesty, and that laugh just makes me smile.

On a related note, I found last year's E.L.F. advent calendar on sale in October at a local discount grocery store. It's compare/value price was listed as $95, a full year after. So they were trying to get people to think they were getting a discount on the full retail price, not old makeup that isn't even on sale on the website anymore. Shady AF.

If a brand gifts something to an influencer they don't get to tell them what to do with it or how they're gonna talk about it. The idea of PR is that you send products out to influencers with the hope that they talk about it and get the word out about your products and that your products are so good and they get good reviews. This wasn't his grandmother giving him a sweater this was a major brand with a PR budget sending him products to influence an audience who relies on his opinion.

imagine having to go to your post office and wait to pick up the package to get that We're sorry message xD

I actually want to watch him more as he was so honest

Ive always hated when people said “you’re doing it just for the views!” Well duh, they’re making a video for that exact reason! 🤦🏻‍♀️. I would prefer an honest review. I’ve never tried p.louise but I would like to one day…

I’m not a p. Louise user or fan but they should’ve included at least 1 of their iconic eye paints. Maybe a mascara or an eyeliner. I appreciated his review tbh. There were a few things in that advent calendar that were okay but not everything. One thing I will say is I think it’s worth the price point for what you get.

Not only is sending out empty boxes with out of stock messages in them boardering on scamming, but they waste paper and cardboard and create extra emissions from delivery trucks, planes and ships when the space they take up takes away from another item of actual value

Idk, I've realized that I really appreciate people who are very direct with what they're saying and don't make you guess what they really mean or what they really think. I love influencers who tell their negative opinions. If you don't agree with their opinion, then disregard it. It's not a big deal.