If you’ve never experienced the joy of a beauty advent calendar, this is the year to indulge.
With an ever-expanding array on the market, these aren’t filled with the traditional delectable truffles, or even charming little bottles of your favourite tipples, but instead miniature candles, fragrances, lipsticks, and cleansers. What could be more indulgent than waking up to a Jo Malone candle to compliment a relaxing soak or a generous spritz of Chanel N°5?
Beautifully packaged and generously filled with treats, these are the best beauty advent calendars to shop for this Christmas, and you’ll be forgiven for not waiting until 1 December before you tear into them.
This aptly named Cabinet of Curiosities is the perfect introduction to the artsy world of Diptyque. This decorative box contains 25 daily delights including a generous 70g candle of the limited-edition Sapin candle, as well as eleven 35g miniature candles comprising everyone's favourite scents: Baies, Feu de Bois, and Figuire. There are also multifarious eaux de parfum and eaux de toilette vials – this is the perfect olfactive journey to find your new signature scent. Alongside sumptuous body creams, the calendar is topped off with gilded holiday decorations to ensure you have the chicest christmas tree in town.
The original and much anticipated beauty advent calendar is back, bringing the best of the Liberty Beauty Hall straight to your home. Worth a whopping £844 – and curated by the expert Liberty Beaty Buyers – this is the pièce de résistance for any beauty afficionado. Expect cult names like Le Labo, Augustinus Bader, and OLAPLEX, as well as niche brands to love like lixirskin and Olverum. As ever, the box itself is beautifully illustrated to resemble the iconic Regent Street store, and will take pride of place on any mantelpiece, to make your guests green with envy. Plus, there's a single Golden Ticket hidden in one calendar's drawer, awarding the lucky winner £5,000 to spend at Liberty. This is what beauty dreams are made of.
Beauty Editors and celebrities go ga-ga for Dr. Barbara Sturm's science-led skincare range, and now she has kindly curated the perfect advent calendar to reset your skincare regime and bring back bounce and vitality to tired winter skin. Covering all bases from face washes to a multitude of serums, masks to creams, body creams to the famed Glow Drops, this is a fantastic gift to win over mother-in-laws (if you can part with it yourself, of course).
Transport yourself to an Austrian spa without stepping foot outside your bathroom this December. Housing 25 products – four of which are full size – the Susanne Kaufmann advent calendar is the perfect antidote to festive burn out. Take an evening out of the party circuit for some much needed R&R. Layer on the Glow Mask and generously drizzle your bath with Oil Bath For The Senses for pure unadulterated bliss. The Eye Rescue Stick is the perfect hangover mollifier too.
Jo Malone London offers up yet another covetable advent calendar, housed in the distinguished cream and black box, this is bound to spark joy morning after morning. This ultra-luxurious advent calendar contains the brand’s most cherished colognes, candles, hand creams, and bath products for you to layer (in quintessential Jo Malone style) to create your personal exquisite scent. Plus for the first time ever, door 24 houses a 30ml cologne – the charmingly fresh English Pear & Freesia.
Penhaligons has unveiled the ultimate advent calendar for discerning couples to share. The whimsical confectionary design will sate the sweetest of tooths. With a veritable array of colognes, perfumes, soaps, and candles there's plenty to fight over. CF Top Tip: the Halfeti and Lord George scents are perfect for him, and be sure to nab Elisabethan Rose and Empressa for yourself!
The chicest advent calendar this year comes from the prestigious house of Chanel to mark the iconic N°5's 100th anniversary. Shaped to resemble the N°5 perfume bottle, this exclusive showpiece allows you to fully immerse yourself in the world of Chanel. Each of the 27 boxes will incite a childlike wonder upon discovering what treasure lies within, including a 35ml bottle of N°5 Eau de Parfum, Rouge Allure N°5 lipstick, N°5 Hand cream, as well as various trinkets including bracelets, a keyring, and compact mirror.
Charlotte Tilbury’s beautiful bronze beauty chest is the perfect advent calendar to create the perfect party-ready face from shimmering cheekbones to va-va-voom lashes. It includes legendary make-up products such as Pillow Talk Lip Cheat and Walk of No Shame Eyeliner, as well as hero skincare products like Charlotte's Magic Cream and Charlotte's Magic Serum. The products have been cleverly selected to be universally flattering. Get ready to glow.
It would be a unheard of to end December with better skin than you started the month with, thanks to the merry go 'round of parties and a steady stream of wine, but that could be a reality thanks to cosmeceutical brand 111SKIN's advent calendar. Whether your goals are firmer, juicier, or brighter skin, this edit will provide targeted skincare for every concern through boosters, serums, masks, and moisturisers. The 13 boxes contain hero products like the Vitamin C Brightening Booster, Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask, and the famed Celestial Black Diamond Eye Mask. The festive period never looked so bright.
Dreaming of sunnier climes? This collaboration between Acqua di Parma and Emilio Pucci is sure to transport you to sunnier shores. Inside there are a feast of miniature eau de parfums, bath salts, candles, and hand creams boasting delectable scents from the ubiquitous Colonia and floral Peonia Nobile, to the zesty Arancia Di Capri. Jet-setters will be ready to stow these in their hand luggage, whilst design lovers will adore the Emilio Pucci print bedecked hat box – which can we repurposed to house trinkets after use.
If you are sick of brothers, boyfriends, and husbands alike raiding the bathroom shelf for your precious skincare, this Mr Porter Advent Calendar is as much a gift for you as it is them. From decompressing bath soaks to serums, eye creams to sleep masks, this calendar will have him covered from from top-to-toe. Eight of the 12 products are full-size, with hero products from Tata Harper, Dr Dennis Gross, Dr. Barbara Sturm, and 111SKIN amongst others.
Christmas is a time for giving, and with every purchase of the MacMillan Advent Calendar, £2 goes to the MacMillan charity. With 24 mini indulgences like Liz Earle's cult-worthy Cleanse & Polish™ Hot Cloth Cleanser, No7 Extreme Length Black Mascara, and Botanics Peaceful Sleep Lavender Pillow Mist this reasonably priced calendar is the perfect gift for friends.
If you are feeling particularly generous this festive season, delight your best friend with this truly decadent advent calendar from Feelunique. Worth £385, it comprises 27 treats – five of which are full-size products – including an iconic Huda Beauty palette. It features a coterie of well-loved brands from ELEMIS and Laura Mercier, to Charlotte Tilbury and TAN-LUXE. Whether her diary is peppered with endless parties, or she's taking time for long indulgent soaks, this calendar has all the essentials to keep her looking and feeling her best throughout December.
Image credit: Diptyque
Any Questions or Tips to add?