As Christmas creeps closer, so does the annual fight to grab the best beauty advent calendars as soon as they go on sale. It’s no wonder: brimming with exclusive, limited edition minis and often full sized products, most of the best make-up advent calendars work as a Christmas gift in their own right.
If last year is anything to go by, the Liberty, Jo Malone, Charlotte Tilbury, MAC, Cult Beauty and Harrods calendars are likely to sell out fast, so it’s worth registering on their websites right now. Sometimes it still pays to wait, though: the famous Marks and Spencer beauty advent calendar was worth £340 online last year but could be bought for just £45 if you spent £35 at M&S. You have to take your hat off to whoever came up with that marketing ploy.
Read on to find out everything we know about 2024’s advent calendars, including those already on sale, those available for pre-sale and exclusive reveals for calendars you can’t even pre-order yet. If you’re in a rush, here are our predictions for this year’s best beauty advent calendars, based on last year.
Which is the best beauty advent calendar? At a glance
- Best beauty advent calendar overall – Liberty London
- Best value beauty advent calendar – Look Fantastic
- Best beauty advent calendar for products – Fortnum & Mason
- Best beauty advent calendar to buy as a gift – The White Company
- Best make-up beauty advent calendar – Charlotte Tilbury
Which brands have a beauty advent calendar?
Most big beauty brands sell their own beauty advent calendar these days. For those wanting to splurge, Liberty’s is the ultimate treat, containing beauty gifts worth around five times its sale price – which is why it always sells out almost instantly. If you’re looking for a budget option, try Look Fantastic or The Body Shop.
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How I chose the best beauty advent calendars
To choose the best beauty advent calendars of 2024, I primarily considered the stated value of each one – how much you’re getting versus how much you’re paying. Some are worth hundreds more than their cost, while others are similar in value and price. I also looked at the variety of products, how many full-size or travel sizes were included in a box and whether there were any limited edition goodies.
Read on for reviews and previews of all this year’s best beauty advent calendars.
Best beauty advent calendars already on sale
1. 12 Days of Liz Earle Beauty Advent Calendar
£79, Boots
Best budget skincare advent calendar
We like: it includes all the classics, like the Hot Cloth Cleanser
- 12 products worth £178
- Available to buy now
A great purchase for yourself, your mum or grandma, Liz Earle’s advent calendar is already on sale with a selection of 12 full size and travel sized products. It includes the famous Cleanse and Polish cleanser, a rich and nourishing cream containing chamomile and rosemary.
Also inside, you’ll find full sizes of the Orange Flower Body Cream and Body Wash and Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion. Travel sizes include a face exfoliator and cream.
2. The Body Shop Advent of Wonders
£55, The Body Shop
Best beauty advent calendar for stocking up
We like: it’s full of staples for your face, body and hair
- 24 products worth £119
- Available to buy now
The Body Shop’s advent calendar is always popular and a good midrange option. This year’s is packed with 24 own brand products inside a stylish baby blue box.
Inside you’ll find the Avocado Shower Cream, Shea Body Butter, British Rose Facial Mask, Vitamin E Sheet Mask and a Hair Claw, among others.
Best beauty advent calendars available to pre-order
3. Fortnum’s Beauty Advent Calendar 2024
£265, Fortnum & Mason
Best beauty advent calendar for products
We like: not just skincare and make-up, also a make-up bag and eye mask
- 27 products worth more than £1,080
- Dispatch after October 21
This is only the sixth beauty advent calendar from the 316 year-old department store, but it’s already leading the pack. Their 27-product calendar is available for pre-order and is worth over £800 more than what you pay, thanks to each product being full-sized.
It has one of the best ranges of any we’ve seen yet, with skincare, haircare, fragrance, home accessories, a makeup bag and eye mask. The curated selection includes Aromatherapy Associates De-Stress Bath and Shower Oil, Cult51 Molecular Hydration Elixir, a Charlotte Posner Hair Scrunchie and a Fortnum & Mason Votive Candle.
4. The Harrods Beauty Advent Calendar
£250, Harrods
Best luxury beauty advent calendar
We like: every day of advent is a taste of Harrods’ beauty hall
- 25 products worth £1,599
- Pre-order from September 2
Housed in its iconic moss green, Harrods’ beauty calendar will make the most luxurious gift and festive centrepiece in the run up to this year’s big day.
Its 25 gifts include the Clarins Super Restorative Day Cream, a 111SKIN Rose Gold Face Mask, Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Oil – and 22 other full sized products. Harrods will also sell dedicated Fragrance and Hair and Body Advent Calendars this year.
Best beauty advent calendars with waitlists open
5. Look Fantastic Iconic Beauty Advent Calendar 2024
£100, LookFantastic
Best value beauty advent calendar
We like: so many of the products are full size
- 27 products worth more than £565
- Waitlist already open, pre-sale from September 1
Last year, we considered the Look Fantastic beauty advent calendar to be the best value out there and this year looks set to top it. Products this year are worth £565, despite it being one of the few beauty advent calendars to cost just £100.
Inside are 27, yes, 27 products from Look Fantastic’s most luxurious brands including Sol de Janeiro, Estee Lauder and Elemis. LookFantastic is releasing more sneak peaks every few days, so it’s worth keeping an eye on the website. The latest product reveal included Sol de Janeiro’s Delicia Drench Perfume Mist, Medik8 Press and Glow and Mac Lustreglass Lipstick.
6. Charlotte Tilbury - Charlotte’s Beauty Treasure Chest of Love
£170, Charlotte Tilbury
Best make-up advent calendar
We like: the mini setting spray is perfect for travelling
- 12 products
- Waitlist open now
Charlotte Tilbury is being rather coy about its beauty advent calendar, hence the unrevealing image above. You’ll have to check the brand’s app to find out when it’s due to be released.
Here’s what we do know: the 12-day advent calendar will contain both travel and full-size products. We’ll let you know when we have more information.
7. Liberty London Beauty Advent Calendar
£260, Liberty
Best multi-brand beauty advent calendar
We like: the beautiful box, based on Liberty’s tudor home on Regent Street
- 28 products worth £1,205
- Waitlist open now
Liberty London is the original multi-brand beauty advent calendar, having debuted in 2014. Now on their 10th rendition, the 2024 calendar is already one of the most hotly anticipated Christmas buys anywhere. Liberty’s beauty advent calendars are known for their excellent value, often containing products worth four to five times more than the price.
This year isn’t set to disappoint, with products including skincare, makeup and fragrance from Augustinus Bader, Byredo, Skin Rocks, La Mer, Lisa Eldridge and more.
8. SpaceNK 2024 Beauty Advent Calendar
£250, Space NK
Best beauty advent calendar for trying new brands
We like: the majority of products are from luxury brands
- 34 products worth more than £1,200
- Waitlist open now, on sale September 12
This year’s curated collection will offer everything Space NK is known for: products from Paula’s Choice, Summer Fridays, Olaplex and Drunk Elephant. It’s worth more than £1,200 - that’s £200 more than last year’s version - making it one of the best value options on this list.
In terms of products, you can look forward to a personal favourite of mine, the Medik8 Hydr8 B5 Intense, plus an Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush and Color Wow’s Extra Strength Dream Coat. Of the 34 products, 23 of them are full size.
9. Elemis The Ultimate Skincare Advent Calendar
Join waitlist
Best skincare advent calendar
We like: the nutrient-packed formulas behind each product
- 25 products worth £537.50
- Waitlist open now, on sale September 4
Elemis is back with another 25-product skincare beauty advent calendar. As with last year, there’s a twist: 15 calendars sold will also include a golden ticket with a voucher code for £1,000 to spend at Elemis.
As with last year, the products include a full size Pro-Collagen Marine Cream, a travel size Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm, a Pro-Collagen Eye Revive Mask, and an Elemis cleansing cloth and headband. This is one of my favourite single brand advent calendars every year.
10. Bamford Twelve Days of Joy
£195, Bamford
Best sustainable beauty advent calendar
We like: everything is useful - nothing will go to waste
- 12 products worth £270
- Waitlist open now
For the first time, Bamford is launching an advent calendar this year, focused on bath, body and home rather than makeup, perfect for a home bird. There’s Geranium Body Wash, Lip Balm, Bath Oil and a Sky Fig Candle.
Everything is packaged inside an illustrated green and white box made from FSC certified paper, so you can recycle it or hold onto it as a keepsake.
Best beauty advent calendars with waitlists, but no details
Waitlists are open for these calendars, but no information has been announced yet about their contents or when they will be on sale. Our pictures show last years’ calendars. We’ll keep you updated as and when news is released.
11. Jo Malone Beauty Advent Calendar
Join waitlist
All the information we have on this year’s Jo Malone London Advent Calendar is a waitlist and the promise of ‘an extra dusting of enchantment’. We suspect it won’t be too dissimilar to last year’s 25-drawer calendar, which was housed in an elegant gingerbread inspired case and was filled with miniature colognes, travel candles, bath and body products and one 30ml cologne.
Products included Myrrh and Tonka Cologne Intense, Blackberry and Bay Hand Cream, Wood Sage and Sea Salt Body and Hand Wash, Ginger Biscuit Cologne and an English Pear and Freesia Body Creme, among lots more.
12. Cult Beauty 2024 Advent Calendar
Join waitlist
Having released four showstopping sold out calendars, Cult Beauty has yet to disappoint. Last year’s set included beauty expert-approved products (including 20 full sizes) and on day 25 there were no fewer than seven beauty products, for the ultimate Christmas pamper day.
The 39 gifts included a Jo Loves Roasted Chestnuts candle, a Paula’s Choice Clear Cleanser, bareMinerals Mineralist Gloss Balm and a Huda Beauty Cheeky Tint Blush Stick.
13. MAC Advent Calendar
Join waitlist
For lipstick lovers, M.A.C certainly delivered last year. Bursting with surprises, you could find familiar favourites and impressive newness for all the contours of the face.
Its 21 full-sized gifts included five lipsticks, two lip pencils, three eyeshadow pots and two Mac LipGlasses. The advent calendar was sold on Look Fantastic, Brown Thomas and Selfridges as well as MAC’s website.
14. Molton Brown The Advent Calendar
Join waitlist
A favourite of the late Queen, Molton Brown is known for its luxurious bath and body products. Last year’s calendar box had a focus on sustainability, using 100 per cent recycled materials.
It included classic scents like Orange and Bergamot, Re-charge Black Pepper and Heavenly Gingerlily along with deluxe sizes of the Mandarin and Spice collection.
Other beauty advent calendars coming in 2024
We know what’s in them, but you can’t buy or pre-order them yet...
15. Cowshed Christmas Hamper Advent Calendar
£250, Cowshed
Best beauty advent calendar for stocking fillers
We like: the excellent accessories - a sleep mask, scrunchie and a button gua sha
Cowshed’s Advent Calendar will be packed with skincare essentials to take you from morning to night. Whether it’s a body wash, exfoliator or candle, there’ll be everything you need for gifting, stocking fillers and overnight stays.
But it’s the packaging that makes this advent calendar stand out. Each product is individually boxed with an easy peel sticker so you will be able to regift anything you don’t love, and the boxes will be presented within a wicker basket.
Beauty advent calendar FAQ
What to look for in a beauty advent calendar
The key thing to look for in a beauty advent calendar is a good price which offers value for money. Look at how much the products in the advent calendar are worth compared to the price you’re paying to figure out how much you’re saving compared to buying each product individually. I’ve listed the worth under each calendar above, where I can, to help you out.
It’s also worth looking at how many products are inside as some have multiple behind each door – but beware the difference in value between travel and full size products. Finally, it always helps to choose a stylish calendar like the Liberty London or one that can be reused like the Cowshed.
When are most beauty advent calendars released in the UK?
The majority of popular beauty advent calendars will be released in September, although a few won’t be released until early October (last year these included Sephora, No. 7, John Lewis and Fenwick) and an even more select few aren’t available until early November.
What is the price range of beauty advent calendars?
The best beauty advent calendars can cost anywhere between £40 and £600, with the upper end of that populated by designer brands like Dior. Last year, you could buy a decent advent calendar for less than £100 thanks to Look Fantastic, Next, M&S, Boots and ASOS although the majority cost around the £200 mark.
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