I’m a beauty expert who’s tested hundreds of advent calendars – my 5 favourites including a box saving you £465
NOTHING says ‘Christmas’ like a chest stuffed with beauty products, right?
Celebrating Advent has humble beginnings, and used to involve burning a candle every day in December.
Fast forward to now, and beauty fans are adding beauty Advent calendars to their baskets.
Call me insane, but I’ve been opening Advent calendar doors since July. But it’s all for your benefit, honest!
There are hundreds of beauty Advent calendars on the market this year – with options starting at a tenner and rattling up to over £500 – and I’ve been determined to find the very best.
So, here are the fruits of my labour and the best calendars of 2024.
Each has impressed me with its value, contents and – importantly – festive sparkle, but which one takes your fancy?
Best for bargain hunters
LookFantastic Advent Calendar
LookFantastic Advent Calendar, £100 (Worth over £565)
RATING: 5/5
This is one of the most affordable and impressive Advent calendars on the market.
Encased in its shimmering walls (which feel more sci-fi than festive) are 27 beauty goodies, spanning from a cult body mist to a £48 eyeshadow palette.
With a total saving of 82%, compared to buying each product individually, LookFantastic is the best value-for-money beauty calendar of 2024.
My favourite pick can be found inside Door 1 – where you’ll discover a full-sized Medik8 Press and Glow Tonic and a £30 Look Fantastic x Foreo gift voucher.
Best for trend followers
Cult Beauty Advent Calendar
Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (Worth £1,100)
RATING: 4.5/5
Best known for stocking buzzy new launches and it-girl essentials, the Cult Beauty catalogue is undeniably cool.
The retailer has poured its crème de la crème into the 2024 Cult Beauty Advent calendar, featuring the likes of Augustinus Bader, ColorWow and Sol de Janeiro.
With its beautiful, chest-like design, this sturdy calendar could be reused next Christmas or repurposed into a beauty storage box.
You’ll discover 40 products inside, far more than in other boxes, and it boasts a saving of 79%.
And if all of that still isn’t good enough, Cult Beauty also throw in a £10 Cult Beauty voucher with every purchase.
Best for beauty hoarders
Space NK Beauty Advent Calendar
Space NK Beauty Advent Calendar, £250 (Worth £1,200)
RATING: 4/5
Space NK has smashed it this year, as people literally can’t stop talking about this Advent calendar.
While its garish Christmas jumper design isn’t for everyone (myself included), you’ll definitely like what you find inside.
Bursting with 35 products, whereby 23 are full-size, you’ll discover a wealth of beauty treats, including a Charlotte Tilbury eyeshadow pencil and a Drunk Elephant moisturiser.
Instead of drawers or doors, the calendar features 25 stacked boxes which, while beautiful, is a little flimsy, meaning it’ll probably be destined for the recycling bin come January.
What's inside the Space NK Advent Calendar 2024?
Here's everything you'll receive during the countdown to Christmas...
- Amika Overnight Dream Routine Treatment
- Augustinus Bader The Serum
- Chantecaille Cheek Gelee in Vibrant (FULL SIZE)
- Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleon in Pillow Talk (FULL SIZE)
- Color Wow Extra Strength Dream Coat (FULL SIZE)
- Drunk Elephant La La Retro Whipped Cream (FULL SIZE)
- DS & Durga I Don’t Know What Eau de Parfum
- Eve Lom Cleanser + Wash Cloth
- Glossier G Suit Soft Touch Lip Cream in Jet (FULL SIZE)
- Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Luminous Flush
- ILIA Beauty Limitless Mascara (FULL SIZE)
- K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask (FULL SIZE)
- Kate Somerville Exfolikate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment (FULL SIZE)
- KOSAS Airbrow in Clear (FULL SIZE)
- Laneige Bouncy & Firm Sleeping Mask
- Lisa Eldridge Luxuriously Lucent Lip Colour in Painterly (FULL SIZE)
- Medik8 Hydr8 B5 Intense (FULL SIZE)
- Milk Makeup Hydro-Grip Primer (FULL SIZE)
- Naturium Vitamin C Complex Serum (FULL SIZE)
- Olaplex No.7 Bonding Oil (FULL SIZE)
- Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant (FULL SIZE)
- Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Tinted Lip Oil in Hope (FULL SIZE)
- Rodial Glass Highlighter
- Sam McKnight Happy Endings Nourishing Balm
- Sisley Paris Black Rose Cream Mask
- Sisley Paris Velvet Sleeping Mask
- Skin Rocks Cream Cleanser Fragrance (FULL SIZE)
- Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 62 Mist (FULL SIZE)
- Space NK Nordic Wilds Body Wash
- Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Brown Sugar (FULL SIZE)
- Sunday Riley CEO Glow Vitamin C + Turmeric Face Oil
- Supergoop Glow Screen SPF30 (FULL SIZE)
- Tatcha The Serum Stick (FULL SIZE)
- The Ordinary Multi Peptide + HA (FULL SIZE)
- Ultra Violette Queen Screen SPF 50+ (FULL SIZE)
Best for luxury aficionados
Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar
Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar, £260 (Worth £1205)
RATING: 4/5
The Liberty Advent Calendar is so beautiful, I almost don’t care what’s inside.
But as a Beauty Writer, it’s my job to see past pretty packaging and analyse whether it’s got bang for buck and the all-important excitement factor.
Fortunately, this calendar ticks both boxes and is filled with 28 products, with 18 full-sized.
Nestled inside, you’ll discover a shimmering Lisa Eldridge eyeshadow, Liberty scented candle and Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, alongside a plethora of luxury beauty buys.
The calendar will save you a whopping 78% or £945 – and that’s before you consider the gorgeous packaging it’s presented in!
Best for sharing
M&S Beauty Advent Calendar
M&S Beauty Advent Calendar, £50 (Worth £300)
RATING: 5/5
If you bought all of the contents of this calendar separately, you’d have to fork over £300.
While M&S isn’t synonymous with bargains, they’ve pulled out the stops for Christmas, and you can get your hands on this luxury calendar for just £50.
Inside, you’ll find six full-sized beauty gifts bundled into a plush velvet vanity case.
Spanning from an indie perfume from Floral Street to a Benefit Mascara and a Clinique cleansing balm (which is the retailer’s #1 makeup remover), this calendar is filled with crowd-pleasing beauty gifts that’ll appeal to the whole family.
You’ll have to wait until the 24th October 2024 to get your hands on it, and I’m expecting it to sell out quickly – discover more here.