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The season of Advent calendars is upon us, and beauty and wellness are well-represented. Even if you don’t celebrate traditional holidays in December, the best Advent calendars can be a fun way to enjoy the countdown to Christmas. These seasonal favorites sell out fast, but there are so many options for beauty lovers to indulge in this holiday season.
What you should know before buying beauty Advent calendars
Number of days
Some Advent calendars contain 24 (sometimes even 25) days (starting on December 1st), and others have only 12 days. It will depend on the brand or retailer and how they promote their products. For example, beauty Advent calendars with full-sized products may only contain 12 days.
Delivery speed
If you want to do the full 24 days, you’ll want to make sure the Advent calendar arrives before December 1.
Types of beauty Advent calendars
Most beauty Advent calendars will have a mix of full and trial-sized products for you to try out. With so many beauty brands on the Advent calendar bandwagon, you can likely find specialized calendars from particular brands or general ones full of a variety of products and makers. You can buy them directly from the brands, online shops, or look for them in department stores. There are endless combinations of beauty Advent calendars from skincare and makeup, to fragrances and lip gloss. The larger calendars usually contain an assortment of items, so you don’t end up with too many of one product.
What’s inside
Consider the products you like when looking for the best beauty Advent calendars. If you prefer perfume, you may want to stick with a calendar that will gift you sweet smells, whereas a makeup calendar could provide shimmer and shine for the holidays. If you plan to have guests, you could choose a beauty Advent calendar with mini soaps or hand creams and leave them out for your friends and family who come to stay.
Who are you buying for?
You can find beauty Advent calendars for all different genders and ages. Due to their popularity, beauty Advent calendars come in many packages, shapes, and sizes, from ornate affairs to casual cardboard. If you are buying an Advent calendar as a gift, it might be worth making sure the recipient isn’t allergic to any of the products in it.
Best value beauty Advent calendars
Ulta Beauty’s 12 Days of Beauty
If you love makeup and don’t mind a 12-day calendar, the Ulta Beauty’s 12 Days of Beauty is full of cruelty-free, limited-edition products that will keep you looking glamorous, day or night. We don’t want to give away the products, but you’ll find something for your cheeks, eyes, lips, and other surprises behind each drawer for just $22.
Trader Joe’s 12 Days Of Beauty Advent Calendar
For less than $50, you can enjoy 12 beauty and skin products in holiday scents like marshmallow, cranberry and orange, and candy cane, from everyone’s favorite affordable eco-friendly shop. You can buy the Trader Joe’s 12 Days Of Beauty Advent Calendar online, or at your local Trader Joe’s shops, (depending on the availability) for $43.
Trader Joe’s 12 Days Of Beauty Advent Calendar 2022-2023
Emily in Paris, 12 Days in Paris Advent Calendar
Pretend you are living in the City of Lights this holiday season and celebrate with this iconic beauty Advent calendar from Revolve. If you, your friends, or your family are fans of Netflix’s hit show, this is an affordable way to access Emily’s Parisian inspired beauty secrets for 12 days in December and beyond. C'est un très beau cadeau this Christmas for just $33!
Emily in Paris 12 Days in Paris Advent Calendar (Worth $80.00)
Best makeup Advent calendars
Makeup Revolution 25 Days of Glam Advent Calendar
Grab an Advent calendar from Makeup Revolution, and count down the 25 days of December with new products to try, including full-size creams, blushes, lipsticks, and more.
25 Days of Glam Advent Calendar
bareMinerals 12 Days of Joy Holiday Advent Calendar
bareMinerals is known for its cruelty-free vegan products, and if you are interested in trying them out, this 12-day beauty Advent calendar is stocked with eight mini and four regular-sized products. Makeup like bronzers to brighten your skin, lip gloss, and mascara when you want to glam it up during the holidays are all included in this stylish Advent calendar for $110.
All I Want 24-Piece Beauty Advent Calendar
If you are a fan of Benefit Cosmetics, this beauty Advent calendar is for you. Each day, it delivers one of Benefit’s best-selling products worth over $300, including skincare and popular Benefit makeup for eyes, cheeks, and lips. Set in a green and pink signature box for $149, it would make a great gift for someone who loves the brand or wants to try it.
All I Want 24-Piece Beauty Advent Calendar
Best body care Advent calendars
L'Occitane Classic Beauty Advent Calendar
This brightly colored, 24-piece collection contains L’Occitane’s favorite products and special editions designed for this $80 holiday calendar. You’ll discover lots of your favorite scents and surprises when you open all 24 drawers. This would make a great gift for houseguests, although they might have to jump ahead if they aren’t spending all 24 days of the season with you.
L'Occitane Classic Beauty Advent Calendar
Fresh Advent Calendar Skincare Set
The beauty Advent calendar is a colorful set of drawers you can set out on your table as a piece of festive decor. Pull open one drawer a day to reveal all the carefully curated skincare products, from moisturizers to masks for $350.
Fresh Advent Calendar Skincare Set
The Body Shop The Big Advent of Change
Body Shop lovers rejoice! You can find your regular favorites and limited edition products packed in a pop-up, box-style Advent calendar for $87.50. Twenty-four days of joy await you with these sweet-smelling lotions and other useful products.
Best beauty Advent calendars for tweens and teens
Burt’s Bees Advent Calendar
A great option for teens and pre-teens who like flavored lip balms, the Burt’s Bees Advent calendar contains 12 different full-sized tubes in fun flavors like mint cocoa, salted caramel, and pomegranate for just $12.87.
Burt’s Bees Advent Calendar
Hershey's® 12 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar
You won’t find Hershey's Kisses in this 12-day calendar, but your teens and tweens can enjoy fun, candy-themed makeup and beauty items, like milk chocolate-flavored lip gloss for $17.49.
Hershey's® 12 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar
Olive & June’s Christmas Calendar
If your teen or tween loves to paint their nails, they will love this kid-friendly Advent calendar for all things mani and pedi, including polish, nail art stickers, cuticle cream, and more surprises for $65.
Olive & June’s Christmas Calendar
Best beauty Advent calendars for men
31-Day Advent Calendar
Sabon outdid themselves with this generous 31-day Advent calendar. Stocked with shower gels, body musk, and hand cream. While not labeled specifically for men, anyone would love these gorgeous bath and body products, and its magical midnight blue box packaging makes it perfect for dressing up your bedside table for the holidays.
 "31-Day Advent Calendar")
31-Day Advent Calendar
BARBER PRO Men’s Skincare Essentials Advent Calendar
Countdown the 12 days of Christmas with face masks when you buy this Advent calendar for the man in your life. These full-sized masks for post-shave, cleansing, depuffing tired eyes, and more are designed to keep your skin in top shape for $49 when everything else suffers from overindulgence during the holidays.
BARBER PRO Men’s Skincare Essentials Advent Calendar
Liberty Men's Advent Calendar 2023
This Advent calendar stands on a tabletop and resembles a London street scene. Minimalistic in black and white, this is one of the less showy Advent calendar choices, but the details in the design’s illustration of the actual Liberty shop in London are divine. Enjoy a mix of 25 full-size (yes, you get an extra gift on Christmas) and travel mini-products from this luxury shop. The de-stress muscle gel and classic mint toothpaste are just two treasurers hidden in this $295 calendar.
Liberty Men's Advent Calendar 2023
Best luxury beauty Advent calendars
The 2023 George & Viv Beauty Advent Calendar
Scents, skin cleansers, oils, and more are all carefully contained in a colorful holiday in the winter village scene inside this beauty Advent calendar. Luxury brands like Phlur, Elemis, and Sunday Riley are all included here for just $88.
The 2023 George & Viv Beauty Advent Calendar
Diptyque Advent Calendar
Anything from Diptque is definitely in the splurge category, but the high-quality items may be worth it to some beauty lovers. Collect all 25 seasonal and signature Diptyque delights like mini candles, oils, and solid perfumes for $510. Open one Diptque treasurer each day from inside a box-style calendar. There may be more candles than beauty balms, but it definitely deserves a spot on our list of favorites.
Diptyque Advent Calendar
Kiehl’s Limited Edition Holiday Advent Calendar
This is a holly jolly Advent calendar decorated with a winter streetscape stocked with mini samples of all the best products Kiehl’s has to offer for $125. If you have a teen who is experimenting with skincare, this will introduce them to cleansers, face oils, masks, hand salves, and more. Some products, like the anti-aging eye cream, may be more suited to mature skin, but if they’re smart, they can always stuff them in their mom or dad’s stockings.
Kiehl’s Limited Edition Holiday Advent Calendar
Best beauty advent calendars for gifting
Sephora Collection Advent Calendar
Sephora’s contribution to the beauty Advent calendar market brings some glam and sparkle this holiday season. This calendar, which is designed like a colorful drawer, contains 24 days of skin and beauty products for $49.
Advent Calendar
Winter Advent Calendar
The UK-brand Cowshed doesn't disappoint with its 24 days of scents, lotions, mists, moisturizers, and more inside the narrow drawers. These popular products are packed into a hand-illustrated Advent cabinet-style calendar featuring the lovely winter greenery inspired by the Walled Garden at Babington House in England for $230. This beautiful Advent calendar is a keeper and is lovely enough to reuse next Christmas.
Winter Advent Calendar
3-D Advent Calendar
This beauty Advent calendar from Ritual captures the iconic Christmas tree decorated beautifully. The 24 mini gifts wrapped in gold paper hang among the “branches,” making it an elegant and fun holiday table topper. Enjoy Rituals' best-selling and brand-new products like mini fragrance sticks, tiny candles, and more surprises!
12 Days of Glow Bestsellers Calendar
Open the giant Christmas ball to reveal Bobbi Brown’s skincare and makeup best-sellers in both mini and full-size. This table-top Advent calendar has everything you need to look your best at those holiday gatherings, like matte red lipstick and shimmery eye shadows.
How we selected the best beauty Advent calendars
There are a lot of beauty Advent calendars out there this year—to narrow down the options, we researched the top concerns shoppers had when making these purchases. We considered things like giftability, value of the products, overall design, and ease of ordering.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Are beauty Advent calendars worth it?
Beauty Advent calendars are a way to try best-selling and new products from your favorite brands. Sometimes, “gifts” hidden within the Advent calendars would cost more if you bought them individually. Beauty Advent calendars are worth it if you love beauty products and don’t mind samples or surprises. The gifts inside can make great stocking stuffers, and the calendars are often pretty enough to be given as gifts or used as decor.
What is the most popular beauty Advent calendar?
There really isn’t just one popular beauty Advent calendar on the market, since popularity depends on the category or brand a shopper is most interested in. In fact, there are several that consumers love and return to year after year. However, a few stand out as popular picks—L’Occitane, Sephora, Ulta, Kiehl’s, and Trader Joe’s.
What is the most luxurious Advent calendar?
Many luxurious Advent calendars are on the market in 2023, including ones from Liberty, Neiman Marcus, Diptyque, and more.
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