Best beauty advent calendars 2026, reviewed by experts

These countdowns for beauty lovers have become a contemporary Christmas tradition. With an overall value that far exceeds their retail price, you’re treated to a premium gift each day of December.

Whether it’s a Charlotte Tilbury foundation, a Byredo lipstick, or an Augustinus Bader cream, the daily treats last long beyond party season. While once considered excessive, beauty advent calendars have become an increasingly mainstream choice for Christmas gifting.

Adding a touch of luxury to the festive period, consider this your cheat sheet to the best beauty advent calendars of 2026, whether you’re indulging yourself or gifting another.

Cult Beauty and Liberty’s calendars always sell out quickly

Daisy Lester/The Standard

“Let's be clear, we'd all be more than delighted to receive any one of these phenomenal calendars...That said, M&S is doing such great things across the board, and beauty is no exception. Its advent calendar is a fab way to discover great products and brands without spending a fortune, and it feels like excellent value.

Liberty has to be my ultimate beauty advent calendar and has been for many years. Its beauty hall has long held my heart, with its incredible mix of heritage, cool and cult picks, and this calendar feels like a little piece of that magic. Also, isn't it just so pretty? Having it propped up in my kitchen is part of Christmas in our house, and I love treating festive guests to a gift from one of its doors.

Jo Malone London's calendar is also a fabulous and decadent gift to self, or should you be feeling incredibly generous to others. Santa... you know I've been good.”

– Rose Beer, The London Standard’s beauty & health director

How I tested

As a shopping editor who’s reviewed the best beauty advent calendars for six years, I know what makes a brand or retailer worth investing in. When unboxing each calendar, I compared everything from product variety to value-for-money, packaging and festive flair. From multi-brand lineups to 12-day own-brand countdowns, I enlisted the help of fellow beauty obsessives for this ultimate guide.

Daisy Lester/The Standard

★★★★☆

When Liberty unveiled its beauty advent calendar in 2014, the modern mania began. A snapshot of its iconic beauty hall, the London department store’s annual offering is known for spotlighting more underground brands while delivering reliably luxurious skincare and fragrance staples. The box is worth the investment alone – it takes pride of place on any Christmas display.

In the line-up, you’ll find Sunday Riley CEO vitamin C 15 per cent brightening serum, Lisa Eldridge baume embrace melting lip colour, Augustinus Bader’s The Face Oil, and Davines Oi Shampoo, among other goodies. After unboxing the calendar, I can confirm it's characteristically luxurious, with niche-focused treats, excellent full-size value and standout fragrances – but makeup lovers and anyone wanting to try trending, more household names may find it lacking. Beauty buffs will love the thoughtfully curated lineup come December, while just about anyone can appreciate the uniquely beautiful box on display this Christmas.

Daisy Lester/The Standard

★★★★★

This year, there are 41 products, including a huge 23 full-size goodies and 18 deluxe minis. Alongside skincare, makeup and fragrances from the likes of Trinny, Fenty Beauty, Elemis and Gucci, beauty tech features for the first time – including Foreo’s UFO mini, worth £129 alone.

As I unboxed the calendar, I failed to come across a product I wouldn’t love to receive, whether as a stocking filler or gift. As always, there’s attention paid to mature skin too – from Trinny’s bounce back mini to This Works’s perfect cleavage, Shiseido’s vital perfection uplifting and firming advanced cream, and Neal's Yard’s frankincense intense age-defying cream, making it a calendar both mother and daughter would enjoy.

Among the full-size skincare products, you’ll be treated to L’Occitane Almond Shower Oil, Liz Earle’s Cleanse & PolishTM, and Medik8’s Hydr8 B5, while make-up heroes span the Sculpted by Aimee Line and Shine Lip Liner and Gloss Duo, Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Volumising Mascara, and Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand.

What’s more, one in 41 customers is in the running to win a mystery voucher: prizes include a Shark face or hair tool, and a Clarins spa treatment.

Boots 24 day premium beauty advent calendar 2026: £150, Boots.com

Daisy Lester/The Standard

★★★★★

The Boots 24-day beauty advent calendar is a much underrated option. Always affordable, it costs £150 again this year – but is worth £100 more. With a generous mix of full-size products alongside luxe minis, Boots’ 24 Days of Luxe Beauty Advent Calendar 2026 covers almost every corner of a beauty routine. Whether you’re most excited by the everyday make-up, cult skincare, indulgent fragrances or haircare, there’s plenty behind those 24 doors to make the countdown feel genuinely luxurious.

The Boots calendar will stock you up on beauty for the new year ahead while adding some glamorous excitement to your festive countdown – what more could you want for £150? Alongside the premium calendar, there’s also a 24-day skincare offering (£70, but worth £300), and a 12-day fragrance calendar (£90, but worth £345).

Daisy Lester/The Standard

★★★★☆

Worth more than £1,000 and with 16 full-size products, Cult Beauty’s calendar is among this year’s standout offerings. While I was expecting a lot of good makeup staples, I didn’t expect so many beloved skincare formulas to make an appearance. The calendar sets you up with a full routine for 2027: think Medik8’s pro-collagen peptide cream, Sunday Riley tidal deep hydration and plumping serum, and The Ordinary multi active delivery essence, Byoma’s foaming rice deep cleanser, Paula's Choice dual-retinoid treatment, and Anua’s PDRM cream.

If skincare doesn’t excite you, the formulas are excellent enough to make some family members very happy this Christmas. Makeup products span Charlotte Tilbury’s travel-size Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray, a full-size Patrick Ta Double Take Powder Blush Duo, a full-size Huda Beauty lip contour in warm brown, a full-size Westman Atelier mascara, and a full-size Hourglass Satin Crème Lipstick.

Sephora favourites beauty advent calendar 2026: £235, Sephora.com

The Sephora Favourites beauty advent calendar 2026

Ekin Karasin/The Standard

★★★★★

Sephora is somewhat synonymous with viral brands and formulas – and its beauty advent calendar has sold out four years in a row. This year, pre-orders are open, and the brand is offering 41 treats, including 27 full-size products and lots of exclusives. As per tradition, plenty of viral products feature – including the Biodance PDRN Sheet Mask, K18 Leave-in Molecular Repair Hair Mask, One/Size On 'Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray, Dr Sam's Flawless Cleanser, Merit Beauty Flush Balm Cream Blush, and Medicube Collagen Jelly Cream.

The skincare and beauty goodies really lead the way in the calendar this year – it’s overflowing with luxury products at a fraction of their usual price, and plenty of them come in good sizes. Each drawer is equipped with considered and well-curated picks that feel like a genuine treat and will make you glad you forked out to get the box. Costing £235, but worth more than a grand and full of beauty holy grails, I think Sephora will be well on the way to selling out for a fifth year in a row.

Daisy Lester/The Standard

★★★★★

The M&S beauty advent calendar is packed with household brands and familiar favourites – from fragrances and make-up to elevate your festive looks, to skincare and haircare to combat the effects of one too many parties. It’s also among the cheapest calendars available, at £75.

Haircare (Color Wow, Aveda, Philip Kingsley, Sam McKnight) and makeup (Benefit, Iconic, Bare Minerals and Estee Lauder) are where the calendar really excels, but the skincare offering offers great value for money with two full-size formulas from M&S’s in-house Formula brand and The Organic Pharmacy. Overall, I would have liked to see more full-size products across every category, so you can get your use long beyond the festive period. However, for the price, it’s a crowd-pleasing countdown to Christmas that will delight beauty lovers of any generation. Plus, the pink striped calendar looks gorgeous on display.

Madelaine Dowds/The Standard

★★★★☆

Charlotte Tilbury’s annual beauty advent calendar is arguably the best for makeup lovers. For 2026, this brand has stuck to tradition by offering 12 beauty favourites. All the CT classics are included – Beauty Light Wand in 'Pillow Talk', Lip Cheat Lip Liner in 'Pillow Talk', Magic Cream, Unreal Lips Glow Nectar Oil, and Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray – plus newer launches including the Unreal Blush Healthy Glow.

At £170, it doesn't boast the enormous £1,000+ total worth of a Harrods or Cult Beauty calendar selection. But for Charlotte Tilbury lovers or anyone wanting a curated and beautifully presented chest of reliable crowd-pleasers, it delivers plenty of festive joy.

Daisy Lester/The Standard

Jo Malone always ranks highly among the most decadent advent calendars. This year, its 25-day fragrance calendar will cost £375 with an overall worth of £597. Granted, it’s one of the most expensive options, but it’s brimming with the fragrance house’s signature scents, plus a full-size tangerine and honey fragrance.

The luxurious trunk-style box features tartan-wrapped minis. The lineup includes an orange bitter hand cream, English pear and Freesia fragrance, a limited edition gingerbread cologne, a Cyprus and grapevine candle, among other luxury olfactory treats.

Asos face and body advent calendar: £98, Asos.com

Holly Bishop/The Standard

★★★★☆

At less than £100, Asos’s beauty advent calendar packs in a lot of exciting beauty. Your chance to try Medicube’s PDRN serum, Gisou’s honey lip oil and Biodance’s PDRN mask, along with reliably good skincare formulas from Sunday Riley, Elemis and Anua, there’s plenty of useful makeup staples included too – think Benefit’s Benetint, Morphe’s lip liner and Charlotte Tilbury’s beauty light wand.

I’d challenge the 15 full-size claim – most of the products are teeny tiny – but the more than 70 per cent saving is sweet enough to forgive. The zebra print box is a stylish departure from most calendars this year – it will take pride of place on your dresser.

Daisy Lester/The Standard

★★★★☆

With 24 popular products spanning serums, moisturisers, creams, scrubs, masques, eye treatments and more found in the Kiehl’s advent calendar, it’s a real treat for skincare fans. You’ll only find two full-size products here, but if you do decide to invest, Kiehl’s comparably affordable offering is a lovely gift to friends, family or yourself. Packed with effective formulas to pamper and nourish skin, it’s a fun festive way to discover a new favourite product that you might choose to invest in later. Plus, each product is packaged in a box for regifting, with unisex formulas that appeal to everyone.

Hansveni Dave/The Standard

★★★★★

The luxury of Penhaligon’s is not lost on its advent calendar. The consideration towards the logo wrapping paper, the additional gold animal head caps, the trunk-style box and the quality of each product does not go unnoticed. This year, Penhaligon's Christmas collection is inspired by vintage travel trunks and the golden era of train travel, when the journey home was as important as the destination. And they have successfully taken the essence of that chic, golden era and packed it into the advent calendar.

With only two scents repeated, after the 24 days, you feel like Penhaligon’s has invited you in to get to know every highlight the brand has to offer. While £450 feels steep for an advent calendar, this one feels more than worth it. If you’re after a scent reset, are a Penhaligon’s lover, or are simply looking for lavish gifts (each day is wrapped in individual printed tissue paper, making them perfect for regifting), this advent calendar really is one of the best ones out there.

Sculpted By Aimee

Sculpted By Aimee launched its advent calendar in 2023 – and it’s sold out every year since. Last year, it was sold out within five days of launching (one sold every 2.5 seconds in the first hour). By the time it went live, 35,000 people were already on the waitlist. What’s really caught our attention about this year's calendar is the exclusivity. Five of the 13 products don't exist outside the calendar – including a new burgundy shade of the brand's MyMascara and Cream Luxe Highlight in Glass Glow, a new glossy light-gold shade of a highlighter.

The brand has revealed the calendar will include a full-size MyMascara, a full-size Cream Luxe Highlight, a mini Bare Basics, a full-size Cream & Powder Duo, a mini LiquidGlo, a full-size HydraBody Nourishing Oil, a full-size Lip Treat in Rose, a full-size Line & Shine in Rose, a full-size Eyeliner Duo in Brown/Nude, Cleansing Cloth, a mini Fresh Faced and a mini Hydrate & Hold Setting Mist.

Cowshed’s 24 day deluxe advent calendar: £299, Cowshed.com

Cowshed

Alongside Cowshed signatures – think the refresh hand wash, active bath and shower gel, and relax body lotion – the calendar features the brand’s new reimagined range of Wildly-Feel-Good fragrances for body, hand, hair and home.

In the mix, 24 full-size products draw inspiration from Christmas at Babington House, from roaring fires to champagne celebrations. The handwoven wicker hamper is designed for year-round use, while each door is individually boxed and sticker-sealed for gifting to loved ones.

L'Occitane

Provence beauty brand L’Occitane is always a favourite for Christmas gifting – and its prestige beauty advent calendar combines all its bestselling formulas into one 24-day December offering. Granted, the value for money isn’t as impressive as other brands – it costs £169 and is worth £269 – but the lineup will make any L’Occitane devotee very happy. From the cult almond shower and body oil to luxurious hand creams, soaps, haircare and skincare – including the immortelle cream, overnight oil, eye cream, and cleansing cream – the calendar is just the ticket for some party season pampering.

Fortnum & Mason

Fortnum & Mason has revealed its 2026 beauty advent calendar, which costs £275, but is worth more than £1,225. There will be 24 full-size products across 25 days, spanning perfumes, makeup and skincare. The refined lineup is a noticeable departure from the products we always see in beauty advent calendars. Expect Ortigia, Wildsmith, Clive Christian, Delilah, Granado, Jean-Charles Brosseau, and Benamôr 1925. The gorgeous pink, floral-painted box is quintessentially Fortnums too.

Next x Future Dreams advent calendar for 2026: £150, Next.co.uk

Next

Next has announced its beauty advent calendar for 2026 in partnership with the breast cancer charity Future Dreams. In true Christmas spirit, £10 from every calendar sold will go to supporting those affected by breast cancer. Brimming with useful formulas, pampering treats and makeup heroes, highlights include Liz Earle’s cleanse and polish, Clinique’s eye serum, Elemis’s pro collagen cleansing balm, Kate Somerville’s exfolikate cleanser foaming wash and Estee Lauder advanced night repair.

Space NK beauty advent calendar 2026: £275, Spacenk.com

Space NK

Space NK’s advent calendars are always an indulgent line-up of both cult classic formulas and viral products. For 2026, its calendar is worth more than £1,200 with 26 full-size products and costing £275. The full line-up is impressive – and among the best this year. Think Augustinus Bader, Summer Fridays, Color Wow and Sol de Janeiro, alongside K18, Vieve, Skin Rocks and Charlotte Tilbury. I’m yet to get my hands on it for a review, but watch this space.

Lookfantastic

I’ve reviewed Lookfantastic’s advent calendar for several years now – and I’m always impressed with how many covetable formulas are packed in at such a low price point. The 2026 calendar looks to be no exception. Its 2026 offering costs £120 – making it among the cheapest calendars available – and includes 27 products, 19 of which are full-size.

Inside, you’ll find a full-size Medik8 cleanser, a Laneige vanilla lip balm, a full-size Color Wow Kale Cocktail, a Clinique Moisture Surge full-size hydrator, a full-size MAC fixing spray, a Sol de Janerio Cheirosa 40 Perfume Mist and an Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Night Cream, among many more big-name goodies.

Helping it stand out in a crowded market, the Lookfantastic lineup has been handpicked by trusted industry names, including Sophia Tuxford and Cinzia Baylis-Zullo (hosts of The Girls Bathroom podcast), Molly-Mae Hague, Olivia Attwood, beauty editor and presenter Sarah Jossel, and celebrity hair stylist Sam McKnight.

Lush advent calendar 2026: £210, Lush.com

Lush

The Lush Christmas advent calendar is always popular – particularly among Gen Z and young beauty lovers. The 2026 offering has already been unveiled, costing £210 for 25 fan favourites and Christmas crackers. Packaged in a reusable hamper – a nice departure from more disposable boxes – it’s brimming with everything from cosy socks and candles to Lush’s famous bath bombs, bubble bars, shower gels, soaps and skincare. Delivering a little luxury to every day of December, it typically sells out quickly – so I’d suggest placing your pre-order now.

Bamford

Bringing the spa into your home, Bamford’s beauty advent calendar for 2026 includes 24 products to pamper you during party season. Spanning bath, body, skincare and six wellness tools – think gua sha’s and body brushes – the calendar is a refreshing alternative to trend-driven line-ups.

From the Geranium range candle, body wash and lotion, to the B Balanced body oil, cleanser and pillow mist, the countdown provides a daily moment of calm. Now available, it contains six full size products.

Benefit

Benefit’s annual advent calendar is always a gloriously kitsch affair. This year’s ‘Hotel Beneville’ calendar is no exception, designed with a hotel theme and playful briefcase box. Noticably smaller than most offerings, you’ll find mostly minis inside, except a full-size badgal mascara, brow setting gel, Benetint rose-tinted lip and cheek stain, and Cookie golden pearl highlighter. Perfect for young makeup fans or Benefit devotees, it’s also among the most affordable options – but the value-to-cost ratio isn’t as impressive (over £295).