This year has been real and with the possibility of not spending Christmas with our loved ones, it can be difficult to even think about the festive period itself. However, the show must go on and gifts need to be shared.
Advent calendars that cater to your skincare, home, and beauty needs are becoming the ever-popular gift, giving adults the joy that children experience but in an extravagant way. They tend to be released early in October and make the perfect present for loved ones, due to the range of products offered and the beautiful packaging in which they are presented.
Although we are in October, we have curated the best calendars to suit your and your loved one's needs. Team favourites this year include L’Occitane, which launches three, yes three, calendars for those who are seeking their favourite makeup offers, Glossybox, which captures your beauty needs with goodies in a beautiful reusable calendar, and for those seeking a truly luxury experience, we recommend Fortnum & Mason or offerings from Harrods.
TOP TRIED AND TESTED CALENDARS
L'Occitane
This year, L'Occitane has launched three luxury Advent calendars for Christmas, including their popular reusable edition, taking inspiration from the joys of nature, now that the world has slowed down.
The brand has a collection of luxury goodies to enjoy that are truly treasures for your home.
1.Hand Illustrated Reusable Calendar (£160)
The reusable calendar features products in a classic hand-illustrated design made from durable recycled materials, including cotton. It has items worth more than £220, where each pocket reveals a luxury size product. Be quick as this goes on sale mid-October.
2.Luxury Advent Calendar (£99)
Revel in the magic as you count down to Christmas Day with the L’Occitane Luxury Advent Calendar. This beautifully wrapped and well-designed edition is in a sleek yet festive red with drawers that unveil the ultimate home, bath, face, and body range from the coveted brand, including the L'Occitane EDP fragrance.
3.The Classic Advent Calendar (£53)
A favourite of the editorial team, L'Occitane has successfully recreated childhood at VS HQ, where each individual item is hidden behind a numbered door. Favourites include the sumptuous mini Shea Dry Hand Cream, perfect for the winter days, Almond Body Milk that melts onto the skin to provide 48-hour hydration, and the Overnight Reset Serum – a complete game-changer that leaves skin feeling fresh and appearing brighter, which is particularly useful for the dark mornings and early evenings.
Glossybox (£80 for subscribers, £99 for non-subscriber)
This is a winner at VS HQ. The beautifully designed advent calendar is gorgeous to look at and completely packed with goodies, which include full-size products. As of press time, the calendar was sold out, and we can understand why.
Products include full-size Fenty Beauty, Illamasqua, and The Body Shop products stacked in rose gold drawers that are handy for your everyday beauty essentials.
At VS HQ, we love the Iconic London Eyeshadow Palette with 20 matte highly pigmented colours
for the autumn-winter season (RRP £45), the Avant Skincare 3-1 Hyaluron-Filler Collagen Eye Formula (RRP £99) to hydrate the skin and firm the under-eye area, and KVD Vegan Mascara, perfect for the handbag.
The combined value of this calendar is almost £400. It would be foolish not to grab one.
Origins (£50)
The 12 Days of Origins advent calendar is packed with goodies worth more than £100 and is very much worth the spend. This year, expect to find a full-size lipstick in shade Dusky Rose, an activated charcoal facemask to banish those blackheads, and powerful anti-ageing serum.
Favourites at HQ include the Mega-Mushroom Relief and Resilience Soothing Lotion with reishi mushroom that contains powerful antioxidants for the skin and aids in hydration and detoxification, and Anti-Aging Power Serum – a firm favourite due to its light rose scent and its results with tackling fine lines.
Heaven Skincare (£190)
From world-renowned anti-ageing creams to skincare heroes loved by A-list celebrities and royalty, Heaven’s calendar ensures complexion perfection long after the festivities are over. Handmade in the UK, the luxury 12 Days of Heaven set boasts more than £600 worth of full and travel-size grooming and skincare products for just £190.
The editorial team’s favourites include the staple Black Bee Venom Mask with their trademarked ABEETOXIN, that is said to reduce fine lines and is a natural alternative to Botox, and the Chamomile Desensitising Hydrogel, a light serum suited to those with combination, acne-prone or sensitive skin.
LUMENE (£89.90)
Lumene, although new to HQ, has impressed us with their skincare and beauty range packed with natural Scandinavian ingredients inspired by the Arctic.
Their snowflake-illustrated advent calendar also reflects this, taking on the aesthetic of the winter months and the frostbitten nature of countries north of the UK. Lumene has packed in 24 enchanting vegan beauty and skincare products within its calendar, with a combined value of more than £240.
All products are infused with precious natural Arctic ingredients, such as skin-brightening wild Arctic cloudberry and hydrating organic Nordic birch sap.
LUSH CALENDAR (£75-185)
Just weeks into its release, the Lush Advent Calendar sold out, leaving us all feeling late to the party; however, the brand has since released alternatives for those wanting to indulge in their products.
Recommendations include The Art of Christmas Bathing set (£100) and we were lucky enough to try some of the products in their ever-popular alternative 12 Days of Christmas (£75).
As the days get darker and the nights run colder, there is nothing better than the indulgence of the Winter Garden Bath Bomb, and the gift-exclusive Celebrate Body Milk, which is another VS favourite.
RITUALS (£89.90)
This year's offering is titled The Ritual of Advent and is truly gorgeous, the packaging is wrapped beautifully encasing a 3D Christmas village packed with amazing product. Once you've set up your Christmas stage including fairy lights you then individually insert the houses and trees containing festive goodies.
The calendar is a fabulous take on the traditional nativity sets and one of the most innovative we have seen thus far, firm favourites include the mini candles from the Private Collection, particularly in Wild Fig that burns slowly and looks gorgeous on the dressing table. The Ritual of Happy Buddha Parfum d'Interieur 50ml is also a perfect scent for the festive period.
There are over 24 mini and full-size products with a combined value of £145. For those wanting to spend a little less Rituals also have the equally stunning 2D calendar for £59.50 (worth £120).
ESPA (£145)
ESPA, alongside their Festive Retreat collection, has announced the highly anticipated 2020 calendar with the theme “There's No Place Like Home.” Each drawer of the beautifully designed packaging encases 25 hand-selected ESPA essentials for the skin, body and mind, connecting you with nature, a slower pace of life, and to make a house feel like a home.
This mindful collection is worth £230 and combines new and old product lines. The Modern Alchemy Collection, a firm favourite, is included to evoke a sense of calm and togetherness, bringing us back to the roots of tranquillity.
Here are some more recommended calendars
Fortnum & Mason (£195)
Following two consecutive years of sell-out success, Fortnum & Mason return with the launch of their third Christmas Beauty Advent Calendar. The Beauty Advent Calendar retails at £195 but holds a staggering £810 worth of products. The edit includes 25 of the best-selling products from Fortnum’s Piccadilly beauty floor, covering skincare, colour, accessories, and bath and body. With only a limited number of calendars created, after selling out in just weeks for the last two years, this limited-edition piece is for beauty connoisseurs looking for the ultimate way to countdown to Christmas.
The 25-day calendar opens and reveals 25 drawers, which combine to showcase a red and gold Fortnum’s print.
Cult Beauty (£199)
Bursting with big makeup brands, including Augustinus Bader, Jo Loves and Dr Dennis Gross, Cult Beauty has launched a skincare and beauty haven in its 2020 of a calendar worth more than £930.
The Cult Beauty Advent Calendar 2020 is the ultimate gift for your beauty-besotted best friend, sister, mother or brother, with an icon-a-day to ensure that the lucky recipient glides through
the seasonal circuit with never-so-much as a hair out of place.
And what’s more, the 25th drawer is jam-packed with an edit of festive essentials to make Christmas Day even bigger and better (no peeking!).
This year, Cult Beauty is also donating £15 from every calendar to Beauty Banks.
Molton Brown (£175)
Since 1971, Molton Brown has blended the world’s finest ingredients in England and hold a royal warrant for the supply of toiletries to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The brand has curated a collection of home and beauty essentials hidden in 1920s art deco packaging, oozing opulence, elegance and eccentricity, which makes this year’s calendar much more unique.
True gems include the Vintage Elderflower Festive Bauble, the Tobacco Absolute Mini Candle, and our editorial team’s favourite, the Re-charge Black Pepper EDT.
NET-A-PORTER (£240)
The 2020 Net-a-Porter Beauty Christmas Advent Calendar includes 13 full-size products (worth £1,120) from different categories, including make-up, skincare, haircare, bath & body, answering all winter beauty needs.
Star products include a Gua Sha Jade Tool by our favourite HAYOU, a Vitamin C Brightening Serum by 111 Skin and the Chantecaille Pure Rosewater (travel size).
HARRODS (£250)
The luxury department store and British staple have released a 25-drawer calendar filled the most exciting beauty products and scented treats selected from its own halls.
Expect to find exclusives, such as a rich yet exquisite face oil from skincare god Augustinus Bader and scented treats from Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Baccarat Rouge.
The calendar’s contents are worth more than £700 and make the perfect gift for those seeking a luxury beauty and skincare experience.
Space NK (£195)
Following a difficult year for all, Space NK has managed to pack some much-needed festive cheer in its 2nd edition of the Beauty Anthology Advent Calendar.
The beautifully designed calendar divides its book format into chapters, with each revealing one of Space NK's much sought-after beauties – including the full-size Ren Clean Skincare AHA Tonic, Charlotte Tilbury Lipstick in Pillow Talk and other exciting beauty treats.
The contents are worth more than £480. What a steal!
Words by Jheanelle Feanny
Sub Editor Primrose Jeanton