The 16 Best Beauty Advent Calendars Offer Stellar Hauls at a Discounted Price

No matter how old you are, there's something about an advent calendar that really gets you into the festive spirit. Historically, each little door revealed a picture (often part of the nativity scene), and over the past few decades, morsels of chocolate were the name of the game. But modern iterations go above and beyond, particularly in the beauty category, where you can score a stellar haul.

Beauty advent calendars typically include 12, 24, or 25 days' worth of products behind individual doors or within mini compartments. You'd usually present a 24- or 25-piece set on December 1, allowing your loved one to open a door each day until Christmas. The "12 Days of Christmas" traditionally go from December 25 through January 5, so technically, you could gift a 12-piece calendar on Christmas Day. However, many people like to do a 12-day countdown starting December 14. Beauty advent calendars are a fun way to give beauty gifts and makeup gifts in the most festive holiday spirit—they are a creative and convenient way to get ahead on your Christmas gift shopping in one fell swoop. 

Available in brand-exclusive sets and curated assortments of fan favorites, beauty advent calendars get better every year. They offer excellent value for bestselling products. So even if you don't have a special someone in mind, by all means, treat yourself.

Sephora Collection Advent Calendar

Sephora's advent calendar comes with 24 bestselling products from the retailer's own brand. The selection spans from skincare and makeup to bath and grooming. We like that the box is crafted from cardboard sourced from sustainably managed forests. This is also one of the most affordable options we found, and the value is nearly double the price.

Philip B. Collection 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar

You can count on Philip B. for high-quality haircare that actually follows through on its claims. With a bestselling product behind each of the 12 doors, this advent calendar is a great introduction to the brand.

It includes full-size and mini versions of shampoos, conditioners, leave-ins, detanglers, treatments, and stylers for cleansing, replenishing, rejuvenating, and protecting your mane.

L'Occitane Premium Advent Calendar

You don't have to be able to pronounce L'Occitane to appreciate its products (hint: it's lawk-see-taan). The French bodycare brand is a go-to for toiletries at five-star hotels like the Four Seasons.

With this advent calendar, your giftee can enjoy the luxury formulas right at home. It comes with 24 products (six full-size and 18 minis), including the brand's sought-after hand creams, shower gel, shampoo, and creamy bar soap.

The Body Shop The Advent of Change Calendar

This countdown calendar from The Body Shop has a cool pop-up design featuring drawers filled with products for pampering the skin from the neck down. The high-quality assortment includes ultra-creamy body butter, luxurious hand cream, shower gel, and bubble bath.

There are also a few goodies for the face and hair, including cleanser, lip butter, sheet masks, shampoo, and conditioner. The Advent of Change is available for roughly half the price.

NYX Professional Makeup 12 Days of Kissmas

NYX is an affordable, cruelty-free drugstore makeup brand with impressive products that give higher-end formulas a run for their money. This reasonably priced advent calendar is filled with 12 mini versions of the brand's bestselling lip products, including two lipstick tubes, six shades of Butter Gloss, and four Smooth Whip cream lipsticks.

The Rahua Advent Calendar

Rahua's advent calendar is all about pampering the hair on your head. The 12-piece set includes a medley of sustainably sourced, plant-based products, all within a wrappable, reusable box. Beyond shampoo and conditioner, it comes with scalp exfoliant, hair gel, smoothing balm, detangler, protectant, and hair perfume.

Dr. Barbara Sturm Advent Calendar

This beauty advent calendar is undoubtedly expensive. But if you can swing it, we can all but guarantee your someone special will be impressed. Dr. Barbara Sturm is a higher-than-high-end skincare brand that may seem ridiculously overpriced, though after testing out the line, we can vouch for its effectiveness.

Containing more than $1,600 worth of beauty, this 24-day advent calendar comes with one of just about everything. The set includes cleanser, exfoliator, multiple serums, eye cream, a few moisturizers, corrective treatments, and more coveted surprises.

Huda Beauty 12-Door Advent Calendar

Huda Beauty's 12-Door Advent Calendar is filled with all the products you or your loved one will want to reach for while getting ready for holiday parties this season. This curated gift set contains skin-prepping products like the Yo Glow scrub, Wishful eye masks, Honey Whip moisturizer, and Water Jelly Primer.

You can bet it includes an assortment of makeup, too, like blush, liquid liner, mascara, and transfer-proof lipstick, plus the warm and intoxicating Kayali Parfum in 12 & Vanilla.

Lush Advent Calendar

If your giftee loves soaking in the tub, you can't go wrong with Lush. From the company that literally invented the bath bomb, this advent calendar comes with seven festive fizzers, including scents like Sweet Pudding, Magical Santa, and Christmas Party.

The 25-piece set also contains six skin-softening, delightfully scented bubble bars. And that's not all. As your loved one makes their way through the chest-style box, they'll find body lotion, hand balm, lip scrub, a shampoo bar, shower gel, body scrub, bar soap, and perfume.

ChapStick 12 Days of ChapStick Advent Calendar

ChapStick is a prime example of a generic trademark—you know, when a brand name is so ubiquitous that we use it when referring to all products in the same category. (See also: Kleenex and BandAid.) Invented in the 1880s, ChapStick remains a go-to for affordable, widely available, high-quality lip balm.

This advent calendar comes with 12 sticks of varying flavors, including seasonless classics and holiday picks. Yes, 12 is perhaps more than one person needs, but your giftee can use one each month of the year.

Elemis Skin Wellness Advent Calendar: The Complete Collection

The Elemis First Class Skincare Advent Calendar doesn't hold out. Worth $749 and sold for about a third of the price, this 25-piece gift set contains the brand's entire skincare collection.

It has both full-size and mini products, including Byrdie favorites like the Pro-Collagen Marine Cream, Dynamic Resurfacing Pads, Superfood Facial Wash and Oil, and the Papaya Enzyme Peel. There are also two highly rated cleansing balms we tested and loved: Pro-Collagen Balm and Superfood Glow Butter.

Cult Beauty Advent Calendar

With over $1,000 worth of beauty favorites, this 25-day calendar from Cult Beauty is chock-full of skincare and makeup gifts. But rather than 25 items, it comes with 39 products, 20 of which are full-size.

In this calendar, you'll find fan favorites like Augustinus Bader's The Rich Cream, Sunday Riley Good Genes, the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask, Dr. Dennis Gross peel pads, and Dr. Barbara Sturm's coveted hyaluronic acid serum.

Sabon 31-Day Advent Calendar 2023

Sabon's advent calendar contains not 12, not 25, but 31 days of beauty surprises to count down from December 1 to the New Year. The lineup includes both full-size and travel products from the brand, like hand cream, body scrub, face polish, shower oil, lotion, face masks, and shampoo. This set comes in a ready-to-wrap gift box and is valued at $364.

OPI Holiday ‘23 Nail Lacquer Mini 25 Piece Advent Calendar

If your special someone is big on DIY manicures and pedicures, OPI is the way to go. The tried-and-true brand's holiday advent calendar contains 25 bottles of mini nail polishes.

There are many classic shades behind the doors, like Big Apple Red, Strawberry Margarita, and Lincoln Park After Dark, plus some festive colors, including Five Golden Flings, Peppermint Bark and Bite, Blame the Mistletoe, and Hot & Coaled.

Bloomingdale's 25-Day Beauty Advent Calendar

Bloomingdale's advent calendar is valued at $800, and after scrolling through the contents, we think that sounds about right. Known for its legendary cosmetics floor at the flagship Upper East Side location, each compartment contains a beloved product from a sought-after beauty counter brand.

From Prada perfume and Clé de Peau eye cream to YSL mascara and Valentino's primer-highlighter hybrid, the luxury roster is guaranteed to impress your beauty-loving giftee.

Nudestix 12 Days of Nudestix Advent Calendar

Hurray for 12 days of natural-look products you’ll really use! Most of these beauties are full size products in perfect shades (like sweet cheeks cream blush which is the mostly lovely shade of coral pink). And with a retail value of $250, you’ll save big bucks along the way.

Tips for Buying Beauty Advent Calendars

Check the Estimated Value

When browsing beauty advent calendars, pay attention to the estimated value and compare it to the actual price. For instance, a $100 set might include $200 worth of products.

Whether you're shopping for someone else or treating yourself, this tells you whether it's a better deal than buying the products individually or simply presented in giftable packaging. (The latter doesn't necessarily mean an advent calendar isn't worth buying, but it's good to have a rough idea of how the price breaks down.)

Note the Number of Days

Beauty advent calendars typically include 12, 24, or 25 days' worth of products behind individual doors. You'd usually present a 24- or 25-piece set on December 1, allowing your loved one to open a door each day until Christmas.

The "12 Days of Christmas" traditionally go from December 25 through January 5, so technically, you could gift a 12-piece calendar on Christmas Day. However, many people like to do a 12-day countdown starting December 14.

Buy Early

You're wise to buy a beauty advent calendar early. Make sure it'll arrive before the day you plan to give it to your person. Like other limited-edition holiday gifts, there's always a chance an advent calendar will sell out, so it's best to be proactive, no matter when you gift the set.

Look for a Wrappable Box

Many beauty advent calendars come in square or rectangular boxes, making them conveniently easy to wrap. However, others are packaged in round or oddly shaped boxes, which are trickier to wrap. Keep this in mind and plan ahead with wrapping supplies.

Why Trust Byrdie

Theresa Holland is a commerce writer specializing in cosmetics and lifestyle. She searched high and low to find this year's best beauty advent calendars, narrowing it down to the most giftable sets with standout products and good bang for your buck. Theresa has been contributing to Byrdie since 2020, where she covers makeup, skincare, haircare, and beauty tools. You can find more of her stories on People and Travel + Leisure.

According to our Diversity Pledge, 15% of products in our newly published market roundups will feature Black-owned and/or Black-founded brands. At the time of publishing, we were not able to find any travel pants from a Black-owned and/or Black-founded business. If you know of one we should consider, please email us at contact@byrdie.com, and we will evaluate the product ASAP.