BEAUTY advent calendars are a festive phenomenon – and they can save you a wad of cash too.
Big retailers and brands such as Boots, Asos, Liberty and Charlotte Tilbury sell them.
They usually contain a gift for each day in December – but savvy shoppers could save money by splitting the contents into multiple presents for friends and family.
These calendars contain anything from 12 to 40 skincare, makeup, and self-care products, ranging from travel-sized to full-sized versions of popular products.
Some include luxury candles, face cloths and fragrances too.
Depending on the brand, the upfront cost of advent calendars can range from as little as £45 to up to £260.
But when broken down, the value of the individual items tends to far exceed the price paid for the entire package.
Anita Naik, savings expert at VoucherCodes.co.uk, said: “Each year, retailers run advent calendars with several gifts included, ranging from luxury skincare and beauty to homeware, toys, or even socks.
“The calendars are often marketed to contain products worth hundreds of pounds, but actually cost just a fraction of that price.”
The Sun has ranked the most popular calendars to reveal which one is the best value this festive season.
We’ve found that the Look Fantastic Iconic Beauty Advent Calendar offered the biggest savings – costing £100 for £565 worth of gifts, equating to a saving of 82%.
The Sephora Favourites calendar wasn’t far behind, costing twice as much at £199 but packed with more than £1,000 worth of products, saving you 80% on the cost of buying each item individually.
It contains 40 products including 24 full-size versions from Glossier, Rare Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury and Sephora Collection, as well as an assortment of handbag-friendly travel-sized products.
Other brands selling great value health and beauty advent calendars include Gaia Skincare, Boots, Liberty and Holland & Barratt.
Vix Leyton, consumer expert and host of the Spendology podcast, said: “You can get some fantastic, premium stocking fillers from splitting up advent calendars.
“Not only do you get the illicit thrill of opening all the doors, but health and beauty calendars often have at least a couple of full-size products inside, alongside skincare and accessories that individually wrapped look like very thoughtful gifts for anyone in your life that loves a pamper.”
Some Christmas shoppers might go one step further and stack these deals on top of each other, buying several of the top calendars to bag a supply of not just Christmas presents, but birthday gifts for 2025 too.
Many advent calendars also feature high-quality packaging and boxes, negating the need to splash out on fancy gift wrapping.
Be aware that the most popular calendars often sell out early in the season, so start keeping an eye on your chosen brands now.
Leyton said: “Make sure you know what’s in them before you start ticking people off your Christmas shopping lists,”
“Often the brands themselves will be showing off the bundle value versus the RRP, but it’s only a good deal if they’re things the average person actually wants.”
“High-end brands like Liberty London will typically represent the best saving, as well as the flashiest gift – and for the online retailers like Charlotte Tilbury, you can usually find a voucher code floating around to make the calendars even better value.”
Looking at the very high end of the cosmetics market, Liberty London, Fortnum and Mason and Selfridges all sell health and beauty advent calendars for £250 to £265, with all three retailers claiming the true value is more than £1,000.
If these are out of your budget, Boots is selling six different advent calendars this year, ranging from the Soap & Glory advent calendar for £48 (worth £105) to the No7 Ultimate Calendar which costs £175 but is valued at £514.
Buying all six Boots calendars would cost a total of £565 – but would net you £1,741 worth of cosmetics and skincare.
Alternatively, GAIA’s 24 Days of Wellness advent calendar offers more than £300 worth of products for £160, including full-size facial serums and a selection of 100ml products.
Stand-out products include 15ml Face Serum and 15ml Eye Serum, worth £55 each, and the components of Gaia’s Mini Essentials Travel Set which is worth £35.
Holland & Barratt claims that this year’s beauty advent calendar is the wellness store’s best-value calendar to date, with a price tag of £45 but worth £219.23 (a 79% saving). The 25 products include 16 full-size products, such as the cult favourite Weleda Skin Food Cleansing Balm, which are perfect for re-gifting.
It’s not just health and beauty retailers getting in on the advent calendar trend – there are calendars for various interests too.
For example, Bimble & Bolt do a runners calendar and a yoga lovers calendar, costing £39.99 each. Both can be used to fill the stockings of the fitness addicts in your family.
The She Grows Veg advent calendar (£65) includes 25 heirloom seed varieties and is ideal to split into smaller gifts for any gardening fans or experimental cooks on your Christmas list. Alternatively, Mariage Frères’ advent calendar contains 25 different types of tea and costs £49.
If you want to be a bit more risqué, the LoveHoney 24-Day X Womanizer Couple’s Sex Toy Advent Calendar 2024 costs £149, with the sexual wellness company claiming the contents are worth more than £455.
SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain…
Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with.
Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks.
Sales are when you can pick up a real steal.
Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on.
Sign up to mailing lists and you’ll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too.
When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use vouchercodes.co.uk and myvouchercodes.co.uk are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer.
Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. Trolley.co.uk app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping.
Bargain hunters can also use B&M’s scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out.
And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you’ll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.
