Best beauty advent calendars for 2024: top picks for skincare, makeup, fragrance and more

Yes, it’s pricey but this gorgeous bundle is stuffed full of luxury treats, all wrapped in a theatrical box in Fortnum’s signature shade of turquoise. It’s a great mix of cult and classic products from brands including ESPA, Acqua Di Parma and Ortigia. In addition to skincare and makeup there’s a designer makeup bag from Charlotte Posner and a striking candle by artist Lauren Dickinson Clarke.

Packed full of high-end brands and cult products, the Space NK advent calendar is always a hit with beauty fans. This year it’s a veritable who’s who in on-trend skincare and makeup with Medik8, Kate Somerville, Sunday Riley, Hourglass, Farmacy and Charlotte Tilbury all jostling for space. Many of the products are full-size too so you can look fresh faced and glam well into 2024. 

Lauded as Cult Beauty’s biggest and best yet, this beauty advent calendar features no fewer than 39 products (more than half are full size). Designed in collaboration with artist Gemma O'Brien, you’ll find her signature prints on a compact mirror, sleep mask and pillowcase and on the product front, big beauty brands including Augustinus Bader, Dr. Dennis Gross, Glow Recipe and Huda Beauty are all represented in this glamorous countdown to Christmas.

One of the high street’s most anticipated advent calendars, this John Lewis beauty bundle offers amazing value and is stuffed with 31 popular products worth £920+. We love the full-size products including Neom’s Bedtime Hero scented candle, the Luxury Eyeshadow Palette from Charlotte Tilbury and Murad’s Targeted Wrinkle Corrector as well as the luxury scents from Acqua di Parma and Clarins. It’s a great lineup of luxurious products from top brands. There’s also an opportunity to win a £500 gift voucher behind door 25 for a very merry Christmas indeed. 

Just shy of £100, you’ll find £465+ of value in this gorgeous gift box from Boots. Alongside soothing skincare picks like REN Clean Skincare Brightening Dark Circle Eye Cream and Lancôme’s Advanced Génifique Youth Activating Serum, there are makeup treats from beauty big hitters like Huda Beauty, Fenty and Bobbi Brown.

Another box for just under £100, this Look Fantastic offering is priced at £99 but if you’re a subscriber you can nab it for just £84. You’ll find skincare, haircare, and makeup products galore with 12 full-size items. ELEMIS, Eve Lom, Medik8, NARS, MAC and Rituals are all represented and there’s a deluxe size Aery Living limited edition Winter Thyme Candle to provide some festive scents as you’re opening each box.

M&S has swapped the box for a bag this year (a metallic vegan vanity case in fact) which means that the packaging will live on well beyond Christmas. Inside you’ll find a mix of classic brands and latest launches from the likes of Nails Inc, Murad, L’Occitane and Origins. The Clinique nude lip shade will suit most mouths and the Percy & Reed No Oil Volumising Spray is raved about on the Mumsnet Style & Beauty forum. 

An unexpected high street hit, this Holland & Barrett advent calendar is a firm favourite among Mumsnetters. It’s packed with vegan-friendly treats including no fewer than 16 full-size products from popular wellness brands like Weleda, Faith in Nature and Sukin. There’s a lovely Miaroma Winter Spice Essential Oil Blend for festive scents at home and the full-size Weleda Skin Food boy lotion will keep your skin soft and supple in the harsh winter temps.

Created in conjunction with cancer charity Macmillan, this advent calendar is full of best-selling products and each purchase provides a £2 donation to Macmillan. As the name suggests, there are 24 items behind each door from top brands including No 7, Liz Earle, Ted Baker and Champneys. If you haven’t yet tried Liz Earle’s Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, now’s your chance. You’ll also get Boots’ iconic No7 Protect & Perfect Intense ADVANCED Day Cream and Soap & Glory’s best-selling Hand Food Hand Cream. A great all-rounder at a fab price.

Fill your makeup bag (or drawer or vanity case or fridge) with all things MAC by picking up this brilliant beauty bundle featuring products totalling almost £500. There are no fewer than 10 full-size products including a number of limited-edition items. It’s perfect for pouts as there’s a range of lipsticks, liners and glosses in best-selling shades and the eyeshadows will last for ages. The MACStack mascara is much-loved on the Style & Beauty forums.

Darlings! Charlotte Tilbury has pulled it out of the makeup bag again with this glamorous lineup of best-selling beauty products. It features 12 products so you can indulge in a luxurious treat every other day in the run up to Christmas. The full-size Hot Lips lipstick in Glowing Jen comes in a refillable, leopard-print tube and is worth £29 alone. You’ll also get the brand’s iconic Magic Cream and Pillow Talk Beauty Blush. 

For an affordable beauty fix, this Revolution calendar is hard to beat. Most of the 25 products are full-size items and in addition to individual eyeshadow and blusher pots you’ll also get two palettes featuring flattering shades for eyes and cheeks. Barring foundation, you’ll pretty much everything you need to create glamorous looks all year long.

One of the chicest (and best-smelling) advent calendars around, this Jo Malone box features 25 products spanning cologne, body mist, bath and body miniatures and travel candles. You’ll find a mix of best-selling scents like English Pear & Freesia as well as seasonal surprises like Ginger Biscuit.

Designed to look like a festive townhouse, this Rituals calendar has to be one of the best looking options around and will look lovely propped up in your lounge sandwiched between a Christmas tree and some scented candles. It features products from Rituals’ best-selling scent range including the Ritual of Jing and the Ritual of Karma. Alongside scented hand creams and body mists you’ll also get to try some of the brand’s popular skincare products like the Wonder Mask and the Anti-Ageing Serum.

If you like trying different scents, wear a range of perfumes for different occasions or like slipping a mini perfume into your handbag, this is a great buy. Featuring 14 mini fragrances from top brands including Marc Jacobs, Moschino and Versace, the focus is very much on scents for men and women but you’ll also find additional beauty treats including a lush-smelling body wash, hair products, a lip crayon and a brightening serum from Wild Science.