Dropping like festive clockwork each Halloween, Mariah Carey’s It’s Time memes have become a pop culture permission slip to start feeling merry and bright—no matter how early in the season it is. But long before Carey’s carols start taking over playlists, the best beauty Advent calendars are already on sale. That’s why, with September barely begun, Vogue’s shopping team is already on the countdown case. (Indeed, it’s time.)
Vogue’s Favorite Beauty Advent Calendars
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Brands have already started opening waitlists for their sure-to-sell-out Advent calendars. This year, British brands are leading the charge, with Harrods, Selfridges, Cult Beauty, and Lookfantastic forming virtual queues and offering tempting teasers for their soon-to-launch calendars. And if you like to lace your holiday beauty routine with the best British beauty brands—think skincare from Medik8, makeup from Lisa Eldridge, and scents from Jo Malone—you’ll be in luck with this batch.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Tilbury has already shared virtual photos of her gilded, bejeweled holiday set, adding a prompt to join the waitlist—and to “get ready, darlings”—on her website. And for those who just can’t bear to wait, Anthropologie’s gone ahead and launched its 2025 beauty Advent calendar, infusing it with all the whimsy one expects from the brand.
So, heed Tilbury’s advice and get ready, darlings: ‘tis (officially) the season to shop the best beauty Advent calendars. Like any good calendar, this guide will help you stay right on time—so you can scoop up the best gift sets before they’re all gone. Happy shopping!
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Best For The Luxury-Brand Loyalist: The Harrods Beauty Advent Calendar
- Release Date: Available to shop now.
- Price: $325
- Value: Not disclosed
- Best For: From La Mer to La Prairie, Harrods’s gift-worthy calendar holds goodies from some of the most luxurious beauty brands on the market. It will make the holidays brighter for anyone whose love language is top-shelf glamour.
- Vogue’s Standout Product: A full-size jar of Crème de la Mer is always a welcome gift. Infused with La Mer’s Miracle Broth, the skin-care classic conditions, hydrates, and protects the skin for a winter of softness and glow.
- Why We Love It: While some sets max out at 25 gifts, this one holds a surplus—it has upwards of 30 treasures tucked into its drawers.
- What’s included: The set holds 32 products, which range from skincare to makeup, body care, and scents.
- What You’re Left With: The set includes 14 full-size products bound to outlast the holiday countdown, including creamy taupe eyeshadow from Bobbi Brown and MAC satin lipstick in Ruby Woo, a classic red hue.
Best Value: Selfridges Beauty Advent Calendar 2025
- Release date: Available to shop now.
- Price: $300
- Value: £1,136
- Best For: The hotly anticipated set packs £1,136 worth of beauty products into a £250 calendar. It will satisfy any shopper who’s looking for gifts that deliver exceptional value—not to mention, luminous skin, hydrated lips, and lashes worth batting under the mistletoe.
- Vogue’s Standout Product: When in London, or discovering treasures from one of its best-known retailers, pay homage to one of the city’s most-beloved fragrance brands. In this set, a mini bottle of Jo Malone’s English Pear & Freesia Cologne offers a breath of garden-fresh air.
- Why We Love It: For those in London and abroad, the calendar brings the best of the retailer’s sprawling beauty department home for the holidays. Loaded (as mentioned) with value, the set also offers tons of variety: Its offerings span skincare, makeup, fragrances, hair products, and even hand wash.
- What’s included: The calendar is stocked with 37 products from Vogue-approved brands. Hourglass, Lisa Eldridge, Augustinus Bader, and Charlotte Tilbury are all in the mix, and two dozen of the products are full-sized.
- What You’re Left With: The 24 full-size products should last you well into the new year—plus, one of the gifts is a Selfridges Beauty Concierge Card, which entitles you to a consultation with a beauty expert from the brand.
Best Under $100: Anthropologie The 24 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar
- Release Date: Available to shop now.
- Price: $98
- Value: $300+
- Best For: The person on your gift list who oozes delicate whimsy—the type whose kitchen is stocked with embroidered tea towels and whose beauty cabinet brims with candy-colored apothecary finds. (AKA, a dyed-in-the-wool Anthropologie fan.)
- Vogue’s Standout Product: A miniature bottle of Maison Louis Marie No. 04 Bois de Balincourt is just the thing to stash in a velvet, holiday-party-ready clutch. Beloved by Jessica Chastain, the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sandalwood-spiked perfume oil is warming and alluring in all the right ways.
- Why We Love It: The calendar thoughtfully addresses multiple touchpoints in an everyday beauty routine, from the indulgent (like that aforementioned fragrance) to the practical: think pimple patches, SPF, and lip balm. As a bonus, all products are travel-size.
- What’s Included: The set includes 24 miniature products spanning skincare, makeup, fragrance, and more (there’s even an after-shave serum). What’s more, the goods come from Vogue-approved brands such as Supergoop!, L’Occitane, Salt & Stone, and First Aid Beauty.
- What You’re Left With: Decked with dreamy illustrations from Nephthys Foster, the keepsake box would make delightful wrapping for another gift—or keep it as a catchall for TSA-friendly products.
The Chronically Sold-Out: Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar 2025
- Release date: To be announced; waitlist now open.
- Price: $365
- Value: $1,690
- Best For: The set bundles skincare, makeup, and fragrance with a collectors-edition box that features new, whimsical artwork each year. It’s also good for bragging rights, since it’s a feat to score one before it sells out.
- Vogue’s Standout Product: Though the retailer has yet to announce the official selection, the set is sure to include items Vogue’s beauty team can’t live without. (Will it be skincare from Augustinus Bader? A cult lip color from Lisa Eldridge? Only Santa knows.) What’s more, five of the calendars will have a Golden Ticket, worth $1,000 in Liberty credit apiece.
- Why We Love It: A sellout for 10 years and running, Liberty’s coveted set claims an O.G. status in the beauty-Advent game. The brand launched its calendar in 2014 and is widely regarded as one of the first (alongside Selfridge’s version, which came to market in 2010). Liberty’s tried-and-tested set doesn’t just rest on its laurels. Each year, its elf-sized drawers hold a thoughtfully curated mix of new launches and cult classics.
- What’s Included: The 30 gifts represent plum picks from Liberty’s Beauty Hall. Treasures include skincare, makeup, and fragrances from brands like Jones Road, Lisa Eldridge, and Augustinus Bader.
- What You’re Left With: A miniature replica of the flagship store itself, the keepsake box storybook-style charm, thanks to bright illustrations from artist Clym Evernden.
Best With a Willy Wonka-Style Twist: Cult Beauty Advent Calendar 2025
- Release Date: September 4, 2025, waitlist open now.
- Price: €275
- Value: €1,200
- Best For: The beauty lover who has their finger on the pulse, tracking new launches like it’s their job—and for the giftee who’s very, very lucky. (See below!)
- Vogue’s Standout Product: There’s no better time than the holidays to glow a little brighter. Medik8’s C-Tetra Advanced combines 20% stabilized vitamin C with hyaluronic acid plant exosomes to make the skin look menorah-lit from within. Plus, the product has the buzz of newness: It only launched this past June.
- Why We Love It: Though the British retailer has yet to reveal the complete product assortment, rest assured: In-the-know beauty lovers will not be disappointed. The box promises to offer 16 of the year’s most beloved beauty launches.
- What’s Included: Promising to be “bigger and bolder”—and with more makeup—than ever before, the 2025 calendar includes 20 full-sized products. The items come from top international brands, ranging from Laneige to True Botanicals, Hourglass, and Saie.
- What You’re Left With: If you’re very lucky—Charlie-Bucket-lucky—you’ll be left with a golden ticket worth £1,000 in Cult Beauty credit. The ticket only lands in three calendars this year; may the most holiday-spirited win.
Best For a Holiday Glow: Charlotte’s Beauty Treasure Chest
- Release Date: To be announced; waitlist open now.
- Price: $220
- Value: $317
- Best For: Surely, everyone has a Charlotte Tilbury-lover on their gift list. The brand’s particular style of glowing-from-within glam appeals to any beauty enthusiast—especially at the holidays.
- Vogue’s Standout Product: The brand has yet to announce the exact products, but promises plenty of “icons” in the mix. Our crystal gifting ball predicts that something from the Pillow Talk collection will be included—and maybe, like last year, we’ll get the viral Beauty Light Wand to bring some luster to winery makeup looks.
- Why We Love It: The ever-buzzy advent calendar offers a taste of what makes Charlotte Tilbury so beloved, with daily gifts including cult skincare and makeup. Plus, the “treasure chests” themselves are never short on glittery holiday magic.
- What’s Included: With 12 total gifts, this year’s calendar will hold five full-size products and seven “mini trinkets.”
- What You’re Left With: Gilded and gleaming in the most festive way, the keepsake box has 12 drawers with jeweled pulls. Use it to stash odds and ends (and glam up your vanity) through the holiday season and beyond.
Best For the Buzzy-Beauty Fan: LookFantastic The Beauty Advent Calendar 2025
- Release date: To be announced; available for pre-order now.
- Price: £105
- Value: £655
- Best For: A tightly curated mix of products from established brands, including Sol de Janeiro and Medik8.
- Vogue’s Standout Product: Of the products unveiled so far, the Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 62 Perfume Mist is the stocking stuffer to beat. The jasmine-laced blend of pistachio, salted caramel, and vanilla smells like a tropical escape, even in the midst of December.
- Why We Love It: The thoughtful mix of products, which span skincare, makeup, scents, and more, makes the set a worthy investment—and a boon for any beauty routine.
- What’s Included: The set holds 28 gifts, including 17 full-size products.
- What You’re Left With: It’s hard to imagine that 28 products would last through December alone, especially when 17 of them are full-size. Look forward to a revamped beauty routine that will last long after the tree has come down for the year.
Everything You Need to Know
When do Advent calendars go on sale?
It’s barely September, and sales have already begun. The first calendars of the season tend to trickle out in late summer, with launches happening through the fall. The best way to keep abreast of launches is to sign up for waitlists and keep your eyes peeled on Vogue—we’ll be updating this guide until the last covetable gift set has launched.
Are beauty Advent calendars worth it?
Beauty Advent calendars are known for their value. The calendars tend to offer at least a dozen (if not dozens of) products, all at a price that’s far less than the retail equivalent of buying the products one by one. Liberty Beauty’s Advent calendar, for instance, offers $1,690 worth of products for just $365, while Charlotte Tilbury’s calendar, priced at $220, holds $317 worth of merchandise.
What are the most popular beauty Advent calendars?
If there’s one thing about the best beauty Advent calendars, it’s that they sell out fast. That said, there are some that seem to vanish from shelves with magical reindeer-style speed. These include Charlotte Tilbury’s Advent calendar as well as Harrods’, Selfridges’, and Cult Beauty’s.
What is the most luxurious Advent calendar?
Each year, iconic fashion houses offer beauty Advent calendars that double as rarified works of art. Last year, Christian Dior’s $750 calendar packed some of the brand’s most iconic beauty products into a delicate, artist-illustrated replica of its Avenue Montaigne boutique. (Opening the calendar felt like stepping behind the shop’s gilded gates.) Other particularly luxe offerings included La Mer’s $600 set, which packed a dozen products from the hallowed brand into an elegant green-and-gold set. Meanwhile, Sisley Paris had an $825 offering that packed 25 gifts into a box with candy-colored, fairytale-style illustrations.
