Beauty advent calendars priced at up to £285 have pushed festive shopping habits into focus as buyers weigh steep retail values.
Luxury editions for December 2026 span high-end beauty houses, with Space NK pricing its 35-product calendar at £275 and advertising a total value exceeding £1,200, according to Fashion Times UK. Liberty offers a £285 box containing 29 products with a combined value above £1,300.
More affordable options exist on the market. Marks & Spencer sells a £75 beauty advent calendar containing 26 products advertised as being worth over £450, while Macy’s offers a 25 Days of Beauty calendar for under £70. Space NK also offers a calendar for £275 containing 35 products, including 26 full-sized items. Revolve offers an £89 calendar with over $409 in retail value featuring six full-size products from brands including Kosas, Ilia, and Sweed, while L’Occitane’s Prestige Advent Calendar costs $215 against a $356 value.
Other selections include the Womanizer Couples Advent Calendar priced at $179 with a $609 value, Voluspa’s 12-Day Candle Advent Calendar, and ZURU’s Mini Brands Mini Book Advent Calendar featuring 18 real mini books and six accessories across 24 days.
High-end skincare selections also feature a Cosmo beauty team favorite priced around an $1,147 total value with 24 products—13 of them full-size valued at $832 alone—featuring skincare items such as Bioeffect EGF Serum, Medik8 Crystal Retinal 3, U Beauty Resurfacing Compound, Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm, and Sweed Lash Lift Mascara.
Philosophy professor Heather Widdows said that consumers rarely use every item included in a holiday set.
Beauty calendars may offer you lots of products for a really good price. They can also be a bit of fun and feel sensuous. But it is exceptionally unlikely that you would use all the products inside them, so they’re probably not worth it.
Heather Widdows
Julia spent £99 on a John Lewis fragrance calendar and joined a Facebook group to trade unwanted items for products she uses.
Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS drew online criticism after content creators unboxed its $150 Accessories Advent Calendar and found basic items like bobby pins, hair ties, and headbands resembling bra straps, according to SheKnows.
“The ones I keep are already a lot cheaper per mililitre than if you bought them at retail,” Julia said.
