The first commercially printed Advent calendars might’ve had Bible verses, but today’s are nondenominational and wide-ranging, with jars of Bonne Maman orange marmalade, La Mer lip balm, and American Girl doll parts. They’re stocked at department stores and museum shops alike. While the traditional Advent starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas, you won’t find many Advent calendars left by November anymore — or, at least, not the kind that are wish-listed — and this year, they’re being released earlier than any year I can remember. Especially in the toy space, with Magna-Tiles releasing its calendar earlier this month (it builds into a holiday-themed train). Some beauty Advent calendars are incredibly nicely packaged sample sets. Liberty’s and Sephora’s even have a few full-size products. (Tip: If your sister likes the travel-size Augustinus Bader eye cream in her Advent calendar this Christmas, you might get her the full-size one for a birthday.) Here, the best Advent calendars that are already available:
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“In 2014, Liberty London took the Advent calendar — a time-honored tradition of daily chocolate eating and twee Christmas scenes — and beautified it,” writes our beauty writer Tembe Denton-Hurst. (Other beauty retailers followed suit soon after.) Of the 30 products in this year’s calendar, 20 are full size, including Sisley toning lotion and La Mer lip balm (plus trial-size Jones Road mascara and D.S. & Durga’s “I Don’t Know What”).
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Take it from me, a former Anthropologie employee: There are customers who hoard as many 24 Days of Beauty Advent Calendars as they can. Maybe the new 12 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar will sell out just as quickly. The 24 Days of Beauty has samples from Supergoop, Vacation, and Lanolips, while the 12 Days of Beauty has Youth to the People, Malin+Goetz, and Boy Smells. Each comes decorated with artist Nephthys Foster’s festive illustrations of candy wrappers and Christmas-tree ornaments.
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As Denton-Hurst said in an installment of the Strategist Beauty Brief, “Generally, the retailer calendars are better than the brands.’’ Sephora’s includes some of the most well-known names in its lineup, including Olaplex, Ouai, Rare Beauty, Glow Recipe, and Sol de Janeiro.
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$55
At about half the price of the Favorites 25 Days of Beauty Must Haves Advent Calendar is the Sephora Collection Advent Calendar with Sephora-branded makeup and beauty products, including nail polish, setting spray, and even tweezers. (Since the Sephora Collection After Advent Calendar sold out already, you shouldn’t dillydally.)
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It’s modeled after the 59th Street flagship, and what you’ll find inside is reminiscent of a trip to Bloomingdale’s skin-care counter, with a SK-II facial treatment essence, Shiseido and Sulwhasoo serums, and Augustinus Bader eye patches.
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Or, for the Fragrantica-review reader, there’s Bloomingdale’s 12-day fragrance calendar. It features deluxe sizes of Byredo’s Bal d’Afrique, Bond No. 9’s Tribeca, and Maison Margiela’s Replica By the Fireplace. (It’s better to know how Ex Nihilo’s Fleur Narcotique smells before paying $245 for a 1.7-ounce bottle.)
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Like Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s calendar has skin-care and hair-care from some of the most-popular beauty brands at the department store: Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Guerlain, Lancôme, Armani, and Cartier.
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$495
Jo Malone’s calendar reminds me of a Mondrian painting. Each drawer has a Jo Malone original, whether that’s a wood-sage and sea-salt hand wash or a pine-and-eucalyptus candle. The included orange-bitters cologne “smells like a pomander — festive in a Victorian way, not a Hallmark way,” says our senior editor Ailbhe Malone. “It makes me want to yowl, ‘You there, boy! What day is it?’ from my bedroom window to a snowy street below.” (“Why, it’s Christmas Day!” I’d shout back.)
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Of course, there’s the ever-popular Pillow Talk in ​​Charlotte Tilbury’s Beauty Treasure Chest. (The pink lip liner is what Strategist social-media editor Kathy Li uses. “I don’t use lip liner on a daily basis, but if I am doing a full face of makeup, I’m reaching for this,” she says.) There’s also the Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray that’s in at least three Strategist staffers’ makeup bags. “It really does just keep everything in place in a way that looks natural and just very slightly dewy,” says senior editor Hilary Reid.
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The Beekman 1802’s calendar comes with instructions to build a winter village out of tins, which are filled with its pistachio-and-dark-cherry soap, honey-and-orange-blossom cream, and more.
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If there’s one thing to know about Volupsa, it’s that the candles last. “Even when the candle isn’t burning, I find that you get strong wafts of fragrance from the wax itself, and the scent really fills a room once it’s been lit,” says our writer Dominique Pariso. This calendar features a few of Voluspa’s best-selling fragrance profiles, like French Cade Lavender, Goji Tarocco Orange, and Noble Fir Garland.
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Senior editor Jen Trolio’s family opens Bonne Maman’s calendar all at once, with her husband baking a loaf of homemade bread beforehand. The limited-edition spreads inside (which “can only be found during the holiday season,” according to the brand) include caramel with vanilla, strawberry and passion fruit, and wild blueberry with maple syrup. Yum!
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Fly by Jing, which makes a mean chili crisp, introduced a new very spicy Advent calendar that includes some pantry staples (like a pack of sweet-and-spicy noodles) along with “returning favorites and new flavors you’ve never tasted” before from the company.
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The English grocery store Fortnum & Mason has been around since 1707, and it’s a name synonymous with afternoon tea. Some of the teas in the aptly titled Tea Lovers box (that has a “special teatime poem inside to read as you savour each comforting sip”) are Moroccan Mint, Countess Grey, Breakfast Blend, G&Tea, and Jade Oolong.
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An assortment of Chuck Williams’s (who’s the Williams in Williams Sonoma) favorite seasonings and condiments. Williams liked Jacobsen’s flaked sea salt and Bonne Maman jam (at least the apricot and strawberry preserves, and orange-marmalade varieties), apparently.
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LEGO City Advent Calendar 2025
$25
$35 now 29% off
$25
“LEGO puts out an incredible number of new sets each month, including multiple Advent calendars at this time of year (there are six designs for 2025),” explains our resident toy expert Liza Corsillo in the newest edition of the monthly New Toys Alert. The characters in this year’s City Advent Calendar are costumed as a polar bear, reindeer, and a Christmas tree.
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Make your American Girl doll (be she Samantha Parkington, Felicity Merriman, or Josefina Montoya) bake with the Baking Spirits Bright Advent calendar. It’s gingerbread-themed, with everything you need for cookies: cookie cutters, a stick of butter with measurement lines, a bag of brown sugar, and a piping bag of white icing.
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Based on a Christmas card in the Met’s Jefferson R. Burdick collection of American ephemera, a flying Santa graces the cover of this calendar. Every day comes with a new puzzle to solve (each takes the form of different objects at the museum).
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If your recipient has a favorite pen, there’s the Papier 24 Days of Desk Delights. It has all the stationery someone who still believes in handwritten thank-you cards needs, including washi tape, paper clips, stamps, and fineliners.
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