Tried & Tested: Best beauty advent calendars 2022

Lifting each day of December with a lovely little gift, beauty advent calendars have become a seasonal staple. Whether you’re treating someone else or yourself, Velvet has found a calendar to suit every age, stage and beauty style

Lush Advent Calendar, £185, Lush, Lion Yard, Cambridge and weare.lush.com

About the brand: Buy from Lush - the planet and people-friendly pamper brand which originated the bath bomb - and you’re saying no to animal testing, single-use plastics and chemical nasties and yes to natural ingredients, vegan formulas, supporting artisanal producers and helping regenerate social and eco-systems around the world.

On the outside: Both reusable and recyclable, the calendar comes in a bright and very beautiful side-handled, flip-lidded, super-sturdy cardboard box ideal for storage, inlaid with a pair of cardboard trays which house your treats, carefully cushioned with paper shred, behind their perforated windows. The artwork on the box was commissioned from ARTHOUSE Unlimited, the charity which showcases the talents of neuro-diverse adults. It’s joyful.

On the inside: There’s real wow factor behind the windows of this calendar too, with treats spanning perfume, hand balm, body lotion, soaps, scrubs, shower gels, shampoo and bubble bars and, of course, plentiful bath bombs, which remain unrivalled for their fizz, fragrance, colour and cuteness. There’s a festive theme, with highlights including best-sellers from Christmasses past (such as the memorable Champagne and Cointreau-scented Christmas Party bath bomb, which releases a shower of stars when it hits the water) and exclusives from Christmas present (Ice Rainbow bubble bar, Christmas Eve soap).

Best for: Anyone who could use a little extra self-care. Promising to make bathtimes brilliant fun in the run-up to Christmas, it would also be a great sharing calendar for a family. Though it’s not cheap, you get a lot of product for your pennies. Feelgood on every level.

Paul & Joe Christmas Collection Coffret, £110, feelunique.com

About the brand: Named after her two sons, Paul & Joe was founded by Parisian designer Sophie Mechaly in 1995 as a menswear label, which then went global the following year with a move into womenswear. Known for combining playful packaging with serious products - every formula, across both makeup and skincare, impresses with its performance - Paul & Joe Beaute launched in 2001.

On the outside: Housed in the prettiest little hat box, patterned with the brand’s signature cats and chrysanthemums and topped with a grosgrain bow, the products come in numbered envelopes closed with peelable stickers. Everything is designed to be used again - the box is a definite keeper and the envelopes are crying out to be refilled for a future year - and ultimately recycled.

On the inside: Every single envelope delights. Along with the makeup - which includes a selection of cream and powder blushes and eye shadows, a pair of lipsticks and a trio of Paul & Joe’s unbeatable illuminating foundation primers: they give glow like no other - there’s a nice curation of skin and body products and the sweetest compact and lipstick cases, zip and drawstring pouches and a hair tie, all embellished with Paul & Joe signature prints.

Best for: Beauty lovers who also have an eye for design: this calendar is a work of art.

Sunday Times Style x Latest in Beauty Advent Calendar, £199, latestinbeauty.com

About the brand: Sunday Times Style is a national beauty bible; Latest in Beauty is the OG beauty box brand. Together they have launched this first-of-its-kind calendar, curated by Sunday Times beauty director Sarah Jossel.

On the outside: The first thing to note is this calendar is colossal: it weighs in at around 8kg! Equal parts elegant and imposing, the sleek black and white boxing is promising too, with doors opening on a neat jigsaw of different-sized drawers, numbered one all the way to 25 (we love an advent calendar which comes with a bonus Christmas Day treat).

On the inside: All tea, no shade: this could be the best beauty calendar ever. Worth a jaw-dropping £805 if purchased individually, it contains an unparalleled 21 full-size items out of the 25 - hence the hefty weigh-in. And the selection of both products and brands is inspired: expect skincare from Shiseido, makeup from Fenty Beauty, haircare from Olaplex. . . Every drawer contains a big-hitter. For us, the holly on top of the pudding is the full-size scented candle from cult LA brand Boy Smells; we won’t spoiler the scent, but it’s divine.

Best for: If budget allows, buy this one for yourself. If it doesn’t, ask your nearest and dearest if they’ll chip in as an early Christmas present: the gift that truly keeps on giving, you’ll be using the products all year long.

W7 Beauty Blast Advent Calendar, £19.95, w7makeup.co.uk

About the brand: Best-known for its budget-friendly dupes of high-price-tag eye palettes, W7 launched in London in 2002 with the aim “that everyone should have access to an extensive range of high quality cosmetics at an affordable price”. A decade on and the brand sells a staggering 500-and-counting products, ranging from the top-selling palettes to nail polish, lipstick and gloss, foundation and mascara. There’s an Ebony range, tailored to darker skin tones, too.

On the outside: The calendar comes in a glossy cardboard box marbled with hot pink, black and gold, which opens to reveal 24 neatly slotted smaller boxes. It looks sparkly and special.

On the inside: A brilliant introduction to the brand, the boxes contain a little bit of everything, across both mini and full sizes: lipstick and balm, eyeliner and shadow, bronzer and blush. . . Plus there are some cute keepsakes in the mix, including a luxe silky scrunchie and a compact mirror.

Best for: Any makeup lover would have fun with this calendar, but the product range and price-point make it a shoo-in for tweens and teens.

L’Occitane My Magic Advent Box, £99, L’Occitane, Rose Crescent, Cambridge; arc, Bury St Edmunds; and uk.loccitane.com

About the brand: Founded in France in the mid-70s - by entrepreneur Olivier Baussan, a man on a mission to celebrate and preserve the timeless beauty and traditions of his native Provence - L’Occitane has long since become a household name, loved for everything from its salving, sweetly scented hand creams to its award-winning anti-aging moisturiser, Immortelle Divine Cream.

On the outside: A jauntily decorated cardboard cube, which concertinas apart to reveal 24 numbered drawers, it is both impressive and inviting. The cube box is designed to be used as storage after Christmas, with all the drawers reversible and printed with blank labelling slots.

On the inside: Crammed with L’Occitane classics - including a sample pot of the Immortelle Divine Cream which, with its seductive whipped texture, peachy scent and skin-smoothing skills, will certainly get newbies hooked - it contains a lovely mix of minis, including shower gels and oils, liquid and bar shampoos, bodycare, skincare, hand creams, a pillow mist and a delicious Neroli & Orchidee eau de toilette.

Best for: Anybody you’d like to spoil: your mum, your sister, your bestie. It’s just a real treat.

Lumene Advent Calendar, £99.90, John Lewis & Partners, Grand Arcade, Cambridge and johnlewis.com

About the brand: Hailing from Finland - which also happens to be home to Father Christmas - Lumene is inspired by the deep-rooted and harmonious Nordic connection to nature, with handpicked native botanicals at the core of its vegan and cruelty-free formulas, which span both skincare and makeup.

On the outside: Inviting its recipient to “step into the snowy landscape of Finland”, the calendar’s (fully recyclable) cardboard packaging is illustrated with a gilded snow scene by Finnish artist Jenna Kunnas, which runs not only around the main box, but across all the little boxes nestled inside. It’s pleasingly contemporary and pleasingly festive, too.

On the inside: If you’re new to Lumene, this is the perfect introduction to the brand’s core skincare collections: deeply hydrating Lahde Nordic Hydra, ideal for parched winter skin; glow-giving Valo Nordic-C, loaded with antioxidant-rich extracts of wild Arctic cloudberry; and Ajaton Nordic Ageless, which buoys the the dermis with a signature superfood blend. There are a few makeup treats in the mix too, including a flattering coral blush and a plumping lip gloss.

Best for: Skincare fans. Especially if they’ve not encountered Lumene before: they’ll love it (and you for gifting it) forever.