Advent calendars are a fun way to treat yourself or someone else

The holiday season is known for some of the best drops in the beauty industry. The shelves (both virtual and real-life) at Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Amazon and other beauty retailers are filled with limited-edition holiday gift sets, exciting new product launches and the creme de la creme of beauty treats: the beauty Advent calendar.

Like traditional candy-filled Advent calendars, beauty Advent calendars reveal a new treat each day for a series of days until Christmas (usually 12 or 24). But instead of chocolates, youll find miniature skin care and makeup goodies.

Why beauty Advent calendars are so special

Besides the obvious benefit of a daily surprise delight, beauty Advent calendars are a great way to familiarize yourself with a new beauty brand or new beauty products. If youre interested in a particular beauty brand, but arent super familiar with its products, a beauty Advent calendar from that brand is a great way to get acquainted with its offerings by trying miniature versions of its bestselling products.

If you want to test a variety of items in the skin care or makeup categories (or both!), a beauty Advent calendar is a great way to do that since they offer miniature or travel-size versions of various products, which are perfect for sampling. If you love something, you can opt to buy the full-size version directly from the brand.

Since the products inside are sold as a bundle, beauty Advent calendars often offer great savings as opposed to buying each item separately. This makes it a cost-effective way to get a nice variety of new products.

Best beauty Advent calendars still available

UCANBE Advent Calendar 2024

This 24-slot Advent calendar features a charming variety of mini makeup products. Among the surprises are mascara, eyeshadow, a contour shade, highlighter, lip glosses, eyeliner, blush, an eyebrow pencil and more.

BODY & EARTH Store Advent Calendar 2024

Countdown to Christmas with this holiday-themed box containing 24 bath and body goodies. Indulge in a glitter bath bomb, hand lotions, shower gels, bath salts, a makeup sponge and more.

OPI x Wicked Nail Lacquer 12 Piece Mini Pack

Listen up, Wicked lovers! Salon-favorite nail polish brand OPI is theming their Advent calendar this year after the beloved musical-turned-movie, Wicked. This 12-piece Advent calendar contains miniature versions of some Wicked-inspired nail polishes. The hues include a gloriously green shade called Witch OClock, a peppy pink shade called Glinda the Good reminiscent of the Witch of the North and more shades with Wicked-inspired names.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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