Shopping | ES Best Home | CHRISTMAS | Advent calendars
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Roast dinners with all the trimmings, decadent hampers, and endless parties: the Christmas season is all about overindulgence. The best beauty advent calendars deliver exactly that, replacing humble chocolate with luxury skincare, makeup, haircare and fragrance.
Each year, the offerings have got bigger, better and, crucially, earlier. Back in early August, the first beauty advent calendar to land on my doorstep hailed from Harrods. Now, it’s officially launched.
Costing £270 but worth more than £1,000, if previous years are anything to go by, it’s sure to sell out.
The retailer’s annual offering is reliably premium – think Hourglass, Augustinus Bader, Nars, Gucci, Color Wow, Tatcha, and Medik8. Overflowing with beauty essentials to last you long after Christmas Day, there are 32 products spread across 25 days.
But with so many retailers and brands vying for your attention – Liberty, Cult Beauty, Harvey Nichols and Boots are all drumming up excitement – should Harrods be top of your list?
Harrods beauty advent calendar at a glance
I committed the cardinal Christmas sin by opening each calendar door in August to find out. From value-for-money to variety and packaging, here’s my verdict on the Harrods beauty advent calendar 2026.
Considering the ratio of deluxe to full-size products, I weighed up whether the overall worth (£1,039) matched up with the products inside. I also assessed the usefulness of each formula beyond Christmas: from skincare saviours to makeup staples – each product had to have wow-factor. Packaging also came into play – is the box functional year-round as storage or just taking up space in the recycling bin? Spoilers ahead.
What we love: Premium brands such as Augustinus Bader, Sisley Paris, Shiseido, Tatcha and LYMA, generous full-size offering, skincare variety – from eye creams to serums and masks – beauty tools, useful everyday formulas, haircare heroes, and travel-size minis
Take note: Limited fragrance offering, mostly skincare, multiples of the same skincare products (eye creams and moisturisers), no trending beauty, and limited pampering products
Compared to the likes of Liberty, Charlotte Tilbury and Fortnum & Mason, the Harrods calendar box is bland at best. The foiled paper finish mimics the London department store, but won’t add anything special to your festival display at home. If you did want to use it for year-round storage, the recycled board box is sufficiently sturdy.
It’s inside where the calendar gets exciting. Once again, Harrods proves that luxury doesn't have to follow the latest TikTok trends – instead, it’s carefully curated an edit of premium, results-driven beauty.
