Five Fabulous Beauty Advent Calendars

Countdown to Christmas with our pick of five smashing sets to give or get

By Janetta Mackay

Wednesday Nov. 30, 2016

1/5

Molton Brown 12 Days of Christmas collection $80. Countdown without the calendar, with a differently fragranced wash for each of a dozen days in this gift box from the London brand. From Smith & Caughey’s Queen St.

The Body Shop 24 Happy Days, $329.95. A good number of 60ml sized bottles makes this offering add up. Features skin and body care, cosmetics and beauty tools. The Body Shop is also helping endangered animals and restoring rainforest from this year’s Go Wild Christmas range. thebodyshop.co.nz

Benefit Girl O’Clock Rock, $78. Open the set and it sings. Inside you will find 12 mini versions of the brand’s best-selling items, including Hoola bronzer. Selling like hotcakes, so you may need to substitute another set. From Smith & Caughey’s Queen St and Auckland International Airport airside.

Clinque’s 24 days of Clinique, $169. A particularly varied box of goodies well worth grabbing for easy holiday season packing. A 10-day set costs $150. From selected department stores and pharmacies.

House of Jo Malone London, $380. Thanks to a wait-list, the (pictured) gem of a Georgian townhouse is gone, but a similarly boxed set of decent-sized scented items is available. From Jo Malone, Britomart and Smith & Caughey’s.

Chocolate advent calendars are for kids, grown-up girls will enjoy these sweet beauty treats instead. We’ve picked some of the best calendars on sale locally in time to start your December countdown.

If you find your favourite has sold out already then consider switching to some of the smaller gift boxes about to enjoy 12 (or 6) Days of Christmas. That way you will have more time to shop around and discover the growing number of beauty brands buying into this fun way of offering sampler sizes. Overseas, advent calendar marketing is really taking off, with nail brands, makeup artists, department and online stores also getting in on the act.

Do check on sizes before buying if you can, because some calendar contents are much more generous than others, meaning price is not the only guide to good value.