16 of the Most Luxurious Advent Calendars for 2020

The Selfridges Beauty Advent Calendar is always one of our absolute favourites. This season’s box includes 25 incredible gifts valued at over £500, and you will find everything from fragrance to skincare, make-up to hair care and even something special to make your home smell amazing.

Make-up brands featured in the 100% recyclable gift box include Huda Beauty, Morphe, Nars, Anastasia of Beverley Hills, and M.A.C. And you’ll find skincare brands in luxury sample sizes from 111SKIN, REN Skincare, By Terry, Dr Barbara STURM and Eve Lom.

Gorgeous fragrances have been included from Ex Nihilo, Molecule 01, Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris, and hair care from cult brands OUAI and Cool Girl Hair by Sam McKnight.

For a little self-care, Selfridges have added some Slip silk scrunchies, a Byredo 1996 hand cream and a fragrant Penhaligons candle.

The Selfridges Beauty Advent Calendar is currently out of stock, but you can register your interest for when it’s available again.

Selfridges Beauty Advent Calendar 2020, $325, Selfridges

British makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury knows how to bring a whole lot of glamour to all who wear her products, so who better to create a lust-worthy advent calendar than this international beauty superstar?

Tilbury, who has created campaign looks for the likes of Loewe, H&M. Tom Ford and Stella McCartney, among many others, does not disappoint this festive season with her Glittering Galaxy Advent Calendar.

Valued at over $395, this mystical looking box opens up to display 12 gorgeous gold drawers, each filled with a magical Charlotte Tilbury product.

There are 4 full-sized products, including the infamous Matte Revolution Lipstick in Pillow Talk and 8 luxury travel-sized products, such as Charlotte’s Magic Cream.

Charlotte Tilbury Glittering Galaxy Beauty Advent Calendar, $295, Charlotte Tilbury

The NET-A-PORTER Advent Calendar is one of the most eagerly awaited sets of the holiday season.

Like everything that arrives from NET-A-PORTER, this beautifully presented black and ecru box, valued at £1,115, contains 25 best selling products from some of the world’s leading beauty brands such as Augustinus Bader, Hourglass, Chantecaille, Omorovicza and Philip Kingsley.

These sets are known to sell out on the day of launch, so it’s no wonder that shoppers were quick off the mark to snaffle the 2020 version up in a flash.

This beauty may no longer be available, but that’s not stopping us from adding it to our wish lists in the hope that we get a chance to shop it before Christmas arrives.

Net-A-Porter 25 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar, $374.35, Net-A-Porter

Capri Blue is a premium fragrance brand, best known for its iconic blue vessels that house hand-poured soy wax candles, all made with love in the US.

This holiday season, Capri Blue has developed a festive gift set containing 12 beautifully fragranced treats such as candles, scented oils, and room sprays, as well as beauty and bath products, all scented in their signature Volcano fragrance.

Volcano, which is arguably their best-selling fragrance, is a fresh scent characterised by tropical fruits, sugared oranges, lemons, limes, and underlying notes of exotic mountain greens.

This set is the perfect gift for someone special, or better still something gorgeous to place under the Christmas as a secret treat to yourself.

Capri Blue 12 Days of Volcano Holiday Gift Set, US $158, Anthropologie

Have you been searching for a gift for someone who appreciates high-end skincare? Or maybe you are a devotee yourself, then this is the perfect gift for you.

Dr Barbara Sturm needs no introduction to those in the know. Sturm combines innovative ingredients with cutting edge science to create products for the skin that provide the ultimate in hydration, nutrition and glow. Who wouldn’t want that?

This annual festive set contains 24 treatments in a combination of full-size, luxury sample size and sachet size, some of which are Sturm’s best-selling products.

Dr. Barbara Sturm Advent Calendar 2020, $631.71, Net-A-Porter

ESPA is a beauty spa-focused brand that includes skin, body and hair products.

The brand’s philosophy is a holistic one rooted in nature – with most formulations containing unique and highly effective combinations of marine actives, essential oils and plant extracts.

This season, ESPA created the most luxurious advent calendar. In each of the 25 drawers of the beautifully crafted green cupboard lies a divine ESPA product. Covering skin, hair, bath and body, this set truly has it all. There’s even a votive candle to help you get into the festive spirit.

Retailing at $255, this set is a steal. Get in quick as these are not going to last long.

ESPA No Place Like Home Advent Calendar, $255, Harvey Nichols

If you know of someone who is into heritage Parisian luxury brands, then look no further than the Yves Saint Laurent Beauty Advent Calendar.

With each product housed in a beautiful back box of 24 Christmas hued drawers, this set is for those who are lovers of luxurious beauty products.

Recipients of this beautiful boxed set will not be disappointed. It comes complete with many of YSL’s iconic, cult products such as Touché Eclat, Black Opium Eau de Parfum and several Rouge Pur Couture lipsticks.

You’ll also find a chic nail varnish, a Kabuki makeup brush and even their most popular mascara.

This set gets a ten out of ten from the team at Monde.

Yves Saint Laurent Beauty Advent Calendar 2020, $310, Selfridges

This year, French beauty brand L’Occitane engaged award-winning French illustrator, Édith Carron to create the beautiful artwork which is used across the packaging of the Classic Advent Calendar.

Carron’s drawings certainly bring Provence to life in L’Occitane’s festive gift set, but it’s what’s inside that really steals the show. 24 compartments filled with premium sized samples, perfect for travelling, or simply trying something new.

We’ve long been fans of L’Occitane’s Shea Butter products, especially their hand cream which is perfect for long haul flights, and during winter when skin tends to dry out, so we were delighted to discover that this set contains 7 products from the Shea Butter range.

For those who love L’Occitane’s signature Verbena scent, there are plenty of delightful goodies in there for you too.

L’Occitane en Provence Classic Advent Calendar, $99, L’Occitane

The brainchild of Sylvie Ganter and Christophe Cervasel, Atelier Cologne is the world’s first-ever fragrance house exclusively dedicated to cologne.

It was their mutual love of Eau de Cologne that set them on the path to creating scent wardrobes – gender-neutral, fragrance libraries that are designed to be layered, perfectly complimenting each other.

This year, their Luxury Advent Calendar is packed with a curation of 24 beautiful products from their extensive range, including mini and full-size fragrances, candles, luxurious hand creams and leather cases.

Atelier Cologne Advent Calendar 2020, $460, Selfridges

The 24 piece Giorgio Armani Advent Calendar is everything you’ve come to expect from the Italian fashion house and more, oozing European style and sophistication.

Containing six full-size products, including the cult product Lip Maestro in two popular colours, as well as eyeshadows, eyeliner and Armani’s ever-popular mascara.

The set also includes 17 miniature products which include eight different fragrances from the Armani scent boutique, eye shadow, lipstick and lip gloss, blush, some skincare products and a beautiful Armani Beauty compact mirror.

Giorgio Armani Advent Calendar, $385, Selfridges

Jewellery designer, Carolina Bucci’s deep blue advent calendar, emulating the Tuscan sky, is one of our most luxurious selections this year.

Within this mysterious gift box are 24 slide-out drawers, each containing two hand-carved beads.

The beads are all semi-precious stones and include tiger’s eye, jade and amazonite. For the 24th of December, the box comes complete with an 18kt gold bead with a textured Florentine Finish.

Each bead can be threaded on the sparkling thread contained in the gift set to create your own bespoke treasure.

Caroline Bucci Forte Beads Advent Calendar, $1,345, Matches Fashion

Apothecary brand Kiehl’s have released their Limited Edition Advent Calendar for 2020, and it is sure to please fans of the 170-year-old brand.

The packaging features designs by renowned artist Maïté Franchi, a Lyon-based illustrator and graphic designer.

Franchi’s designs utilise geometric shapes and vibrant colours bringing a touch of Art Deco to the world of Kiehl’s.

The collection includes 24 Kiehl’s best-selling skincare and body care products in generous travel-sizes, including cleansers, face masks, serums, lip care and body moisturisers.

Kiehl’s Limited Edition Advent Calendar, $149, Kiehl’s

George & Viv 24 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar, US $72, Anthropologie

Space NK, UK’s luxury beauty retailer, nail the annual advent calendar each year, and that’s reflected in its ‘sold out’ status.

This set is special, and it’s no wonder that it flies off the shelves each and every year.

This year, the beautifully packed gift set contains 24 curated products from the biggest names in beauty – Augustinus Bader, Diptyque, Sol de Janeiro, Chantecaille, Hourglass, Eve Lom, Olaplex and Tan Luxe.

Like the NET-A-PORTER gift set, you won’t be able to get your hands on the Space NK for now, but make sure your register your interest for when it (hopefully) becomes available again.

Space NK Advent Calendar – The Beauty Anthology Part II by Space NK, £195, Space NK

If you’re on the hunt for a gift for the man in your life, the Clarins 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar for Men is the ideal choice.

Known for being pioneers in the fields of plant science and technology, Clarins is at the forefront of creating skincare that works.

Clarins developed a special range of simple but effective skincare products designed with men in mind – men’s shaving care products, moisturiser, anti-ageing creams, serums, and treatments.

This year’s advent calendar from Clarins contains all the necessary goodies a guy needs to step up his skincare routine or to maintain an already great one.

Clarins 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar for Men, $103, Harrods

Wedgwood Christmas Advent Calendar Book, $1,405, Amara