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The first commercially printed Advent calendars might’ve had Bible verses, but today’s are nondenominational and have broadened to include just about anything, from jars of Bonne Maman orange marmalade to American Girl doll parts. While the traditional Advent starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas, you won’t find many Advent calendars left by the end of November anymore — at least, not the kind on wish lists mailed to Santa. This year, they’ve arrived earlier than any year I can remember. If there were ever a time not to dillydally, it’s right now. Some of the calendars we’ve already written about are sold out online, notably Sephora’s. But there are plenty more where that came from. Here, I rounded up all the year’s best Advent calendars, including Diptyque’s with a “mischievous, highly literate cat, Archibald,” and Vermont Country Store’s 24 days of maple candy. I’ll be updating this guide regularly as the holidays roll around, so check back soon — and be sure to check out our guide to the best beauty Advent calendars to buy before they sell out, too.
(P.S. If you missed it, we’re giving away a now sold-out 12 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar from Anthropologie to one lucky Strategist reader. You can enter the sweepstakes by signing up for our weekly Beauty Brief newsletter here.)
Update on October 31, 2025
We checked prices and stock for all the Advent calendars in this guide (some of which have sold out since the last update) and added a few new ones as well.
Beauty & Fragrance
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“In 2014, Liberty London took the Advent calendar — a time-honored tradition of daily chocolate eating and twee Christmas scenes — and beautified it,” says our beauty writer Tembe Denton-Hurst. (Other beauty retailers followed suit soon after.) Of the 30 products in this year’s calendar, 20 are full size, including Sisley toning lotion and La Mer lip balm (plus trial-size Jones Road mascara and D.S. & Durga’s I Don’t Know What).
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There’s a full-size of Clinique’s Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, Sol de Janeiro’s Cheirosa ’71 body mist, and Touchland’s sandalwood hand sanitizer in Amazon’s Advent calendar. Plus, minis of other premium beauty brands (Sunday Riley, Elemis, and Laneige) that are available at the megaretailer.
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Anthropologie’s 24 Days of Beauty Advent calendar and 12 Days of Beauty Advent calendar might’ve sold out already, but the Holiday in the City Fragrance Advent calendar hasn’t (well, yet). It might even smell better than a real Christmas tree, with notes of vanilla bean, balsam, peppermint stick, juniper, and cedar between different candles and room sprays.
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Everything in Dermstore’s limited-edition 12 Days of Beauty is full size, from Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 6% Mandelic Acid and 2% Lactic Acid Liquid Exfoliant to SkinCeuticals Glycolic 10 Renew Overnight. At $300, it’s a great value for anyone who’s figuring out their skin-care routine.
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As Denton-Hurst said in an installment of the Strategist Beauty Brief, “Generally, the retailer calendars are better than the brands.” Ulta Beauty’s has full-, deluxe- , and mini-size versions from Beautyblender, Kiehl’s, Fresh, Olaplex, and Tatcha.
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At about half the price of Sephora’s sold-out Favorites 25 Days of Beauty Must Haves Advent Calendar (it’s available only in-store now) is the Sephora Collection Advent Calendar with Sephora-branded makeup and beauty products, including nail polish, setting spray, and even tweezers.
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It’s modeled after the 59th Street store, and I’d liken what you’ll find inside to the Bloomingdale’s skin-care counter, with a SK-II facial treatment essence, Shiseido serum, and Augustinus Bader eye patches.
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Or, for the Fragrantica-review reader, there’s Bloomingdale’s fragrance calendar. It has deluxe sizes of Byredo’s Bal d’Afrique, Bond No. 9’s Tribeca, and Maison Margiela’s Replica by the Fireplace. (It’s better to know how Ex Nihilo’s Fleur Narcotique smells before paying $245 for a 1.7-ounce bottle.)
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Not only does this calendar look like the side of the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship, it contains 30 samples from Dr. Barbara Sturm, La Mer, Valmont, and Maison Francis Kurkdjian. That way, you’ll know what Le Labo’s matcha liquid balm is like before making the investment.
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From “the home of the bath bomb” comes the 29½ High Street Advent Calendar. (That’s named after what fragrances every Lush shop, the 29 High Street Perfume.) Inside is a mix of exclusive bath bombs (Honey Butterbear, Christmas Tortoise …) and others available year-round and during the holidays (Ginger Tom, Catch Me If You Can …).
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Initially, Revolve’s was available in 12-day (for $89) and 25-day (for $150) editions. Now it’s just the 12-day, which features 13 products (six are full size) from Summer Fridays, Slip, Benefit, and Ere Perez.
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Out of the 24 mini-candles in this set, 12 are the “most celebratory scents” Yankee Candle makes — Christmas Cookie, Magical Bright Lights, Red Apple Wreath, Spiced Pumpkins — to get yourself into the holiday spirit.
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You can’t do better than Voluspa when it comes to a drugstore candle. “Even when the candle isn’t burning, I find that you get strong wafts of fragrance from the wax itself, and the scent really fills a room once it’s been lit,” says writer Dominique Pariso. Every 2.5-ounce votive (in Crushed Candy Cane, French Cade Lavender, Santal Vanille, Goji Tarocco Orange, and Noble Fir Garland) inside its Heritage Advent Calendar has a 25-hour burn time.
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As our contributor Jolie De Feis says, “I can only assume the reason more people aren’t talking about Manucurist is the same reason I waited so long to try it — the Instagram ads seemed way too good to be true.” But Manucurist nail polish actually wears like gel, she says. Included is everything you need for a Manucurist manicure: polishes from its Green and Active lines and nail-care tools like files (one for shaping and another for buffing) and wooden sticks (to push back cuticles).
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Each nail polish has a merry-themed name such as Ginger Snapped and Spread the Cherry. Plus, they feature OPI’s fast-drying formula (not to mention, you get base and top coats).
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It’s “set in a bookshop in Saint-Germain-des-Prés a few days before Christmas,” and “the tale follows the shopkeeper and his mischievous, highly literate cat, Archibald.” Behind the bookshelves are familiar Diptyque smells, like Baies and Feu de Bois.
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Jo Malone’s calendar reminds me of a Mondrian painting. Each drawer has a Jo Malone product, whether that’s a wood-sage and sea-salt hand wash or a pine-and-eucalyptus candle. The included orange-bitters cologne “smells like a pomander — festive in a Victorian way, not a Hallmark way,” says our senior editor Ailbhe Malone. “It makes me want to yowl, ‘You there, boy! What day is it?’ from my bedroom window to a snowy street below.” (“Why, it’s Christmas Day!” I’d shout back.)
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For someone who wears Mixed Emotions: Byredo’s first Advent calendar is here. Inside are both trial- and full- size versions of Byredo’s best-selling scents, including La Tulipe, Blanche, Bibliothèque, Bal D’Afrique, Mohave Ghost, and Rose of No Man.
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Designed by Luke Edward Hall (of Greco Disco fame), this calendar resembles a theater, with a character on every door. Inside these illustrated boxes are mini Sisley skin-care products, including the Phyto-Noir Mascara, Black Rose Cream Mask, and Floral Toning Lotion.
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Of course, there’s the ever-popular Pillow Talk in Charlotte Tilbury’s Beauty Treasure Chest. (The pink lip liner is what Strategist social-media editor Kathy Li uses. “I don’t use lip liner on a daily basis, but if I am doing a full face of makeup, I’m reaching for this,” she says.) There’s also the Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray that’s in at least three Strategist staffers’ makeup bags. “It really does just keep everything in place in a way that looks natural and just very slightly dewy,” says senior editor Hilary Reid.
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“Launched in 2013, the company’s goal is to create scents inspired by the founder’s ancestor (an exiled French nobleman with a gift for botany),” says our contributor Zachary Wampler of Maison Louis Marie. “Although we can agree this is a ridiculous corporate anecdote, they actually live up to the aristocratic hype.” Maison Louis Marie’s calendar has perfume oils, candles, hand creams, and body mists, in a range of its numbered scents (No. 13, No. 09, No. 4, and so on).
Food & Drink
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Senior editor Jen Trolio’s family opens Bonne Maman’s calendar all at once, with her husband baking a loaf of homemade bread beforehand. The limited-edition spreads inside (which “can only be found during the holiday season,” according to the brand) include caramel with vanilla, strawberry and passion fruit, and wild blueberry with maple syrup. Yum!
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Strategist senior kitchen and dining writer Emma Wartzman gets her caffeine fix from Cometeer’s frozen coffee pods. This year, the company released 23 brand-new blends (some single origins from its roasting partners) as part of the Cometeer Advent calendar. Each has been brewed and then flash-frozen at what’s supposed to be “peak flavor.”
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There’s no place like the Vermont Country Store, with its Lemon Up shampoo (which contains the juice of one whole lemon), Garibaldi currant biscuits, and maple candy. This calendar includes 24 days of maple candy. The traditional maple-leaf confection now comes in the form of a snowman, tree, bell, and holly leaf.
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Some of the most popular Harry & David snacks are inside here, from Moose Munch popcorn to blackberry galettes to peppermint bark.
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The Bissinger family has made chocolates for Napoleon Bonaparte and the Rothchilds. King Louis XIV even bestowed them with the title Confiseur Imperial. (Today, many of Bissinger’s sweets are based on recipes from a family cookbook that’s dated back to 1899.) Inside this year’s calendar, which is inspired by Versailles, are peppermint-bark squares, gingerbread and white eggnog truffles, and raspberry caramels.
[Editor’s note: This is available for preorder, with orders shipping mid-November.]
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Fly by Jing, which makes a mean chili crisp, introduced a new, very spicy Advent calendar that includes some pantry staples (like a pack of sweet-and-spicy noodles) along with “returning favorites and new flavors you’ve never tasted” before from the company.
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The Museum of Modern Art created a “24-day journey through the streets of New York,” and the search involves eating pieces of chocolate through Hudson Yards and Astoria Heights along this calendar’s map.
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This year, Dandelion came up with 25 confections inspired by the solar system’s moons. Each chocolate has its own planetary-themed box that can also double as an ornament. There’s an illustrated moon map and booklet to follow along each day.
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The English grocery store Fortnum & Mason has been around since 1707, and it’s a name synonymous with afternoon tea. Some of the teas in the aptly titled Tea Lovers box (that has a “special teatime poem inside to read as you savour each comforting sip”) are Moroccan Mint, Countess Grey, Breakfast Blend, G&Tea, and Jade Oolong.
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I like Whittard’s hot chocolate more than Swiss Miss’s! This is 24 days of its hot chocolate (Whittard recommends stirring them in hot milk or making an ice-cold milkshake), including sticky toffee, hazelnut, cookies and cream, and salted caramel flavors.
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An assortment of Chuck Williams’s (the Williams in Williams Sonoma) favorite seasonings and condiments. Williams liked Jacobsen’s flaked sea salt and Bonne Maman jam (at least the apricot and strawberry preserves and orange-marmalade varieties), apparently.
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For the popcorn snob: Included here are kernels of the sweet baby blue, mushroom, and hull-less varieties, plus salted-caramel, French toast, buttery jalapeño, and dill-pickle seasonings for a marathon movie night.
Hobbies & Interests
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Per our investigation into the toy line 5 Surprise: Its “Mini Brands” series sells “miniature models of familiar household items including Skippy peanut butter, Wet Wipes, Tapatio hot sauce, and the coveted Royal gelatin.” You can now unbox detailed replicas of Ulta’s best-selling products (inside a make-believe version of the beauty store) — like a Naked palette, Dry Bar blow-dry brush, Supergoop Play sunscreen, etc. — as part of a Mini Brands and Ulta collaboration.
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Jane Mount, the illustrator behind Ideal Bookshelf, just released the Bibliophile’s Advent Calendar for Booklovers featuring 24 tiny books, each filled with either a question of the day or trivia for a bibliophile. There’s a special surprise for the 25th day of the calendar. (No spoilers, unfortunately!)
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Every ornament represents a line from “The Twelve Days of Christmas”: the partridge in a pear tree, the pipers piping, lords a-leaping, and so on. Each can be added on in the days leading up to Christmas. And there are snowflakes and a star tree topper to round out the Advent-themed tree.
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For “anglers of all ages”: This is filled with 24 different fishing lures, from minnow to crankbait and frog spoon. (Importantly, the lures have “sharp barbed hooks that will fool even the most wary of fish.”) It’s still on sale for its Prime Day price.
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Based on the watercolor Avian Holiday, this features 24 die-cut birds. Each bird can hang off a branch on the pop-up tree. And “on Christmas Day, top off the birds’ nested Christmas tree with a golden star.”
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Missoma created limited-edition jewelry calendars with pieces from its silver, gold-plated, and fine lines. For the first time, Missoma included styles from its collaborations with Lucy Williams and Harris Reed, plus a $75 gift card to spend online for the silver and gold editions. The solid-gold edition features five new exclusive pieces, a $200 gift card, and a keepsake blue-velvet box. Before checkout, you can select a bracelet size (S/M or M/L) too.
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If your recipient has a favorite pen, there’s the Papier 24 Days of Desk Delights. It has all the stationery someone who still believes in handwritten thank-you cards needs, including washi tape, paper clips, stamps, and fine-liners.
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Or the stationery nerd might like Papier’s collaboration with Anthropologie, with a calendar filled with sticky notes, stamps, a photo frame, pen pouch, thank-you cards, A7 and A6 notebooks, and stickers.
For Kids
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“LEGO puts out an incredible number of new sets each month, including multiple Advent calendars at this time of year (there are six designs for 2025),” explains our resident toy expert Liza Corsillo in an installment of our monthly New Toys Alert. Timed perfectly to A Minecraft Movie starring Jack Black comes this year’s LEGO Minecraft calendar. The scene creates a Minecraft village, with mini-figures of Alex, Steve, a Creeper, a snow golem, and a zombie. They can also be played with other Minecraft building toys that are sold separately.
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The characters in this year’s Friends Advent calendar are Aliya, Autumn, Liann, Nova, and Leo and their pets (a dog, guinea pig, gecko, and cat), all having a sleepover.
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It’s The Muppet Christmas Carol in plush form, with Miss Piggy as Emily Cratchit, Kermit as Bob Cratchit, Robin the Frog as Tiny Tim, Fozzie Bear as Fozziwig, and Gonzo as Charles Dickens, with each behind a window.
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For the kid who’s in the middle of a Mercury hyperfixation, courtesy of National Geographic: 24 days of space-themed activities, with everything you’d need to paint models of the planets in our solar system and excavate a genuine pyrite (or fool’s gold) specimen. And they can use glow-in-the-dark stickers to form the constellations Canis Major, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Orion.
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Beyond each door, there’s at least one Play-Doh color and one tool (be it a stamper or a cutter). Every week has its own theme (for example, Christmas trees). The front of the box also folds down for an easy cleanup, hopefully.
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Big news from the toy space: Magna-Tiles released its first-ever Advent calendar in September. It builds into a holiday-themed train. Every day comes with a part of the train or a figure, a conductor, and Santa, and “the box can be used as a backdrop for the finished toy,” Corsillo explains.
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On the first day of this Barbie-themed calendar, you receive a pink-haired doll, and for the next 23 days, you get accessories for her to be a princess, a mermaid, or a fairy, like a tail and clip-on wings.
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Make your American Girl doll (be she Samantha Parkington, Felicity Merriman, or Josefina Montoya) bake with the Baking Spirits Bright Advent calendar. It’s gingerbread-themed, with everything you need for cookies: cookie cutters, a stick of butter with measurement lines, a bag of brown sugar, and a piping bag of white icing.
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