There are so many beauty advent calendars on the market now that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by choice. I certainly started to feel that way, that is until I discovered one calendar, which recaptured my imagination and made me believe in Christmas miracles once more. This is because Harvey Nichols’ Beauty Advent Calendar isn’t just full of the best brands and most luxurious products – it’s also packed with genuinely brilliant skincare, make-up and even fragrances, all of which I would normally want to buy with my hard-earned cash.
I’m picky about beauty products. I’ve been lucky enough to try most things because of my job and, as a result, I really do know what works and what doesn’t. This is why the Harvey Nichols calendar is so exciting – it contains all of my very favourite products, offering over £1,000 worth of treats for just £250. Said treats are also housed in a very stylish design this year, with sleek red, black and white packaging containing 25 very exciting drawers. To add to the excitement, Harvey Nichols has hidden £250 gift cards in one in every 100 calendars, so you could receive even more goodies than you were expecting.
Back to the contents of this calendar and one of the most impressive aspects is that there’s a very generous 42 products all together, 18 of which are full-sized. Some of my highlights include my very favourite face mask – 111SKIN’s Y Theorem Bio Cellulose Facial Mask – which reduces puffiness and honestly makes you look like you’ve just had an excellent facial. There’s also Sol de Janeiro’s Bum Bum Cream, which I’ve been using for a few months now and, I have to say, I’ve noticed a visible improvement in the overall appearance of my skin – it’s smoother and free of dry patches.
There are super-luxe products like La Prairie’s Skin Caviar Luxe Cream (you won’t want to use anything else once you’ve tried it), as well as Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream, which is so good it has devoted celebrity fans, from Kim Kardashian to Victoria Beckham. There are two scents from the internet’s favourite perfumier – Maison Francis Kurkdjian – and even a scented candle from Neom, pure silk scrunchies from Slip and Charlotte Tilbury’s face-saving Matte Revolution Lipstick. Xerjoff’s Erba Pura perfume, a skin-perfecting niacinamide moisturiser from Trinny London, Harvey Nichols’ own hairbrushes and Rodial’s Bronze Glowlighter are all also in the mix, illustrating the diversity of the products included here.
In short, this is the one calendar which has made me feel excited about the prospect of an Advent full of beauty products again – no mean feat, I assure you. The only struggle will lie in trying to refrain from opening it all in one go – it really is that good.
Shop: The Harvey Nichols Beauty Advent Calendar 2024
harveynichols.com
Head of fashion commerce Hannah Banks-Walker says: 'One of the highlights every year, Harvey Nichols' Beauty Advent Calendar has one of the best, most luxurious selections of products on the market. In my opinion, this is one of the best brand line-ups I've seen – sometimes, I feel like advent calendars offer products I wouldn't necessarily use, but this one is full of my real heroes. There's my favourite (and face-saving) 111SKIN mask, Slip's pure silk scrunchies, La Prairie Skin Caviar cream, Maison Francis Kurkdjian scents, Sol de Janeiro's Brazilian Bum Bum Cream and my beloved Charlotte Tilbury lipstick. I don't want to spoil all the surprises but this is basically my idea of beauty heaven.'
Availability: It's live!
Value: How much is Harvey Nichols Beauty Advent Calendar? It's £250 for over £1,000 worth of products. Incredible.
Number of days: 25
Number of Products: 42 (18 full size)
Highlights: There's a really impressive roster of 42 products, all beautifully housed in these glorious little drawers, from some of our very favourite beauty brands including Charlotte Tilbury, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Le Labo, La Prairie, Sisley Paris Fenty Beauty, Trinny London, Sol De Janeiro and Xerjoff. This includes an impressive 18 full-sized products, while one in 100 of the advent calendars contains a £250 Harvey Nichols gift card. It doesn't get much better than that.
Hannah Banks-Walker is Grazia's head of fashion commerce. She has previously written for the likes of Harper's Bazaar, The Financial Times, Glamour, Stylist, The Telegraph, Red, i-D and The Pool on everything from fashion to curly hair (hi!) to the patriarchy. Not necessarily in that order. Find her on Instagram and Twitter. But please don't look for her MySpace profile, which until now was the last time she wrote about herself in the third person.