The concept of beauty advent calendars first began around 2010, when Selfridges released one in collaboration with L’Oréal. In 2014, Liberty London then dropped its first calendar and now, more than 10 years on, its offering – which is traditionally modelled on the Regent street department store – is widely considered the gold standard of beauty advents. The thing is, with 16 years of advent calendars having flooded the market from almost every cosmetics company, beauty buffs are beginning to tire of the same old selections.
Going into my third year testing beauty advent calendars for IndyBest, I’m well versed in what to expect from the line-ups. Be it Dr Paw Paw in years gone by or, more recently, Color Wow haircare, the same brands crop up time and again – and when you're paying upwards of £250 (as you do for Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Harrods), it's fair to wonder whether you're being short-changed by the repeats.
