Our Favorite Advent Calendars
The holiday countdown is on!
When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
If you feel like you’ve seen more than your fair share of advent calendars lately, you’re not alone. And yes, it does seem as if just about everyone makes one these days.
Many modern advent calendars have evolved beyond their religious roots, and we’ve just about seen it all. There’s the $325 Haut-Chocolat version from Vosges, which emulates a “Nordic Forest Chalet” complete with whimsical woodland illustrations, pop-out drawers, twinkling lights, and music, no less. And let’s not forget about Sephora’s social media-famous advent calendar—filled with the beauty retailer’s “must-haves”—that sells out pretty much the moment it becomes available (we even missed the window to shop for it).
Here’s one way to kick off the holiday season on a sweet note. I was quite impressed with the quality of the packaging. Made from sturdy cardboard, with a magnetic clasp to keep the “doors” shut, this advent calendar could easily be propped up on my counter. Bonus points for the festive element it lent to my space.
Inside, individually numbered drawers withdraw to reveal the day’s treat. I was pleasantly delighted by the variety and enjoyed discovering something new each day. The back of the box features a pictured guide to everything you can find, so avoid looking if you wish to be surprised.
Spoilers: The assortment inside skews heavily toward gummies, with a few sour flavors to boot. Chocolate candies, including ones with infusions such as caramel and peppermint, may not be for purists, but they are delicious nonetheless.
Verdict: Buy it! A candy advent calendar may be an exercise in restraint, but the sweet-toothed giftee will surely delight in this festive treat.
Unboxing this advent calendar felt like unwrapping a Barbie gift set from 1998. The packaging, a pink doll house-inspired box, featured a series of pink nail care staples nestled within clear plastic liners. There was something oddly nostalgic about it, and I was very into it.
Aesthetics aside, Olive and June’s packaging was particularly flimsy, and a few of the perforated flaps tore off when I attempted to open them. Luckily, a slot at the top of the box allowed me to bypass individually puncturing each window. I simply undid the flap and removed all the items at once.
Unveiling a fresh surprise each day is a pillar of the advent calendar experience. For that reason, part of me expected to be equally "treated" each day. And while I loved the assortment of items in this set as a whole, a few left more to be desired.
Spoilers: Specifically, it was the two nail files (one would have sufficed) and the plastic nail polish cookie cutter, which felt like a random add-on. Aside from that, I appreciated the variety of polishes, nail art stickers, and festive press-on nails.
Verdict: Buy it! This would make a great gift for a teen or tween.
Murray’s Cheese is a New York City institution, and this thoughtfully curated box offers a small window into it. Unlike the other advent calendars I ordered (this one isn’t explicitly marketed as one), Murray’s version comes only with 12 compartments. But what it lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in volume of, well, cheese.
The quality of the packaging is solid, and the brightly colored illustration can be appreciated. That said, the bulky nature of the box will likely encourage you to dig right in from the top rather than individually detaching each slot.
Spoilers: Inside, you’ll find an assortment of cheddar, Parmesan, and other cheeses, in addition to four jams exclusive to Murray’s and a few crackers. My advice? Spare yourself the agony of unwrapping one treat each day. Instead, call over a few friends and host a cheese night. You have pretty much everything you’ll need in this box.
Verdict: Buy it for yourself and your family and friends.
Note: Because the items inside this box are perishable, make sure the recipient will be home around the anticipated delivery time. Although the packaging is insulated, you’ll want to refrigerate it upon arrival per the brand’s recommendations.
Whether it’s for breakfast, tea time, or a midday nut butter sandwich, there’s something to be said of the versatility of jam. And if you’re all about the discovery of unique flavor combinations, this advent calendar from Bonne Maman, the famed French purveyor of spreads and jams, is for you.
Spoilers: Inside the box, each fun-sized jar is neatly nestled within the confines of its respective day, making revealing and discovering your next flavor simple. As someone who loves having toast for breakfast, I relished experimenting with the different flavors and even made a mini spread of them to share with family over a Saturday brunch. I loved witnessing everyone sample the jams and the congenial discourse it led to. I found that each jar can accommodate one to three slices of toast—depending on your preferred ratio of jam to bread.
Better yet, this package gave me a great excuse to kick off my day with fresh bread, good butter, and jam. Guava, yuzu, and pear with cocoa nibs are a few of the delectable, limited-edition jams included in this fruit-forward advent calendar.
Verdict: Buy it! Treat the foodie in your life with this sweet set.
An advent calendar treat that doubles as an activity is a win in my book. A set of 12 mini puzzles comprise this artful rendition, featuring Andy Warhol’s Christmas-themed paintings and drawings. Each puzzle is in a plastic bag and concealed behind its respective day within the illustrated box. The bags are somewhat stuffed into each slot, so take care when removing them. Otherwise, be forewarned that the packaging may look a little grizzly toward the end of the week.
Spoilers: Inside the box, you’ll find a sheet with images of all 12 puzzles. Completing a puzzle without a picture for reference can be tricky, but if you’re up for the challenge, ditch the guide altogether. At only 80 pieces per puzzle, you might just be able to get away with it.
Verdict: Buy it! This advent calendar makes a great gift for the art lover and an equally pleasant activity for a cozy winter evening.
It doesn’t take a Lego lover (or a Harry Potter fan, for that matter) to appreciate this thematic advent calendar. Did I spend too much time indulging in the art of Lego making for this evaluation? Not no.
While it’s certainly not for the advanced builder, there’s still something to be said of the joy it brought someone who’s probably not Lego’s prime demographic.
Spoilers: This advent calendar’s packaging features a pull-down, illustrated cardboard flap that doubles as the famed Hogwarts dining hall. It certainly set the stage for the scene. Behind each “door” is a brief picture guide to building the mini figurines, which are contained in a small plastic bag within the respective day’s slot.
It may not be the most over-the-top set, but it will undoubtedly spark magic for anyone with an imagination.
Verdict: Buy it!
I grew up drinking tea nearly every evening and still do. In fact, I have an entire cabinet dedicated to tea: bagged, tinned, loose leaf, cold-brew, whole flowers, dried herb stalks—you name it, I have it. I was particularly excited to get my hands on this set as a longtime fan of Palais des Thés teas. To me, they’re a little luxury.
While this advent calendar lacked bells and whistles, the cardboard packaging was beautifully festive. And for $38, my expectations were measurably subdued.
Spoilers: Inside, I found an assortment of teas, including green, black, and herbal flavors such as grapefruit and lemon peel. Each tea bag was concealed behind a numbered flap, which, once pulled back, revealed an adage or quote.
I enjoyed sampling the different teas, though I also found myself “skipping ahead” searching for different flavors I wished to try. After a few days, the tea bags started sliding out of their respective slots, and I removed them from the cardboard for easier access.
Verdict: Skip it. You’re paying extra for the packaging with this one. For context, a box of 20 tea bags (of a single flavor) costs between $17 and $19. If you want the experience of a variety set and don’t mind compromising on the advent calendar packaging, go for the slightly less expensive Discovery Gift Set, $28. While there are six fewer tea flavors, there is a solid overlap between the two box sets.
Chocolate may be a mainstay of the modern advent calendar, but the beauty industry has taken the baton and run with it. Increasingly, beauty brands have capitalized on the trend, each outdoing the other. There’s Charlotte Tilbury’s $220 “Treasure Chest” of beauty essentials and La Mer’s $500 version, which gives splurge a whole new meaning. This version from Ulta left more to be desired.
I’ll give it points for the packaging: It was well crafted (for cardboard), and the perforated slots were a cinch to tear off. Unlike many other calendars I evaluated, this version was unique because the numbered niches were assorted in size and shape, so I had no idea what I would unveil.
Spoilers: Inside, I found a good mix of brands, including popular ones such as Clinique, Lancôme, and Sunday Riley. Some products were more exciting than others, such as the Patchology eye gels vs. a 10 mL bottle of hair detangler. There were a few facial cleansers and seven sample-sized tubes of various creams and moisturizers.
Overall, I wasn’t wildly excited about the curation and noticed a few missed opportunities, such as nail care staples and lip balms.
Verdict: Skip it. While there were a few solid “self-care” essentials here, it felt far too much like a random sampler than a well-curated bundle. Skincare isn’t one-size-fits-all, and for those who are thoughtful about the products they use, many of these items may simply go to waste.
How I Evaluated Advent Calendars
A great advent calendar incites excitement, discovery, and a sense of wonder. But the deal with many modern versions is that brands easily give away what you’ll find inside. Of course, if you’re buying one as a gift, this is less of a problem.
Some brands are better at concealing the contents of the calendars than others. Olive and June, for example, has an optional drop-down menu on its website with a detailed list of the products included, should you decide to look. Others, such as Sugarfina, print a photographic guide of the sweets directly on the back of the advent calendar.
Value is another factor I considered, and more importantly, I wanted to know whether I was paying for the contents of the advent calendar or, more so, the packaging. It also mattered how intrinsically valuable the products were to me as the recipient. Did the daily unveiling of a treat spark joy? Or did I find myself digging into the entirety of the box in search of something better?
Every advent calendar I evaluated was different—some were edible while others were tactile or part of a holistic experience. Ultimately, I found that even though the contents may have varied from box to box, I still eagerly awaited what each day would bring. And at the end of the day, isn’t that the magic of an advent calendar?
