With the festive season rapidly approaching, there's no better way to stir up excitement than with an advent calendar.
It's almost time to start the Christmas countdown
Gone are the days of a Christmas picture or a tiny chocolate treat, in 2023 there's something for everyone, of all ages.
Here's a round-up of some of our favourites for this year:
LEGO has always appealed to a wide range of ages and interests, and their advent selection is no different. Choose from City, Marvel, ‘Harry Potter’, Friends, or ‘Star Wars’ (priced £19.99-£29.99) and build a mini model each day to establish a whole new collection or collectors can use them to complement their existing sets. https://www.lego.com/en-gb/holiday-gifts/advent-calendars?consent-modal=show
Crammed with goodies worth £179 and costing a bargain £45, Holland and Barrett’s beauty offering boasts all vegan products – including 16 full sized items – from a range of brands, all neatly packaged in a reusable two-drawer box. https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/beauty-advent-calendar-6100002110
Jurlique devotees and newcomers alike will love their festive countdown, with 24 deluxe favourites – including shower gels, cleansers, masks and hand creams – accompanied by a wellness mantra to start the day in the right way. It’s £110 and includes two full sized products. https://jurlique.co.uk/products/2023-advent-calendar
Chocolate connoisseurs can sample a variety of pralines, liqueurs and truffles with Hotel Chocolat’s Everything advent calendar (£27.50). Start each day with a surprise thanks to flavours including mango, peanut and even carrot cake. https://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/everything-advent-calendar.html
Start your breakfast right with Bonne Maman’s cute Santa’s Workshop-themed calendar (£28+ delivery), which is crammed with 17 mini jars of jams and spreads, each made exclusively for this Christmas, six herbal teas and a collectable Christmas Eve keepsake. https://www.bonnemaman.co.uk/advent
Countdown to Christmas with a festive tipple via The Whisky Exchange’s Whiskies of the World calendar (£145). Behind 25 doors are exclusive bottlings, under-the-radar favourites and best-sellers from distilleries around the world. https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/70945/the-perfect-measure-whisky-advent-calendar-25-whiskies-of-the-world-25x3cl
For family bonding fun, look no further than the Build Your Own Pinball Machine Advent Calendar. For just £24.99, budding engineers of all ages can collect a new piece of kit and follow the step-by-step instructions to assemble a fully-functioning game by Christmas Eve.
https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/buildyourown/product/build-your-own-personalised-pinball-advent-calendar
Find the time for tea for two with Bird and Blend. Shunning traditional festive colours for a vivid yellow and blue colour scheme, each door contains two tea bags featuring Christmas flavours and fan favourites – and it’s totally plastic free and earth-friendly. £38, in store and online at www.birdandblendtea.com.
Young ‘Harry Potter’ fans will love the Magical Infinity calendar from KapToys. At £29.99, the clever rotating design features more goodies than you can shake a wand at, including plushies, stickers, a key ring and more. www.kaptoys.com
Cadbury’s prove there’s no need to spend a fortune to have a sweet treat every day, with their advent offerings ranging from milk or white chocolate in a simple festive design for just £2.74, to the 3D Advent Calendar that costs £10 and features a funsize product ever day, to our favourite, the Heroes Advent Calendar, which retails at £7.19. All products are available at retailers nationwide.
With a Christmas cheeseboard a firm festive favourite, why wait until 25 December to tuck into your favourite dairy product. So Wrong It’s Nom is back again, with Ilchester Cheese offering 24 chuckles in 11 different varieties, including two new flavours for this year. £8RRP, from Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Lidl and Ocado.
With gin’s resurgence showing no sign of abating, Craft Gin Club give a 50ml serving for each day of advent in a range of flavours – including mince pie, for when you feel particularly festive – from differing brands, including seven new and exclusive gins, all for £94.95.
https://club.craftginclub.co.uk/pages/advent
Keep busy and create a lasting collection with Make Arcade’s Craftvent calendar (£89). Every year the team come up with new designs for their felt decorations, from traditional tokens such as presents, robins and wreaths to the quirky festive mixtape, TV and seahorse. Along with a sewing kit, the box features 24 envelopes, each containing the essentials to craft a new decoration. https://www.themakearcade.co.uk/products/craftvent-2023-pre-order-full-payment
Filled with favourite products from the likes of Soap + Glory, TedBaker, Liz Earle and Champneys, Boots’ 2023 Macmillan advent calendar will please all beauty junkies – and best of all, £2 from each purchase goes to Macmillan Cancer Support. Usually £90, currently on offer for £44, https://www.boots.com/macmillan-24-doors-of-joy-beauty-advent-calendar-10330680
Danilo offer a range of magical musical advent calendars (£24.49) featuring characters to set a festive scene – with clever magnets meaning some figures even move to the music. From The Snowman and Peppa Pig to Only Fools and Horses and Liverpool FC, there’s something for everyone. https://danilo.com/collections/advent-calendars
Settling the debate as to whether it’s a Halloween or Christmas film, the Nightmare Before Christmas Bath + Body Advent Calendar shows its firmly a festive fixture. The classic characters feature in a the packaging of a 12-day selection of pampering treats in a coconut and vanilla fragrance, as well as nail files and a body puff. £20, https://www.prezzybox.com/nightmare-before-christmas-bath-body-advent-calendar.aspx
Say Nadolig Llawen with Wickedly Welsh’s Christmas Advent Calendar (£19.95). Handcrafted in Wales, each delicious artisanal chocolate is a true touch of luxury and boasts festive flavours including Salted Caramel, Ginger Crunch, and Spiced Milk Praline. https://www.wickedlywelsh.co.uk/collections/christmas-collection-the-ultimate-gift-option/products/advent-calendar
Bathroom staple Baylis and Harding’s 2023 calendar is packaged in tones of lavender and nude pink and perfectly complements the packaging of the jojoba, vanilla and almond oil, and sweet mandarin and grapefruit-scented products inside. It’s £45 and available from the likes of Amazon, Ocado, and Next.
For a children’s calendar with products that will last more than just the month of December, Brio’s offering has a cheery Christmas-themed exterior and a selection of track and accessories to create a festive scene, including a train, tree, and Mr and Mrs Santa Claus that will fit perfectly with existing items in the range. £34.99, https://www.brio.net/products/all-products/railway/accessories/advent-calendar-2023
Collectors will love the Premier League 2023/24 Adrenalyn XL Countdown Advent Calendar, which, for £30, gives you a total of 135 cards behind 24 doors, including one guaranteed excellence card, one limited-edition card, and one golden baller. www.panini.co.uk
Lindt have cleverly brought augmented reality into their advent calendar (£12) this year, with each door opening to unveil not just one of their delicious chocolates but a QR code, which can be scanned to bring the brand’s iconic Teddy to life in a Christmas adventure. And if that doesn’t make you think he’s too cute to eat, there’s also a 100g chocolate Teddy inside for Christmas Eve. https://www.lindt.co.uk/lindt-teddy-advent-ar-250g
Promising different contents to their 2022 offering, though sticking with some familiar favourites,
That Boutique-y Gin Company Advent Calendar (£59.95) sees the firm reunite with Drinks by the Dram for their annual collaboration, which boasts wax-sealed 30ml samples including a cherry gin and moonshot gin. https://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/that-boutiquey-gin-company/that-boutiquey-gin-company-advent-calendar/
Why choose between chocolate or a keepsake when you can have both? PlayIn Chocolate offer both 12 and 24-door calendars (£27.50 and £49.95 respectively), featuring a mini-chocolate bar, a3D puzzle toy, three stencils and a fact card behind every window. Best of all, its vegan and cruelty, allergen and plastic-free. https://playinchoc.com/collections/christmas-series/products/advent-calendar-2
Pierre Marcolini’s calendar this year is themed around Frosty Christmas (£54), and the luxury box opens out to reveal 24 smaller boxes in complementary colours, each containing one of their indulgent treats in festive flavours such as gingerbread, cinnamon, caramel, and orange. They look too good to eat (particularly the animals) – but make sure you do. https://www.marcolini.co.uk/en/chocolates/advent-calendar.html
A less traditional advent offering comes from Tonies, who have produced ‘The Little Reindeers Christmas Wish’ – a cute reindeer topper for an existing Toniebox, which automatically downloads a new chapter of a festive story to the speaker every day. £14.99, https://tonies.com/en-gb/tonies/advent-calendar/the-little-reindeers-christmas-wish/