Who’d have thought, twelves months ago, when I wrote our last guide to Advent Calendars that we’d have been in for the year we’ve been having! To think I was looking forward to 2020! Silly me! With news of a potential vaccine on the way, I think – more than ever – we should look forward to 2021. To start this, we should celebrate the countdown to Christmas. And there’s no better way to do this than with an advent calendar.
PackThePJs has scoured the internet (as we can’t go shopping) to find what we think are the best advent calendars for 2020. There’s something for everyone in this guide. Enjoy x
*Contains Press Samples
L’Occitane en Provence Luxury Beauty Advent Calendar
I have to say that L’Occitane is my ‘new favourite’ beauty brand … since my advent calendar last year. I was introduced to some amazing products that prompted me to go online and purchase the full-size items. That’s what I love about advent calendars – the samples you find behind the doors can lead to a new love affair with a product you might otherwise have never known about.
This year I have the L’Occitane Luxury Advent calendar to look forward to opening. 24 tempting boxes of goodies that are worth £135 in total. I have cheated a little though, to give you an idea of what the boxes contain, and randomly picked 3 boxes to open early. They contained:
- Dry Skin Hand Cream (30ml)
- Light Comforting Cream (5ml)
- Micellar Shampoo (35ml)
RRP: £99.00 (worth £135)
Tinc Advent Calendar 2020
Looking for a non-sugar advent for your child or teenager this year? If they also happen to love stationery, like my two, this Tinc Advent Calendar 2020 is the one you need. It promises gifts, gadgets and stationery – and more besides too. Each of the 24 boxes has a joke printed on the outside (quite funny ones too) and if, once the box is empty, you turn it up and put back in the same spot, when all the boxes are empty you are left with a Christmas theme to colour in!
I opened three random boxes, just to tempt you with the content, and they contained:
- Colouring Pencils
- Character Orange Marker/Highlighter
- Wind-Up Turtle
RRP: £25.00
Toblerone Advent Calendar 2020
We always associate Toblerone as that high-end chocolate in the airport duty free! However, in this case you can treat yourself to a Swiss triangular treat in the days leading to Christmas … an 8g fun size nutty smooth chocolaty almondy nougaty treat! The Toblerone Advent Calendar lets you try all the different varieties and gets your chocolate taste buds in training for the big day. From the three random doors we opened, we found:
- Swiss White
- Swiss Milk
- Milk with Crunchy Almonds
RRP: £18.99
GLOSSYBOX X Grazia 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar
This is a much awaited advent calendar, a collaboration between GLOSSYBOX and Grazia. It really doesn’t disappoint – in fact, it’s quite amazing! The first impression is that it’s SO HEAVY! This is a substantial advent calendar with 12 drawers each capable of holding a substantial product. Full-size product I must point out! In total, if you popped into a store to buy these 12 items, you’d be spending £530.00! Wow! As a teezer, I’ve opened two of the drawers, and this is what I discovered:
- Christophe Robin hydrating melting mask with aloe vera (200ml), worth £27
- Argentum l’Etoile Infinie twin enhancing face oil (30ml), worth £82
The products are incredible, and the box smells amazing! I literally cannot wait to try these products out!
RRP: £100.00 (worth £530.00!)
That Boutique-y Gin Company Gin Advent Calendar
It’s Christmas! Well, nearly. It’s a great excuse to think about gin. Now, these days there is so much choice of gin … flavoured gins, fruit gins and even chocolate gins, you need to sample different ones to know what you like. That Boutique-y Gin Company and Drinks by The Dram have come up with the perfect solution – a Gin Advent Calendar – to enjoy in the run up to the big day. Advent Calendars and Gin – a match made in heaven! There are 24 different wax-sealed drams (3cl) of gin to try and enjoy. Some highlights include:
- Festive Chocolate Orange Gin
- Cherry Gin
- The award winning ‘Moonshot’ Gin
Explore a diverse range of 24 independently bottled gins from renowned distilleries.
RRP: £49.95
Lynx Africa 12 Day Countdown Calendar
This is the ultimate gift for the man in your life. Perfect for teenagers or MAMILs. The Lynx Africa Countdown Calendar has got loads of smellies including deodorants, body wash, and a range of grooming items. I am not going to spoil the surprise as this gift set really has got lots of goodies. But just to give an idea, there are:
- Pair of socks
- Energy Boost Body Wash (50ml)
- Fresh Deodorant and Body Spray (35ml)
Good value for money and a gift that keeps on giving! You can’t go wrong with advent calendars that make a teenager smell nicer!
RRP: £14.99
Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar
Christmas chocolate, yes please! This 263g Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar is full of fun-sized mini-bars (and it’s especially for adults). The calendar contains a range of individually wrapped:
- Dairy Milk Chunks
- Caramel Chunks
- Whole Nut Dairy Milk Chunks
It’s just great for all you choccy lovers out there!
RRP: £5.99
Barratt Retro Sweets Calendar
The Barratt Retro Sweets Advent Calendar is just great for taking a trip down Memory Lane. It’s got all the old favourites from the ‘olden days’ including (but much more besides):
- Refreshers Softies minis (snack pack)
- Wham Original Chew
- Refreshers (mini tube)
All-in-all there are 320g of lovely retro sweets for you to enjoy.
RRP: £15.50
Avon 12 Days of Christmas Beauty
Mark the countdown to Christmas with 12 amazing Avon cosmetic products! The Avon 12 Days of Christmas Beauty Calendar is full of their most popular products for make-up, skincare and also spray fragrance. The products are a mix of full-size and mini editions. The calendar has been carefully curated so you’ll look and feel pampered and gorgeous. A peak at the items inside includes:
- Mark Black Big and Extreme Volume and Length Mascara (10ml)
- Micellar Water (50ml)
- Avon True Colour lipstick (Chic)
RRP: £25.00 (worth £59.50)
Haribo Advent Calendar
If you love chewy gummy fruity sweets this Haribo Advent Calendar is for you. While counting down to Christmas, Haribo sweets provide a sweet daily treat. Yum! They are a mixture of fruit and cola flavour chews and gummies. Our sneak preview included festive mini bags of:
- Phantasia
- Gingerbread
- Happy Cola Bottles
Not just for kids but for bigger kids too! Contains 300g of sweets in teeny weeny bags!
RRP: £5.00
Lush 12 Days of Christmas
For the perfect countdown to Christmas Lush has produced a unique collection of 12 days of bath, shower, and body products. The Lush 12 Days of Christmas Calendar includes the 2020 exclusive Celebrate Body Milk along with seasonally-scented shower and bath products to keep you going throughout the festive period. The collection includes:
- Kinky Boots Bubble Bar
- Yog Nog Shower Gel (100g)
- Orange Shower Scrub (130g)
It smells A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
RRP: £75.00
Cadbury White Chocolate Christmas Advent Calendar
Everyone loves a bit of white chocolate. Toby doesn’t like milk or dark chocolate – but loves this! Cadbury has launched a new White Chocolate Advent Calendar. It’s 90g of white chocolaty goodness. So, get one for the Milky Bar Kid in your life!
RRP: £1.50
I found an amazing one from Disney this year. Each date contains a wrapped Disney book. I was so impressed with it. But even more so because it was £10.
I love the look of the Lush one – might get my daughter that for something different. There is also an amazing Rituals one I discovered this year too.
FAR too many to choose from here lol. Would probably have to go with any of the chocolate ones though I think!
If somebody wants to buy me the Lush calendar I would be a very happy lady. I usually get a few Lush goodies for Christmas!
Oh wow there are some super calendars here for sure!! I love the look of the retro sweets one – how fun xx
I didn’t know there was a Toblerone calendar. That would be great. And not forgetting any gin filled ones too lol. Those would go down well.
My husband would be in heaven with the Toblerone Advent Calendar as they are his favourites. I haven’t seen a Haribo calendar before. My boys both love Haribo so I think I may need to treat them to one!
I’m always happy with the cheap basic Cadbury’s advent calendar. It’s my favourite chocolate!
Ok I could happily have every one of those!! The chocolate and sweets of course my favourite, but love the beauty one too. Giving you a chance to try out different items