For parents with teens making their first forays into beauty, the world of beauty advent calendars can be overwhelming – and expensive. You’re faced with £250+ iterations from the likes of Selfridges and Liberty (browse my full round-up of the best beauty advent calendars) or sub-£50 offerings that swap unboxing excitement for filler and sample sizes.
However, the Sephora Collection premium advent costs £89.99 (Sephora.co.uk), striking a welcome middle ground between accessible and excessive.
Teens should avoid heavy coverage foundations and high-potency skincare, but every day of the Sephora Collection calendar offers effective, appropriate beauty products. From its gentle peeling serum (£19.99, Sephora.co.uk) to its clear brow gel (£11.69, Sephora.co.uk), there’s enough glam and skin nourishment to satisfy both trend-driven teens and health-conscious parents. It’s a world away from the more grown-up products in the brand’s Sephora favorites beauty advent calendar.
The calendar has 24 products worth more than two and a half times the list price. It spans make-up and skincare, and has a handful of hair and nail treats, too. I emptied all the boxes for a sneak peek – here’s my honest review.
How I tested
Though it might spoil the Christmas fun, I set about unboxing all 24 of the boxes in the tin. While rifling through and testing the products, I assessed the following criteria:
- Packaging – I weighed up how aesthetic and practical the advent tin and its boxes were, plus how likely anyone purchasing would be to reuse it in future years.
- Value – I gauged where the Sephora Collection advent sat among competitor offerings in 2025, and noted how it compared from a cost vs. worth perspective, including looking at the number of full-size items.
- Variety of contents – I considered whether the line-up of products was varied across the beauty spectrum, or more suited to skincare enthusiasts.
- Trending elements – With beauty trends moving quickly, I recorded how many items featured tapped into 2025 innovations and fads, whether overnight lip masks or plumping glosses.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Not only does Lucy Smith run The Independent’s guide to the best beauty advent calendars for 2025, but she’s also reviewed all of the season’s best calendars. covering everything from Space NK to Next and John Lewis. Having reviewed 2025’s latest launches in skincare, haircare and make-up, she’s across all the most popular formulas and is well placed to assess the appeal of Sephora Collection’s advent calendar as it launches. Scroll on for her verdict.
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Sephora Collection premium advent
Price: £89.99
Worth: £235.76
Number of days: 24
Number of products: 24 (14 full sizes)
Advent calendar highlights: Sephora Collection gingerbread lip sleeping mask, Sephora Collection love the lift mascara, Sephora Collection mini glow setting spray
Available: Now
Why we love it
- Reusable storage tin
- Good variety of products across skin, make-up and nails
- Gentle skincare and neutral make-up perfect for teens
Take note
- Keyring feels a tad young
- Boxes sit messily within the tin
It’s immediately obvious that this is designed for a younger market. If the two pom pom accessories (a keyring and a hair clip) don’t give it away, the gingerbread lip sleeping mask (complete with a cute gingerbread man motif) will. Not only does this overnight formula nod to Laneige’s TikTok-viral mask, but its calendar-exclusive seasonal flavour has collectable appeal, which definitely taps into the desires of a Gen Alpha, Labubu-buying audience. Plus, when testing, I found it had a smooth, nourishing finish and tasted pleasantly sweet – perfect for topping up throughout the day.
The type of products, too, skew younger, with none of the anti-ageing focus of competitor calendars, and plenty of skin barrier-friendly formulas, including micellar water (£4.99, Sephora.co.uk) and a gentle ‘all day hydator’ moisturiser with hyaluronic acid (£15.99, Sephora.co.uk).
In the make-up department, Sephora keeps things largely school-appropriate, with a clear brow gel (£11.69, Sephora.co.uk) and lip butter (£6.99, Sephora.co.uk), plus a handful of more colourful additions for the weekend. There are 90s-style sparkly eyeshadows and a ‘sunset shine’ hued luminiser (£11.39, Sephora.co.uk) to amp up moisturisers with a bit of glitter and glow. I particularly loved the travel-size make-up setting spray (£15.99, Sephora.co.uk). Thanks to its skincare-in-make-up formula with vitamin C, I enjoyed using it both on top of my day-to-day make-up and on its own, where it gave me a lit-from-within glow.
While face masks are always a fun addition to an advent calendar, the inclusion of a hand mask (£5.99, Sephora.co.uk) gave the Sephora Collection calendar a unique twist missing from other beauty advents..
My only issue is that the packaging leaves a little to be desired. While the sturdy tin can definitely be reused for storage, the boxes within looked cluttered, with no organisation or structure. To be fair, at under £90, this slightly lacklustre design makes sense; I encountered a similar issue with Asos’ £98 advent calendar.
Buy now £89.99, Sephora.co.uk
Is the Sephora Collection premium advent calendar worth it?
If you’re on the hunt for a mid-range beauty advent calendar for a teen, then you won’t find better than the Sephora Collection premium advent calendar. I don’t think it’s a top-tier countdown for the 20-and-older market, but the selection of products perfectly hits the mark for those just getting into cosmetics, with user-friendly, clear-simple formulas and a price point perfect for experimentation.
