Cult Beauty Advent Calendar 2024, tried and tested — here’s why you’ll want to keep it under lock and key

I’LL be the first to admit that a box filled with beauty products isn’t very festive.

Despite this, Advent calendars have become one of beauty’s most-wanted products, often selling out within weeks.

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Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

In 2022, over a quarter of shoppers planned to buy a beauty Advent calendar globally and their popularity hasn’t waned.  

So, whether it’s the promise of new products, the mystery of discovering something new, or the guaranteed bragging rights, beauty Advent calendars are doing something right.

The Cult Beauty Advent Calendar is one of the most popular options on the market; last year’s edition housed over £1000 worth of products.

However, that simply wouldn’t do for 2024.

Enter this year’s Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, containing £1,100 worth of beauty products; it is Christmas after all.

Pros

• Sturdy packaging which could be reused and repurposed
• An eclectic range of must-have products
• Multiple products inside some drawers
• You receive a £10 Cult Beauty voucher when you buy, plus golden tickets up for grabs

Cons

• Total saving is slightly lower than some competitors
• The design isn’t very festive
• Fewer full-size products in comparison to some competitors

RATING: 4.5/5

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Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

Cult Beauty Advent Calendar review: how we tested

Growing up, my parents told me that Santa would give me the cold shoulder if I opened my Advent calendar early.

But this year, I’ve ignored their advice and opened the whole thing in one sitting.

While we’re still many weeks away from Christmas, I’ve been giddily opening beauty Advent calendars all month, critiquing their contents, packaging, and element of surprise.

And I’m a tough judge.

A top beauty Advent calendar should look good and contain an array of interesting products.

However, a great Advent calendar will be bursting with bestselling beauty finds and look so good that you’ll want to keep it on your mantelpiece forever.

Beauty Advent calendars should also strike a balance between products you know and love, and lesser-known gems.

I’m a firm believer that opening a calendar should be an experience in itself, so packaging is important too — but not at the expense of the environment.

Hundreds of beauty Advent calendars have dropped this year, and I’m on a hunt to discover the best one on the market.

Let’s see if Cult Beauty takes the crown.

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Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

Cult Beauty Advent Calendar review: quick summary

Alarm bells immediately began to ring when I found out that this year’s Cult Beauty Advent Calendar is £235, making it one of the pricier choices on the market.

Will it be full of posh products that no one’s ever heard of, or adorned with gold leaf meaning it’s totally non-recyclable?

The very simple answer is no.

Yes, the Cult Beauty Advent Calendar costs the same as a small mountain of chocolate, but it promises 25 days of sheer beauty-fuelled joy, and saves you hundreds on the job lot.  

Every beauty retailer has its merits (Boots for its meal deals and last-minute sunscreen, Sephora for its Instagrammable shelves) but Cult Beauty does exactly what it says on the tin.

Boasting the latest launches, cult classics and newly viral beauty products, there’s a je ne sais quoi about Cult Beauty — and the brand has channelled this into its 2024 Advent calendar.

Brimming with 40 ‘beauty icons’, including 19 full-sized products, it stacks up to a total saving of £865 (or 79%) compared to buying each product individually.

And while its baby-pink design isn’t very festive, its compact size means you can squeeze it into a corner or pop it under the tree, plus it’s fully recyclable (minus the inner magnet and plaque).

Cult Beauty Advent Calendar review: full review

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Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

First impressions

This calendar looks more like a Pinterest mood board than a Christmas decoration.

However, it’s so pretty that I’m tempted to repurpose this into a beauty storage unit once the festivities are over.

Visually speaking, the Cult Beauty Advent Calendar will speak to the Insta-girlies but I also expect its neutral, pastel hues to be a hit among families.

Overall, I haven’t been very impressed with Advent calendars’ packaging this year — most are so flimsy you’d be forced to chuck them after Christmas — but this is a classic, chest-like Advent calendar with drawers.

However, I must confess, my first impressions were of disappointment; three lucky punters will find a £1000 Cult Beauty voucher nestled in their calendar, but I wasn’t one of them.

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Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

What’s inside the Cult Beauty Advent Calendar?

The contents of this calendar look like the bathroom shelf of your coolest friend.

The contents of this calendar look like the bathroom shelf of your coolest friend.

Being the beauty geek I am, I’ll often scroll through a beauty retailer’s website, curating a better version of their Advent calendar in my head.

However, I’m not ashamed to admit that you’ve won, Cult Beauty; because this Advent calendar’s line-up is impressive.

It perfectly balances viral products with the lesser-known, and features an array of fragrance, skin, hair, and body care offerings.

This year, Cult Beauty has two Advent calendars on offer – Curated with Love and Scent with Love – which look identical, cost the same and largely feature the same products, with a few variations.

I tried the Scent With Love calendar, but you can find the entire Curated with Love line-up on the Cult Beauty website.

Things begin swimmingly on Day 1, where you’ll find a full-size Krave Beauty Great Barrier Relief Serum (worth £51); a Cult Beauty exclusive that hit UK shores less than a year ago. 

Don’t be fooled by the small, travel-sized Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream inside Day 14, as this luxury moisturiser (starring a patented repairing complex) will set you back £74 (or 30% of the price of the entire calendar) alone.

Several 2024 beauty Advent calendars include a Medik8 product, and Cult Beauty has picked wisely. Day 22 contains the H.E.O Mask set, typically £60, a hydrating, rejuvenating one-weekly treatment.

If there’s one thing that this Advent calendar doesn’t excel in, it’s that there is the occasional dud day; I’m a little disappointed with the bite-size Kayali Yum Pistachio Gelato 33 EDP Intense found in Door 23.

It’s a brilliant, cult perfume but its miniature 10ml bottle looks lost inside its rather large drawer.

As I child, I’d keep my fingers crossed for a slightly larger chocolate behind Door 25, so you can imagine my surprise when I found seven beauty products inside the final door of this Advent calendar.

With a heat protector, dry shampoo, scalp serum, conditioning treatment, hair oil, mask and clips concealed inside, you’ll certainly be equipped for a good hair day when the big day arrives.

(*Spoiler alert*) Here’s the full list…

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Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

How much is the Cult Beauty Advent calendar?

Scanning at £235, the Cult Beauty Advent Calendar isn’t cheap.

That said, it’s one of the best-curated beauty Advent calendars on the market this year, and will save you hundreds.

If you were to buy all the contents of this calendar individually, you’d be tapping your card at a bill of over £1,100.

So, not only does the calendar save you £865 or 79% on the beauty products found inside, you’ll also get a stunning calendar (and some festive fun) thrown in for good measure.

While this saving isn’t quite as high as some competitors — the Look Fantastic calendar boasts a saving of 82% — it stands its ground among Liberty, Fortnum & Mason, and ASOS.

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Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

Where to buy the Cult Beauty Advent calendar

I’m a firm believer of the ‘try before you buy’ mantra but there are some things that you just have to jump on.

Considering you can’t buy this Advent calendar in-store — and it’s been so popular that I worried it would sell out while writing this review — it’s one you’ll have to take the plunge on.

Fortunately, if you get a move on, the calendar can be bought on the Cult Beauty website.

There, you’ll find super-speedy delivery that’s free over £25, meaning your calendar will arrive within 2-3 days, free of charge.

For the impatient, there’s the Next Day Delivery option, which costs just £5.95, and Cult Beauty offers free returns within 30 days of receipt.

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Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

The verdict: is the Cult Beauty Advent calendar worth it?

I’m calling it — this is one of 2024’s best Advent calendars.

I’m calling it — this is one of 2024’s best Advent calendars.

For a festive(ish) way to celebrate December while topping up on beauty products, you can’t really go wrong with Cult Beauty.

Starring products that you won’t find elsewhere (I’m looking at you, Krave Beauty and Saie), plus some failsafe brands like Charlotte Tilbury and Sol de Janeiro, you’ll want to keep this calendar under lock and key.

Thanks to my brilliant excuse of “I’m writing a review, so I can open mine early”, I didn’t experience the adrenaline rush of opening a new calendar drawer every morning.

But I can only imagine how exciting this will be, as this Advent calendar offers an eclectic array of products, which will keep your excitement levels topped up all December long.

It’s worth mentioning that you’ll also receive a £10 Cult Beauty voucher when you purchase a calendar, but who knows when you’ll spend it because you’ll be inundated with beauty products after the 25th.

(As long as your family don’t get to them first.)

Cult Beauty Advent Calendar, £235 (worth £1,100)

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