Which of the luxury advent calendars are actually worth it?

39 comments

1. What’s “worth it”? As in good value for money in amount of chocolate? None of them. Buy a bar of chocolate if you want chocolate.

2. I wouldn’t imagine that there’s any that are better value than just buying the product in question. You’re paying a premium to have it as an advent calendar, I can’t see what benefit there would be to any company to make the advent calendar better value than the stand alone product.

3. No, because they are all simply an expensive way to buy sample sized versions of products.

4. We’ve had the one from l’Occitane before and that is quite nice, it’s good value for the amount of stuff but as someone else’s said they are all small bottles. We’ve kept the boxes though and we use them to make our own for the kids (fill with celebrations or sweets or things they like rather than the shitty chocolate you get in most)

5. I dont know if 12 quid counts as luxury, but I got a Yankee candle one one year.
   Having a little Christmas smelling tealight every day was pretty great if you like that kind of thing.
   Yes I could of bought a bag of tealights but it was pretty cute.
   I make my fellas advent calendar. A big box sperated with cardboard dividers, filled with beers and nuts and snacks covered in wrapping paper for him to poke through.
   I did it one year on a whim and he really bloody loves it. Costs me more than I’d spend on an advert calendar, but he works long hours in the winter and sometimes its nice to get an extra special treat

6. I have a coffee one I enjoy, it’s nice having a different cup every morning

7. Lego ones are usually worth it and I enjoy the Tony’s Chocolonely calendars but these might not be seen as luxury!

8. Lego and Playmobil ones both offer a decent amount of Lego/Playmobil for the money.

   The M&S beauty advent calendar can’t be touched in terms of the cost vs RRP of the items.

9. If you wear tights, Snag – 12 pairs for the cost of ~6. But it’s a lucky dip, beyond size. (My daughter and I are splitting one, so between us I’m sure we’ll each get a “great” and a “bleh” plus four more mehs.)

10. Any of them the day after Xmas when they are on offer. Once I got the Waitrose gin calendar on 2 Jan which was knocked down by 70% or something ridiculous. Kept it as a surprise for the wife for the following December.

11. If you’re asking about non-chocolate versions then the only I can think of is nerdy ones. Trading card games, lego, or pop vinyl ones or whatever else.

    The only reason they might be “worth it” is because there’s usually something exclusive within them, so the only way to get it is by buying the advent calendar. That makes it worth it (assuming you actually like and guy the general product anyway) because there isn’t another option.

    Whereas any edible or consumable like tea or hand lotion is always shit because you can just buy it all separately anyway.

12. The cheese one from Applewood. So many good cheeses. I tend to save up four at a time then cut them each in half and make a couple of slices of cheese on toast. I’ve tried looking for the cheeses as separate products but not been able to find them for sale so I guess I’d say that one’s worth it.

13. If you have space in your fridge, the Chuckling Cheese Co one is excellent. Nothing gets you in the Christmas mood than daily cheese/chutney 🤤

    I also really enjoyed the Bird and Blend tea one last year

14. I like the hotel chocolat ones. But they are pretty pricey.

15. It depends on the genre of product and whether you’re interested in that kind of product.

    For example: If I want to try a new night cream, that’ll probably cost me £30 and I might not like it. I can’t buy 5ml to test, I have to buy the whole pot.

    For £45 I can get the M&S beauty calendar and try 25 different things. Some of them I’ve kept buying afterwards.

    To me it’s worth it to get to try a bunch of things. Some of them will be nice. Some of them will be a decent size. Some of them will be a useful travel size. It’s not always about the £ per ml but about the opportunity to try things.

16. High-end tea advent calendars tend to max out at about £30; obviously not cheap but my husband and I have discovered some new favourites that way.

17. My birthday is just before December starts, so I often end up getting a Laithwaites advent calendar from my parents as a birthday present. You get 24 mini bottles of nicerish wine, and a half bottle of fizz or something at the end. They’re not cheap, and I’m not remotely saying they’re good value for money from a £/ml of wine perspective…

    BUT

    I used to think mini bottles were a bit of a waste, because I could easily finish a bottle in a night. However, I’ve reapproached my relationship with alcohol, and also been on a really strict diet, so it never felt justifiable to open a full bottle because then I’d have to finish it over a few days. These mini bottles meant I could have A glass of wine without then having to finish a bottle and undo my diet, so I’ve started finding them really good value – not from a £/ml perspective, but because of the value of not feeling like I’m wasting wine or encouraging myself to drink more than I should.

    So long story short, the wine calendar gives me more variety and nicer wines than I’d get at the supermarket mini bottle range, so I kinda like ’em.

18. I’ve got a cross stitch advent calendar! £109 and I’m so excited to see what’s in it!

19. I get the Crafty Nectar cider one every year.

    Is it worth it? Some days I find a fantastic new cider that I really like and isn’t widely available by the bottle.

    Other days… I hope tomorrow will be better.

    It’s the former a lot more than the latter.

    Overall I recommend it if you like a wide variety of ciders. Definitely not a CHEAP option per bottle (about £3.50-£4), but until they’re in the supermarkets it’s cheaper than the alternative ways of finding them.

    It has previously sold out well in advance, but this year they upped the price and have since added a discount to it, so I’ll be patient next year.

20. I also find the L’Occitane advent calendars are a real luxury treat. A great way to sample all the different scents and products they sell.

21. Thorntons one from Sainsburys brings me so much joy lmao. It’s £10-15 and you get full size truffles, each of which are unreal! Probably cheaper to just buy a box but hey it’s not the same

22. For the last three years I’ve had the Shibui tea advent tea box which I loved. They don’t appear to be doing it this year so I’m quite gutted about that. Thinking about maybe getting the Bird & Blend one instead but I’ve not had any of their teas before, so I’m not sure.

23. We got one of our kids a Doritos advent calendar last year. 100% worth it.

    He still wears the Doritos socks that were in it all the time.

    We got Star Wars Lego ones the year before that were definitely not worth it. They were OK but an advent calendar without food in it just isn’t a proper advent calendar in my book.

24. I’m really into cross stitch and there’s an online shop (which just so happens to be local to me) which has an advent calendar. It’s full of crafty little treats. They do a 12 or 24 day version. It’s £100 for 24 days but it’s totally worth it as I’ve made use of all the items in the last couple I’ve received. It has the added bonus of supporting a small local business.

25. The Wera (tools) one is amazing. Excellent present for a dad.

26. My partner got me the Lush bath one. It’s a bit pricier than just buying all the bits individually but you also get a few exclusives. I like Lush as a company and would never buy it for myself which makes it even better 🙂

27. I got the Bonne Maman one this year. It was 33 and it’s mostly spreads and some teas. I preordered and got 3 full size ones included

    I’m very excited for my jamvent

28. I bought the rituals advent calendar this year it’s £189 it is beautiful I really recommend it

29. I had a Lookfantastic one my partner brought me a few years back and it was brilliant, I used everything and still have the box (which was lovely) and use it for make up storage

    Not sure how much they cost now though

30. I get the beauty calendar from Liberty London every year. The value of the products inside is much higher than the price of the calendar.

31. I like the Holland and Barrett beauty calendar as it’s full of good quality products. A few duff fillers (muslin cloth, tweezers, nail file type bits) but mostly things I’ll use

32. If you like puzzles/ escape rooms the Exit advent calendars are great, £40 and each day you get a “room” to unlock, the puzzles are creative, varied and follow a story line. You can often get last year’s calendar at a discount and as they aren’t food based that doesn’t make a difference.

33. I love the Liberty Beauty Calendar and the Harrods Beauty Calendar, they really feel like a treat and it’s a great way to find new brands and try products that you wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to. They are really well constructed and thought out, and it definitely feels like a luxury item. It should go without saying, but you do need to have an interest in skincare/fragrance/beauty to enjoy the products!

34. Molton Brown!

35. I recently got a loose leaf tea advent calendar and a fancy hot chocolate one too, both from Yawn. The tea is single origin loose leaf and will be my morning cuppa and the hot chocolate one is proper chocolate flakes that you mix with hot milk in a range of different flavours. Nice way to add in a little festive daily luxury as a housebound person.

36. Takes a bit of effort, but we went with refillable advent calendars for our kids years ago. Ours was a load of little buckets.

    We put all sorts in them. Once got a load of Swarovski things for about a tenner. One year we got a photo turned into a 25 piece jigsaw and put a piece in each. Or travel sized toiletries/little perfumes etc. Each bucket then had a mini fun thing and a chocolate.

    Means you can mix it up a bit and it’s way cheaper.

37. You could do what we’re doing, a reverse advent. We have 2 boxes. Every day from November 29 (starting early to allow delivery) we put something in the box for the food bank – tinned goods, hygiene, festive food, kids treats etc and then drop it off before Christmas. We also do one for the animal rescue with animal necessities. It’s a nice way to shun the consumerism.

38. Last year I bought my husband an Exit The Game puzzle advent calendar. Each day had a different puzzle to solve, all tied in to a central story. It was brilliant! Some puzzles were really tricky. It was worth every pound I spent on it!

    Edited to add the name.

39. Lovehoney’s sex toy calendar is expensive fun.