High street beauty Advent calendars 2018 (super early sneak peek)

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been lucky enough to score invites to quite a few Christmas in July shows. Every year supermarkets and big high street retailers put on events to show journalists and bloggers all the things they’re going to be releasing over the festive season.

Why in July though?

While I’ll admit it’s pretty weird to be munching mince pies in the middle of a heat wave, it’s because monthly magazines work pretty far in advance. The December issue of a magazine is usually released at the beginning of November, so it’s really not as far away as you’d think!

I barely saw any beauty Advent calendars at Christmas in July last year – not until the Boots show in September. However, I’ve definitely seen enough this fortnight to make a post for you! And we’re pretty famous for our annual Advent calendar round up, and this year’s not going to disappoint, either.

John Lewis

There wasn’t much beauty on show at the John Lewis event, but I spotted this out of the corner of my eye where we were signing in (hence the pen).

How many days: 25

Any details so far? Not really, I can see an Acqua di Parma fragrance, but I didn’t get a chance to poke around much deeper!

What did they do last year? See John Lewis’ 2017 Advent calendar.

Expected price: Last year’s was £149, so who knows.

Aldi

Aldi’s line of Jo Malone dupes has been a runaway success (check out Lotty Earns’ review). They’ve gone from being Specialbuys and are now available year round, but they’re bringing out even more special limited edition products for Christmas, including this MASSIVE Advent calendar.

How many days: 24

Any details so far? It’s going to contain mini candles, body creams, hand creams and fragrances.

What did they do last year? They didn’t! This is Aldi’s first beauty Advent calendar.

Expected price: The PR told me it should be under a third of the price of the real deal Jo Malone calendar – and that was £300 last year, so it’s going to be under £100.

Wilko

There were TWO beauty Advent calendars at the Wilko show, the Glow Beauty Advent Calendar and the Countdown to Kissmas Cosmetic Advent calendar.

Here’s a close up of what’s going to be in the Glow calendar.

How many days: both have 24 doors.

Any details so far? We can see nail polishes, bath bombs, lip balms and more – check the photo above to see for yourself.

What did they do last year? There was an It’s Kissmas calendar last year and it contained lots of mini makeup bits. The Glow calendar is new!

Expected price: last year the Kissmas calendar was only £5, but we expect the Glow calendar to be under a tenner too.

ASDA

I was shocked to see THREE beauty Advent calendars at the ASDA show. There’s two makeup calendars and one that’s exclusively bath bombs.

How many days: the George Twelve days of Christmas (unsurprisingly) has 12, Miss Roxie Cosmetics bath bomb calendar and the Make Me Up calendar both have 24.

Any details so far? No! These three are a bit of a mystery to me. I’ll try and find out more info for you.

What did they do last year? I can’t find any evidence of ASDA doing a beauty Advent calendar before, which is why I was surprised to see them doing three for this Christmas.

Expected price: It’s ASDA, so hopefully not too expensive. But I’m not sure of any exact prices.

So, what do you think? Are you going to be putting any of these on your Christmas list? It’s way too early to be thinking about it, right! We’ll be back with more Advent calendar stuff at a more appropriate time, we promise…  

Bronni Hughes

Hey! I’m Bronni and I’m a financial journalist and deals hunter in my mid 20s. I’m really into cats, pop music, the internet and barely substantiated celebrity gossip.

bronni.co.uk