I can’t believe it’s already my favorite time of year—advent calendar season! As a beauty editor, I wait all year long to see what treasures brands will put together for the holidays, so I can sift out the very best ones worth getting for all the people in my life. I spend more time than I’d like to admit doomscrolling on TikTok and watching people unbox luxury chests full of surprises.
And every year, Revolve’s Beauty Advent Calendar comes out on top as my absolute favorite, thanks to its variety of brands, full-size items, and incredible value. They carry both a 12-day and 25-day version, so depending on your budget and how many new beauty products you want, you’ve got options! And these aren’t your underwhelming advent calendars with some keychains and junk you’ll never use. Half the products are full-size bottles and accessories, with amazing picks you’ll be using throughout the year from viral makeup to luxe skincare formulas.
And although it’s only October, it’s better to be safe than sorry and stock up on all your advent calendars well in advance before they sell out while doing your last-minute shopping.
Which one is right for you? Well, it entirely depends on your budget, preferences, and gifting habits. Obviously, the larger advent calendar is more expensive at $150, but it comes with 13 full-size products. It also has a retail value of over $950 (which is more than $100 more than last year’s, FYI!). But you can’t go wrong with the mini advent calendar, either. At $89 with a value of over $400, it’s a perfect under-$100 splurge for yourself or a gift for your bestie, sibling, or white elephant exchange that’ll make you the MVP gifter of the season.
If you’ve never taken a look at all the beauty products at Revolve while shopping for that bridesmaid dress or birthday outfit, you wouldn’t know just how iconic the selection is on the site. Inside these calendars, you’ll find lots of our favorite brands, like Summer Fridays, Supergoop, Tower 28, Ilia, and more.
My personal favorites from each version? The 12-day calendar has the viral Sol de Janeiro Bum Bum Cream and a full-size tube of my beloved Ilia Limitless Mascara. From the 25-day calendar, I quite literally use the Tower 28 Hypochlorous Acid Spray every day after I work out, and the Ouai Detox Shampoo is my holy grail for oily hair days.
So, there’s bound to be a whole lotta stuff in these advent calendars you’ll love. I won’t judge if you decide to keep one for yourself and open it all at once.
If you have your eye on either Revolve advent calendar, grab it ASAP. Advent calendars are a hot commodity, because how else can you get your hands on a mix of travel and full-size products at a fraction of the price? The 25-day calendar gets you more than 84 percent off retail value, while the 12-day version still saves you nearly 78 percent. Needless to say, these aren’t the kind of gifts you want to leave until the last minute.
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers skincare, makeup, hair, nails, and more across digital and print. She can generally be found in bright eyeshadow furiously typing her latest feature or hemming and hawing about a new product you "have to try." Prior to Cosmopolitan, she wrote and edited beauty content as an Editor at The Everygirl for four years. Follow her on Instagram for makeup selfies and a new hair 'do every few months.
Jasmine Hyman is the Assistant Beauty Editor at Cosmopolitan, where she writes about the latest beauty trends and must-have products. Her most prized beauty possessions are a meticulous skincare routine and salon blowouts. You’ll also likely find her in bed reading a good book or endlessly scrolling TikTok (spoiler: it’s usually the latter) while listening to Harry Styles’ entire discography on repeat. Follow her on Insta to be inundated with pictures of her meals.