Don’t get me wrong - I love Christmas and I love the indulgence. We need it in winter, right? We need the lights and to bring greenery indoors. We need hand-knitted scarves from nimble-fingered relatives and sparkly things to lift our spirits. Pantomimes to make us laugh, gravy-smothered potatoes to warm our hearts and the smells of gingerbread and mulled wine to soothe our senses. And whilst I worry about ultra-consumption and its effect on the planet and our wellbeing, I’m not a Christmas grinch by any measure, as you can see from my article on How To Make Christmas More Sustainable. Every year though I see more and more beauty product calendars adorn the shelves and flash up on Instagram sponsored ads and I grimace.
Beauty advent calendars have gotten big in the past few years. Originally a luxury for the wealthier to gift themselves in the 25-day run-up to Christmas - because seemingly just one day of receiving gifts is not enough - it’s now filtering down to the more average consumer.
These calendars typically include deluxe samples, limited editions, or full-size items sometimes exclusive to the calendar, providing great value for the money. Sephora, Liberty London, Space NK, Cult Beauty, LookFantastic, Clarins, Charlotte Tilbury and many others all produce an advent calendar each year the release of which is becoming as anticipated as the John Lewis Christmas advert each December. 
Are 20-Something Treats Too Many?
Maybe I’m jealous because I can’t be part of the action. I’m a two-products-a-day campaigner because I know that’s all your skin needs (aside from a couple of bath treats and one good scrub). Unfortunately, I know this to be true which is why I’ll never have a 24-product minimum range to reveal each morning leading up to Christmas, as Clarins’ advent calendar does.
It’s easier with make-up of course because we relish options, but with skincare what’s key is simplicity. In addition, adding multiple new products to our skincare routine all at once isn’t usually beneficial. In fact, it can be quite overwhelming for our skin and make it harder for us to tell what is and isn’t working.
20-something gifts before Christmas even starts, it can be argued, is somewhat over the top. We’re constantly bombarded with this idea of accumulation and access to designer products and extravagant lifestyles, especially through social media influencers, but for many of us unattainable and can even be dangerous. With take-home earnings stagnant and the cost of living still rising, it leaves a bad taste to see influencers unbox their cosmetics advent calendars on Instagram and TikTok and get rich from encouraging ordinary people to spend more than they usually would on a gift or on treating themselves.
Of course, I’m not about shaming anyone who likes a splurge around Christmas, but we also mustn't forget that over-consumption can lead to debt and depression. And it starts with advertising that leaves people feeling ashamed of not being able to provide these luxuries to their families or live the lifestyles they see represented on social media and in Christmas adverts.
Each year it feels as if extreme spending over the holidays is becoming normalised and we don't talk about how long it takes some people to pay off Christmas debt.
But, I'm not only waging war on beauty advent calendars because of ethics. I'm also not sure how well they really work for the brands -
Are Advent Calendars Gamification of the Beauty World?
Of course, there is something in multi-brand beauty advent calendars that allows lucky receivers to be introduced to products they might not have considered before. Perhaps mini versions of more expensive cosmetics they’d have been reluctant to take a gamble on before. Or all-natural products that can prove to sceptics that earth-based is best.
We believe that exposure to new products could be the start of a wonderful new love affair, but in reality, we’re just feeding the instant gratification monster. Consumers may well discover products they would like to invest more in, but do they? Or do they try something else next anyway?
Beauty advent calendars and beauty boxes are the Tinder of the cosmetics industry, whilst they promise you the opportunity to fall in love, it’s far better for business to keep you swiping and keep you excited to sample the next new hero product. Sample boxes and advent calendars with multiple brand buy-ins reel customers in and keep them hooked.
Another promise these multi-brand boxes and advent calendars are unlikely to fulfil is the idea they can help smaller brands compete. When Group-on and similar voucher-based e-commerce businesses came along to introduce new customers to their offering at a reduced rate it was seen as an opportunity for smaller businesses to promote their brands. Yet, the cost of the discount meant they might even lose money on discounted sales. Where bigger businesses could afford to do this, others sank in the gamble of the investment. I wonder if beauty boxes and beauty advent calendars might result in the same. History has proved such schemes work only for those who have the luxury to sell their products at a lower rate in the hope of future gain. Micro brands and more ethical brands, whose costs are typically higher because they’re sourcing better quality non-exploitative ingredients, simply cannot afford to compete.
Are Beauty Advent Calendars Sustainable?
No. Sorry. Beauty calendars are not an eco-friendly option. Less product in a smaller bottle produced on mass and then clothed in vinyl-layered decorated cardboard that probably won't be recyclable is not a sustainable way of selling products. And I get it! We need to offer customers samples and testers sometimes - I do too. So believe me - I know how hard it is to do. So, let me be honest - there is currently no way to not increase your carbon footprint when you produce 500 miniature versions of something, as opposed to 100 full-size versions. We can make more eco-friendly decisions along the way, but ultimately the decision to do so in the first place is not planet-friendly.
Are Beauty Advent Calendars All Bad?
True to the saying, there are some things a person cannot have too much of. Skincare products are not amongst these but nail varnish colours, bath treats and perfumes certainly are - in my opinion. The perfume miniatures are quite practical also because fragrance does have a shelf life and that’s a problem for those who crave variety because wearing different scents for different occasions can mean large bottles of perfume can go off.
There are also calendars that might introduce consumers to better quality and more ethical products but, being that the margins on these are slimmer, I worry that not many will be able to afford this opportunity. Pull in the packaging argument and the concern that try before you buy may lead only to more trying and we have a trend that doesn’t benefit the customer, the brands or the planet. The only beneficiary is the manufacturer creating these calendars.
But who doesn’t want to unwrap a new product every day? To try something new or to have a miniature version of something typically unaffordable? This is a purposefully addictive set-up for society and, even when we realise it isn’t benefiting us, many of us will still invest or at least be constantly tempted to.