Cult Beauty has released two advent calendars for 2026, each priced at £245 but packed with more than £1,100 worth of beauty products. The Cult Beauty Advent Calendar Special Edition and the Cult Beauty Advent Calendar Signature Edition feature brands including Medik8, Elemis, Paula's Choice and Summer Fridays.
What's inside the Special Edition
The Special Edition contains 38 products, 17 of which are full-size, spanning haircare, makeup and fragrance. Highlights include Maria Nila's Soothing Scalp Serum, Saie's Dew Blush in Chilly and Sunday Riley's Tidal Deep Hydration and Plumping Serum.
Meanwhile, the Signature Edition contains 33 products, with 19 full-sized products. It is the option for shoppers who would rather have fewer products overall but a higher proportion of full-sized formulas.
Signature Edition standouts
Among the standouts are the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Iced Coffee, Westman Atelier's Eye Want You Mascara, Allies of Skin's Azelaic & Logic Advanced Clarifying Serum, Fable & Mane's HoliRoots Hair Oil and Byoma's Foaming Deep Rice Cleanser.
There is some crossover between the two calendars. However, the edits aren't identical, meaning the decision ultimately comes down to whether shoppers are more tempted by the Special Edition's broader mix of products or the Signature Edition's higher number of full-sized treats.
Golden tickets and customer feedback
Cult Beauty has also hidden three golden tickets across the calendars. The three lucky finders will each receive £1,000 in Cult Beauty points.
In terms of customer feedback, the calendars have only had one review so far. Someone who purchased the Signature Edition said: "The best calendar in years. It has a good mix of haircare, bodycare, makeup, and skincare from popular brands."
"The items are individually packaged, so you can put aside the bits that you wouldn't use and regift them to someone else for Christmas; so you are not only treating yourself with this calendar, but you are also Christmas shopping for other people."
"We get generous deluxe sizes, plenty of full sizes, and many days have multiple products inside, which makes up for the couple of 'meh' products - let's be honest and admit that expecting to like everything in a calendar of this size is unrealistic."
