Beauty advent calendars can cost hundreds - but are they value for money?

Resumen detallado

Beauty calendars have become a Christmas staple and have become particularly popular with female shoppers.

It's easy to see the appeal of a beauty advent calendar. Like many women at this time of year, Julia says she often finds herself tempted to splurge on one - especially a perfume calendar. But she takes quite an unsentimental approach.

"I always look at what's in them. If I like enough of the fragrances, I'll buy it," says the 39-year old, who works as a senior commercial manager in engineering.

Luxury advent calendars are supposed to offer the thrill of a surprise but, for Julia, it is more important she actually wants the items inside - a thought that is also striking more and more customers in the wake of the scandal over the Skims calendar.

This week, Kim Kardashian's beauty brand offered all of its customers refunds for its $148 (£110) calendar after being widely criticised on social media over the quality of its contents, with some customers likening the hair clips, scrunchies and keychains inside to things you might find down the back of a sofa.

Julia says she earns a good salary but is keen to get value for money and doesn't want to waste it on items she won't use.

"I spent £160 on a Space NK fragrance calendar last year," she says. "I got some fragrances I'd been wanting for a while for a lot less than recommended retail price, and those I didn't like I managed to sell on for a slight mark-up on what I paid."

Beauty calendars, which often cost upwards of £100 and sometimes much more, have been around for more than a decade and the marketing has grown ever more sophisticated.

High-profile brands will warn that their calendars risk running out, which may boost early demand, while unboxing videos posted by influencers can encourage spending by creating an infectious sense of surprise and delight.

And it appears to be working. Ipsos data shows, external around 15% of all advent calendars sold are beauty ones, with people aged 18-34 particularly willing to splash out.

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