I opened Holland and Barrett’s £50 Advent calendar – review

Beauty brands are already rolling out their Advent calendars ahead of the festive season. While there’s no shortage of options (LookFantastic and Boots both have great options for those who like trendy brands), if you’re someone who leans towards sustainable, organic beauty–or you’re shopping for someone who does–then the Holland & Barrett Advent Calendar might just be the one.

Let’s start by talking numbers. This calendar comes in at £50, but Holland & Barrett claims it’s packed with products worth a whopping £232. That’s a 79% saving if you were to buy everything separately.

Like many of its competitors, you’ll find a mix of full-size and travel-sized goodies tucked inside, but Holland & Barrett goes a step further with a few extra accessories to round out the self-care experience. And here’s a little spoiler: out of all the calendars I’ve tested so far, this one has the most full-sized products. 17, to be exact.

So, with generous savings and a strong lineup of full-size treats, is it too good to be true? I opened it to find out.

When testing the Holland & Barrett Advent Calendar, I focused on a few key areas to figure out just how much bang you get for your buck. First, I compared the cost to the total value of the products inside to see if the savings were genuinely worthwhile. I also looked at the product sizes, paying particular attention to the number of full-size items included.

Usefulness was another big factor. I considered how versatile the products were and whether they’re the kind of things people will actually use, rather than items that end up forgotten at the back of a cupboard.

Lastly, I considered how the calendar looks. Will it look cute on display during the festive season? Could the calendar itself be reused or repurposed once the festive season is over?

Before I even opened Holland & Barrett’s Advent calendar, the packaging struck me first. I’ve tested quite a few calendars this year, from L’Occitane’s house-shaped design to Neal’s Yard’s drawer-style setup, but this one felt completely different. I’m still not sure if that is a good thing.

It takes the form of a simple green box, held together by a printed sleeve featuring a woodland scene with glowing gold orbs and the Holland & Barrett logo. While the mystical design ties in nicely with the brand’s natural vibe, it didn’t immediately say “Christmas” to me.

Slide off the sleeve and lift the lid to find individually wrapped, numbered gifts inside. Each item is wrapped in green tissue paper with a gold sticker. There’s still the joy of hunting for the right number each day, but the experience feels more like opening a box of little presents than a traditional Advent calendar. That said, the minimal packaging does reflect the brand’s sustainability ethos, and the box itself could even be reused to package other gifts this Christmas.

The real win, however, is what’s inside. Unlike most advent calendars I’ve tested this year, this one includes 25 gifts instead of the usual 24. The contents cover a broad range of natural wellness and beauty products that aren’t gendered and genuinely feel like a great way to try a wide range of brands — especially if you’re looking to discover more natural options but not sure where to start.

It’s not clear if all calendars are numbered in the same way, but mine started strong, with a full-sized Antipodes Skin-Rescue Hyaluronic Mask on day one. As a skincare fan, this is a welcome addition to my collection and, so far, no other beauty calendar I’ve tested has included a mask. It also gave me the opportunity to try something new.

Out of the 25 products inside, 17 are full-size, and the variety is impressive. It covers everything from skincare to haircare, deodorant, soap bars, and even toothpaste. I was particularly excited to see two Q+A products, including a full-size hyaluronic acid — a brand I’ve heard great things about but hadn’t yet tried.

Other standouts include two Faith in Nature hair products — a shampoo bar (perfect for travel) and a hair mask — plus Ecodenta’s organic coconut oil toothpaste, which was new to me and turned out to be a fun one to test.

There are some thoughtful minis, too. A sample of Fussy natural deodorant (an eye-catching brand I’ve seen on shelves but never picked up) gave me an easy way to try it before deciding if I want to commit to swapping out my usual deodorant.

The 110ml Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is ideal for anyone with sensitive skin, and is another brand that I’ve heard getting a lot of hype. You’ll also find a scalp massager and some reusable skin cleansing pads (I swapped out traditional cotton pads for these a few years ago and haven’t looked back).

Uniquely, the calendar also includes two Holland & Barrett supplements: Biotin 1000ug tablets for healthy hair and Hyaluronic Acid capsules for skin support. Both are practical, on-brand inclusions that feel well considered rather than filler, plus they’re versatile enough that anyone can give them a go.

I’ll admit it. When I first saw the Holland & Barrett Advent calendar, I was a bit deflated that it wasn’t like some of the others I’ve tested, with hidden treasures tucked behind the doors. The Holland & Barrett calendar won’t make a beautiful decorative piece to pop on a shelf in the lead up to Christmas, but its contents more than make up for it.

The fact that there are so many full-size products inside, some big-name brands, and such a wide and versatile range of items really makes this one of the best value-for-money advent calendars I’ve tried. The products inside really take you from head to toe (including hair and teeth), and it’s given me a chance to try out some products I had never used before but probably will be buying again (the Super Facialist cleansing oil smells amazing).

The fact that the calendar is just £50 (whereas rivals like Neal’s Yard go for well over £100) is an instant win for me. Plus, considering the contents are worth over £230, really means you’re getting bang for your buck.

I really appreciate the thoughts on sustainability. The packaging isn’t overdone, which makes it more sustainable and I love that every product included is animal-cruelty-free and vegetarian-approved.