The beauty advent calendar boom is here. Sephora kids are all in.
Beauty Advent calendars have become so popular with teens and tweens that even Alicia Tennenbaum’s 8-year-old is asking for one. Tennenbaum, a Brooklyn mother of three daughters, is currently on the hunt for versions that satisfy the varying demands of her children’s wish lists.
Growing up in New Jersey, Tennenbaum was used to Advent calendars with tiny toys or squares of chocolate hidden behind colorful cardboard doors, counting down to Christmas. In recent years, she’s watched one of her favorite holiday traditions snowball into an avalanche of luxury beauty doodads. Her middle child, age 12, is lobbying for a lotion- and lip-balm-packed calendar from influencer favorite Evolution of Smooth (EOS). The choo choo train-shaped calendar appears in TikToks by popular content creators and beauty editors but isn’t for sale to normies.
“I understand the appeal of getting a nice surprise every day,” Tennenbaum tells Yahoo. “But what used to be a nice tradition has spun completely out of control.” On top of the hefty cost, she added, there’s the stress: “These things sell out fast, so that’s another added pressure.”
Even if it’s too late for Tennenbaum to get ahold of the EOS calendar, there’s no shortage of other options.
From Ulta Beauty and Sephora’s special holiday mixes of house-favorite brands to a showstopper from cult British brand Charlotte Tilbury (a gilded “treasure chest” with seven miniatures and five regular-size items — and a $220 price tag), the market is awash with seasonal specials that are at the tippy-top of countless young beauty fanatics’ lists.
“Advent calendars have always been a way for my family to stretch out the holidays,” says Brad Dobbin, a father of three daughters and a software developer in St. John's, Newfoundland. This year, he let his daughters choose their own calendars. The younger two selected Charlotte Tilbury, and the oldest will be ripping apart Sephora’s set. (Dobbin bought his wife the $245 “ 24 mystery must-haves” Advent calendar from MAC. ) “When they were younger and they’d get Lego calendars, I’d get into it too,” Dobbin says. “Now that they want beauty ones, I just sit back and watch wars break out over who gets to use the face mask or the mascara. It’s one way to keep the holiday spirit alive, I guess.”
