I've tried plenty of beauty advent calendars - this one from Neal's Yard Remedies is a standout
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Neal's Yard Remedies has gone big for Christmas 2026 with a £195 beauty advent calendar packed with 25 skincare and wellbeing treats worth more than £500.
I love a beauty advent calendar and I've opened more than my fair share over the years. One Christmas I somehow ended up with four - excessive even by my standards, because they set me back hundreds and hundreds of pounds.
Yes, the initial outlay can make your eyes water but I've always found the luxury ones genuinely worth the money.
Part of the appeal is getting full-size products that can be worth a sizeable chunk of what you've paid on their own. But I also love discovering things I probably wouldn't have bought otherwise. Some of my favourite beauty products have first arrived as advent calendar surprises, only for me to go out and buy them again once they've run out.
So I'm clear about what I want from a beauty advent calendar: plenty of proper full-size products, items I'm excited to try, very few fillers and, crucially, a total value that makes the upfront spend feel worthwhile.
Neal's Yard Remedies 45th Anniversary Advent Calendar for 2026 ticks every box.
It costs £195, but contains 25 products worth more than £500 - and a whopping 17 of them are full size. There are also three new launches alongside some of the brand's best-known skincare, bath, body and aromatherapy products.
I've been opening the drawers and taking a closer look at whether this is one of those beauty advent calendars that's worth treating yourself to this Christmas.
What I like about the Neal's Yard Remedies advent calendar
It looks beautiful and you won't want to hide it away. In fact, you may even be tempted to hold onto the box long after Christmas is over.
Neal's Yard Remedies has collaborated with Morris & Co., using the distinctive Snake's Head pattern, originally designed by William Morris in 1876 and inspired by the snake's head fritillary wildflower.
There's also an illustration of the brand's Covent Garden flagship store and the whole thing feels suitably luxurious for something costing almost £200.
Inside are 24 numbered drawers containing 25 products in total, with an extra treat on Christmas Eve.
But it's what's inside that really makes this calendar stand out. Neal's Yard Remedies hasn't filled it with tiny samples. Of the 25 products, 17 are full size, which is a generous proportion. (See the full list below)
There's a particularly strong skincare line-up, including the Frankincense Intense Triple Action Melting Cleanser, a favourite of mine, Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Booster, Vitamin C Brightening Booster, Frankincense Intense Age-Defying Eye Cream, Oat & Ceramide Barrier Repair Cream and Damask Rose Facial Oil.
You also get the brand's much-loved Wild Rose Beauty Balm in a handy 15g size.
Then there are bath and body treats including Aromatic Foaming Bath, Aromatic Body Butter and Geranium & Orange Shower Gel, plus hand creams.
The wellbeing products add some variety too, with Remedies to Roll in Energy and Relaxation, Goodnight Pillow Mist, a De-Stress Aromatherapy Blend and Calming Temple Salve among the treats.
It feels like a really good introduction to the Neal's Yard Remedies range rather than 25 variations on face cream.
There are also three new products to discover, including the Frankincense Intense Hydrating Essence, the plush and sopft Sweet Dreams Sleep Mask - and Ceramic Aroma Diffuser which is designed to be paired with aromatherapy blends. This is a beautiful addition to any room, combining elegant, understated design with the soothing scents of your favourite essential oils. It’s a fabulous addition to the line-up.
The 17 full-size products are the big win for me. There's nothing more disappointing than spending a small fortune on a beauty advent calendar and opening drawer after drawer to find products that look like they belong in a hotel bathroom. That's definitely not the case here.
The calendar is brimming with things I want to use, with a nice mixture of everyday skincare and more indulgent treats for baths and bedtime.
That's important because sometimes the headline value of beauty calendars can look spectacular, but isn't quite so impressive when you realise it's being boosted by products you'd never have considered buying.
At £195, this is undoubtedly an investment, but with more than £500 worth of products inside - and so many of them full size - the value stacks up for me.
The sheer number of full-size products also means there's plenty here that should last for weeks or even months, while the smaller sizes are useful for travelling. And if there's anything that isn't quite for you, the full-size products are substantial enough to wrap up and give away as gifts.
And that takes me back to why I love beauty advent calendars in the first place. Yes, they're an indulgence, but they're also a brilliant way of discovering products.
If I find two or three things in a calendar that become permanent additions to my beauty cupboard, alongside all the other products I've enjoyed using along the way, I feel I've done pretty well.
What I don't like about the Neal's Yard Remedies advent calendar
The obvious downside is the initial £195 outlay, especially just before Christmas.
It's also entirely Neal's Yard Remedies, so if the thrill of a beauty calendar for you is discovering lots of different brands, a multi-brand option may be more exciting.
And while there's plenty of variety within the calendar, this is much more about skincare, body care and wellbeing than make-up. If you want lipsticks, mascaras and eyeshadow palettes behind the doors, this isn't the one for you.
But for Neal's Yard Remedies fans - or anyone who loves natural and organic beauty and wants to explore more of the range - it’s perfect.
My verdict
I've opened enough beauty advent calendars to know that a huge advertised value doesn't automatically make one worth buying.
What matters to me is how much of what's included I'll actually use, how many decent full-size products I'm getting and whether there are enough surprises to make opening a drawer every morning in December feel exciting.
The Neal's Yard Remedies 45th Anniversary Advent Calendar delivers on all three. I love it and can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with it.
Seventeen full-size products out of 25 is impressive, the £500-plus value makes the £195 price easier to swallow and I particularly like the combination of familiar favourites and products I've not tried before.
What's inside the Neal's Yard Remedies Advent Calendar 2026?
- Frankincense Intense™ Triple Action Melting Cleanser 100ml
- Vegan Wild Rosehip Beauty Balm 15g
- NEW Frankincense Intense™ Hydrating Essence 30ml
- NEW Ceramic Aroma Diffuser
- NEW Sweet Dreams Sleep Mask
- Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Booster 25ml
- Vitamin C Brightening Booster 25ml
- Frankincense Intense™ Age-Defying Eye Cream 15ml
- Rejuvenating Frankincense Hydrating Cream 15g
- Oat & Ceramide Barrier Repair Cream 50ml
- Frankincense Intense™ Age-Defying Cream 15ml
- Damask Rose Facial Oil 28ml
- Bee Lovely Beautiful Lips 15g
- Geranium & Orange Shower Gel 100ml
- Bee Lovely Bath & Shower Gel 50ml
- Aromatic Foaming Bath 100ml
- Aromatic Body Butter 50ml
- English Lavender & Calendula Hand Cream 50ml
- Geranium & Orange Hand Cream 50ml
- Remedies to Roll – Energy 9ml
- Goodnight Pillow Mist 45ml
- Remedies to Roll – Relaxation 9ml
- Aromatherapy Blend – De-stress 10ml
- Soothing Skin Salve 10g
- Calming Temple Salve 10g