LOOKFANTASTIC Beauty Advent Calendar 2026 review: “More full sizes, fewer fillers and still one of the more accessible premium calendars”

RRP at time of testing: £120 | Check price at LOOKFANTASTIC

What Mumsnet users say

My verdict

With a price hike of £15 and one less product (though two more are full-sized), you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re being tricked by LOOKFANTASTIC's beauty Advent calendar this year. But that’s far from the truth with this one, IMO. In fact, the calendar this year leans more towards the practical rather than showy side - and it’s caught the attention of many Mumsnet users because of it*.

As always, our users aren’t wrong. There are several products in this year’s calendar that have immediately been added to my usual routine. The Medik8 cleansing gel (love Medik8), the full-sized 50ml Clinique Moisture Surge which made me squeal because it’s the moisturiser I am most loyal to. And, as a brow girly that still likes to channel Cara Delevingne circa 2016, Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze is another win for me. 

This year's is shorter but wider - square shaped - and harder to carry

There are still caveats that I should mention, of course. LOOKFANTASTIC values the Avant eye cream at £98, so one small tube does a fair bit of work in the £665 headline. The Made by Mitchell blush and Spectrum sponges aren’t useful to me either, but that’s personal taste rather than a weakness in the whole line-up.

Still, this is a broad, recognisable selection at a price that sits below many prestige calendars. At £120, it costs £30 less than both Boots Luxe and Next beauty Advent calendars, matches Boots on the stated number of full sizes and contains more that I’ll personally use. That tips it into five-star territory for me, even with the awkward lock…

How I’ve tested LOOKFANTASTIC’s beauty Advent calendar

I assessed the calendar in person, checking how it arrived, the box, lock and drawers, as well as the published contents, product sizes and claimed value. I also compared it with the 2025 edition I reviewed last year and the 2026 Boots Luxe and Next calendars.

My skin is dry and sensitive and I’ve curly, thick hair thanks to my mother’s genetics, so I introduce skincare gradually and judge hair products on whether they add moisture without causing frizz. I’m also someone who prefers minimal makeup, choosing mascara, eyebrows and a good concealer over anything that adds unnecessary colour to my face.

I immediately started using the Medik8 cleanser and Clinique moisturiser in my routine, and I’ve added Elemis’s pro-collagen night cream in the evening. Plus, ever since it launched, I’ve been wanting to try The Ordinary’s SPF product so that’s been a lovely one to try, too. 

How much is the LOOKFANTASTIC Beauty Advent Calendar in 2026?

The calendar costs £120 this year and LOOKFANTASTIC says the contents are worth more than £665. That’s a £15 increase on 2025’s version, when it cost £105 and had a claimed value above £655…

The numbers have shifted in a more useful direction, though. Last year’s box contained 28 products, 17 of them full-sized. The 2026 version has one fewer product overall but 19 full sizes. You’re paying more, but a greater share of the calendar consists of products you can use for more than a handful of mornings, which I prefer to be honest. 

At the moment, the calendar is available to pre-order and will dispatch from 2 October 2026.

The lock on mine is a little awkward - you need the alignment to be perfect

What’s inside the LOOKFANTASTIC Beauty Advent Calendar 2026?

There are 27 products across 25 drawers. LOOKFANTASTIC marks 19 as full-sized and claims an 82% saving.

My top picks from the calendar

• Medik8 Total Moisture Daily Cleansing Gel: I love Medik8, so this went straight into my daily skincare routine and has already become my go-to facial cleanser.

• Clinique Moisture Surge 100 Hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator: finding the full-sized 50ml pot made me squeal. It’s the moisturiser I’m most loyal to, so there’s no danger of this becoming expensive drawer clutter.

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze: I’m a brows girly and will use this when mine are unruly and overdue a threading session.

• The Ordinary UV Filters SPF 45 Serum: this is a full-sized SPF rather than a token sample, and sun protection is something I’ll use throughout the year.

• Elemis Pro-Collagen Night Cream: the 30ml size gives me long enough to see how it works with my dry skin, and Elemis is a brand I’m always happy to find behind a drawer.

Some of the hits for me this year by The Ordinary, Clinique and Elemis

And my least useful products

• Avant Hyaluronic Acid Molecular Boost Eye Cream: the £98 valuation does a lot of work in the headline saving, but it’s one of the products I’m least likely to use.

• Made by Mitchell Blursh in Strawberry Cream: I’m unlikely to use this shade, and liquid blush is easy to get wrong in an Advent calendar.

• Spectrum Sponge Duo: I don’t use sponges in my make-up routine, so these are wasted on me.

First impressions of the LOOKFANTASTIC calendar

My first reaction was that it’s HUGE, as in square huge. The 2025 calendar was tall and wide but shallow enough to fit on a mantelpiece. This one is much deeper. If you want to display it, you’ll need to find it a table.

The contents are arranged across 25 drawers, with 27 products because a couple of doors contain more than one item. On paper, it looks more substantial than last year’s version. More full sizes help, but so does the fact that several of them are products people can finish: cleanser, shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser, SPF and setting spray.

Mine arrived intact and the drawers are easy to use, but I wouldn’t call the construction flawless. The two deep doors are heavy and hang slightly if you don’t secure them properly with the twisting LF lock. The lock on mine also needs realigning at times when I open and close it. It looks impressive, but at this size it has to earn a fair amount of surface space between all your Christmas decorations.

This view gives you a better idea of how thick the doors are

How many full-sized products are in the 2026 calendar?

LOOKFANTASTIC says 19 of the 27 products are full-sized. As mentioned, that’s two more full sizes than the 2025 calendar, despite there being one fewer product overall.

The stronger inclusions are practical sizes IMO: a 145ml Medik8 cleanser, 250ml Aveda shampoo, 200ml conditioner, 200ml Color Wow treatment, 100ml MAC Fix+ and 50ml Clinique moisturiser. These are products that can become part of (and have become part of) a routine rather than disappearing after two uses.

What are the make-up shades like?

The calendar avoids foundation or concealer, so there’s no random complexion shade to contend with. The main colour product is Made by Mitchell Blursh in Strawberry Cream, a cool pink that won’t suit every taste or skin tone.

There’s also Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze, Laura Mercier translucent setting powder, The Beauty Crop primer and lip oil, MAC Fix+ and Benefit Roller Lash. Most are relatively adaptable. 

Brow Freeze is one of my favourites because I like my brows to stay put, but the loose powder, liquid blush and sponges will be less useful in my own routine.

Hair products inside the LOOKFANTASTIC 2026 calendar

Haircare is one of this calendar’s strongest categories. You get four full-sized products, including matching Aveda shampoo and conditioner, Color Wow Kale Cocktail and Hair by Sam McKnight texture spray.

For my thick hair, the Aveda pair and Color Wow treatment are the most promising. The texture spray is less certain. Anything designed to add volume or a deliberately undone finish can be brilliant on fine hair but a fast route to extra frizz on curls, so I’ll use it sparingly.

Is the LOOKFANTASTIC Beauty Advent Calendar good value?

At £120 for products worth more than £665, LOOKFANTASTIC claims a saving of at least £545, or roughly 82%. On headline value alone, that’s hard to argue with.

It also compares well with other mid-priced calendars. Boots Luxe costs £150 for 27 products, 19 of them full-sized, with a claimed value of £710. Next also costs £150 and contains 27 products, including ten full sizes by my count, with a claimed value above £576. LOOKFANTASTIC is £30 cheaper than both while matching Boots on the stated number of full sizes.

That doesn’t make every £120 purchase a bargain. The £98 Avant eye cream accounts for almost 15% of LOOKFANTASTIC’s claimed value. If you wouldn’t spend anything close to that on an eye cream, it’s unwise to treat the full amount as money saved. Mumsnet user Advententhusiast was similarly matter-of-fact: “There will always be a few fillers but you need to take the price into consideration.”

This year's calendar is a chunky design - but the drawers are easy to open and close

Compared with 2025, there are returning brands including Medik8, Aveda, Aveeno, Avant, Color Wow, Elemis, MAC, Sol de Janeiro, Spectrum and The White Company. I couldn’t find an exact product-and-size repeat between last year and this year, which is good news for anyone who bought last year’s calendar, although regular beauty-box subscribers will still recognise plenty of the names.

For me, the practical full sizes make the £120 easier to justify. The Medik8 cleanser, Clinique moisturiser and Brow Freeze are already useful, while the Elemis night cream and full-sized The Ordinary SPF suit my routine far better than another novelty product. Boots has the higher headline value at £710, but LOOKFANTASTIC costs £30 less than both Boots and Next and contains more that suits my routine. 

That’s better value for me than a larger theoretical saving attached to products I won’t use. Donsyb reached much the same conclusion: “That’s why went for LF. It had enough stuff I liked and I got it for £100. The more expensive ones were nicer but I can’t justify the spend.”

Who should buy this calendar?

This is best for someone who wants a broad premium beauty mix without moving into the £200-plus bracket. It suits skincare fans, regular make-up wearers and anyone who’ll appreciate a useful chunk of full-sized haircare.

It’s less convincing if you rarely wear make-up, already receive LOOKFANTASTIC beauty boxes or have accumulated the usual beauty-calendar brands over several years. It’s also worth checking the formulas if your skin is sensitive. 

A calendar encourages enthusiastic product hopping, which isn’t always the cleverest approach when your face prefers consistency like mine. The contents list won’t settle it for everybody either: petalfairy expected to want LOOKFANTASTIC, but said watching an unboxing “put me off so I’m sticking with H&B”.

LOOKFANTASTIC vs Boots Luxe vs Next beauty Advent calendars

Final verdict: is this the beauty Advent calendar for you this year?

The 2026 LOOKFANTASTIC calendar gets more right than wrong. The price has risen, but so has the full-size count, and many of those larger products are useful rather than decorative. The Medik8 cleanser is already my go-to, the full-sized Clinique moisturiser made me squeal and Brow Freeze suits a brows girly with an overdue threading appointment.

A closer look at the drawers on this year's calendar

The weaker points are split between personal taste and the box itself. I’m unlikely to use the Avant eye cream, pink liquid blush or make-up sponges. More objectively, the lock on mine needs realigning and those heavy doors hang if it isn’t secured properly. The £98 eye cream also makes the value claim look more dramatic than it may feel in real life.

At £120, it sits in a useful middle ground. It’s £30 cheaper than the Boots Luxe and Next calendars, matches Boots with 19 stated full sizes and beats Next’s ten by my count. More importantly, I’ll use more of what’s inside this one.

Five out of five. The box is comically large and the lock could behave better, but the contents have earned the space.

About the author

Rebecca is a writer, editor and content marketing expert from Leeds. At Mumsnet, she works to bring parents content designed to make life easier. After birthing and breastfeeding two babies in two years, Rebecca knows first-hand how hard it can be to prioritise yourself when you become a mother. She’s on a quest to find beauty and fashion products that are practical, affordable and worth the space they take up.

Outside work, Rebecca balances life as a working mum of two young boys. When she’s not at her desk, you’ll likely find her at a local playgroup, in a nearby coffee shop or walking the dog up and down country lanes.

About Mumsnet reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after extensive research and testing. We work hard to provide honest, independent advice you can trust. We sometimes earn revenue through affiliate links, but this never influences our coverage.

All prices are correct at time of publication.

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*Conversational analysis of 256 on-topic Mumsnet posts across 27 threads, published between 18 September 2025 and 18 September 2026.