Sephora UK Advent Calendar 2026 Review

Welcome to my review of the Sephora UK Advent Calendar, which is one of my favourites this year. It’s worth over £1,000 and includes a whopping 40 products, 27 of which are full size. There’s a really strong mix of beauty products hidden inside 25 drawers, so I’ll go through everything below and share some of my thoughts along the way.

Phlur Vanilla Skin Eau de Parfum (9.5ml, worth £32) – a warm, sweet gourmand fragrance. It has top notes of pink pepper, pink apple, and sugar crystals, heart notes of lily, jasmine petals, and cashmere wood, and base notes of benzoin, vanilla, sandalwood, and agarwood.

Huda Beauty Easy Blur Primer (30ml, Full Size, worth £30) – a jelly-like primer that absorbs excess oil, smooths texture, and blurs pores for a soft-focus, airbrushed finish. I’m not really a fan of this primer, so I’ll probably pass it on to someone.

Discothèque Lola at Coat Check Candle (220g, Full Size, worth £54) – a scented candle with top notes of cardamom, pink pepper, and grapefruit, heart notes of white chocolate, orris, caramel, lily, and jasmine, and base notes of sandalwood, cedarwood, vetiver, and amber. I had a 10ml sample of this fragrance and found it really interesting and sophisticated. I also love getting candles in advent calendars.

Tower 28 LipSoftie Tinted Lip Treatment (Full Size, worth £16) – a non-sticky tinted lip balm in Ube Vanilla, a sheer burgundy shade. It’s a nice lip balm that keeps my lips feeling soft and moisturised.

This drawer contains two products:

Sephora Collection Lip Tint Felt Liner (Full Size, worth £12.99) – a felt-tip lip liner in 01 Terracotta Ink, a warm terracotta-brown nude shade. I already own this one, and I think it’s really nice. It lasts well and looks beautiful on my lips.
Sephora Collection 12H Colorful Contour Eye Pencil 57 Rock’N’Brown (Full Size, worth £11.99) – an ultra-pigmented, waterproof eyeliner pencil with a shimmery finish.

Glow Recipe Vitamin C Brightening Korean Toner Pads for Undereye & Cheeks (60 pads, Full Size, worth £27) – vitamin C toner pads that help brighten dark circles and dark spots while reducing puffiness around the eyes. This is a new one for me, and I’m looking forward to trying it.

The next one has two products inside:

Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 62 Mist (30ml) – a body and hair fragrance mist with notes of salted caramel, pistachio, and vanilla. It’s a nice warm summer scent that lasts well without being overpowering. However, I’m a bit tired of getting SDJ mists in beauty boxes and advent calendars.
SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum (15ml) – a lightweight, hydrating SPF50+ sunscreen. I’ve used this sunscreen before. It doesn’t leave a white cast and feels comfortable on my combination skin.

Another drawer comes with two products:

Fugazzi Cloud Nine EDP (10ml) – a fragrance with top notes of petalia and mahonial, heart notes of tonka bean, fluffy musks, and ambrofix, and base notes of Georgywood and gaiac wood.
Glowery Daily Dew Tiger Grass Glow Serum (30ml, Full Size, worth £23) – a face serum that helps calm redness, smooth the skin, and support the skin barrier. The formula contains baobab seed oil, rosehip seed oil, pomegranate seed oil, sunflower seed oil, glycerin, niacinamide, alaria esculenta extract, and centella asiatica leaf extract.

Here, we get another two products:

Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Skin Glow Serum (Full Size, worth £39) – a skincare-infused, radiant priming serum in Fresh Pressed, a soft pink shade suitable for all skin types and tones. It’s a nice product that gives my skin a lovely glow while leaving it feeling hydrated.
Grown Alchemist Soothing Hand Cream (65ml, Full Size, worth £27) – a soothing hand cream for cracked, rough, and chapped hands. I love all the hand creams from this brand, and this one is no exception. It has a lovely texture, sinks in quickly, and doesn’t leave my hands feeling greasy.

There are two more products in the next drawer:

Color Wow Insta Wow Advanced Dry Shampoo (60ml, worth £15) – a dry shampoo with a next-generation formula that refreshes lacklustre hair in an instant, dissolving oil into micro-droplets that are absorbed by ultra-fine starches without adding weight or leaving a white residue. I’ve actually just bought the full size, but I haven’t opened it yet, so I’m hoping I’ll like it.
Dermalogica Daily Milkfoliant (13g, worth £19) – a gentle exfoliating powder that helps smooth the skin while supporting and replenishing its moisture barrier. I personally find the original Daily Microfoliant too drying for my skin, so I’m interested to see how this gentler version compares.

MERIT BEAUTY Flush Balm Cream Blush (Full Size, worth £26) – a cream blush in Fox, a warm taupe shade. I absolutely love MERIT and own quite a few of their products now. This blush is great too. The formula feels lightweight and smooth on the skin. I like applying it with a brush, but it blends easily with my fingers too. It has just the right amount of pigment and is easy to build up, so you can go for either a subtle or bolder look. I’d say the staying power isn’t great, as it lasts only a few hours on me, but using a setting powder or spray helps prolong the wear.

ONE/SIZE Beauty On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray (143ml, Full Size, worth £32) – a setting spray that keeps makeup in place for up to 16 hours with a waterproof, transfer-proof matte finish. I’d seen so many positive reviews, and it had been on my wishlist for a while, so I was really happy to finally try it. It’s amazing and does a great job of keeping my T-zone from getting oily throughout the day. I’d recommend it for combination skin like mine, and it’s definitely a summer must-have for me.

In the next drawer, we have two products:

Kosas Shiny Objects Wet Glisten Powder Highlighter (Full Size, worth £32) – a wet-pressed, talc-free highlighter powder in Opaline, an iridescent blue-green shade. It melts into the skin for a transparent, glistening finish on the face and eyes. It’s very pigmented, which honestly just isn’t for me, as I prefer more natural-looking highlighters.
Sunday Riley C.E.O. Afterglow Brightening Vitamin C Gel Cream (15g, worth £20) – a revitalising and brightening moisturiser formulated with vitamin C (THD ascorbate), hyaluronic acid, ergothioneine, xanthophyll, and allantoin.

In the next drawer, we have two more products:

Maria Nila True Soft Argan Oil (100ml, Full Size, worth £30) – a nourishing argan oil that softens and moisturises the hair while reducing frizz. This one is a miss for me. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work for my fine hair and leaves it looking greasy.
TATCHA The Water Cream (15ml, worth £26) – a lightweight, oil-free gel cream formulated with glycerin, diglycerin, hyaluronic acid, lecithin, Japanese wild rose extract, the Hadasei-3™ complex, sophora root extract, blackberry lily, houttuynia extract, and gold. I really love this cream. It leaves my skin soft, hydrated, and calm without feeling heavy. It also helps even out my skin tone and never causes breakouts or irritation.

The next drawer has two products:

Kayali Eden Sparkling Lychee Eau de Parfum (10ml, worth £28) – a fragrance with top notes of blackcurrant, Italian lemon, sparkling lychee, and juicy red apple, heart notes of Damascena rose, candied violet, and jasmine sambac, and base notes of sugared amber, cedarwood, musk, vanilla absolute, and sandalwood. As with all the Kayali fragrances I’ve tried, this one is a miss for me. I find Kayali fragrances quite generic and too sweet, which just isn’t my cup of tea.
Rare Beauty Brow Harmony Flexible Lifting Eyebrow Gel (Full Size, worth £19) – a waterproof brow gel that lifts, tints, and sets in one step with a strong yet flexible hold that lasts up to 12 hours.

Dr Sam’s Flawless Cleanser (200ml, Full Size, worth £20) – a jelly cleanser designed to remove makeup, SPF, and daily impurities while supporting the skin barrier, leaving skin feeling clean, soft, and refreshed. The formula is enriched with aloe juice, allantoin, and vitamin E.

In the next drawer, we have two products:

GISOU Honey Infused Styling Cream (50ml, worth £12) – a styling cream that helps control frizz, enhance the hair’s shine, and add flexible hold while also providing heat protection up to 230°C/450°F. I love the brand, so I’m looking forward to trying this one.
Laneige Bouncy & Firm Sleeping Mask (25ml) – a hydrating overnight face mask designed to plump, firm, and restore the skin. I really like this mask. The texture is lightweight and absorbs well, leaving my skin feeling hydrated and plump by morning.

In the next drawer, we have two more products:

K18 Leave-in Molecular Repair Hair Mask Treatment for Damaged Hair (50ml, Full Size, worth £70) – a leave-in treatment that repairs hair damage at the molecular level in just 4 minutes. I really love this product. It makes such a difference to my hair, reducing breakage and leaving it shiny and soft.
Topicals Slick Salve Lip Balm in Papaya (15ml, Full Size, worth £14) – a vegan, barrier-building lip balm that quickly hydrates, soothes, and protects dry, chapped lips, providing long-lasting moisture and shine. The formula is enriched with jojoba esters, coconut oil, sunflower seed oil, rice bran wax, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, panthenol, ceramides, phytosphingosine, cholesterol, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, portulaca extract, ergothioneine, and vitamin E.

The next drawer also has two products:

Hourglass Veil™ Translucent Setting Powder (2g, worth £23) – an ultra-fine loose powder designed to minimise the appearance of pores, fine lines, and wrinkles for effortlessly smooth skin. It’s one of my absolute favourites, as it’s lightweight, blends seamlessly, and blurs imperfections beautifully.
Summer Fridays Blush Butter Balm (Full Size, worth £27) – a buttery blush in Pink Sunset, a warm peachy pink shade. This has been on my wishlist for a while, so I’m really happy to finally try it.

Sol de Janeiro Body Wash (385ml, Full Size, worth £23.00, 1 of 3 body wash variants) – I’ve got the Brazilian 4 Play, which is a moisturising body wash infused with the Cheirosa 62 fragrance. It’s a lovely product in a generous size, although I’d have preferred the Beija Flor version, which is my favourite from the range.

Here, we get another two products:

MAC M.A.C Maximal Sleek Satin Lipstick (Full Size, worth £25) – a full-coverage satin lipstick with pigment-rich colour and a hydrating formula in Crème In Your Coffee, a midtone pink-brown shade. I love this shade, and the formula is dreamy. It glides on so smoothly.
Medicube Collagen Jelly Cream (50ml, Full Size, worth £17.99) – a gel cream enriched with 98% hydrolysed collagen to help improve skin elasticity and provide anti-ageing benefits. Honestly, I don’t really like this product and never reach for it unless I’m using it with the Booster Pro.

In the next drawer, we have two products:

Biodance Rejuvenating Caviar PDRN Real Deep Mask (worth £15.99) – a rejuvenating facial sheet mask formulated with caviar water (587,579 ppm or 58.76%), sodium DNA (60 ppm or 0.006%), salmon egg extract, Corallina officinalis extract, glycerin, sucrose, shea butter, moringa seed oil, jojoba seed oil, niacinamide, allantoin, adenosine, and turmeric root extract. It’s a really nice mask that leaves my skin feeling refreshed, plump, and dewy.
Medik8 Niacinamide Peptides (30ml, Full Size, worth £49) – a niacinamide serum designed to reduce the look of breakouts, refine the appearance of pores, and balance oil for smoother, more even skin. This is a great product. I’ve used it before, and it works really well for my skin. I had far fewer breakouts while using it, and my skin looked noticeably clearer and more even.

Another drawer comes with two products:

MERIT BEAUTY Retrospect™ L’Extrait de Parfum (9.5ml, worth £30) – a fragrance with top notes of pear, ambrette, aldehydes, and bergamot, middle notes of orris, jasmine, violet, rose, and rosemary, and base notes of musk, moss, and vanilla.
Tarte Tartelette™ XL Tubing Mascara (Full Size, worth £28) – a lengthening tubing mascara that promises 24-hour flake-free and smudge-proof wear. I have a huge stash of mascaras, so I haven’t opened this one yet. I’ll get around to trying it eventually.

In the next drawer, we have two products:

HAUS Labs Atomic Shake Lip Lacquer (Full Size, worth £25) – a high-performance, long-wear lip lacquer in Ruby, a cherry red shade. This is another new product for me, and given all the positive reviews, I’m looking forward to trying it.
Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Matte(Full Size, worth £27.95) – a creamy eyeshadow stick in Café Noir, a deep, cool-toned brown shade. I really like the formula, and the shade is beautiful.

Makeup By Mario Ethereal Moonlight Eyeshadow Palette (Full Size, worth £69) – an eyeshadow palette featuring 12 universal neutral shades in 4 finishes, designed to create a variety of ethereal looks. This is one of the star products in the advent calendar, and I absolutely love it. I’m a big fan of Makeup By Mario, so I’m really happy to have this palette.

Shop here: sephora.co.uk

PR sample/Gifted