The Rapid Rise of the Beauty Advent Calendar

Traditionally, advent calendars have been associated with the confectionary space, and have often been targeted at younger consumers. However, this concept is expanding as innovation concepts traditionally found in food and drink migrate into the personal care space. Advent calendars within the beauty space are now gaining rapid traction as a seasonal "must-have" for consumers. Beauty advent calendars represent a novel way in which brands can target adult consumers during the festive season.

With traditional confectionary advent calendars being a staple for many younger consumers, beauty product versions allow brands to target older shoppers during the Christmas season with products that are more likely to appeal to them. Furthermore, they also tap into demand for "affordable luxury" as consumers can pay a single price to sample a wide range of premium cosmetics rather than experimenting with the full-sized product and represent a personal treat for the festive season. One example is Benefit's Candy Coated Countdown, which retails at £60, whereas a single full-sized version of one of the samples, Chachatint, costs £24.50. Additionally, such innovation offers a novel approach for consumers purchasing beauty products as gifts for Christmas compared with traditional gift sets containing three or four larger products.

Additionally, beauty advent calendars offer innovation-hungry consumers a novel and exciting way by which to sample a range of different products that they might not have necessarily tried or selected themselves. This, therefore, benefits brands by improving awareness of their wider brand portfolio, as they can combine established products alongside recent launches in order to capture consumer interest with products they are familiar with while also being able to experiment with new ranges. An example of this is The Best of The Body Shop advent calendar, which features a range of products "from bestselling body and face care to iconic fragrance, plus our latest additions."

These innovations also tap into demand for "daily dosage" solutions. By offering sample-sized products, consumers can incorporate a range of products into their daily routine over an extended period of time. This is particularly useful for more expressive categories such as makeup or nail care where consumers may wish to change their appearance on a daily basis depending on the occasion, their mood or their outfit, especially important as the festive season often sees a lot of socializing. Therefore, by offering a wide range of sample-sized products, consumers do not have to commit to a single full-sized product, but instead can experiment with a range of colors on a daily basis. An example of this is Ciate's Mini Mani Manor nail polish advent calendar, which features mini nail polishes and nail art products.

As an emerging trend, beauty advent calendars will continue to grow in popularity as an affordable method of product experimentation—particularly for premium products, alongside being a novel seasonal treat. Additionally, as brands seek out more exciting ways by which to capture consumer attention over the festive period, it is likely that advent calendar innovation will expand to incorporate a wider range of brands and categories across the personal care space.

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