The Sainsbury’s beauty advent calendar might fly under the radar when you compare it to the best beauty advent calendars from Liberty, Cult Beauty and Space NK, but that doesn't mean it deserves any less consideration – particularly when Nectar members can pick up the supermarket's 2026 offering for half price, making it a considerably more affordable way to count down to Christmas.
I've long maintained that budget beauty doesn't have to mean compromising on quality. Collection's lasting perfection concealer, for example, can give products three times its price a run for their money. Too often, retailers seem more concerned with filling 24 doors as cheaply as possible than choosing products people will actually want to use.
Having unboxed 28 beauty advent calendars this year, I've seen my fair share of questionable inclusions. However, Sainsbury's beauty advent calendar has made some surprisingly sensible choices, favouring recognisable names such as Maybelline and CeraVe over unfamiliar fillers. And, after years of reviewing beauty for a living, I’d say Sainsbury’s has done a better job of selecting its products than plenty of more expensive calendars I’ve unboxed – Harvey Nichols’ included. Here’s what impressed me.
Read more: The beauty advent calendars 2026, reviewed
Sainsbury's beauty and skincare Christmas advent calendar
Spanning 24 days and 24 items (plus a vanity case to house it all), Sainsbury’s 2026 beauty advent is worth more than £170. There’s plenty of products to get excited about, several of which our IndyBest testers have reviewed and approved, too. For instance, the viral Maybelline mascara was a big hit with assistant IndyBest editor Sarah Jones in her lash sensational sky high review, where she remarked that her “eyelashes instantly looked lengthened and lifted, and most impressively, stayed that way all day.” Likewise, the hydrating cleanser was beauty editor Lucy Partington’s favourite product overall in her guide to the best CeraVe products. In fact, she went so far as to claim that “once you try it, you’ll never go back.”
Elsewhere, this Christmas countdown boasts sensitive skin-approved picks from Curel, Nivea’s dual-phase eye make-up remover (which I’ve gone back to time and again, myself) and Colgate’s 2026-launch whitening serum.
If you ask me, for less than £50 (while this Nectar offer lasts), you’d be hard-pressed to find a better curation of budget beauty.
What’s inside the Sainsbury’s beauty advent calendar?
- Nivea glowy lips berry SPF 30, 10ml
- Nivea intensive moisture hand cream, 100ml
- Nivea double effect eye make-up remover, 125ml
- John Frieda volume lift the original root booster, 25ml
- Curél deep moisture spray, 60g
- Sally Hansen insta dri cinna-snap, 9.17ml
- Baylis & Harding goodness oud, cedar & amber body wash, 100ml
- Vaseline gluta-hya rosy pink lip serum gloss, 10ml
- Garnier vitamin C fresh & bright hydrating sorbet cream, 85ml
- Sanctuary Spa signature collection body wash, 75ml
- Vaseline gluta-hya dewy radiance serum burst body lotion moisturiser, 75ml
- Maybelline lifter gloss 002 ice, 5.4ml
- Maybelline lash sensation mascara sky high black, 7.2ml
- Colgate max white purple teeth whitening serum, 40ml
- Aveeno oat gel moisturiser, 15ml
- Rehab mini dose 1.0 hair oil, 1 jar
- L’Oréal Paris studio line glue in spray, 200ml
- Beautypro hyaluronic acid sheet mask, 1 mask
- CeraVe hydrating cleanser with hyaluronic acid for normal to dry skin, 88ml
- Bioderma sensibio H2O micellar water, 100ml
- Wild cherry blossom mini deodorant, 16g
- Tangle Teezer mini ultimate detangler pink & orange, 1
- Truyu iconic lash & brow set eyelash curler and tweezer, 1
- One of the following: Rimmel oh my plump! lip shaper café latte, 1.2g or Rimmel oh my plump! lip shaper beige, 1.2g
- Cosmetic bag
Read more: I tested the John Lewis beauty advent calendar 2026 – here’s my review
