10 best advent calendar packaging designs

Once upon a time an advent calendar was pretty much limited to your average cardboard chocolate model (or one with images and no sweet treat). Things have changed a lot in recent years. There are now advent calendars in almost every product category you can think of and tailored for almost any interest. From luxury options with price tags to match to quirky offerings, advent calendars have never been so varied. Of course, this means that the packaging of advent calendars has also changed a lot. It’s not just got to be functional in terms of the product that it’s holding, but eye-catching when in store and at home. With more and more brands pushing the boundaries in innovative and interesting ways, here are 10 of the best advent calendar packaging designs for 2019:

1. Charlotte Tilbury

It’s only a 12-day countdown, but Charlotte Tilbury’s Glittering Galaxy of Makeup Magic beauty calendar packs a punch in design. The beautiful circular box with its stunning space inspired design opens out like a book to reveal an array of glittering drawers. There are no numbers on them which means the packaging can easily be reused to store beauty products throughout the year.

2. Sugarfina

If you’re looking for something sweet in your advent calendar, it doesn’t get much better than Sugarfina’s candy-filled offering. We love the cute house design of the packaging, which opens up to reveal individual drawers for each day. The pop-up scenes at the top add to its charm, making it a display feature as well as a calendar.

3. Rituals

Rituals has taken a slightly different approach with its beauty advent calendar and we love it. Instead of putting the daily boxes inside something, Rituals hangs them on a 3D cardboard tree to make a beautiful festive display. Each day you get to hunt for the correct numbered box and take it off. It’s also a design that could easily be reused again.

4. Kiehl’s

Kiehl’s has gone the extra mile with its advent calendar design. Designed to look like a storybook, there are story elements throughout the inside with each quarter depicting a different scene. We also love the central pop-up motif. The design is bold, bright and colourful and filled with little details that keep it interesting right through December.

5. Nespresso

For its first advent calendar, Nespresso has opted for a sleek and sophisticated design. The square box is a great twist on the traditional advent calendar shape and perfect for hiding Nespresso capsules within. It’s also in keeping with the cube design that Nespresso uses in different products and stores. The size makes it ideal for putting alongside your Nespresso machine so you can get stuck in every day.

6. Beer Hawk

We love the tower design of Beek Hawk’s craft beer advent calendar. It’s a smart space saving way of putting 24 beer cans into the packaging. We also love the design approach across the outside especially the different icons on each door. It’s a calendar that you appreciate artistically as much as the contents and is in keeping with the craft theme.

7. Lush

This year has seen the launch of Lush’s first advent calendar. With only 500 made, it’s not a cheap option but one aimed at the ultimate Lush fan. In keeping with Lush’s sustainable ethos, the calendar is designed to be more than a one-time thing, which is why its design is not at all Christmassy. Behind the doors are three drawers, which are divided into compartments and house 24 products in boxes. The brand hopes that the bright, eye-catching design will have users re-using the packaging as a display feature to house all their future Lush purchases.

8. Penhaligon’s

The perfume expert has also launched its first-ever advent calendar this year with a bang. It’s another 12-day calendar that uses a postage theme in an inventive and showstopping way. From the outside the calendar looks like a gold postbox. Inside the 12 boxes are all designed to look like packages and letters and beautifully stacked together. As you work from the top down each day, the unopened boxes all stay perfectly in place. An absolute favourite.

9. Amazon Beauty

Ecommerce giant Amazon has also entered into the competitive world of the beauty advent calendar. Its Amazon Beauty calendar offers up a range of different top brands for customers to explore. The design is brilliantly functional. As you pull out each numbered box, another drops down from above to fill the space. It’s simple, but oh so effective, adding a little bit of theatre to the advent experience.

10. Martha Brook

Stationery lovers will love this Martha Brook’s advent calendar. For a start, it’s completely personalised with the owner’s name on the outside. Lift the lid and you’re faced with 24 luxurious foil embossed boxes which line up like a set of books. Each day you open the numbered box and receive a stationery surprise. We just love the presentation and interesting method of delivery.

By Cate Trotter, Head of Trends, Insider Trends, London