Designing Charlotte Tilbury’s advent calendar
Christmas advent calendars were once filled with chocolates and marketed as a festive treat for children. But in recent years, the humble advent calendar has been adopted by many beauty and personal care brands and set at a high price point.
These more extravagant calendars are filled with luxurious mini cosmetics – mainly skin care, colour cosmetics and hair care – and marketed towards adults as a pampering annual indulgence.
The UK-based luxury packaging company Hunter Luxury was behind one of 2023’s most sought-after beauty calendars, by Puig’s Charlotte Tilbury brand. The product sold out in both 2022 and 2023 and will most likely sell out again this Christmas.
“The landscape of advent calendars has transformed dramatically over the years, sparking intrigue and curiosity about the evolution of this beloved tradition,” explained head of beauty at Hunter Luxury Pippa Bell.
She shared that the advent calendar market was first transformed by Selfridges luxurious calendar in 2010, which featured 24 sliding doors, each unveiling a miniature beauty product. “This set a new standard and price point,” explained Bell.
She also highlighted Liberty's specific beauty advent calendar, which was launched in the run-up to Christmas 2013 and rapidly became the fastest-selling product in the store's 150-year history. Its latest edition, priced at £250, sold out within days.
The demand for luxurious festive countdowns has created plenty of variety in today's advent calendar market and these can be a powerful marketing tool.
The daily product reveal creates engaging content for influencers, which can enhance the brand's presence on social media. The packaging often ensures the calendars are highly Instagrammable too, adding to their appeal.
“Retailers have responded to the booming market with increasingly elaborate offerings,” says Bell. “The pressure to keep the lineup fresh and exciting each year is intense, featuring exclusive previews of new products; including full-size items has become more common, enhancing perceived value and driving sales.”
“These calendars elicit excitement and anticipation, often selling out despite their premium prices,” she continued.
Creating the Charlotte Tilbury advent calendar
Charlotte Tilbury's 2023 calendar was highly imaginative and therefore a lot of fun to work on for the team at Hunter Luxury.
Entitled the Lucky Chest of Beauty Secrets, it featured classic emerald-cut diamond shapes and 12 jewel-handled drawers, all designed in the brand’s brand colours – Night Crimson and Rose Gold. After Christmas, the calendar can be kept and double up as a jewellery box.
“We used rigid board construction, carefully wrapped in Night Crimson pearlescent shimmer finish paper, giving the box a beautiful, soft-focus feel,” shared Bell.
“The box features 12 glittering crystal pulls on rose gold-coloured stems, each revealing one of the bespoke drawers. These details encourage recipients to keep the box on their vanity long after they've enjoyed the products inside,” she continued.
Bell also explained that the pearlescent shimmer finish paper posed significant technical challenges.
“The balance had to be perfect – too much shimmer and it could transfer to other objects; too little and the desired effect wouldn't be achieved,” she said.
“We had to ensure that the pearlescent additive was blended just right without any lamination to dull the shimmer.”
The shape of the box also demanded precision engineering from a design-for-manufacture perspective.
Bell explained that the team developed a way to build the 12 individual drawers within a hidden framework, ensuring uniformity in size and stability during e-commerce transit.
“The crystal handles also required special attention,” she continued. “To protect them during transit, we included a corrugated liner in the secondary outer box, which prevented damage to both the handles and the outer box.”
“Achieving the fine lines of the foil design posed another technical challenge due to the small point size and potential for plate registration issues. However, our team's dedication ensured it was executed flawlessly,” she said.
Beauty advent calendars “guarantee PR”
This particular advent calendar’s design has also been recognised as a finalist at the prestigious Pentawards, as well as the London Packaging Week Innovation Awards.
Advent calendars are now seen by many as a core part of a beauty brand's festive offering,” explained Bell.
“The beauty industry, packaging experts, media, and the public all celebrate the top advent calendars of the year when they hit the stores in October. Quality seasonal packaging and a value offering almost guarantee PR, with features in major magazines and popular TV shows.”
For Bell, the luxury advent calendar market shows no signs of slowing down across various consumer goods sectors.
“From beauty and tea to unique food experiences, these calendars have become big business, generating significant excitement and anticipation, often selling out quickly despite high price points,” she concluded.
