The surprise box returns: Products worth NIS 2,500 - for next to nothing

To escape an over-the-top reality, you need over-the-top means. Ahead of the New Year, we opened beautifully designed and highly worthwhile advent calendars. What can we say? The unboxing experience gave us hours of escapism—and you know that’s no small feat. For those seeking some logic in all of this, we’ll say that the calendars are an opportunity to stock up on beloved brands at great prices or to try a variety of mini products without committing to full sizes.

L'OCCITANE

You can smell what’s hidden inside L'Occitane’s gorgeous advent calendar even before unpacking its sophisticated two-sided design. Chill scents—a fun mix of the brand’s best lines—Almond, Verbena, and Shea, our personal favorite. The set includes a variety of mini hair care products, different shower gels, body lotions, face serum and cream, and of course—the excellent hand creams we’ve scattered in every bag for the dry season.

L'Occitane, Classic Advent Calendar – NIS 399 | Available in brand stores and online.

LANCÔME

Lancôme’s advent calendar is all about pampering. A festive black luxury set will cover your beauty shopping needs for at least the next few months. It includes 24 of the brand’s best products, such as amazing lipsticks from the L'Absolu Rouge series, a beautiful eyeshadow palette, mascara, and cleansing products to take it all off at the end of the day. Among the mini skincare products, we found the soft cream—a day cream that manages to be both lightweight and buttery, soothing even the driest and most desperate skin.

Lancôme, Advent Calendar – NIS 799 (products worth approximately NIS 2,500) | Available on the brand’s website.

BOBBI BROWN

Bobbi Brown offers a modestly sized calendar with 12 of the brand’s bestsellers in a golden box. Three of them are full-sized: a stick eyeshadow in the popular Golden Bronze shade, a lip serum, mascara, and the rest are minis. The most useful for us were the baby-sized products that can fit in any bag: a mini foundation brush, moisturizer and serum from the Vitamin Enriched line for especially dry skin days, a pinky-sized stick eyeshadow, and more tiny treasures that make touch-ups simpler.