14 best vegan advent calendars for 2024, from Candy Kittens to Lush

If it’s vegan chocolate you’re after, H!P’s advent calendar is our standout star. The plastic-free packaging is bright, fun and robust, and, most importantly, the chocolate inside is scrumptious. All individually wrapped, there are 24 slim vegan milk chocolate squares inside, made with oat milk and ethically sourced, single-origin 41 per cent Colombian cocoa.

The most varied of the chocolate calendars we tried, it features four flavours: salted caramel, plain, gingerbread and festive orange. All are creamy, sweet and incredibly moreish, while the gingerbread and orange flavours bring a seasonal touch. There’s a very subtle hint of spice in the gingerbread but we do wish the flavour was stronger. A fun bonus, you’ll find festive-themed jokes and trivia behind some of the doors, too.

This is a brilliant budget-friendly option for fans of dark chocolate. As a B-Corp certified brand, Divine makes its chocolate using Fairtrade cocoa and sugar, and it’s the only Fairtrade chocolate company that is co-owned by cocoa farmers. The brand’s vegan dark chocolate advent calendar is certified as vegan by The Vegan Society, and, like all Divine chocolate, the treats inside are made with only natural flavours and ingredients, and don’t contain palm oil. The flavour is rich and earthy, which is great if you prefer your dark chocolate on the smoky and bitter side. Each morsel is in the shape of a heart that is nice and chunky, and can be enjoyed while taking in the facts on the inner side of the doors.

You can’t fail to be enchanted by this advent calendar from luxury, London-based chocolatier Melt Chocolates. Inspired by the colourful sets of Wes Anderson’s film The Budapest Hotel, the design is hand-painted, and pays homage to the shop fronts of London’s Portobello Road, complete with 3D awnings. We love that, when you open the calendar, the hand-painted design continues inside, transporting you to the rooms inside the buildings depicted on the front.

Handmade by award-winning chocolatiers in Notting Hill, the dark chocolate inside the calendar is superb. Made with natural ingredients, it’s rich and smooth, and there’s a small hint of sweetness to it, so it’s not excessively bitter. The chocolate pieces are detailed, and quite a lot larger than all the other advent calendar chocolates we sampled, too.

Making us feel all warm and fuzzy, there’s a sweet, random-style story printed inside the calendar, which kids and adults alike will enjoy, and the packaging is plastic-free. To make this calendar even better, we would have loved more variety in the chocolates.

Calling all fans of natural beauty: Holland & Barrett’s advent calendar houses enough goodies for a full bathroom-cabinet refresh. There are 16 full-sized products inside, with everything from wellness to skincare and haircare covered. Well-known names such as Weleda, Gallinée and Dr Organic feature, as well as lesser-known brands. One of the highlights for us, though, was the inclusion from Evolve, as we’ve tried some excellent formulas from the premium vegan beauty brand before and are always eager to get our hands on more. Even better, the contents of the calendar are worth more than four times the price tag. It’s safe to say we’re impressed.

With cheerful bauble characters and bold, retro colours, Happi’s advent calendar made us smile. It opens like a book, with the doors covering the chocolates on the inside, so the front of the calendar stays intact in the run-up to Christmas. The packaging is 100 per cent plastic-free but we found opening the calendar’s doors a little fiddly. Once we managed to get to the chocolates, however, we very much enjoyed them.

The edible treats comes in the form of thin, individually wrapped squares. Made with oat milk and single-origin Colombian cocoa, they’re creamy, smooth and sweet, if on the darker side, as far as vegan milk chocolate goes. We liked knowing there could be one of three flavours behind each door, with plain, salted caramel and orange delights hidden inside. While tasty, the orange flavour is super subtle. We preferred the hit of salted caramel, but we’re sure any fan of vegan milk chocolate will love working their way through this calendar come December.

This colossal calendar from Lush is brimming with enough stuff to keep you feeling pampered for months. Inside, there are limited-edition Christmas goodies and 10 exclusive products (which include festive favourites).

There are a lot of bath bombs and bubble bars inside (this is Lush, after all) but we were very pleased with the variety of other products, too. Spoiler alert: there are shower gels; a lip scrub that tastes like sweets; and a soap containing entire orange slices. You’ll also find a peculiar shower jelly included, which is used as a body wash and was a joy to lather up but a little tricky to hold onto, owing to its super slippery, wobbly consistency. We loved its bright, refreshing grapefruit scent, however. To top it all off, there’s even a mini bottle of festive perfume.

There’s definitely a seasonal theme here but some not-so-festive bits have been included, too, such as the bestselling intergalactic bath bomb. We love the vibrant design on the box, which was created by artist Tess Gilmartin, who is a member of an inclusive arts programme supporting learning disabled and neurodivergent artists. Everything in the calendar is cruelty-free, too. If you’re happy to part with nearly £200, we think this is a stellar countdown.

Love matcha? This Bird & Blend advent calendar needs to be on your radar. The tea brand has a real flair for fun flavours, so, throughout December, you’ll get a little tin of matcha in flavours such as ice cream, mint chocolate chip, spiced pumpkin pie, and several limited-edition festive versions (think mince pie, eggnog and gingerbread chai).

Despite the dessert-like names of the matcha, the ones we tried weren’t really sweet at all, but you can always add a sweetener, if you’d prefer. We actually liked the fact the flavours were subtle and never overpowered the matcha. Each tin contains enough for two cups (if you’re willing to share), and, while the calendar is expensive, it’s worth a lot more than it costs, so, it’s great value for money. The calendar gets extra brownie points for being plastic-free, too.

Just bear in mind that if you don’t already have one, the bamboo matcha whisk will need to be bought separately (£15, Birdandblendtea.com).

Some advent calendar chocolates are disappointingly small but that’s not the case with Montezuma’s offering. The organic dark chocolate treats in this advent calendar have a satisfying bite to them, owing to their chunky shape. The quality of the creamy, velvety smooth chocolate is excellent, too, with a rich, deep flavour, a hint of sweetness and very little bitterness.

We think the design looks more premium and “grown-up” than some other options, and we like the fact it took us a few moments to spot the appropriate door for each day, helping to build up the anticipation. We did find ourselves having to turn the packaging upside down, to get the chocolate pieces out of the calendar, however.

Over chocolate advent calendars? Consider this countdown from Jamie Laing’s gourmet sweet brand, Candy Kittens. Filled with chewy, kitten-shaped sweets made with natural flavours, expect to find Eton mess, very cherry, sour apple and strawberry, and more inside this calendar. The packaging feels playful and fun, designed to look like a sweet factory, in a bang-on-brand, ultra-bright turquoise. We were pleased to find at least two sweets behind each of the doors, which makes this a good one for sharing (or not), but there does seem to be a lot of plastic wrapping around the sweets.

Bringing a little extra excitement to the countdown, a QR code behind each door will take you to a video of Jamie delivering a riddle – if you answer it on your Instagram story and tag the brand, you might receive a prize.

For those with an extra-sweet tooth, there is also a giant Candy Kittens calendar (£90, Candykittens.co.uk) available, which is roughly the size and shape of a doll’s house. With a sweet factory design, it is filled with full-size bags of the brand’s treats, making it great for sharing with all the family. You’ll even find some Candy Kitten merch inside, too.

Revolution has taken off on TikTok, thanks to the brand’s affordable beauty. True to form, its advent calendar is budget-friendly, as far as beauty calendars go. Worth £100 in total, it costs just shy of £40, so, it’s brilliant value for money, and all the products are vegan and approved by PETA.

There were a lot of full-size products in the calendar we received. With that said, Revolution says product size and shade could vary. Highlights were (spoiler alert) the mini glaze lip oil, with its silky smooth formula that just does not budge, and the vitamin E lip oil. As for trending inclusions, the brand’s viral translucent loose baking powder, and the beam bright highlighter both star in the line-up. Glow-getting products include a liquid highlighter, an eyeshadow shimmer, a glittery lip gloss and body gems – perfect for party season.

This “unbelievably vegan” advent calendar lives up to its name, with some of the creamiest, most indulgent vegan milk chocolate we’ve tried. That creaminess comes from nutmilk, which is made with finely milled hazelnuts, instead of oat milk, and brings a distinct nuttiness to the flavour. The other feature we absolutely love is the chocolate characters – you’ll find all the usual culprits: snowmen, Santa Claus, Christmas trees and so on. These little figures prove chocolate tastes so much better when it’s moulded into little sculptures, or is it just us? The silvery, premium-looking packaging delivers some welcome festive sparkle, too.

Joe & Seph’s has clearly mastered the art of scrumptious popcorn. It’s the crispness and crunchiness that sets it apart from other store- or cinema-bought popcorn we’ve tried. Plus, there are seven sweet (and sometimes surprising) flavours. Our personal favourite was the caramel, sea salt and maple syrup variety, which has a malty taste. Other delicious combos included caramel dark chocolate and orange, caramel and strawberry, toffee apple and cinnamon, and coconut and cacao.

All Joe & Seph’s popcorn is handmade in London, without any artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. Plus, this calendar is gluten-free as well as being vegan-friendly.

There aren’t very many advent calendars containing vegan white chocolate, so, if that’s your treat of choice, this is the one for you. Like all of MooFree’s chocolate, this advent calendar is dairy-, gluten- and soya-free. The white chocolate is nice, if a little sweet, with a mild, buttery taste, and is made with ethically sourced Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa beans.

The slabs of chocolate are quite small but this could make it a great option for kids, especially given the festive (think stars and a Christmas pudding) and not-so-festive (a space rocket?) designs on each one. Although, our adult testers happily tucked in, too. The packaging is a bit flimsy but we can look past this, given the price. Plus, the tray is made with 100 per cent recycled material, and MooFree says its factories send zero waste to landfill.

If you’re looking for a “free from” chocolate advent calendar, we really recommend Nomo’s – not just because it’s made in a dairy-, eggs-, nuts- and gluten-free facility but because it tastes superb. There are 24 doors concealing smooth, mini, plant-based chocolate drops, which are extremely moreish. Made with Rainforest Alliance-certified cocoa, while being palm oil-free, the chocolate is fairly sweet, resembling milk chocolate in look and taste. You won’t find any festive flavours inside this calendar, and you will know exactly what you’re getting, given each day brings the same (very delicious) chocolate drop. Despite the lack of variety, we certainly aren’t complaining.