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Diptyque’s beauty advent calendar is stocked with divine fragrances and scented candles

At £370 the 25-day delight was a real treat, we just wish a full-sized candle was included

Lucy Partington

Wednesday 21 September 2022 10:41 BST

This year, the luxury brand’s advent calendar follows a constellation theme (iStock/The Independent )

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Like it or not, advent calendar season is well and truly upon us – and if you’re here thinking that it seems to happen earlier every year, then you’re far from alone. Usually, around this time of year, we’re just being teased by brands that are sharing their launch dates and encouraging us to sign up for waiting lists – but this year, it’s all changed.

Now, despite the fact it’s only September, there’s a few calendars that are already available to buy – and have been for a couple of weeks. From The Body Shop to Look Fantastic, it seems this is the year where anything goes, and we don’t know about you, but we’d struggle to wait until December to open the first door.

But, for those of you still weighing up the options and trying to decide which beauty advent calendar to treat yourself to, don’t worry. October is around the time when most calendars are available to buy, meaning you still have a few weeks to do your research.

So, let us help by delving a bit deeper into this year’s offering from luxury fragrance house, Diptyque.

This isn’t the first time the Parisian brand has created a luxurious advent calendar, and while there’s no doubt that this is expensive (it costs £370, which is a £20 increase on last year’s price), if you’re a fan of perfume and candles and are in the market to seriously treat yourself (or have somebody willing to treat you) then keep reading as this could turn out to be a strong contender that shoots straight to the top of your most wanted list.

How we tested

We got our hands on a pre-launch sample that we were able to fully explore. Alongside looking inside each of the drawers to find out what exactly is inside and to get an idea of value for money, we also paid attention to the packaging and overall feel of the calendar.

Diptyque beauty advent calendar: £370, Diptyque.com – available from 12 October

Rating: 4/5
Price: £370
Value: N/A
Number of days: 25
Products included: 25, including 13 candles (12 x 35g, 1 x 70g)
Available: 12 October

Packaging

This year, Diptyque is adorning all of its Christmas candles, collections and sets with illustrations of the night sky. Its calendar is no exception – and some might say it’s the star of the show – thanks to it being illustrated with beautiful imagery of the milky way and the different constellations. It’s midnight blue with the brand’s telltale, festive shades of red, green and blue nestled between gold and white detailing.

With a similar opening mechanism to last year’s calendar, this one feels a bit more compact than previous iterations. It opens like a box, and inside there are two layers – the first opens outwards to reveal the second underneath. Made of sturdy-feeling cardboard, the outer packaging could definitely be re-used to create your own advent calendar in future years.

What’s inside

We’ll be honest, our first reaction to the calendar was disappointment, especially considering the almost-£400 price tag. Diptyque is known for its candles, so to find 12 miniature (35g) candles – which the brand doesn’t actually sell separately – and one mini (70g) felt like a little bit of a let-down. We would have expected the last day to be a full-sized, 190g candle, but it isn’t.

However, after doing some more rooting around and properly considering the contents, that disappointment faded away. Not only is there an excellent selection of brand favourites (from baies to feu de bois, roses and ambre) but we also discovered that there’s around 12 hours of burn time in a 35g candle and 30 hours in a 70g, which then makes it seem like better value.

Especially as the calendar could be considered a whistle-stop tour of the brand, helping to sway future purchases while discovering old classics and new favourites. Plus, for the first time, you’ll find each of the three iconic Diptyque Christmas scented candles inside – neige, sapin and etincelles – which is another unexpected bonus.

Aside from the candles, there’s a selection of travel-size (10ml) fragrances (including philosykos, eau rose, doson and fleur de peau), a solid perfume, a body balm, a hand soap and a set of three Christmas decorations.

Available from 12 October

The verdict: Diptyque advent calendar

On the surface, £370 feels like an awful lot of money for this calendar, but after going through each drawer, it does feel like a treat. It’s definitely indulgent but, if you have the money, we would say that it’s worth it.

Realistically (and practically) speaking, it will take a while to burn through each of the candles you’ll find inside. And, for anybody who’s ever had a Diptyque candle before, you’ll know how well they fill a room, how fragranced they are and how beautiful the jars look when they are on display.

The fragrances inside will also give you a good idea of some of the brand’s most popular scents, and the 10ml sizes make them good for travelling with or for keeping in your handbag. On average, you should get around 10 sprays per millilitre of fragrance, so as long as you don’t get spritz-happy, they should last a decent amount of time.

As mentioned earlier, we would have liked to see a full-size candle inside the calendar just to make it feel a bit more special, and perhaps a few more hand and body bits, too – mostly because Diptyque does them so well; the brand’s hand soap and hand cream are beautiful, to say the least. But, aside from the body balm, there isn’t much else which seems a shame. That said, if we had to choose between one less candle or a body exfoliator we’d choose the former a million times over.

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