What: John Lewis is launching its biggest beauty advent calendar yet, worth £1,160 and available first to MyJL Beauty members.
Why it is important: The launch shows how department stores are using beauty calendars to drive loyalty, early festive demand and premium brand discovery.
John Lewis is launching its biggest beauty advent calendar to date, with a stated value of £1,160 and a retail price of £250. Available to preview from 3 August, it will be offered first through app pre-orders for MyJL Beauty members, before wider member availability and general sale in September.  The calendar contains 41 products across 25 drawers, with more than half in full size. Brands include Fenty Beauty, Elemis, Trinny London, Aveda, Dermalogica, Jo Loves, Medik8, Sisley, La Mer and Charlotte Tilbury. For the first time, the calendar also includes beauty tech, with a FOREO UFO mini worth £129. One in 41 customers will receive a mystery voucher, with prizes including a Shark tool and a Clarins spa treatment.
John Lewis is also launching its first 12-day fragrance advent calendar, priced at £99 and worth £305, featuring brands such as Memo Paris, KILIAN PARIS, Frederic Malle and Essential Parfums.
IADS Notes: John Lewis’s 2026 beauty advent calendar builds on a clear strategy of using beauty as a loyalty, discovery and premium-value engine. In September 2025, Fashion Network reported that John Lewis’s previous beauty advent calendar used high-value curation, early loyalty access, surprise prizes, reusable packaging and premium brands to drive seasonal excitement, with searches for beauty advent calendars up 50%. The 2026 edition extends that model through MyJL Beauty app pre-orders, a higher stated value and the first inclusion of beauty tech. This fits John Lewis’s wider beauty push: in April 2026, a Press Release described the launch of MyJL Beauty rewards, exclusive Skin Cupid shop-in-shops, curated boxes, expert advice and omnichannel engagement, while Drapers reported in May 2026 that loyalty, events and advisory services were being used to deepen customer relationships. The strategy also builds on the August 2025 transformation of John Lewis’s Liverpool beauty hall, covered by The Retail Bulletin, where experiential spaces, premium brands, Fenty Beauty, service-led retail and digital integration repositioned beauty as a growth category. More broadly, Glossy’s November 2025 analysis of US department stores showed how luxury brands, immersive services and advanced technology are reshaping beauty retail.

John Lewis announces its biggest beauty advent calendar, worth £1,160