Some lipsticks become a house signature, and Black Honey has been Clinique’s for decades: a sheer, berry-tinted balm that seems to settle into its own shade on every mouth. It’s the first name we went looking for in the Clinique Advent Calendar 2026, and it’s there in full size, with a smaller Pink Honey alongside it for good measure.
Clinique calls this one the 24 Days of Clinique Favourites, and the name is a fair description. Behind the doors sit the yellow Dramatically Different moisturisers, All About Eyes, Take The Day Off, a little crowd of Moisture Surge and the High Impact Mascara, all fragrance free and allergy tested in the way Clinique always has been. It reads less like a sampler and more like a well-stocked Clinique counter, packed down into a festive berry-pink box.
At a glance: £180 | 24 doors (23 products plus a mirror) | Worth £453, by Clinique’s figure | Available now at Clinique UK | 9 full sizes, by Clinique’s count
The numbers
- Price: £180
- Doors: 24. That’s 23 Clinique products plus a mirror.
- Full sizes: nine, by Clinique’s count: Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, High Impact Mascara, Quickliner for Eyes Intense, Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight, All About Eyes, both Dramatically Different moisturisers, Moisture Surge Lip Hydro-Plump Treatment and the Antiperspirant Deodorant Roll-On.
- Travel sizes: 14, from cleansers and serums to an overnight mask and a bronzing gel.
- Stated worth: £453, by Clinique’s figure.
- Where to buy: Clinique’s own UK site.
What piques our interest
The full sizes are the reason to look closely. Clinique hasn’t tucked its icons away as sachets; it has put them in whole. Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ and Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel both arrive at 50ml, so drier and oilier skins are each looked after, and All About Eyes comes in its full 15ml jar, a depuffing eye cream to pat on before the school run or the office party.
Then there’s the makeup, which is small in number but well chosen. Black Honey in its full 1.9g is the star, the kind of lip colour that works with a bare face on a Sunday and with a red coat at Christmas. High Impact Mascara and Quickliner for Eyes Intense in Intense Black give you a finished eye in two steps, and the Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight in Hefty Highlight adds a little glow along the cheekbones. Sunkissed Face Gelee, a bronzing gel, rounds out the face.
Moisture Surge runs through the whole countdown like a thread. There’s the 100-H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator, the Overnight Mask, the Active Glow Serum, a Body Hydrator and the full-size Lip Hydro-Plump Treatment, which is exactly the sort of thing to keep in a coat pocket through a cold December. If you’ve ever wondered whether Moisture Surge suits you, this is a gentle way to find out across face, lips and body.
The skincare carries on from cleanse to night. Take The Day Off arrives twice, as the Cleansing Balm and the Makeup Remover For Lids, Lashes & Lips, and All About Clean comes as both the Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser and the Liquid Facial Soap Mild. For the evening there’s a Smart Clinical Repair trio of cream, serum and eye cream, the brand’s answer to fine lines, plus 7 Day Scrub for the weekend.
What we like most is how usable it all is. Nothing here asks you to change your routine; it simply fills in the gaps, a cleanser one morning and a mascara the next. And because everything is fragrance free and allergy tested, it’s a calendar you can give with a little more confidence to someone whose skin is easily upset. The 24th door holds a mirror, which pairs neatly with the Black Honey for a handbag touch-up.
What we’d change
We’d have loved Clarifying Lotion behind one of the doors. Liquid Facial Soap Mild and Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ are both here, so Clinique’s famous 3-Step is only missing its middle step, and finishing the trio would have made a lovely story for the countdown.
Both Dramatically Different moisturisers come in full size, which is generous, but most people will reach for one rather than the other. We’d have happily swapped one of them for a full size of something else, perhaps the Moisture Surge 100-H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator, which comes here at 30ml.
The Smart Clinical Repair trio is the most advanced skincare in the box, and all three pieces are travel size, the eye cream at 5ml. A full size of one of them would have given the night-time side of the calendar more weight.
Full contents list
Full Size
- Chubby Stick™ Sculpting Highlight in Hefty Highlight, 6g
- Antiperspirant Deodorant Roll-On, 75ml
- Moisture Surge™ Lip Hydro-Plump Treatment, 10ml
- Dramatically Different™ Moisturizing Gel, 50ml
- All About Eyes™, 15ml
- High Impact™ Mascara in Black, 7ml
- Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, 1.9g
- Quickliner for Eyes™ Intense in Intense Black, 0.25g
- Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+™, 50ml
Travel Size
- Moisture Surge™ Overnight Mask, 30ml
- Take The Day Off™ Cleansing Balm, 15ml
- Smart Clinical Repair™ Wrinkle Correcting Cream, 15ml
- Moisture Surge™ Body Hydrator, 30ml
- 7 Day Scrub, 30ml
- All About Clean™ Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser, 30ml
- All About Clean™ Liquid Facial Soap Mild, 30ml
- Almost Lipstick in Pink Honey, 1.2g
- Moisture Surge™ 100-H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator, 30ml
- Take The Day Off™ Makeup Remover For Lids, Lashes & Lips, 50ml
- Smart Clinical Repair™ Wrinkle Correcting Serum, 10ml
- Smart Clinical Repair™ Wrinkle Correcting Eye Cream, 5ml
- Sunkissed Face Gelee, 15ml
- Moisture Surge™ Active Glow Serum, 5ml
Gift
- Extra-Mirror
Who it’s perfect for
This is one for the Clinique loyalist, the person whose bathroom shelf already holds a yellow bottle and who’d love to try the rest of the range without buying it all at once. It’s equally kind to someone new to the brand, since the line-up covers the pieces Clinique is best known for, from Black Honey to Take The Day Off.
With most of its doors given over to skin and body, it’s a skincare advent calendar at heart, and a natural pick for sensitive skin too. Every product is fragrance free, and the skincare leans towards hydration and comfort, which makes it a calm, considered choice for anyone who usually has to read the label twice. If you’d been thinking about a Clinique gift set for someone this Christmas, this spreads the same favourites across December instead, with just enough makeup for anyone who keeps their look simple. It’s also one of our favourite beauty advent calendars under £200.
Our Pique Verdict
Perfect for: the Clinique loyalist, or anyone with easily upset skin, who wants the brand’s best-loved skincare and a full-size Black Honey spread across December
Best product: Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, 1.9g
Biggest drawback: Clarifying Lotion is missing, so the famous 3-Step isn’t complete, and the Smart Clinical Repair trio is all travel size
Value for money: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Shop the 24 Days of Clinique Favourites Advent Calendar 2026 — £180
Frequently asked questions
Is the Clinique advent calendar 2026 worth it?
If you love Clinique, or want to get to know it, yes. Nine of the 23 products are full size, including Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, All About Eyes and both Dramatically Different moisturisers. Clinique gives the Clinique advent calendar 2026 a worth of £453, against a price of £180.
What’s in the Clinique advent calendar 2026?
Twenty-four doors: nine full-size products, 14 travel sizes and a mirror. It mixes skincare (Moisture Surge, Smart Clinical Repair, Take The Day Off, All About Clean) with six makeup pieces, including Black Honey, High Impact Mascara and Sunkissed Face Gelee. The full Clinique advent calendar contents are listed above.
Are all the products in the Clinique advent calendar full size?
No. Clinique describes nine as full size. The other 14 are travel sizes, and the 24th door holds a mirror.
Is the Clinique advent calendar good for sensitive skin?
Clinique says every product is dermatologist tested, allergy tested and 100% fragrance free, which makes it a thoughtful choice for sensitive skin. As with any new product, it’s worth patch testing first.
Where can I buy the Clinique advent calendar in the UK?
It’s on sale now on Clinique’s UK site at £180. Some retailers still list Clinique calendars from earlier years, so look for the 24 Days of Clinique Favourites name and the 2026 contents.
Is it a good Clinique gift for someone new to the brand?
Very much so. It covers the pieces Clinique is best known for, from the 3-Step essentials to Black Honey, so it’s an easy way to find favourites before buying full-size bottles.
