December is an exciting month for lots of children, not just because of Christmas falls and the (very, very small) chance of snow, but because many get a piece of chocolate every single morning for 25 days straight. The chocolate might be a bit on the stale side and the tiny piece never fully satisfies, but advent calendars are still a fantastic excuse to eat chocolate before 9AM.

Get to your 20s (maybe 30s for some) and all of a sudden, December isn’t anywhere near as fun. The only way you’re getting an advent calendar is if you buy it yourself but if you’re buying it for yourself, you might as well treat yourself to 25 days of something more exciting than chocolate right? Cue, the adult advent calendars.

From beauty or candles to gin or craft beer, here are 14 advent calendars that will make you wonder why you ever settled for just Dairy Milk.

LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar

PRICE: Around £29 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

LEGO and Star Wars fans, this advent calendar might make your year. It has 24 different LEGO Star Wars themed gifts behind its doors, including seven mini-figures, a holiday-themed figure and vehicles including The Ghost, The Phantom and Stormtrooper transport.

Once you’ve collected all the gifts, unfold the play mat and you can spend your Christmas on desert planet Jakku, Starkiller Base and in deep space.

Amazon Beauty Calendar

PRICE: £40 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

This calendar doesn’t involve eating or drinking anything from its special drawers, but it does offer a combination of 24 products and samples from well-known beauty brands including Bourjois Paris, Ardell, Essie and Molton Brown.

The products span hair care, make-up, nail care, fragrance and skin care and the contents within the calendar are said to be worth £185.

The Ginvent Calendar

PRICE: £117 from Amazon.co.uk, available from 10 November

The Gin Foundry and Drinks by the Dram have teamed up to create the Ginvent Calendar, which unsurprisingly offers 24 different drams of gin.

Each is 30ml and includes a range of gins from craft producers around the world.

Origin Single Botanical Gin Advent Calendar

PRICE: Around £98 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

Another gin advent calendar from Drinks by the Dram, the Origin Single Botanical Gin option has 24 different gins behind 24 windows. Each gin is made using juniper from a specific region, cold distilled under vacuum.

The bottles are all 30ml and they all offer 46 per cent alcohol content.

Beer Hawk Craft Beer Calendar

PRICE: £68 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

The Beer Hawk Craft Beer calendar offers 24 cans of specially selected craft beer, as you might have guessed from its name. If you’re a craft beer lover, how can you possibly argue with 24 days of a different beers to try. 

You might even find a new favourite in time for Christmas.

Craft Beer Advent Calendar by Laithwaite’s Wine

PRICE: Around £68 from Amazon.co.uk, available now (delivery end of Nov)

Another one for the craft beer fan. This advent calendar from Laithwaite’s Wine has 24 crafty ales ready for you to try.

There’s a mix of small batch beers from craft breweries and you’ll even get a special limited edition craft beer on the 24th. 

Wine Advent Calendar

PRICE: £80 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

The Wine Advent Calendar from Virgin Wines Sendagift is all about making sure your December doesn’t include any boring wines.

It offers 24 bottles of various wines, which together have over 30 awards. You’ll find yourself with 10 reds, 10 whites, two rosés, a port and a bubbly treat for good measure.

The Coffee Calendar

PRICE: From £19.90 at Amazon.co.uk, available now

If wine, gin or beer aren’t your thing in the morning but coffee is, you’re in luck. The Coffee and Tea Company has created a coffee calendar comprising 24 unique types of coffee from around the world, including a rarity coffee.

The calendar comes in a coffee pad variant, ground coffee variant or whole bean variant.

LEGO City Advent Calendar

PRICE: Around £26 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

Another one for the LEGO lovers. This advent calendar has 24 gifts including buildings, vehicles, seasonal items and minifigures. There are six minifigures including snowboarder kid, grandma, two coast guard members, jungle explorer and Santa, all of which you can add to your current collections. 

LEGO also does two LEGO Friends advent calendars on top of this option and the Star Wars option.

Yankee Candle Advent Calendar Book

PRICE: £25 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

Yankee Candle fan or have a partner who is? The company do a couple of different advent calendars including this Christmas Book option.

There are 24 doors to open altogether, 12 of which have Tealight Candles behind them and the other 12 have Votive Candles behind them.

Molton Brown Advent Calendar

PRICE: £165 from John Lewis, available now

The Molton Brown advent calendar offers exactly what you’d hope – 24 classic favourites along with new fragrances waiting to be revealed behind each door.

There are body washes, body lotions, candles, scrubs and masks, all in various scents. You’ll also get a vintage bauble behind one of the doors.

Charlotte Tilbury Limited Edition Beauty Advent Calendar

PRICE: Around £195 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

Another one that involves no eating or drinking, but the Charlotte Tilbury Naughty and Nice Magic Box beauty calendar will offer 12 days of the best-selling make-up products from the brand.

Treats inlcude Eyes to Mesmerise in Jean, Lip Lustre Lip Gloss in Unleash Me and Matte Revolution Lipstick in Walk of Shame. We’ll leave the other nine products a surprise to make sure we don’t spoil it for you.

Cowshed Advent Calendar

PRICE: Around £142 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

A Dairy Milk Advent Calendar would certainly be cheaper than this Cowshed number, but you wouldn’t get 24 of the British spa brand’s most loved products with Cadbury’s option.

It is far from cheap, even if a little bit less than the Charlotte Tilbury option, but you’ll get products including Lazy Cow Soothing Bath & Shower Gel, 100ml Cowlick Gently Shampoo, 30ml Saucy Cow Softening Conditioner, 30ml Dirty Cow Freshening Hand Wash and 100ml Moody Cow Balancing Body Lotion, among 19 others. There are some great names in the list if nothing else.

The Old and Rare Whiskey Advent Calendar

PRICE: Around £880 from Amazon.co.uk, available now

If you thought the others on this list were expensive, stop reading now. Unless you’re a huge whiskey fan and money is less of a concern. If money is an object but you still love Whiskey – have a look at this one instead.

The Old and Rare Whiskey advent calendar from Drinks by the Dram however, features 24 different 30ml drams of “astoundingly” rare whiskies. There’s a gamut of whisky varieties, including single malt, award-winning expressions and rare whiskies worth over £1,000 per bottle. Your wallet won’t thank you though, even if your taste buds do.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/142757-best-advent-calendars-2017-from-lipsticks-and-lego-to-gin-and-rare-whiskey