Cult Beauty advent calendar 2026: Signature or Special?

Cult Beauty has split its 2026 advent calendar into two editions at the same £245 price. The Signature Edition holds 33 products, 19 of them full size, with a stated worth of £1,105; the Special Edition holds 38 products, 17 full size, with a stated worth of £1,185 and a fine fragrance line-up. Both share 29 products, three £1,000 Golden Tickets are hidden across the calendars, and discount codes cannot be used on either, so here is exactly what separates them.

Two calendars, one price and a lot of shared doors

Both editions come in the same tall, illustrated box designed by the fine-line studio Swindler & Swindler, and both support MindOut, a mental health charity for LGBTQ+ communities, according to Cult Beauty. The 29 shared products include the headline names: Westman Atelier, Medik8, VIEVE, Hourglass, Sunday Riley, Paula’s Choice, Charlotte Tilbury and Sulwhasoo.

The difference sits in the extras. The Signature Edition adds four exclusives, two of them full size. The Special Edition adds nine, most of them fragrance and hair minis. On 11 October 2026 both product pages showed the calendars in stock at £245, “usually dispatched within 24 hours”.

The Cult Beauty Signature Edition full-size products laid out on a white background — The full-size products, shared by both editions except the Summer Fridays and Fable & Mane exclusives. © Cult Beauty

What is inside the Cult Beauty Signature Edition?

The Cult Beauty Advent Calendar Signature Edition costs £245 for 33 products with a stated worth of £1,105. Its four exclusives are marked “Signature only”.

Full size (19):

Westman Atelier: Eye Want You Mascara in Black, 8.5ml.
LANEIGE: Cream Skin Cerapeptide Mist, 30ml.
Summer Fridays: Lip Butter Balm in Iced Coffee, 15g (Signature only).
MAKE UP FOR EVER: Artist Color Crayon in 606 Wherever Walnut, 7g.
Allies of Skin: Azelaic and Kojic Advanced Clarifying Serum, 30ml.
The Ordinary: Multi-Active Delivery Essence, 100ml.
111SKIN: Rose Gold Eye Mask, one sheet.
Medik8: Advanced Pro-Collagen+ Peptide Cream, 50ml.
VIEVE: Super Skin Nova, 50ml.
PATRICK TA: Major Headlines Double-Take Cream and Powder Blush Duo in She’s Giving, 10.5g.
Maria Nila: Soothing Scalp Serum, 50ml.
Fable & Mane: HoliRoots Hair Oil, 55ml (Signature only).
Huda Beauty: Lip Contour 2.0 in Warm Brown, 0.5g.
RMS Beauty: Luminizer in Crystal Slipper, 4.82g.
Saie: Dew Blush in Chilly, 12ml.
BYOMA: Foaming Rice Deep Cleanser, 175ml.
Hourglass: Unlocked Satin Creme Lipstick in Roar, 4g.
Paula’s Choice: Clinical Pro Retinaldehyde Dual-Retinoid Treatment, 30ml.
Sunday Riley: Tidal Deep Hydration and Plumping Serum, 30ml.

Travel and deluxe sizes (14):

Sol de Janeiro: Body Badalada ’48 Lotion, 100ml (Signature only).
Augustinus Bader: The Rich Cream, 15ml (Signature only).
Dr. LEVY: Overnight Booster Cream, 20ml.
Milk Makeup: Hydro Grip Primer, 10ml.
Sulwhasoo: First Care Activating Serum V1, 8ml.
Charlotte Tilbury: Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray, 34ml.
ELEMIS: Pro-Collagen Skin Protection Fluid SPF50, 15ml.
Glow Recipe: Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops, 15ml.
By Terry: Brightening CC Serum in Sunny Flash, 15ml.
Danessa Myricks Beauty: Yummy Skin Liquid Blurring Balm Setting Spray, 50ml.
Gisou: Honey Gloss Ceramide Therapy Hydrating Shampoo, 75ml.
Gisou: Honey Gloss Ceramide Therapy Hydrating Conditioner, 50ml.
L’OCCITANE: Almond Shower Oil, 35ml.
Anua: PDRN Hyaluronic Acid 100 Moisturising Cream, 30ml.

Source: Cult Beauty (Signature Edition product page, checked on 11 October 2026).

Four Signature Edition exclusives: a Fable and Mane hair oil, a Summer Fridays lip balm, a pink Sol de Janeiro body lotion and an Augustinus Bader cream — The four products you only get in the Signature Edition. © Cult Beauty

What is inside the Cult Beauty Special Edition?

The Cult Beauty Advent Calendar Special Edition also costs £245, for 38 products with a stated worth of £1,185. It keeps the 29 shared products above, drops the four Signature exclusives (so 17 full sizes instead of 19) and adds nine of its own:

Kilian: Angels’ Share Eau de Parfum, 7.5ml.
KAYALI: Musk Santal 34, 10ml.
Escentric Molecules: Escentric 01, 10ml.
Fugazzi Fragrances: Pomegranoudh, 10ml.
Sol de Janeiro: Cheirosa ’48 Perfume Mist, 90ml.
K18 Biomimetic Hairscience: AirWash Dry Shampoo, 47ml.
Color Wow: Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer, 50ml.
Davines: OI All in One Milk, 50ml.
Amika: SoulStruck Nourishing Dry Hair Mask, 30ml (deluxe size).

All nine are travel or deluxe sizes. Source: Cult Beauty (Special Edition product page, checked on 11 October 2026).

Nine Special Edition exclusives including fragrance bottles, a pink Sol de Janeiro mist and a K18 dry shampoo — The nine Special Edition exclusives, led by four fine fragrances. © Cult Beauty

What we think: Signature or Special?

On paper the Special Edition wins: five more products and £80 more stated worth for the same £245, which works out at about £6.45 per product against £7.42 for the Signature Edition. Its stated worth is 4.8 times the price, against 4.5 times for the Signature.

In practice it depends on what you will actually use. The Signature exclusives are the more “finishable” products: a full-size Summer Fridays balm, a full-size Fable & Mane hair oil, the Sol de Janeiro body lotion and 15ml of Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream, a cream many people would never buy at full price. The Special Edition swaps them for four 7.5ml to 10ml fragrances (Kilian, KAYALI, Escentric Molecules, Fugazzi) and four hair minis, which is great if you like trying scents, less so if you already have a signature perfume.

Worth knowing: Cult Beauty says the Signature Edition ships worldwide except to the US, Canada and Argentina, while the Special Edition has extra delivery restrictions because of the fragrances, so check your address first if you are sending it abroad. Neither edition accepts discount codes, so the welcome code shown on the site will not work here. We have not opened either calendar ourselves.

Who is it for?

Pick the Signature Edition if you want more full sizes, skincare and make-up you will finish, and the Augustinus Bader cream. Pick the Special Edition if fragrance is your thing and you want the highest number of doors to open. If £245 is too much, the LOOKFANTASTIC beauty advent calendar is £120 for 27 products, and the GLOSSYBOX advent calendar is £90 for 26.

The closed Special Edition calendar, an illustrated white and gold box tied with a gold ribbon, on a gold background — The Special Edition box, illustrated by Swindler & Swindler. © Cult Beauty

More advent calendars to compare

Still weighing up the luxury calendars? Have a look at the Harvey Nichols beauty advent calendar and the Latest in Beauty x Stylist calendar, and our guide to the best beauty advent calendars in the UK for the full picture.

Price and availability: the essentials

Price: £245 for either edition (one-off purchase, no subscription).
Signature Edition: 33 products, 19 full size, stated worth £1,105.
Special Edition: 38 products, 17 full size, stated worth £1,185, four fine fragrances.
Extras: three Golden Tickets worth £1,000 of Cult Beauty credit each, hidden across both editions.
Discount codes: not accepted on either calendar, according to Cult Beauty.
Availability: in stock on 11 October 2026, Pay in 4 available (four payments of £61.25).

Ready to choose? Buy the Signature Edition or the Special Edition, or browse our pick of beauty boxes.