An early look at everything inside the Mac beauty advent calendar

Expect bestselling lip pencils, mascara and more

Lucy Smith
Beauty writer
Thursday 19 September 2024 08:47 EDT
There are four full-size lipsticks inside
There are four full-size lipsticks inside (iStock/The Independent)

Mac cosmetics does most things well, so it’s no surprise that the brand’s beauty advent calendar for 2024 is going to be like gold dust to get hold of.

It officially launches on 23 September and, given its luxury contents, the calendar’s ‘gift of gold’ branding is certainly apt. Think: wearable lip colours, the brand’s bestselling lip liners and more, all for sub-£200. Retailing at £180 and valued at £445, you’ll have more than twice the retail price’s worth of products to take home and, if we say so ourselves, there are few (if any!) ‘dud’ products here.

Long gone are the days of disappointing advents with sample sachets and stock brands couldn’t shift, a new era of beauty countdowns is upon us and Mac is certainly among the frontrunners. From mascaras to brow products and eyeshadows, you’ll have almost a full make-up routine at your disposal. Naturally, face bases like foundation and concealer can’t be included as a result of shade matches.

So, if you’re a long-standing Mac fan in need of the juicy details, keep reading for everything you need to know so you can quickly add it to your shopping basket come launch day.

How we tested

We unboxed every door and got to work testing each formula
We unboxed every door and got to work testing each formula (Lucy Smith)

Did we have to unbox all 24 days of this calendar in September in order to provide you these kernels of advent calendar wisdom? Yes we did, but we did so in the name of research. We put the lip, eye and face formulas to the test, paid attention to the size of the included minis (how mini are they, really?) and weighed up the desirability of every product. From the variety of make-up to the price and worth of the box as a whole, here are all our thoughts on Mac’s gift of gold 2024 advent calendar.

Mac 2024 gift of gold advent calendar

MAC beauty advent calendar tried and tested review indybest
  • Price: £180
  • Worth: £445
  • Number of days: 24
  • Number of full-sized products: 18
  • Advent calendar highlights: Squirt plumping gloss stick, Macstack mascara and Fix+ original setting spray
  • Available: 23 September
  • Why we love it
    • Plenty of full sizes
    • A good chunk of trending beauty - lip plumpers, clear brow gel etc.
  • Take note
    • Perhaps a few too many lip products
    • A couple of stingily-sized mini

As the brand behind our favourite lip liner (’subculture’, for anyone asking: £20, Maccosmetics.co.uk), pressed powder and mascara, we had high hopes for Mac’s advent calendar offering this year. Upon unboxing, we were thrilled to see the viral Macstack mascara among the goodies, as well as not one, but two, lip liners in the supremely wearable shades of ‘spice’ (a cult fave) and ‘whirl’.

Other highlights included the clear lip glass – a must in a world obsessed with no make-up make-up – and the colour excess gel pencil, which we’ll be adopting in a Charli XCX-esque manner, smudged all round.

Some elements we were perhaps disappointed with were the inclusion of sample sizes, something most brands have moved past in 2024, as well as an eye mask that felt a tad flimsy. Given the calendar’s premium price, which exceeds that of LOOKFANTASTIC and Harvey Nichols (wherein there are no giveaway-like sample sizes), we’d have hoped to see these minute tubes thrown in as extras.

Of course, there’s still £265 of savings to be had here and this is certainly apparent in the four full-size lipsticks. Our favourite? It has to be Macximal in ‘taupe’ – it’s the ultimate autumn-winter shade with a warm, neutral tone.

Read more: Best men’s advent calendars for 2024, tried and tested

We were pleased with the number of individual eyeshadows here, too – four in total – and, if you’ve still got your empty Mac pro palette (circa 2012), they’re the perfect festive shades to slot in for an effortless sweep of shine on the lids. The tinted lip glass in ‘oh baby’ is a little bold for frequent wear, though we can certainly see it’d be a perfect pick for darker skin tones.

Speaking of skin tones, there is a lack of foundations, concealers and powders, as mentioned previously, though we would have liked to see some blusher or bronzer. This is something that multiple competitors have done as an approach to including face-base products and Mac’s mineralise blush is an ever-popular pick. Here’s hoping for 2025...

The packaging, we must say, is impressive, with day 24’s gift (we won’t spoil it for you) revealing itself on a raised platform as you open its lid. The ornate gold wrap is luxurious and the addition of this calendar to your side table or console will be a flourish of festivity to admire in the build up to Christmas.

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The verdict: Mac 2024 gift of gold beauty advent calendar

Overall, if you’re a Mac fan through and through, we think you should be waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed come 23 September to nab this calendar. The 18 full sizes are in products we’d genuinely want and, bar a few exceptions, every item included is the sort we’d add to our Christmas wishlist. The brand has picked lipstick shades that will be universally liked (including a classic festive red) and included some of its bestselling lip pencils, as opposed to the dregs of excess stock. We would buy this calendar as make-up fanatics, we just wish those pesky samples could be replaced with some deluxe or even travel-size picks. A note for next year, Mac.

Is LOOKFANTASTIC’s beauty advent calendar this year’s best value for money? Here’s everything you need to know

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