Advent Calendars Still Worth Chasing: After the Selfridges Queue and P.Louise’s TikTok Shop Run

Contains affiliate links. Stock changes by the hour; we checked reports up to 25 October 2026, so always confirm on the retailer’s page.

The trend: calendars are the new Black Friday

It’s not even November and advent calendars are already selling out like gig tickets.

Selfridges launched its first-ever fragrance advent calendar on 8 October 2026: 12 days, 16 fragrances (five full-size), for £225, with a stated value of £1,416 (All Subscription Boxes). It reportedly sold out online in under an hour, and Selfridges released more stock on 15 October behind a waiting room (Paragn Network). Yahoo Shopping’s beauty advent tracker reported more than 200,000 people virtually queuing for it, and the queue became a trending topic on X (Selfridges queue on X). At the time of writing, Woman & Home lists it as sold out.

Over on TikTok Shop, P.Louise is cashing in. Z Media’s TikTok Shop Index for October 2026 puts the P.Louise Advent Calendar at #8 in the UK top products for September, with an estimated $435K in GMV from pre-orders alone, and P.Louise’s store is the UK’s #2 brand on TikTok Shop. Z Media’s weekly UK report for the week ending 4 October had the P.Louise What Glows Around 2026 Advent Calendar at #6 in the UK top 10, a £275 pre-order with sales up 11% week on week, which helped P.Louise overtake medicube as the UK’s top TikTok Shop brand that week.

Why it’s happening

Three things are driving it:

Scarcity sells. Limited runs plus waiting rooms turn a purchase into an event, and that goes viral.
“Worth” maths. A calendar with a stated value several times its price feels like a bargain, even if you’d never buy every item separately.
Shopping earlier. Retailers launch in September and October now, so the best ones are gone before the first mince pie.

Calendars reported in stock (as of 23–25 October)

These were listed as available in Yahoo Shopping’s 23 October roundup and Woman & Home’s in-stock list. Prices are the RRPs those outlets reported. Check the retailer before you get your heart set on one.

If you missed Selfridges: fragrance

Boots 12 Days of Scent Fragrance Advent Calendar at a reported £90 RRP: 15 items including a full-size 35ml Givenchy L’Interdit EDP, per Yahoo. The budget-friendly pick. Search Boots
The Fragrance Shop Women’s Advent Calendar at a reported £150 (£120 for members): 25 items. Search The Fragrance Shop
Sentier Fragrance Advent Calendar at a reported £109: six 10ml fragrances and six candles.
Penhaligon’s The Advent Calendar at a reported £430: the luxury alternative to Selfridges, from one of the houses featured in it.

Home and lifestyle

The White Company 2026 Advent Calendar at a reported £195: 25 items, seven full-size, including a Winter Signature candle. The White Company

The TikTok route

P.Louise What Glows Around 2026 Advent Calendar: sold through P.Louise’s TikTok Shop and its own site, at an average price of £275 according to Z Media’s weekly UK report. Because it’s a pre-order, read the dispatch date carefully. P.Louise

How to actually get one

Sign up for alerts on the product page; restocks often go to the mailing list first.
Be signed in, with your card saved, before a waiting room opens. Restocks like Selfridges’ can go in minutes.
Check the “worth” claim. Add up only the products you’d really use.
Watch for Black Friday. Some retailers discount calendars that haven’t sold out. Others never restock. If you love one, don’t gamble.
Avoid resellers charging well over RRP on marketplaces. A sold-out calendar is not worth double.

Beyond beauty

Not a perfume person? The same scramble is happening for food and drink calendars (chocolate, gin, tea, cheese), LEGO and toy calendars, and candle calendars. The rule is the same: the well-known ones go early, and the in-stock list shrinks every week from now on.

The verdict

The Selfridges calendar was the headline, but it’s gone for most people. If you want a fragrance calendar, the Boots 12 Days of Scent is the best-value one we could find reported in stock, and Penhaligon’s is the luxury swap. If you’re buying P.Louise via TikTok Shop, it’s a pre-order, so check the dispatch date. Whatever you choose, don’t wait for Black Friday on the popular ones.