Holland & Barrett’s Beauty Advent Calendar has become a cult classic for a good reason! Each year, the H&B team carefully curate the vegan and cruelty-free calendar to ensure it’s brimming with indulgent, but useful, pampering products. Not that long ago, there would have been no point drawing up a guide to the best chocolate advent calendars, since that was the only kind. But these days there are beauty advent calendars, beer and wine advent calendars, book, toy and candle advent calendars and food advent calendars of every kind imaginable, from cheese to marshmallows. It’s almost too much choice. What if next door are opening a far better advent calendar than you? Looking for something a little sweeter inside your advent calendar this year? Moo Free is here to satisfy your sweet tooth with its vegan white chocolate advent calendar. What: This little choclate factory in Wales makes all their bougie chocolates by hand, and at a very reasonable price too. These advent chocs with a difference include flavours likeraspberry cream in dark chocolate, spiced milk praline, christmas pudding, and lemon sherbet in white chocolate.'Nadolig Llawen' (merry Christmas) indeed! What: We’re slightly cheating on this one, as it only contains one box of hot chocolate among 25 luxurious F&M treats, but we couldn’t help ourselves – just look at it! As well as Fortnum & Mason’s mini milk hot chocolate box, this whopper of an advent calendar (that definitely also belongs under the ‘luxury’ category below) contains everything you could want over the festive season, from tea and coffee to chocolate, biscuits, preserves, condiments and alcohol. Merry Christmas indeed.

Buy chocolate from certified B-Corporations like Divine which promote sustainable business methods. It’s also a brilliant option for those with allergies as NOMO’s products have no cross-contamination warnings for any major allergens, making this advent calendar suitable for almost all dietary needs.

For those that prefer milk chocolate, Montezuma’s cleverly named Like No Udder calendar, offers a dairy-free alternative to conventional milk chocolate.

What:Ombar’s favourite Coco Mylk bars are now featured in their own dedicated calendar. Don’t worry Oat M’lk fans, the original oat milk advent calendar is still available. This calendar, however, includes the original soft-centred coconut milk bars filled with hazelnut truffle, pistachio, and raspberry. Each window also gives a little fact on how to have an eco-friendly Christmas. Now that's some food for thought. This generously-sized vegan calendar is filled with 24 almond and peanut butter cups so you can enjoy a nutty treat every day in the run-up to Christmas. There’s no messing about with mini chocolates here either as Pip & Nut have filled it with full-sized chocolates for an epic festive celebration. Behind each door is a decadently dark and sumptuously silky 70% dark chocolate heart that is rich enough to satisfy your chocolate cravings. Plus, it’s a great ethical choice to as Divine’s chocolate is Fairtrade and palm-oil free so it’s kinder to the environment and those who grow it too. It’s the high cacao content that gives it this delicious taste. This means less sugar is required to get the desired taste. In fact, Happi says they use 35% less sugar compared to other leading brands.

Divine is also conscious that palm oil is used as a cheap oil alternative in a large proportion of processed foods we eat today, and so we choose not to add to the high level of palm oil consumption. Once again, we’re spoilt for choice with a wide range of festive vegan advent calendars on offer for both adults and children. I particularly enjoyed the soothing Balancing Bath oil and matching bath salts, which you can follow up with the body oil to really enjoy all of the benefits. The purifying face mask was another favourite as it left my skin feeling squeaky clean, hydrated, and ready to shine at any Christmas party. Unlike some vegan beauty calendars which can often feature products you simple don’t end up using, we guarantee that you will love (and most importantly use) all of the products in this calendar.

What:Made with oat milk and 100% Colombian chocolate, H!P's advent calendar is vegan-friendly, and it's plastic free so entirely recyclable when you get to Christmas Day! Plus, the calendar mixes things up with four different chocolate flavours - plain, salted caramel, gingerbread and white chocolate - so you're not getting the same old same old every day. All of the chocolate bars are indulgent and fragrant and are sure to delight anyone who loves their chocolate, although I wouldn’t recommend it to those who like their chocolate sweet and creamy. Christmas is a time for indulgence, and Gaia is inviting you to relax and unwind in the most luxurious way with its first-ever advent calendar. What: Tony’s Chocolonely’s not only tastes great, but the business is also trying to make the world a better place. With Fairtrade sourcing and a mission to make 100% slave free the norm in chocolate, we think it’s safe to say these are some pretty good guys. The chocolate is chunky and addictive, and this countdown calendar offers ten different flavours of chocolate so you can sample all that they offer before settling on your favourites to buy in bulk throughout the year. Favourites of ours include the dark milk chocolate with pretzel and toffee pieces as well as the salted caramel. The cream and gold calendar is beautifully designed to look like a leather-bound book. Inside, the 12 boxes that house the 45g vegan dark chocolate bars are delightfully illustrated with scenes from the 12 Days of Christmas song.In terms of ethics, Montezuma’s works with its suppliers to ensure that all its chocolate meets stringent ethical criteria and certifications. This includes Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, Soil Association and Cocoa Horizons. The dairy-free calendar features four different flavours of vegan milk chocolate, so it’s the perfect choice for those who like a little variety to spice up the festive season. I loved that you lift each box out and simply pull the products out, rather than having to fiddle around unwrapping small cardboard boxes each day. It’s this attention to detail that shows Gaia has really considered the overall experience of the calendar, making it as stress-free experience from start to finish. Monty Bojangles launched its first vegan calendar last year, and it’s no surprise to see it returning in 2023 because it is an absolute delight for chocolate lovers.