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An advent calendar has historically meant 24 doors and a lot of mediocre chocolate. Above The Collar has spent the past few years building the version for men who actually care what goes on their face, and the 2026 edition of its 24 Days of Grooming calendar is the biggest one the retailer has put out. For the first time, one of those doors hides a full-size trimmer.
Behind the rest sit 24 products spanning hair, skin, shave, body, beard and fragrance, with a combined value of $620. Presale pricing has the lot at $224.99 with free shipping, which works out to a 64 per cent saving, and Above The Collar says it has produced fewer units this year because every box now carries more full-size product.
Above The Collar Men’s Grooming Advent Calendar
The headline addition this year is Meridian The Trimmer Original in Onyx, a full-size body trimmer rather than the sample-size filler that pads out most calendars. Around it, Above The Collar has loaded the drawers with genuinely full-size product: Clinique For Men’s Moisturising Face Lotion at 100ml, Grown Alchemist’s Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser at 200ml, American Crew’s Fiber Pre Styling Shampoo at 250ml and a 141g bar of Dr Squatch Wood Barrel Bourbon soap. The fragrance doors are where the value stacks up, with 1.5ml decants of Creed Aventus, Dior Sauvage and Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir, which is a cheap way to work out which one is worth committing to a full bottle. The 2026 calendar is a presale, so orders are dispatched from 25 October, and the brushed silver outer case is a considerable step up from last year’s packaging.
- Price: $224.99 AUD presale, against a $620 RRP
- Saving: 64 per cent off recommended retail
- Contents: 24 products across hair, skin, shave, body, beard and fragrance
- Headline item: Meridian The Trimmer Original in Onyx, full size
- Shipping: Free, dispatched from 25 October 2026
What’s Inside the 24 Days of Grooming Calendar
Above The Collar has published the full manifest rather than making you buy blind, which is the right call and makes the maths easy to check. The 24 products are spread across six categories, and the split leans towards things you’ll actually finish rather than novelty sizes.
- Hair: Reuzel Grooming Tonic 100ml, American Crew Fiber Pre Styling Shampoo 250ml, Muk Hard Muk Styling Mud 50g, Depot Normalising Shampoo and Refreshing Conditioner 50ml each, Davroe Cloud Volumising Texture Powder 10g
- Skin: Clinique For Men Moisturising Face Lotion 100ml, Grown Alchemist Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser 200ml, Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant 13g, Brickell Restoring Eye Cream 4ml
- Shave and beard: Meridian The Trimmer Original in Onyx, Uppercut Deluxe Shave Cream 120g, The Beard Struggle Beard Oil 5ml
- Body: Dr Squatch Wood Barrel Bourbon Bar Soap 141g, Men-u Body Wash Black Pepper and Bergamot 100ml, AKT The Deodorant Balm After Thunder 10ml
- Fragrance: Creed Aventus, Dior Sauvage and Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir, 1.5ml each
- Tools: Above The Collar Fundamental 14 manicure set, compact brush, body scrubber and styling comb
Is the Above The Collar Advent Calendar Worth It?
The test for any advent calendar is whether the contents survive contact with a spreadsheet, and this one does. The trimmer alone accounts for a meaningful slice of the $620 figure, and the four full-size skin and hair products behind it are the sort of thing you would otherwise replace at full price in January. Strip out the fragrance decants entirely and the box still reads as good value at $224.99.
It also works harder as a gift than most grooming sets, because the range of brands means it suits someone whose routine you don’t know in detail. If you’re still weighing it against the rest of the field, our best gifts for men guide covers the wider spread, and anyone using the trimmer for the first time will get more out of it after a read of our guide to the best beard styles. The one thing worth moving on is timing: the presale is how the 64 per cent price is set, and Above The Collar has flagged limited stock.
Above The Collar Advent Calendar FAQs
It’s $224.99 during the presale, against a $620 recommended retail price, which is a saving of 64 per cent. Shipping is free.
Twenty-four grooming products across hair, skin, shave, body, beard and fragrance. The line-up includes full-size items such as Clinique For Men Moisturising Face Lotion 100ml and Grown Alchemist Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser 200ml, plus 1.5ml fragrance decants of Creed Aventus, Dior Sauvage and Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir.
Orders placed during the presale are dispatched from 25 October 2026.
Yes. Meridian The Trimmer Original in Onyx is included at full size, the first time a trimmer has appeared in the calendar.
Above The Collar says it has produced fewer units this year because each box carries more full-size product, so it has flagged the run as limited.
Presale pricing and the 25 October dispatch date mean this is a decision to make now rather than in December, particularly with fewer units in the run. The 24 Days of Grooming calendar is live at Above The Collar.
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