Ageing is cruel in many ways, but at no time of the year is this more obvious than the holiday season. What would it take now, we wonder, to replicate the same kind of bliss you once knew after unwrapping a new bicycle in the living room on Christmas morning? Someone paying your mortgage, maybe, or giving you a six-month paid sabbatical from your job might just do it. Or, better yet, perhaps the long-awaited rollout of the vaccine for the virus that must not be named. Joy to the world, indeed.

We’re all more stressed, more tired and more bored than we’ve perhaps ever been, and while the prospect of spending the festive period marinating in port and surrounded by cheese boards doesn’t sound too bad, we’ve all been working from home for so long that some of us had reached that point by early November anyway.

Instead, we think it’s prime time to indulge in some self-care, which is why we created the MR PORTER advent calendar. Much like a traditional advent calendar, it’s designed to mete out as much joy as possible throughout the holiday season, but instead of a nativity scene or a tiny chocolate snowman waiting for you behind a window, it involves an expertly curated selection of nutrient-rich creams, anti-pollution serums, deodorants, haircare and more.

Illustrated with a festive watercolour print, the calendar features the classic numbered doors, behind which you’ll find some of our favourite products, such as Dr. Barbara Sturm’s hyaluronic acid serum (good for plumping out all the wrinkles you no doubt accumulated this year), a PETER THOMAS ROTH cucumber gel mask, Augustinus Bader’s cult product The Rich Cream, plus treats from 111SKIN, Susanne Kaufmann, MALIN + GOETZ and others. As well as being a joy to open, it’s also a great way to get introduced to some of the most effective and well-loved grooming products on the market. Find out what works for you, and thereby give your grooming routine a serious upgrade. See? Not such a bad year after all.