🎄 2025 Style and Beauty Advent Calendar Discussion ***SPOILERS*** THREAD 2

[BakeOffRewatch]

Link to thread 3 added by MNHQ - www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5396898-2025-style-and-beauty-advent-calendar-discussion-spoilers-thread-3

Annual Style and Beauty Advent Calendar discussion thread. First AC reveal this year was 23rd June. First luxury reveal was 2nd July. Thread 1 here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5360770-2025-style-and-beauty-advent-calendar-discussion

The regulars on the thread mainly discuss luxury BAC and this dies down by September when everyone has purchased and forgotten the contents. Then it goes into discussion on what’s selling out, what hasn’t and what deals and discounts to be had on ACs in the lead up to December. Then in December we move onto AC opening threads!

There’s a separate thread for GWP, discounts and other deals here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5338957-beauty-chat-freebiesgifts-with-purchaseoffers-thread-three

A thread for the Liberty Beauty Drop here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5253698-liberty-beauty-drop-spoiler-from-the-despatch-date-part-9

MN has a great Christmas board for deals and early gift buying here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/christmas

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LUXURY MULTI-BRAND
Brown Thomas
Cult Beauty Classic Curation and UK-Only Limited Curation with more fragrances https://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/c/advent-calendar/ 3rd September
F&M £265 https://www.fortnumandmason.com/2025-fortnums-beauty-advent-calendar Pricing by category post here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5360770-2025-style-and-beauty-advent-calendar-discussion?reply=146293148
Fenwick £250 https://www.fenwick.co.uk/blogs/daily-muse/beauty-advent-calendar
Flannels
Harrods £250, £99 www.harrods.com/en-gb/c/beauty-advent-calendar pricing by category post here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5360770-2025-style-and-beauty-advent-calendar-discussion?reply=146296157
Harvey Nichols £250 https://www.harveynichols.com/stories/beauty/harvey-nichols-beauty-advent-calendar/ 4th September
John Lewis
Liberty £275 https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/pre-order-liberty-beauty-advent-calendar-2025-R641279006.html_ pricing by category post here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5360770-2025-style-and-beauty-advent-calendar-discussion?reply=145402406_
Selfridges £250 https://cloud.mail.selfridges.com/beautyadventcalendar25
Space NK £260 https://www.spacenk.com/uk/gifts/beauty-advent-calendars/beauty-advent-calendar-MUK200055896.html
Vogue https://shop.vogue.co.uk/pages/british-vogue-festive-calendar-2025

HIGH STREET
Anthropologie
ASOS
Beauty Bay
The Body Shop https://www.thebodyshop.com/collections/beauty-advent-calendars
Boots
Elle
French Pharmacy
Glossybox
Holland & Barrett https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/info/beauty-advent
Jarrolds
LIB Latest In Beauty x Stylist
Lush £125, £179, £205, https://www.lush.com/uk/en/c/christmas-advent-calendars
L’Occitane
LookFantastic £105 https://www.lookfantastic.com/c/waitlist/advent
M&S
Next
Revolution Beauty £50 https://www.revolutionbeauty.com/uk/en/gifts/advent-calendars/revolution-beauty-makeup-advent-calendar-2025/1868648.html
Sephora https://www.sephora.co.uk/c/beauty-advent-calendar-waitlist
Ted Baker
The White Company

BUDGET
Aldi
Sainsbury’s

SINGLE BRAND BEAUTY
Arran £85 https://arran.com/products/advent-calendar
Charlotte Tilbury
Elemis https://uk.elemis.com/advent-calendar-2025-sign-up
e.l.f.
Gruum
Jo Malone
Liz Earle
Lumene
Neom https://neomwellbeing.com/pages/neom-wellbeing-advent-calendar-sign-up-page
Shisheido https://www.shiseido.co.uk/gb/en/newsletter-advent-calendar.html

BATH & BODY
Ciaté
Cowshed
Rituals

JEWELLERY
Oliver Bonas
Liberty
Accessorize

FOOD
Bonne Maman jam
Degusta
Paxton and Whitfield cheese
Fortnum & Mason Tea and Biscuits

MEN’S
Liberty

FRAGRANCE
Acqua Di Parma
Diptyque
Fragrance Shop
Harrods fragrance
Harvey Nichols fragrance
L’Artisan Parfumier
Jo Loves https://www.joloves.com/pages/advent-calendar
Jo Malone
Penhaligons
Perfume Shop
Sniph
Space NK fragrance

K-BEAUTY
Stylevana
Yesstyle
Stylekorean

I think there was a golden era where they got better and better (since the pandemic) and now they're going down again as the companies realise they can't keep them up to that standard for the money.

I'd imagine a lot of how they sell them though is because it's a massive brand/marketing exercise for some of the lesser known brands to get their name out there so they will provide the products to the retailer much more cheaply . Byredo for example I'd never heard of until they started popping up in all the addy cals - surprisingly not seen much bryredo in this year's yet so maybe they think they have increased their brand awareness enough.

Disclaimer: I don't work in this field and have only a lay person's understanding of branding/marketing/retailing - plus a healthy dose of curiosity.

not had an email either from harrods but then again my payment came out a few days after everyone else’s so i’m guessing i’m back of the queue (even though i ordered it the second it dropped) …re liberty got excited when i saw the GWP this morning but as ever it doesn’t work with the advent calendar 🤦🏻‍♀️

No direct experience here either @IDontHateRainbows, but I think you are correct. These calendars are used as a promotional tool by brands in the hope we will love the products and repurchase. They must be given free or at low cost to the retailers depending on how much of a draw they might be to the customers. Avant must give away free for example but something more desirable, say Elemis, might give a trial size (it’s not deluxe wtf is that supposed to mean ). It must be quite a task to put together a decent calendar from what the brands are prepared to offer and when the headache gets too much and there’s still an empty drawer, you throw in a scrunchie and it’s job done.

I haven’t had a dispatch email from Harrods about my fragrance calendar yet.

It's funny, I've not once been tempted by LF in the past but I actually think that's an excellent line up. To me it looks great value for the price, which none of the others have. Yes it's got Avant but it's glycolic acid so it's an active and will work. I already use the Medik8 and need to replace so that's great. Nice to have a candle, that's been lacking this year, and White Company is a nice choice. It's got full size of brands like Rodial, REN, Medik8. Makeup Revolution is a bit crap but it's not a premium calendar, and actually I've used their stuff in the past and it's cheap and cheerful. It still does the job.

I'll seriously consider LF. For me it's that, Liberty (but is it really worth almost £300), or Boots depending on the reveal.

I think I'm going to ask for Space NK for my birthday. At the end of this month I'll have enough BD credit and loyalty vouchers to completely cover the Liberty. If I like the look of the Boots skincare AC (I like the initial reveal), I have enough points to pay for it. Looking forward to seeing what is in JL, M&S and OK. I'll eBay items I don't want and replace them with AC items I do want from eBay. I'm tempted by Bonne Maman. I always buy my daughter Degustabox too.

@IDontHateRainbows Oh yes agree, i used to be addicted to GWP and advents. At one point would of had atleast 10 on the go😬 And i did actually go on to buy 3 Byredo perfumes as a result of them being in a Liberty Calendar!

@Benny12 Oh hopefully not too long to wait then! I have seen people in America receive it already, so was hoping it would be sooner rather than later!!

I think this year i will do some GWP, get what i want and the gifts am extra way for me to top up on bits for travel amd new things to try. I will get the 24 days of skincare by Boots for £70 as from what i have seen so far i would use all of that. Spacenk would of been the one, and i would use majority, but also its not things i would really want either💁‍♀️

Did anyone see a date when space nk will be available to order I just got a reminder that I’ve 20£ of points expiring this week

Mixed feelings about LF as like the look of the Mac, Aveda and a few others and there's no black eyeliner. However, wristbands 😑

Fragrance on the other hand I really like and will be buying.

Anyone heard anything about the French Pharmacy yet for this year? That might battle it out with the Boots skincare one for me.

@JustWhatIAlwaysWanted I've been keeping an eye out for French Pharmacy but not seen anything as yet. There's probably a few that will keep it old skool and not release until late Sep/October.

I am in the same boat. Order status processing, tracking number pending.
It will be a miracle if mine comes at all though, they stopped shipping to NI, so I ‘accidentally’ got my postcode wrong and hoping for the best 🤞🤞🤞

I’ve caved in and bought Liberty, so I still need to decided on another 25 day calendar as my birthday/Christmas present from my husband. F&M is in the lead at the moment, but I’m waiting to see what John Lewis and French Pharmacy have got to offer. I agree with other comments that that this year hasn’t been as exciting as the last couple of years. I’m going to start looking out at TKMaxx - it was this time of year a couple of years ago when I got my Aqua di Parma bargains.

I'm another one who quite likes the LF Fragrance and will probably buy, but definitely not impressed with the beauty AC.

My mystery delivery message that I hoped was Harrods was something really boring that I’d forgotten I’d ordered. I’m still waiting for DPD to message me.

Regarding RHOBAC, there will be a special episode showcasing those of us who own their own body weight in perfume.

The LF fragrance AC would be a good alternative to Perfume Shop/Fragrance Shop for those who only want perfumes for women. I might be tempted as I like JHAG and the FS one.

Oooh so disappointed with LF - the line up’s just not as good as last year for me. Well, so far, no temptation!

bought dd the Anthropologie one as the unboxing looked good for £20 off.

I quite like the LF fragrance calendar but I’ve got half a 30ml Jo Malone wood sage and sea salt left, as well as a couple of minis from previous advent calendars, so it woukd be silly for me to get it. Has there been any news on when the Space NK fragrance calendar will be revealed?

I’m likely to buy the LF perfume one (the 50ml JM swings it) but not interested in the beauty one. Hope SNK and The Perfume Shop release their fragrance contents fairly soon.

SNK didn’t give any info on the live AC reveal chat yesterday other than to confirm there will be one.

Thank you.

@HolaLolla do you mean harrods won’t post anything to NI or just the fragrance?? This might be a deciding factor for me on which calendar if they don’t post the beauty one x

I think it's just perfume they don't post, not sure if the main calendar would be posted, the perfumes are quite small in it 🤔
I was devastated when I found out, so done a lot of research on how to get it here. Someone said change a letter in your postcode, that bypasses the system and it gets sent out.
I did a trial run in June, ordered Lelabo discovery set and it actually arrived 🎉🎉 So keeping everything crossed the postcode trick works again and my perfume calendar gets here 🤞🤞
I would love to know why they stopped sending perfumes to NI as its only a recent change, had no issues with them last year.

I think I'm almost relieved I don't want any of the LF calendars. Just checked and my beauty box sub has now expired. At least I won't be tempted to renew now for the discount.

@Addictedtobeauty I think the Perfume Shop was really late the past couple of years. I managed to get it half price in 2023 but it sold out in hours last year while I was dithering

I was so convinced I was going to end up with multiple calenders this year, signed up with beauty drop as well to save for liberty and so far I don't want a single one. Probably just as well as I have a massive stash already and DH might have asked for a divorce if I had bought loads.