🎄 2025 Style and Beauty Advent Calendar Discussion ***SPOILERS*** THREAD 3

[BakeOffRewatch]

Annual Style and Beauty Advent Calendar discussion thread. First AC reveal this year was 23rd June. First luxury reveal was 2nd July.

Thread 1: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5360770-2025-style-and-beauty-advent-calendar-discussion

Thread 2: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5388836-2025-style-and-beauty-advent-calendar-discussion-spoilers-thread-2

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

Cult Beauty - partial reveal so far beautyadventcalendar.net/cult-beauty-advent-calendar-2025/
£265 Fortnum & Mason - full reveal www.fortnumandmason.com/2025-fortnums-beauty-advent-calendar
£250 Fenwick - full reveal beautyadventcalendar.net/fenwick-advent-calendar-2025/
Flannels - only a cracker so far beautyadventcalendar.net/flannels-beauty-cracker-2025/
£250 Harrods - full reveal www.harrods.com/en-gb/p/harrods-of-london-the-harrods-beauty-advent-calendar-2025-000000000007826118
£250 Harvey Nichols - full reveal www.harveynichols.com/harvey-nichols/harvey-nichols-beauty-advent-calendar-2025-42956-232485/
John Lewis - later in the year probably October
£275 Liberty - full reveal https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/pre-order-liberty-beauty-advent-calendar-2025-000839831.html
£250 Selfridges - full reveal cloud.mail.selfridges.com/beautyadventcalendar25
£260 Space NK - full reveal beautyadventcalendar.net/space-nk-advent-calendar-2025/
Vogue - later in year probably September issue, £350 last year

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

Oh yeah, I've just Google searched it and it's the Drunk Elephant C-Luma Hydrabright Serum 30ml

I think I'm the same. The few things I do want are outweighed by those I'm meh about. There's nothing I dislike but for the cost I should sit it out.

Sephora sent me a personal 20% off code in the post this morning. If it works with the calendar then I might be tempted, but I bet it doesn’t!

A slim to none chance I would say.

Ooh, which one is that @pinkchampagne1?

Thanjs

Anyone remind me what Sephora costs? I reckon my eldest would love it but I can't spend over £100 on a calendar for a child. (I sometimes wonder what on earth my parents would think of me, after I spent my entire childhood opening the same picture calendar each year and building the same much-loved lego Santa sleigh kit - we didn't even have chocolate calendars back then.)

I went through the SNK calendar with a ruthless eye and ranked everything a Yes or No. A no doesn't mean I hate it, just it's either a product I own already or not one I actively desire.

Yes - 16
No -19

I think SNK is the best offering this year but those figures suggest that I personally shouldn't buy it really (this doesn't mean I won't in the end!)

Going to do the same with CB once I have a definitive list of contents.

Have you done that with any others? Are there any others to release that are around the £250 price point?

It was 199 last year, so this year I think 210 -220.

It’s the Pro Night Plus cream. They also do a dupe of the ANR serum.

No, I should probably do Harrods just to see. Maybe Fenwick's too as that was on my radar.

Ah, brilliant @pinkchampagne1 - thanks so much! I shall keep an eye out! I get through a lot of EL ANR serum, so a dupe would be nice!

As a matter of interest, does it come sealed?

In my nearest Aldi, some customers are absolutely shameless about opening the skincare/beauty products and dipping fingers in -it really puts me off buying their lovely dupes 😿 so I try to only get ones that come with a foil seal, or sealed packet.

I made an exception for the eye pencils, because it was obvious when they’d been tampered with.

Tbf to Aldi, I have seen this behaviour in other shops too - I really believe all skincare/beauty products should be sold in tamper proof packaging but even top brands don’t always do this!

I know lots of talk of the Aldi dupes, i love them too. Im sure i remember seeing they did a beauty calendar last year. That would be fun again, depending on if they do it again!

The ELF thing was they got Matt Rife comedian to promote something. Issue was he used to be popular with women and then someone decided he needed to appeal to men and he did this by throwing women under a bus and making some domestic violence jokes. That is my understand but given the recent reaction to the new Cracker Barrel logo I think the world is losing its mind.

Looking at the Sephora I've had/got 15 of those so that's a no. I'm trying the Medik8 vit c serum today that's in the CB, found I have a 4ml sample. Smells lovely.

I am trying to remember if the box was sealed. The cream itself wasn’t covered by film but I could tell it hadn’t been tampered with.

I am really taken with Sephora, I'm surprised there's not more love for it on here. For me it strikes a good balance between skincare/makeup/fragrance, and viral/classic brands. I'll reserve judgement until I see the official sizes and price, but most of the others are definite nos for me so this could be an easy decision. I don't mind beauty sponges and single use eye masks to be honest, a beauty sponge is something you need to replace frequently anyway, and my main aim this year is to get things I'll use up and not things to add to my stash.

@pinkchampagne1 No, I haven’t tried the serum.

I got that Drunk Elephant moisturiser in a previous advent calendar, and thought it was nothing special. It didn’t feel like a luxury product at all, which I would expect for that price.

It seems to be the main feature of a lot of advents, but then I think it’s targeted at a younger audience (I’m in my 40s).

I’m still really undecided.

I think I might share the Sephora calendar with my teens. Just need to rig it so I mysteriously get the drawers with the Medik8, Tatcha, K18 and DE 😀

ReallyRee has posted an unboxing of the F&M calendar on her insta 😊

It's the same in my local Aldi too @IlovePond There's currently still lots of the tinted moisturisers out on sale, can't recall what they're a dupe of, but practically every box looks like it's been opened which is probably why they're not selling. I don't mind chancing a few pounds to try a new product (and forever searching for the HG of tinted moisturiser!) but not one someone else has already opened and had a try of!

I've seen it happen in other stores too but seems especially bad in Aldi. For some things, it really would be worth Aldi 'sacrificing' a few bottles as testers.

I completely agree @TheWeeDonkeyFella

Thanks for the info @pinkchampagne1

I’m off to Aldi now, as it happens! (My life is so exciting😹)

Take those items out and fill with DoDs from another calendar 😀

I like it, but am a bit put off by the two candles (why are these classed as ‘beauty’?!). Especially the Neom one which they include every year. Also the super pale lipstick and lip gloss shades are not very inclusive for someone like me with olive skin. Also sick of black eyeliner, that setting powder and bum bum cream.

They are claiming 24 full sizes, but that will include the 4 single use masks, 2 beauty sponges, Neom candle, black eyeliner, super pale lipstick/gloss - so when you take those out, it doesn’t seem like such a good deal.

Overall, I think JL is better. I think my order of preference this year would be:

1. Liberty
2. Space NK
3. JL
4. Sephora
5. Harrods
6. F&M

Good idea….perfect opportunity to offload the PK elasticiser from my Liberty calendar

I like the fact that the Boots premium features bronzer rather than blush. I just don't need blusher at all and it's always included in other calendars!

I do wish I could part pay with points though, I'd definitely get it if that was the case!