🎄 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

——————————————

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

Is the Glossybox a full size milk?? If so that's bloody amazing and now I think I need a second ac.
I've decided to go for the space nk as my main. Well up until the last 5 minutes it would have been my only one ha.

Im struggling as the skincare boots one looks fab for my 16year old dd
But less so my 18 year old dd.
So I want to get her one around the same price but all the ones that I think she will like are ££££
And I like to be fair.

No, it’s a 30ml but that’s enough for me to call it full size!

I agree. I have a few of their fragrances that I like. Other than Milk. So it'd be rude not to.

I too am unsure of LF fragrance now. I wanted to have a smell of the Jo Malone before release date but have had no desire to go into town just for that during my week off. At £130 total its a bargain if you like the JM but if not, its very poor value and effectively £130 worth of mini sizes.

I may make it to the shops this week for a sniff but if it sells out first I won't be too disappointed.

Has anyone seen the official contents for Elle yet?
I have it down for pre-order from tomorrow so expected either an unboxing or contents today.

I think I’m in the minority and still plan on getting the LF fragrance one, I am not a fan of the JM so will sell that and the candles will be gifts. I love the small sizes as wear a different fragrance every day.

Hi all.

In the absence of a YouTuber take on the LF fragrance calendar, I have had a go at doing my own price breakdown.

Basically, I have done a Cosmetopeaia and only counted an item if you can buy it from a shop/online, (not counting sample sellers).

I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of the smaller sizes actually do have a RRP and are for sale from reputable outlets.

None of the 5ml bottles counted towards the overall ‘worth’, (they ARE samples), but some of the 6 and 7.5/8 ml ones did.

I counted the Billie Eilish rollerball 6ml as, even though it’s not available for sale in the UK, it’s on sale in the US for $28!

I looked for the cheapest price today for each item for my overall costing for the calendar.

It comes to £341.13, as opposed to the £485 claimed by LF. I don’t think this is bad value, tbh. (Not great, but not bad!)

Here goes with the LF price breakdown:

Aery candle: £22.40
Billie Eilish: £20.73
CH: Good Girl: £24.60
EL: Bronze Goddess: £13.50
FS: Arizona Bloom: £22.40
Givenchy: L’Interdit: £22.50
Goldfield and Banks: £27
Jo Malone: Sea Salt and Wood Sage: £82
Le Monde Gourmand Fleur: £24
Miller Harris Scherzo: £24
Molton Brown: £16
Neom candle: £16
Rabanne Olympea: £14
This Works: £12

Total: £342.13

I had an email from LF to say I had access tomorrow from 7am. Not sure if this is early access or what time they will go on general sale.

I think the perfume one will sell quite fast, maybe not Harrods fast but I don't see it hanging about too long. So anyone who thinks they might want it probably should make a decision tonight.

Anyone signing up to GB or LF sub boxes to get the AC discounts read the T&Cs carefully. When you want to cancel it has to be done by a certain date otherwise it rolls over and you get charged again. E.g you can't decide you don't want next months box on the 25th or the 31st - you usually have to notify them early in the previous month. If you take out a 3/6/12 month contract you are committed to the entire term and the same as above applies when reaching the end of those contracts - there's a cut off date or they roll over.

Of the LF fragrances:

I love the FS Arizona Bloom - it’s my favourite

Don’t mind the Jo Malone - just wish it smelt stronger on me

Like:

The Molton Brown
The EL

Just ok:

Neom candle
Sleep spray
Givenchy

Haven’t a clue:

All the rest

Biggest misgivings about:

The Billie Eilish, because, sadly, I am not a teenager and don’t have any to pass it on to😿 (Of course, it might be lovely, who knows?)

I was very tempted by LF fragrance. I love the Jo Malone fragrance but I’ve got a nearly full bottle, so it would be silly for me to buy it.

I won't be buying any LF this year which is a shame as last years I thought was good but nothing appeals this year. I think Glossybox is the best affordable priced one.

Will be keeping an eye out for their beauty vault they usually do around Oct/Nov time. That was good last year.

I'm really impressed with the Glossybox BAC this year. Will get it for DD & have her DODs!
Though I do like that Natasha Denona palette so may have to get Glossybox as a second one for me.

Completely random useless piece of information here 😂: everytime I type BAC (Beauty Advent Calendar) in our thread, it reminds me of when I worked in a bank as Bacs (Bank Automated Clearing System) is used for electronic transfer of funds (DD: Direct Debit & DC: Direct Credit)

Though you could say MN does similar, as using some of the same initialisms 😂

Now I have gone through the LF fragrance in detail with pricing, (I have zero interest in the LF beauty calendar this year), I don’t think it would be a particularly good buy for me.

I already have two or three of the 10 ml FS Arizona Bloom perfumes waiting their turn and I can’t really smell that JM cologne on me for whatever reason!

I am sure some of the others are lovely, but do I really want to add so many little bottles to the horde/hoarde? (Not really, if I’m honest!)

I like the idea of it, though and I do like trying new perfumes.

I am tempted to do what I was considering earlier - opening days 1-12 this year and putting away 13-24 for Xmas 26!h

I’ve reassessed the LF Fragrance and decided it’s definitely for me. There’s a fair few fragrances I like and many I’ve always wanted to try.
I’ve got £20 of LF Beauty rewards which helps.
Equally, on second viewing of the LF main AC, it’s looking like a definite possibility.
Which means no Sephora/John Lewis but I’ll have 2, which has become a bit of a (greedy) tradition.

I'm so enjoying these threads, and living vicariously through all your advent purchases.

Am making my own this year, due to having too many products already and financial circumstances. Bought some products from the recent Liberty GWP from Vinted to start me off, and then I'm going to raid my beauty cupboard 🫣

Going to join the waifs and strays thread this year, looking forward to it. Might do two products a day, as why not?!

Yep, I've knocked both LF offerings off my list and Glossybox is now at the top. The box is just adorable. I'm definitely not signing up for the subscription though, so I guess we will all be hovering over the 'buy' button just after midnight on the 5th.

I'm still hoping for a JL Home Fragrance as that's where I'd get best use out of the products if I'm honest. I've had a good think today and almost caved on F&M. Tbf, I just want one of their Christmas candles. Went online and put the Spiced tea one in my basket (along with a pot of their Welsh Rarebit) then found a candle on ebay for less than half the price, so bought that instead and abandoned my cart.

Still quite interested in the pretty Next one.

Can anyone remind me why Bridal Beauty were blacklisted? I used to buy tons from them as they were amazing in their early days, but don't bother so much any more.

@RainbowZebraWarrior I think it's because they sell alot of old out of date products without being honest. Also customer service is hit and miss and some dishonest advertising.

PWC Harrods unboxing live

Yes me too! Also CT - Charlotte Tillbury - I think Capital Transfer 😂

To add to this, I also work in finance so recognise those but BAC in my current role is Business Acceptance Committee 😂

Decided not to get CB. Got the True botanicals serum from it on ebay for £10.77 plus I get the £2.50 Vouchercodes VIP thing off. Wouldn't have normally appealed but reviews were very good. I've been trying the Medik8 Vit C in it over last few days and it made my skin look darker/cloggier. I'm also not liking Medik8's vit c SPF30 cream looks terrible on without something else so I wondering if it's me or the product.

However it did serve as a reminder - fakes. Plenty of Drunk elephant on ebay so you need to be really picky. Forget getting the Protini moisturiser unless you can see someone is selling the rest of the calendar. Otherwise you can get a fake for less than £15.

I've been stalking Vinted for the Harrods MAC lipstick. I'm a bit confused because all the ones on there from the AC (fairly sure they are based on the sellers listing multiple other items from the calendar) say matte on the box. Planning with Crystal and the Harrods site stated satin and it looked satin applied.

I will be selling mine so happy to pass it to you . I worked for MAC for many years and Ruby Woo was always matte. If they have changed it to a satin that would be strange… but I guess not impossible

@OvaHeresorry I misunderstood, I thought stalking meant you couldn’t find any on Vinted. I see there are loads!

I’ll also be getting rid of my MAC lipstick from Harrods. I got a miniature Ruby Woo last year in a JL beauty box and only used it a few times. Lovely colour though