🎄 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

Drawer of Doom

Ok that wasn't obvious 😂
Thank you!

I thought it was actually quite nice to see a Youtuber who's had it #gifted be honest that she wasn't 'obsessed' by everything. She seems young and said she prefers makeup, but in general posters on these threads prefer skincare so in some ways her lack of enthusiasm pushed me to consider it more. But the repeated mentions of viral TikTok products has well and truly put me off. The Space NK reveal drove me mad, the girl doing it just said everything was 'SO GOOD!'. If only one of the drawers had contained a thesaurus.

DoD = drawer of doom/door of disappointment

We’ll add abbreviations to the next thread! DoD BAC. That’s it I think 😂

Don't forget RHOBAC 😁

If only one of the drawers had contained a thesaurus. 😂Well said @owlexpress

I’ve just watched the CB unboxing, which reminded me why I almost never watch unboxings - it’s just painful to listen to. Also, the idea that something must be good if it’s gone viral and all over TikTok is somewhat scary. And most of the products she really liked were not for me. But it has helped to confirm that CB is definitely not on my list this year.

Finally my Harrods calendar has shipped!!! Just My Look AC i might take a look at when they show full contents! The sneak peak so far looks decent.

My Liberty calendar is on its way. I’m away for the bank holiday weekend so have left strict instructions that it’s to be cherished in my absence.

I’m a Glossybox subscriber at the moment as I got the calendar and a year of boxes last year for DD. I haven’t found the boxes thrilling but she seems to like them. I am going to cancel but will wait to see the calendar first just in case.

For non-beauty, I can’t recommend the Paxton and Whitfield cheese calendar enough. We’ve had it for three years running. If you are a cheese fan I can’t imagine anything better. You get a serious amount of glorious cheese.

I’ve spent a bit of time today updating my spreadsheet - latest version attached. As a way of trying to decide between them, I’ve looked at how many products in each calendar are genuinely exciting for me. On that basis, for me SpaceNK actually comes out best, with Harrods and Selfridges the other serious contenders. I think one thing SpaceNk got right last year and continues to do well is the number of genuine full size products.

I’m still waiting for yepoda to announce theirs, going to be a bit extravagant if I have that and liberty 🫣

@AprilLady Your spreadsheet is wonderful!

@Doubleraspberry I’ve just been looking at last year’s Paxton and Whitfield calendar and it looks very exciting.

My Harrods calendar arrived today and it’s a beauty! Now to tuck it away until December 1st. I was very tempted to go for the Liberty calendar again as I enjoyed last years but I just wasn’t wowed by the contents due to the crossover with my beauty box subscription. Annoying as I have been saving my BD money to have the calendar! I may wait until the Black Friday offers begin and nab myself a treat using my credit then.

😍

Thanks @AprilLady I love your spreadsheets.
I now wish some of the others would release their contents
I was tempted by Liberty, mainly for the fragrances but have managed to pick the ones I wanted off Vinted so that is definitely off my list.
I know not a popular choice but John Lewis is top of mine as the fragrances and makeup are things I would want and they are the main items I am
looking for unless a calendar has EGF Serum which has been noticeably absent this year.
I was planning on getting a k-beauty one but the Boots Skincare looks quite good and could get this instead of one as want the skincare and not the makeup.

@MrsBnow12 I do actually think JL has a lot of decent products, and I really like the fragrances included - so much so that I already have full sizes of two of them (the Le Labo The Noir and FM POAL) and travel sizes of all the others that are included. I find Initio Oud for Greatness one of the only ouds I actually like. If I didn’t already have them, it would probably put JL near the top of the list for me.

Hi, my first ever Liberty BD box came today - I really like it. I am handing it over to DH to put into a DIY a/c for me!

Re: Liberty - if it’s still around once my three month compulsory subscription is up, then I might go wild and get it. If it’s sold out - so be it.

Tbh, it’s still only Liberty that I like, (and I do quite like the look of the LF fragrance calendar - but do I want/need 24 perfumes in various sizes???)

Thanks for all the useful youtube links etc. I've got spreadsheets with the various calendars on and that CB video does not match the list from BD, so I went back to BD and the full list isn't there anymore. So who knows, but that Krave item wasn't on it, nor th SDJ butter, the Glow drops wasn't a blush and the Kosas tinted SPF which was one of my might just make me buy it items wasn't there. These are the ones I don't recall seeing on video.
£20 CB voucher
Creed Sample x3
KAYALI Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar 42 Eau de Parfum 10ml worth £28.00
Kilian Perfume TBC 10ml
Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 59 Perfume Mist
Fenty Skin Plush Puddin’ Intensive Recovery Lip Mask 15g worth £20.00
Color Wow Travel Dream Cocktail – Coconut Infused 50ml worth £10.00
Kosas DreamBeam Sunscreen SPF 30 40ml – Original worth £37.00 Full Size
So maybe she had the international version?

I think the beauty detective works from images and guessing rather than official press releases so do have to take with pinch of salt. I wait until official releases, it’s confusing enough with the number of calendars without throwing incorrect info in the mix.

I’m liking the sound of a cheese advent calendar, but just looked and it’s £150. Is that similar to last year, is it worth it?

Yes, and yes (if you like cheese!). You get a decent block every day for 25 days, with info cards, and given that their monthly cheese subscription is £35-odd for three cheeses I’d say it’s great value. Each day’s cheese is enough for two.

I agree that those two fragrances are a real draw of the JL calendar.

The trouble is for me that I really will not use two lip oils and three eye creams; and more to the point it is no longer the semi-budget option it was last year. It was £195 I am sure so £40 feels like a big hike (and crucially goes ove the magic £200). Still some good products tho.

I have written a little listy of things I lust after from calendars I will not buy – to see if I can pick them up on eBay in the next whenever. There is always a flood of the fragrances for example in the immediate aftermath. I don’t mind if someone has had a spritz as long as they reflect that in the price.

Sadly tho I think I have now bought up (and used up!) all the spares of the very very gorgeous Vilhelm Parfumerie Peony Couture which was in Liberty three years ago!

Thanks for all the spreadsheets and thoughts. After reading them and relooking at what I’d use and what I’m really looking for, I’ve decided to go for Space NK too, like @AprilLady i like the fact there are full sizes, and I’m really looking for creams and serums. There are some things I’ll never use ( most of the hair products, some lip things and lash stuff) but I’ll sell them along with any perfumes I don’t like from Liberty ( I’m like @BakeOffRewatch, the perfumes don’t really interest me!). I’m debating selling the Liberty bag too. Just not sure what I’ll use it for!
Do we have a date for Space NK does anyone remember?

thanks @AprilLady for the spreadsheets …I agree that space nk is best value and I’ll probably buy it but harrods is still calling me …on a more exciting note I just got my DPD email (finally) to say the Harrods fragrance calendar is being delivered today !! cant wait ….unlike most of you I cant wait until the 1st dec so shall be delving in to try them all (I have no patience 🤪)

I watched the Planning with Crystal unboxing of Liberty last night. Definitely one for fragrance lovers.

I like the look of the Yorkshire Soap Company calendar - I love soap!