Anyone interested in a best purchase/fave products round up of 2025 before the fresh temptations of 2026 are upon us?
Fave bargains/edits of the year
The Lancome Holiday set with the Idole palette - this is still sat under the Xmas tree but it was such a good deal with the discount.
Harrods Fragrance Advent Calendar - in monetary terms probably the best deal of the year. I didn't end up liking quite a few of the scents but those I did I really like. BI (intials in case some people are still unboxing) has ended up being one of my most loved.
That CB offer (glitch) where you got loads of points with every small purchase and many of us did about 8 separate orders of travel size products. I'm sure I racked up about £30 in vouchers with that one.
Another CB glitch - the spin the wheel one in May where it gave everyone a £50 voucher with no min spend. I recall they did shut that down pretty quickly but I ordered with mine straight away and got a free full size Hourglass bronzer.
There's been some good edits this year but I think the CB Blush edit was a standout for me just because I love a blush. I wasn't going to get that one but it was too tempting in the end. A really fun edit and I think I used vouchers for most of it. The recent one with the Crystal Retinal 6 was very good too just for the CR 6.
Honorary mention to the Tatcha Fukubukuro event they run in mid January. Decent goody bags with a £100 or £200 spend. Hopefully they run it again.
Fave skincare discoveries of 2025
Medik8 has been strong in this category. The Liquid Peptides serum, Advanced Vit C and Crystal Retinal are all products I tried and loved this year.
Allies of Skin is another brand I tried this year and liked most of it. Their Vit C, Growth Factor serum, Peptide eye cream and Day cream.
K beauty sunscreens - Skin1004 and Beauty of Joseon are standouts.
Sisley Velvet Flowers overnight mask. Love this, my skin always looks and feels lovely the day after. It's very pricey so I only use it once or twice a week but I've found that Allbeauty do it on offer for around £60 sometimes.
Quite a few cleansers have become favourites this year. Kate Somerville Goats Milk, Beauty Pie Happy Face, Youth to the People Superfood and Augustinus Bader Gel Cleanser are some I would and/or have repurchased.
Naturium Peptide moisturiser. I bought this for travel as the tube is compact but it's a really good lightweight moisturiser at a lower price point. The light moisturisers aren't usually enough for my dry skin but this one is great.
Haruharu Black Rice Barrier Essence. Great hydrating product for winter. Similar to Rhode Glazing Milk but a lot cheaper from k beauty sites.
Numbuzin NAD Bio Essence - This is a serum really not an essence. It's really nice to use. Does it do anything? Not sure but it's nice to use and another fairly inexpensive k beauty product.
Fave makeup discoveries of 2025
Merit Matte lipsticks. Loved the formula and colours of this. Disappointed they just discontinued them but I've a few and one back up of my favourite shade.
Morphe. A few products from Morphe have been fab this year at an inexpensive price point. The Cloudlight finishing powder is great and a decent dupe of Hourglass. The 6 pan eye palette released this year are also really nice.
I've tried a lot of skin tints and foundations this year trying to find a good mature, dry skin friendly one. My top three are probably Milk Hydrogel, NARS radiance and ELF Halo Glow SPF 50 tint.
Honourable mentions to Hourglass Illusion Glow foundation and Veil Skin Tint - both these are very good but at £60 and £50 respectively the others perform very well for less money.
Tried lots of blushes this year. Some I've bought specifically and some have come in edits or advents. I have a lot I like in this category across cream and powder. Some I really rate are Hourglass Ambient, Charlotte Tilbury Unreal blush sticks, YSL Blurring Powder Blush, Summer Fridays Blush Butter Balm and Fwee Pudding Pots.
Honourable mention to the NARS holiday palette (which I think is still on sale) it's very pigmented for my skin tone but with a light touch the finish is beautiful.
Tried a few bronzers this year to find one that works on pale skin. I think the Kosas powder bronzer in Wave works really well. It is a bit shimmery though. Yet to find a matte one that is just right. I bought the Benefit Hoola bronzer on Vinted the other day to try that one.
I'm one of those people with short lashes whose mascara easily smudges so I'm very particular on that point and I tend to rank them mostly by smudge/no smudge. Good lengthening and thickening is a bonus. Good ones this year have been Tarte tubing, Estee Lauder Double Wear, Kosas Soulgazer. Lisa Eldridge Kitten also doesn't smudge but I can barely tell I'm wearing it. They others all have a bit more oomph.
Tried a few concealers also. I like Hourglass and Estee Lauder Double Wear. Hourglass has the edge.
Primers and setting spray. Good ones I've tried that serve different purposes are Huda Easy Blur Primer and Setting Spray - long wear and more matte. Chantecaille Rose face tint - lovely but expensive glowy primer. Tirtir Mask Fit setting spray, inexpensive and the mist is really fine.
In Highlighters Hourglass and Prada are both winners. The Prada one was expensive but I got it discounted on Black Friday. It's beautifully subtle like Hourglass but packs a bit more of a punch.
For eyeshadow without question is the Dolce and Gabbana Ever Icon palette (comes in 3 colour ways) the formula is the best I've tried on older crinkly eyes. Honourable mentions based on what I find myself reaching for most recently are the Patrick Ta Major Dimensions 6 pan of matte neutrals in Light and the shimmery eye duos as a topper. Also from K beauty at a very affordable price the Clio Pro palette in Mute Library ( other colour ways available). I paid around £12 for this one and it's so nice and flattering on mature eyes.
Best Haircare finds of 2025
Pureology range - tried two sorts and loved both.
Davines Oi Leave in Conditioner. Love this. Also like the Color Wow Money Mist but not quite as much.
Gisou Honey S&C. Only tried a sample of this but thought it was fab.
Ouai Wave spray. Really nice, Lovely scent.
Tsubaki Hair Mask. A Japan beauty brand. Made my hair feel lovely but very scented (if you don't like that sort of thing)
Dyson Nural hairdryer. Bought this early in the year and it's been fab. So much gentler on my hair than my old one.
Best Bodycare finds 2025
Not a big category for me but products that standout from this year are Caudalie shower gels (lovely scents) Glossier exfoliating bar (nice scent and a no fuss way of exfoliating). Naturium Glow Getter range for the summer, unscented but perfect for summer holiday glowy look.
Perfume faves 2025
Tested a lot this year through edits and samples. Trying to think of new stand out discoveries of the year. It probably has to be the aforementioned BI from Harrods advent. BTSO Black Creme, Byredo Alto Astral, Kayali Yum Boujee Marshmallow. Honourable mentions to Jo Malone Ginger Biscuit, Vilhelm Faces of Francis and PDM Delina.
Honestly, there's plenty of others I've loved this year too. A difficult category to narrow down.
Worst of 2025
I guess a round up isn't complete without things I hated/didn't work for me.
The viral Arencia Mochi cleanser. Hated everything about this, awful texture and made my skin red.
Perhaps a bit of a controversial take but I've realised after falling into a k beauty rabbit hole at the beginning of the year that not everything k beauty is brilliant. Quite a lot is very good as featured in my faves above, but there's also a lot of gimmicky and meh stuff too. The marketing sometimes is more hype than substance. Plan to be way more discerning in 2026 and have a break from buying k beauty, use up what I have with maybe the odd replacement of a favourite if needed.
Danessa Myricks Blurring Balm and Colorfix sticks. I really want to like this brand as her products seem so innovative but I can't seem to get them to work for me. They're not bad products but rather I think I'm the wrong age or skin type and maybe not proficient enough at make up. Knowing this stopped me buying that beautiful looking viral palette so probably not a bad thing.
Farmacy products. Disliked the texture of the cleanser, cleansing balm and the lip balm. Don't think this brand is for me.
Natasha Denona Hyglam foundation. Like a lot of people (based on reviews I've seen) I thought I loved this at first. It looks brilliant on application and maybe for the first hour or so but after that it turns into a patchy mess. A really big disappointment and I've pretty much abandoned it after catching myself in a shop mirror and realising half of it seemed to be sliding off my face.
If I told anyone I loved this then apologies as I thought I did but it took quite a few wears to realise I just can't make it work for all day wear and I've tried numerous ways - sponge, brush, using a tiny amount, using setting powder and spray etc.
Charlotte Tilbury push up lashes - this frustrates me so much. It does so much for thickening and lengthening my scrappy lashes but I cannot get it to stop doing panda eyes. If not for that it would be top tier.
Ouai Shampoo and Conditioner - the product is fine but can my small hands squeeze it from those bottles - no!
Discotheque Heathens, Cowboys and the Santa Ana Winds perfume. Apologies to those who love it but possibly the worst scent I've tried this year.
Well done if you got this far into my rambled 2025 round up. Thank you and if you celebrate, a very Happy Christmas to all who contribute to the threads through the year.