The festive season is fast approaching, and for beauty enthusiasts, that means one thing: the hunt for the perfect advent calendar. This year, high-street retailer Next is causing a major stir with its 2025 beauty offerings, proving you don't need to break the bank for a luxury cosmetics countdown.
Since its debut in 2020, the Next beauty advent calendar has been a standout, and for 2025, the retailer has once again released two distinct versions. These calendars are packed with mid-range and high-end products, positioning themselves as serious rivals to premium competitors from Selfridges and Sephora, but at a significantly lower cost.
Unboxing Luxury: The Two Calendars
Next's two offerings for 2025 are the 25 Days of Beauty calendar at £95 and the Luxury Beauty Advent Calendar at £185. Both calendars occupy a pricing sweet spot, undercutting major competitors. The standard calendar is cheaper than equivalents from Lookfantastic and Asos, while the luxury version costs less than high-end department store calendars from Liberty and Harvey Nichols.
The critical question is whether this affordability compromises quality. According to our tests, it absolutely does not. The contents of both calendars are brimming with desirable brands for 2025, including Hello Sunday, Bondi Sands, Noble Isle, and Neom.
The Luxury Beauty Advent Calendar: Worth Over £700
Priced at £185 but with a total product value exceeding £779, the luxury calendar is a masterpiece of value and curation. Housed in navy packaging with a festive snowy street design, its contents are what truly impress.
This calendar features an exciting brand or product behind nearly every door. It includes crowd-pleasing items from popular brands, many of which are not found in other retailer offerings. Highlights from our unboxing include the Oskia super R and super C capsule duo (£21), a top-performing retinoid and vitamin C combination, and Noble Isle's rhubarb shower gel (£23). The Too Faced lip injection (£16) was noted as one of the best lip plumpers available, while the Emma Hardie plump and glow hydrating mist (£14.40) provided a burst of perfect midday hydration.
The selection is a well-balanced mix of hair, body, skin, and fragrance products. While it may be light on make-up, it consistently delivers excitement and quality throughout the entire countdown, avoiding the common pitfall of underwhelming lead-up days.
The 25 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar: An Affordable Gem
For those on a tighter budget, the 25 Days of Beauty calendar at £95 offers incredible value, with contents worth over £385. It spans skincare, make-up, fragrance, body care, and haircare, featuring a mix of classic names like Benefit and Aromatherapy Associates alongside viral brands such as Pixi and Hello Sunday.
This calendar is perfect for filling gaps in your beauty routine. Those focused on anti-ageing will appreciate Beauty Pro's retinol eye patches. For nail care, there's Nails Inc's superfood repair cuticle oil (£15) and Opi's cult bubble bath nail lacquer (£16). The inclusion of Dr Pawpaw's original lip balm (£3.75) is a practical winter essential, and Floral Street's sweet almond blossom fragrance (£29) offers a warm, bright scent ideal for day-to-night wear.
While some items, like the popular Nuxe huile prodigieuse body oil, are common in advents, the overall variety and inclusion of brands like Beauty Blender and Percy and Reed make this a compelling, affordable option.
Are Next's Beauty Advent Calendars Worth the Investment?
In our assessment, both of Next's beauty advent calendars are unequivocally worth the money. For those who can stretch their budget, the luxury version is highly recommended due to its thoughtful brand selection, variety of formulas, and abundance of full-size items.
However, a key point for shoppers to note is that Next typically has a more limited run of the luxury calendar. If you have your heart set on securing one, it is advisable not to delay your purchase.
Our testing methodology involved a thorough unboxing of both calendars ahead of December. We evaluated the packaging for aesthetics and reusability, noted the sizes of the products, assessed the desirability and balance of brands, and tested the performance of the formulas to identify any standout products.
