With a price point of £250, Harrods’ beauty advent calendar is one of 2025’s most expensive offerings, only topped by Liberty (£275, Libertylondon.com) and Space NK (£260, Spacenk.com). Luckily, with this high price point comes plenty of luxury brands, some of which are arguably the industry’s most high-end (like La Mer and La Prairie).
Though the retailer isn’t advertising the full worth of its advent calendar in 2025, it’s estimated – according to advent calendar blogger Anne Marie Lodge – that the items’ worth exceeds £1,500. There’s no doubt you’ll be getting your money’s worth.
Unboxing the calendar, I was seriously impressed by the skincare line-up, especially the anti-ageing products. From Shiseido’s FSLX total regenerating cream (15ml included, £380 for 50ml, Harrods.com) to Medik8’s crystal retinal 6 (£69, Sephora.co.uk), the calendar offers a 360 approach to minimising fine lines, tackling both existing wrinkles with vitamin A and preventing future ageing with vitamin C. After testing the retinal, I also enjoyed how the formula was gentle on my rosacea-prone skin.
As for the rest of the beauty spectrum, Harrods’ calendar is a little more sparse, with seven make-up, six hair, one fragrance and – surprisingly – zero body care items featured.
On the make-up front, I loved the additions of Laura Mercier, Mac, Bobbi Brown, and Hourglass. However, I’ve found that Rodial’s inclusion in advent calendars is often unwarranted, especially the bronze glowlighter (2g included, £38 for 6.1g, Spacenk.com) and blush drops (£39, Harrods.com) included here.
In the same vein, I wouldn’t have picked Beautifect’s make-up sponge (£12.95, Fenwick.co.uk) for a cult, luxury calendar, with Beauty Blender and Clomana’s iterations reigning supreme.
Read more: M&S’s beauty advent calendar should be top of your list in 2025 – here’s why
I was pleased with the selection of haircare formulas and the mixture of trending products. The Christophe Robin purifying scalp scrub (75ml included, £42.50 for 250ml, Sephora.co.uk) and Moncho Moreno bond, j’aime bond spray (100ml included, £42 for 200ml, Harrods.com) are exactly what I look for in a beauty advent calendar.
Davines’ oi all-in-one milk (£18.50, Cultbeauty.co.uk) has long been a favourite of mine, and even earned the top spot in my guide to the best leave-in conditioners.
I had no problem with the number of full-size products, and if you break the £250 down by those 14 items alone, it works out at around £17.86 an item. When you consider the fact that those items span ultra-luxe brands like La Mer and MZ Skin, whose products can run to hundreds of pounds, this calendar certainly seems to promise good value for money.
However, I would take the term ‘full-size’ with a pinch of salt; it counts single-use sheet masks and 15ml moisturisers as “full-size,” which is a little frustrating.
The calendar shell was sturdy and beautiful enough to warrant reusing in 2026 and beyond. Personally, I prefer more festive advent exteriors, so a few pops of red and green might have been nice. Then again, some might argue gold is equally seasonal.
