The Asos face + body beauty advent calendar has been an industry mainstay since 2017. Traditionally, it sits in the middle of the budget and ultra-luxe advents, combining a sub-£100 price point with a bountiful selection of high-end and affordable beauty. Beauty aficionados can think of it as Elemis meets The Inkey List.
While Liberty’s offering is all about premium beauty products, and Sephora’s a masterclass in trending cosmetics (browse my full guide to the best beauty advent calendars), the Asos advent skews a touch younger with TikTok-viral products and entry-level skincare.
You won’t find top strength retinols or heady fragrance here. I think the Asos beauty advent calendar is just the ticket for young adults and teens making their first foray into the world of beauty – but only if their parents are willing to treat them. Scroll on for my honest review, including contents, price and all the important dates to know.
How I tested
After receiving the calendar on 21 August, I set about emptying and testing its contents – so expect spoilers ahead. While examining the advent, I considered the following criteria:
- Packaging – I gauged the quality of the advent calendar design and weighed up whether it would be aesthetically pleasing to display over the Christmas period. I also considered whether it was suitable for reuse in future years.
- Size – Each year, the number of full-size versus mini products seems to increase, with some brands now offering a generous 24 days of full-size products. I compared Asos’ offering against competitor calendars and thought about the desirability of the included travel sizes. For instance, is a single-use body butter actually helpful?
- Brands – With the popularity of various cosmetics brands ebbing and flowing as the years go by, I tallied up the number of ‘must-have’ brands included.
- Formulas – Often with beauty advent calendars, the brands included can be seen as cult, while the products themselves leave much to be desired. I examined this with the contents of the Asos advent, looking out the best formulas from the best brands, not just slightly rubbish items from the best brands.
- Distinctiveness – Finally, I assessed where the Asos face + body advent calendar sits within the market and what it offers that other brands don’t. Ideally, there’d be product exclusives and year-on-year newness.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
As the author of The Independent’s guide to the best beauty advent calendars 2025, Lucy Smith is across all the top Christmas countdowns coming online and in-store this winter. She has reviewed plenty of these and, this year, has already covered competitor brands including Boots, Charlotte Tilbury and Selfridges. She’s well-versed on the brands of the moment, having covered new monthly launches for IndyBest since July 2024, and tests a whole host of formulas daily – so she knows which ones are up to scratch. Find her verdict on Asos’ 25-day offering below.
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Asos face + body advent calendar 2025
Price: £98
Worth: £406
Number of days: 25
Advent calendar highlights: Clomana marshmallow sponge, Biodance face mask, Sunday Riley aquamarine melt cleanser, Mac lipstick in shade cool teddy
Available: 8 September
Why we love it
- Taps into beauty trends with Korean skincare brands
- Good mix of affordable and high-end brands
- Balanced variety across make-up, skincare and haircare
Take note
- Some sizes are stingy
- Repeat products from 2024
- Some brands and items less relevant to 2025 beauty
On paper, it seems that Asos has upped its game with the contents of its 2025 face + body advent calendar. Compared to 2024’s 12 full-size products, this year’s offering boasts 15 full-size products. While the retailer has stuck with last year’s 26-item roster, the extra three full sizes have seen the price increase by £3. However, there’s no denying you’re getting your money’s worth, with the full contents of the calendar valued at more than £400.
In practice, there are a few hiccups with the product line-up. There are four repeat items from last year – Elemis’ superfood midnight facial night cream (£15.20, Asos.com), Sol de Janeiro Brazilian bum bum cream (£15.75, Asos.com), This Works deep sleep pillow spray (£16.80, Asos.com) and Charlotte Tilbury glowgasm beauty light wand (£24, Asos.com) – plus a handful of outdated formulas. For instance, as much as I’m a fan of The Inkey List, a dedicated niacinamide formula feels stuck in 2020, with plenty of serums in 2025 including the ingredient as standard alongside retinols, vitamin Cs and the like. Likewise, the inclusion of Philip Kingsley’s elasticizer is a little tiring. To be fair, it’s a beloved product, but you’ll also find it in John Lewis’ and Liberty’s offerings this year.
Of course, the calendar has its merits and, with inclusions from viral brands Biodance, Clomana, Sol de Janeiro and Laneige, I anticipate it being a big hit with late teens and early twenty-somethings. Bearing in mind that the main goal of a beauty advent calendar is to introduce you to new formulas so that you might buy them further down the line, it was refreshing to see a range of accessibly priced products from Elf, Beauty Works and Revolution. It also balances products across hair, skin and make-up well, with competitor offerings tending to skew towards one category – often, skincare.
I enjoyed testing the formulas, and I particularly loved the Macximal lipstick in cool teddy (£20, Asos.com). It was creamy and long-lasting, and about as close to universally flattering as a lip colour can be. As someone who tends to have a candle burning around the clock, I also loved the Psychic Sisters strawberry quartz candle (£10, Psychicsisters.co.uk) with its indulgent candy-like aroma and bonus post-burn crystal, even if the latter is a bit of a gimmick.
Much like last year, the packaging needs improvement. The boxes tend to tumble out as soon as you remove one. Likewise, the boxes are glued shut and rip when opened, so unlike other options on the market this year, you can’t reuse the calendar
At the time of writing, the Asos calendar isn’t available to buy, nor is there a waitlist or landing page for hopeful buyers. However, the advent will go on sale on 8 September.
Read more: M&S’s beauty advent calendar is worth over £300 — this is when it launches
Buy now £98.00, Asos.com
Is the Asos beauty advent calendar worth it?
While the Asos face + body advent calendar 2025 (£98, Asos.com) didn’t wow me, I can appreciate its place among this year’s offerings, primarily for a teen or young adult audience. I found it ticked several boxes for this age group, including (relative) affordability and the inclusion of select TikTok-approved brands. A handful of the items included were underwhelming, but after years of testing these products, that might be experience talking; entry-level beauty enthusiasts will probably find this a very exciting present.
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