Getting a beauty advent calendar feels like a real luxury, trying out a new product each day. Usually only slightly bigger than tester size but what if I told you there was one with full-sized skincare, makeup and body products? All hail: Boots' No7 The Ultimate 25-Day Beauty Advent Calendar.
Selling for £175 but worth nearly triple the price - £514 - it's pretty hard to find a rival calendar offering up as many full-sized (and I repeat full-sized) products for less than £200. A go-to this season is one from Liberty London but its gorgeous doll-house-like box is £270. Then there's Liz Earle for fellow skincare fans, for £79 this will only give you a window to open for 12 days this December.
Since unboxing Boots' No7 The Ultimate myself, I've been adding Future Renew to my nightly routine, its primer and liquid highlighter under my makeup, or curing the start of winter-dry skin with its moisture-boosting body products. Beauty advent calendars are a rare treat for me, but this ultimate box has converted me - here's why.
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An indulgent box filled to the brim with quality makeup, ageing-reversal focused skincare products as well as products including the industry's highly raved about ingredient and vitamin - retinol. The No7 The Ultimate 25-Day Beauty Advent Calendar certainly lives up to its name.
This beautifully displayed vanity-style box features gold details and full-sized products - the most important bit. I was immediately impressed with its look, and hadn't done too much research on the contents. I wanted the full surprising experience like you would if you opened one box a day in December.
The attention to skincare is by far the most impressive, 0.3% pure retinol Night Concentrate, Total Renewal Exfoliator, Future Renew Night Cream, Day Cream (with SPF40), and Youthful Replenishing Facial Oil. These are only a handful of the products I've tested out from the box this week.
My favourite without question is the Future Renew Damage Reversal Night Cream, this 50ml size costs £34.95 on its own and everything about it screams luxury skincare - for a reasonable price.
The No7 Future Renew line uses pepticology to help boost the skin's natural repair process, I'm a huge fan of it. Its thick texture is perfect for layering before sleep which has been designed to help promote the skin's natural self-repair during our usual six to eight-hour sleeps.
As well as this I also started using the Youthful Replenishing Facial Oil - of course, another one in the calendar - before going to sleep. Even if you have young skin I have found this great for colder October nights giving an added layer of moisture so I can see it being a popular pick for many in bitter December.
Filling in the gaps with its skincare (the full list of products is below) there's something for make-up lovers too. 11 out of the 25 products are to add to your make-up bag.
The Full 360 Mascara has been a decade favourite of mine so I was happy to stock up on the one I already use, a fan of bronzer too I was glad to see the Pro Artist Cream Bronzer palette and the brush to match was a nice touch... this comes in another box though.
I can see the demand behind the No7 Pro Artist Luminous Glow Lip Shine although I know this is one I'll rarely go for, instead the Precision Edit Lip Liner in shade Rose Cout is much more up my street but I won't tell you what number box it is in (to keep it a surprise).
The Spotlight Eye Pallet sticks to brown neutral shades and being Advent there's of course lots of shimmer involved, which I personally like but it won't be everyone's cup of tea. What is suited to everyone is it's foundation voucher.
Yes, on one of the days (again I'm not spoiling the date for you) there's a small voucher instead of the physical product. Everyone will get a No7 Stay Perfect Foundation in the calendar but it comes in the form of a redeemable voucher - valid between November 3 2024 and May 31 2025.
At first I was surprised by this but it's now a close favourite after the Future Renew Night Cream in number one spot. I love how personable it is, obviously, so users can pick their right shade. I have a few weeks to wait until I can get mine.
What's inside the Boots Ultimate 25-day calendar?
Attention, spoiler alert.
- FULL SIZE - No7 Future Renew Day Cream 50ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Future Renew Night Cream 50ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Future Renew Serum 25ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Future Renew Eyecream 15ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Radiance+ Exfoliating Cleanser 100ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Radiance+ Eye Mask 3g
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Lip Liner Rose Cout 1.2g
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Lipstick Rose Cout 3.5g
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Lip Oil Strawberry Glaze 6.8ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Liquid Blush - TAUPE
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Lip Gloss - Rose Cout 6.8ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Cream Bronzer - Light
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Bronzer Retractable Brush
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Eye Palette Spotlight 5.2g
- FULL SIZE - No7 Skin Illuminator 30ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pro Artist Primer (Base perfecting Primer)
- FULL SIZE - No7 Microdermabrasion Face Exfoliator 75ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Beautiful Skin Nourishing Hand & Nail Cream
- FULL SIZE - No7 Labs Line Correcting Booster Serum 25ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Derm Solutions Balancing Serum 30ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Pure Retinol 0.3% Night Concentrate 30ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Retinol Handcream 75ml
- FULL SIZE - No7 Youthful Facial Oil
- LIMITED EDITION - No7 The Full 360 mascara 7ml
- Voucher - No7 Stay Perfect Foundation
What I didn't like after unboxing No7 The Ultimate
My only slight gripe (if I had to be picky) is the majority of the skincare products are aimed at older damaged skin. Of course, this doesn't mean younger users can't use it but may be worth noting depending on who you're buying for.
Another thing I didn't like was the inclusion of two hand creams. The No7 Pure Retinol and the N07 Beautiful Skin Nourishing Hand and Nail Cream. The latter is scented while the Retinol one focuses on a more intense treatment, even so I would have liked to see one of these ditched for the Beautiful Skin Body Spray.
It's not the only calendar available to buy at Boots, the high-street retailer is also selling the 25 Days of Beauty Secrets. Then there's its 24 Days of Skincare one which costs £65.
Other brands on our list this festive season is the Next Luxury Beauty Advent Calendar (£170), and the ASOS Face + Body Calendar (£95) which currently has a 76% discount. There are so many on the market and if you're looking for more inspiration take a read of our full 2024 roundup, here.