Unboxing My Advent Calendars for 2025

Each year, I enjoy getting a few advent calendars to open during the lead-up to Christmas. In this post, I want to share my thoughts on the advent calendars I bought for 2025

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Søstrene Grene Tea Advent Calendar

The Søstrene Grene calendar includes 24 days of tea. I enjoy having a tea calendar each year, as it is comforting to look forward to a cup of warm tea in the morning. However, I do not like licorice or ginger teas, and those are common flavors in many tea calendars. Some calendars also often repeat flavors and do not offer much variety. With the Søstrene Grene calendar, each day is a different flavor! There is only one tea with ginger, but it is combined with peach, and there are no teas with licorice. The calendar does have a mix of classic flavors like English Breakfast, Earl Grey, and Chai Tea, and less traditional flavors like Tea with Chili and Cocoa Nibs, Green Tea with Passion Fruit and Mango Flavor, and Rooibos Tea with Vanilla Flavour. Overall, I do think the Søstrene Grene calendar is a great tea calendar.

Maison Andrésy Jams and Spread Advent Calendar

The Maison Andrésy calendar includes 24 days of French jams and spreads. I wanted to avoid chocolate calendars this year, but I still wanted a treat to look forward to each day. I often have a bun with jam in the mornings, and I thought this calendar would be perfect. The calendar does include 12 different flavors of jams and spreads. There are common flavors like strawberry and raspberry jams, and more unique flavors like four red fruits and peach jams. Also, the calendar does have Maison Andrésy’s own version of a chocolate hazelnut spread along with honey. The jams and spreads are delicious, and they are not overly sweet and taste great with a bun.

Holo Taco Mini Advent Calendar

I recently bought the Holo Taco Holoween Collection, but when Holo Taco announced their first-ever advent calendar, I knew I wanted it. The calendar is 12 days with 8 mini polishes and 4 nail accessories. All the items are limited edition and include shades and designs not available for individual purchase. A couple of the nail polish shades include Silent Night, a deep blue crelly, and In a Flurry, a light blue frosted metal. Also, there are toppers, including Gold Scattered Holo Taco and Wreath Havoc Taco, a multichrome foil flake topper. I do think the nail polish shades are beautiful and perfect for the winter, but also year-round. Even though the nail polishes are a mini size, they are still a good size. The mini polishes are 7ml/.2oz compared to 12ml/.4oz for a full-size bottle.

The nail accessories in the calendar include a peppermint hand cream, a black holo glass nail file, nail stickers, and a chrome cleanup brush. I do not care much about nail stickers, but the other accessories are definitely useful. I do think the Holo Taco Mini Advent Calendar is a good calendar, and I am glad I purchased it.

Sakuraco Onsen Retreat Advent Calendar

I reviewed the September 2025 Sakuraco Box, and I thought it was a great experience trying the Japanese treats and receiving the teacup. I decided to purchase the Sakuraco Onsen Retreat Advent Calendar, which includes 12 days of Japanese treats and 12 days of homeware items. One downside is that I wish the calendar came with a physical guide. However, there is a QR code you can scan on the side of the calendar to see what each day is and possible variants. For the treats, the guide will also list allergen information and whether it is suitable for vegetarians.

Some treats have included delicious Strawberry Shimichoco (freeze-dried strawberries infused with white chocolate), adorable Puffed Rice snacks, apple-flavored Daruma Candy, and White Peach Green Tea. A few homeware items included a Miyamoto Komon Tenugui (a traditional towel), a crepe Fabric Japanese Motif Magnet, Japanese Incense, and a Mount Fuji Candle. Overall, the Onsen Retreat calendar has been a lovely experience.

A Heart for Christmas by Sophie Jomain

I was content with the calendars I had, but I came across A Heart for Christmas at the bookstore. I was intrigued by the concept of reading one chapter of a story a day. The book follows April, who had a heart attack when she was 16. She then had a heart transplant days before her 17th birthday. Now, she is almost 19 and staying with her dad in Morzine (a ski town in the French Alps) for Christmas. Each chapter is sealed, and you use a ruler to open it. The chapters are quick and easy to read through, and I am enjoying the story so far.

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Did you get any advent calendars for 2025?