I opened Next’s £45 Christmas beauty gift box worth £83

Next seasonally releases beauty gift boxes throughout the year for key seasons like Mother’s Day and Easter, and now Christmas is here, they’ve released a series of limited-edition festive beauty boxes in collaboration with Bath and Body Works that I think could make the perfect gift.

Beauty boxes have been around for a while, delivering anything from skincare and hair stuff to makeup and perfume straight to your door. They’re usually a great way to sample a few new products and test out things you might not usually buy. Now, there’s a bit of a difference with the Christmas beauty boxes compared to their Mother’s Day box, which was packed with an assortment of beauty and wellness products. Instead, the festive box is purely products from Bath and Bodyworks (which, previously only available in North America, is now owned by Next in the UK), and they claim it’s worth £89.

Plus, there are three scents to choose from, so you can decide which is best suited to your recipient. However, Next isn’t the only retailer offering a Christmas beauty box this year, and with so many options available, deciding on the best fit for someone can be tricky. That said, shoppers who have purchased the box say it’s “excellent value for money.”

So, I opened Next’s Christmas Beauty Box to see just how much bang you get for your buck.

When testing the Next Christmas Beauty Box, I took into account the cost and delivery time, presentation on arrival and the number of products inside. I considered the quality of the packaging and whether it looked good enough to be given as a gift.

Then, I tried out each product individually. Finally, I assessed the overall value for money, the overall cost of products inside versus the price of the box, and the size of the products included

Next’s Bath and Bodyworks Limited Edition Christmas Beauty Box is available for in-store pick-up for free, or if you want it delivered to your home, it’ll cost £4.95. It’s quite a pricey delivery fee compared to some retailers, but mine arrived promptly, and once unpackaged, I was happy to see the colourful, festive-themed packaging.

There are three sets to choose from based on the scent of the products inside: Vanilla Bean Noel (a super sweet and sugary scent), Winter Candy Apple (a fruity and floral scent with hints of cinnamon) and Bright Christmas Morning (a tart and fresh festive scent). And each set comes with its own unique packaging design, all with a Christmassy twist, of course. Vanilla Bean Noel is a vibrant and seasonally appropriate green adorned with shiny Christmas trees. Winter Candy Apple, as you might expect, comes in a deep red shade with a pretty apple design. And Bright Christmas Morning comes in pink tartan-style packaging that reminds me of wrapping paper – fitting for the name.

However, the design is limited to a sleeve which, when removed, reveals a plain cardboard shoebox. Now, compared with some other Christmas beauty boxes, the cardboard feels a bit dull. The Lookfantastic Christmas Present Edit, for example, comes in a red, patterned box that has a design all over. That said, the addition of the colourful sleeve means you can present this as a gift without needing wrapping paper. Plus, the entire box is recyclable, including the filling inside, which earns the Next box some points for its environmental friendliness.

Inside each box, you get five full-size items, which is really brilliant. Many beauty boxes throughout the year tend to include only a couple of full-size items and fill the rest with travel sizes. For example, Next’s Mother’s Day box, released earlier this year, contained only three full-size items.

All of the items are from the Bath and Bodyworks range, depending on the scent you’ve chosen. While it does mean missing out on makeup (as you get in beauty boxes that collate a few different brands), I think it actually makes the box a lot more versatile as it’s packed with everday bath and body care essentials including a body wash, body lotion, hand cream, and a fragrance mist – as well as a single-wick candle to set the mood. Each of the products is also decorated in festive packaging that matches the designs on the box.

The most expensive item in the box is the single-wick candle, which retails for £20 alone – that makes up almost half the value of the box before you’ve even considered the other four items included. The fragrance mist, meanwhile, retails for £18, the hand cream for £8.50, and the shower gel and moisturiser for £12 each.

Overall, the contents of the box are worth £83.50, so the £45 price tag is a saving of just over 46% – not bad at all.

Given that the box is packed with five full-size items worth £83.50 in total, I do think you’re getting a decent bang for your buck, especially when compared to other similar boxes that only include a couple of full-size products.

Of course, the potential downside is that there isn’t a variation in brands inside, and all products generally fall into the bath and body care bracket, so makeup lovers might be disappointed. That said, if you’re a big fan of the Bath and Bodyworks range, then this is an instant winner and allows you to try a few different products from one scent range. I love the festive scents and packaging, and think it’s great that everything matches.

The type of products inside means this is a fairly versatile gift. I think you could give this to teenagers, as well as older relatives or friends, which is one thing I really love.

The main issue you’ll run into is choosing the right scent. While I love Vanilla Bean Noel, the syrupy sweetness of this fragrance probably makes it the least versatile of the three. Bright Christmas Morning is probably the most versatile of the bunch as it’s a crisp, fruity scent.

If you know Bath and Bodyworks, you’ll know their scents are strong – they definitely pack a punch. While that’s great if you’re someone who loves a strong scent, it might now be if you’re sensitive to smells.