Even if you know someone really well, buying gifts for them (especially over the Christmas period) is often a mammoth task. The high street is filled with an array of gift sets, box sets and fashion gift-cards, but if it’s beauty your giftee is after – then you’ve come to the right place. Below are some of my favourite beauty inspired gift sets for the festive season. Be warned, you may be purchasing two of each (although Christmas is all about treats right?):
Braun Face Cleansing Brush, £49.99
Best for: the best friend who is obsessed with beauty buys.
Cleansing brushes are the beauty industry’s latest and most talked about phenomenon, with every magazine and blogger discussing their ability to zap away spots and create a fresh facial feeling every single day. The Braun model is unique in the fact that it is actually affordable for the average person (other devices retail for £100+) and also doubles up as a mini epilator, if you have any fine hairs you’d like to get rid of. It’s super easy to use (even in the shower) and refines and exfoliates using little oscillations (like an electric toothbrush for your face).
Gilette Venus & Olay Set, £10.99
Best for: the sister who always steals your razor.
Razors aren’t the most glamorous of presents but sometimes it is the most practical of gifts that are the best received. This Venus & Olay set – featuring a pink razor and a pretty gold case, is probably as glamorous as they come – with a moisturising cartridge and gel bars. It gets rid of even the peskiest of unwanted hairs and doesn’t leave your legs with that horrid dry, flaky feeling.
Bronnley Red Berry & Wild Blossom, £30
Best for: fragrance loving friends, aunties, grandmothers and mothers.
Bronnley’s 2014 Christmas collection is very much centred on festive floral and fruity scents, which I absolutely love! Their Soap & Eau De Toilette gift box is perfect for aunties, grandmothers and mothers who love new items for their dressing table, but aren’t overly keen on the sickly sweet scented perfumes permeating the high street at the moment. With a subtle, yet clean and fresh feel – this fragrance is ideal for a wide variety of tastes.
Luster Pro Light Whitening System, £49.99
Best for: Glamorous mums, best friends and sisters.
There was a point in my life that I was absolutely obsessed with making my teeth whiter and brighter – leading me to have no less than two whitening treatments at the dentist in under 3 months. Desperate to achieve the ‘red carpet’ gleam, I spent hundreds of pounds and seemingly visited every dentist in London. Eventually, I had a treatment that worked – however two years down the line, the white shimmer started to fade. I’ve tried everything from Crestwhite strips (which do work but only very lightly if you’re persistent) to whitening toothpaste and FINALLY, I’ve found a home solution. The Pro Light Whitening kit features an activator gel, solution and dual-action whitening light which together – ensures that you see a visible difference within 30 minutes. I’ll be posting a full review on it soon but I wanted to feature it in the Christmas gift guide because I think it would make a fantastic present to those in the same boat as I was! It’s a far more cost effective solution too!
Lush Festive Funtimes Gift Set, £24.50
Best for: Friends, sisters and daughters.
When it comes to beauty inspired gifts, Lush is the ultimate go-to brand. With a heavenly fruity floral scent wafting enticingly from their stores on a daily basis, it’s hard to resist their gift selection, especially during the festive season. One of my favourites this Christmas is the Festive Fun set, packaged in a really quirky – yet fun way, and featuring some of their best selling (and best smelling) shower jellies – The ‘Whoosh’ and the ‘Snowman’, in addition to three of their ‘play-washes’ (essentially play dough – for adults that you can use as a shower jelly). The Snowman jelly comes (rather aptly) in the shape of a snowman and smells like blackcurrant squash (with a festive touch). The gift set is sure to be well received, and at £24.50 it’s relatively well priced for so many delicious treats!
Mimi Green Goddess Fresh Face Mask Kit, £22
Best for: The beauty lover who seemingly has ‘it all’.
Although the beauty industry is a rather large one, there’s always that one relative that seems to have everything already. This gift by MIMI (which stands for Make It Make It), offers the receiver a chance to make their very own beauty product – or a face mask to be specific, using the 100% natural ingredients included. With green tea pearls, green powder, oat protein, french clay and dead sea mud among the components, you might even be invited to assist in the production of the masks – and the wearing. It’s a really unique, fun and creative gift that even the person that has everything, can enjoy!
Milk_Shake Gift Set, £29.99
Best for: friends, sisters, cousins, aunties.
Milk_Shake hair have been a favourite of mine since the #ldnbloggersparty several years ago, when they sponsored several of the items in the goody bags. They really stood out to me as their products were both delicious in fragrance and in terms of hydration. Extending their range to body care also, they have brought out a number of gift-sets in time for the festive season, showcasing some of their well-loved favourites. This one (which I’ve opted to keep for myself – sorry) features the frequent daily shampoo (which smells like apple juice and contains milk proteins to make your hair grow!), the whipped cream leave-in foam (which looks good enough to eat) the moisturising body cream and the glistening argan oil serum. At £29.99 for four full size products, I’d say this is a very reasonably priced gift – and once which will be well received by any haircare lover!
Bomb Cosmetics – Love Cloud, £12.99
Best for: secret santas, best friends, daughters, mothers, sisters.
There’s a certain sense of excitement when you receive a box of beauty goodies for Christmas – regardless of the brand or who it is from. The fresh, fruity floral scent wafting from the packaging is enough to leave me in a good mood all day long (yes really) and so when this little parcel popped through the letterbox – I couldn’t wait to rip open the beautiful packaging! Bomb Cosmetics are a fantastic little brand – with some amazingly creative soaps and bath bombs. This ‘Love Cloud’ selection features a few of my favourites – the ‘Twinkle Star Creamer’ with a jelly baby fragrance and pure cocoa and shea butters. Pop it in your bath and it’s almost like you’ve indulged your skin in a lavishly soft (and expensive) moisturiser. It really is that good! Also included is Jack the Rippler Soap (coconut and evening primrose), Flight of the Frangipani Blaster (frangipani, sage, patchouli), Pink Lady Blaster (bergamot, orange) and the Button Moon Mallow (cocoa, shea butter, coconut and jasmine). The best thing however, is that all of the above is beautifully wrapped and can be given as a gift for just £12.99 – despite it looking like it could have cost double!
Osmo Moisture Gift Set, £14.95
Best for: sisters, mothers – or any deserving haircare lover!
Osmo is renowned for their hard-working products and this gift set showcases everything that is brilliant about the brand! Specially formulated for stressed, heat-traumatised and chemically abused hair (mine falls under every category), the three included products (deep shampoo, conditioner and intensive deep mask) are designed to leave your hair feeling silky, smooth and free of knots. I tested these out for myself – after a period of particularly bad hair (where the ends start to go straw-like, even though I hadn’t been using any straighteners) and they immediately rectified the problem and left every follicle feeling as good as new! I was also lucky enough to try some of the products from their ‘Blonde’ gift set, which focuses on toning down brassy hues and bringing life back to your colour – something that was much needed for me! At £14.95 each for both the Moisture and the Blonde sets, you can’t really go wrong, especially as their full-size products can individually retail between £6-£7 anyway. Even if it’s a gift for yourself, I’m sure your hair deserves a festive treat too!
Have you found any festive beauty gift sets you’d like to share – I’d love to hear from you! Have you tried/purchased any of the above?